Culture

. His Pen a villanelle written upon watching the movie Eternal Spring His pen flies back and forth, a righteous flurry That recreates the scenes of saintlike deeds, Giving shape to all that once was blurry. In youth, the ancient heroes’ wartime glory Inspired his hand—with legendary speeds His pen...

. A Conversation Between the Poor and the Poorer, followed by an Envoi From the book five of the Man'yōshū, this poem is believed to be based on what the author witnessed while working as a provincial governor, as it is unlikely that Okura, a nobleman, experienced such extreme poverty...

. John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester: A Restorative from the Restoration by Joseph S. Salemi John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, stands out because of his double-barreled reputation: he was a savage satirist, and a serious rakehell. His short life of thirty-three years (1647-1680) was packed with excitement and energy,...

. Alone Together Narcissus, in the days of old, Fell in love with his reflection. He knew none greater to behold And starved while staring at “perfection.” Now we’re enamored with our phones Reflecting worlds of our own minds. We sit and stare, as still as stones, Bound by the...

. The Red Sea From quite far off we smelled its salt And now stand stunned upon its shore. We stare into the writhing vault Where Moses sees a corridor. It seems there were not graves enough In Egypt so that now it’s rough And shallow holes of bloodied sand...

. Asinine to atheist evolutionists When your science cannot put to rights The special wrongs of our divinity, Your exasperation reaches heights That challenge all the laws of gravity. When you talk at us and see our hearts Are strong on blind belief and Godliness, Though we are more than...

. Ian’s Ire Forecasts: Storm blasts. Cars leave. Clouds heave Endless rain. Flood’s domain. Massive surge. Nature’s scourge. Toy boats heaped up. Homes filled like cups. Millions’ suspect Their lives are wrecked. Streets cleared of debris, Dead cars and Palm Trees. Owners return and gasp, Can’t wrap around and grasp...

. The Modern Cardinal’s Song after “The Major General’s Song” from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance from a faithful Catholic scandalized at the men purporting to lead the Church. I am the very model of a modern Catholic cardinal, I’ve passions homosexual, heretical, and criminal, I know no...

. Moonburst I saw a comet streak across the night, And rend the sky with fire-tipped harpoon; While stars went out in fits of astral fright, The comet struck and burst the silver moon. The moon came down in shards of silver ice, In million bolts that pierced the trembling...

. Dr. Quack My name is Dr. Henry Quack and in my little room out back, Are lots of pills and potions. There's drugs for this and drugs for that; if you’re too skinny or too fat, And drugs to cure emotions. I've studied books and bones and charts, learned...

. Σχολή (Leisure) A Meditation on Horace’s Carmen I.IX You see the glist’ning peak of Mount Soracte, which towers, high with snow, its straining forests bent low and cracking under their wintry burden, and frozen rivers stop, sharp with ice. So after supper fetch another log to feed the fire,...

. . Vanderbilt’s Nemesis Written for Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire who has called out the evils of lucrative transgender surgery on minors at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. They have since “paused gender affirming surgeries for patients under the age of eighteen.”  They reveled in the...

. I Sailed Away to Ancient Greece I sailed away to ancient Greece In search of Jason’s golden fleece. I climbed aboard the Argonaut, But could not find the fleece I sought. Odysseus was waiting there And took as pay my drachma fare. We had adventures on the sea That...

. Proposition One Proposition One, written by the state legislature, amends the California constitution “to expressly include an individual’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which includes the fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.” This is the language on the...

. Tower of the Winds Eight winds blowing, bluster overflowing,Buffet all the crevices of earth.Eight winds searching, lustily and lurching,Spawning every misery and mirth. First blows Boreas, minion of Polaris,Bane of maids and travelers on the deep.Frost upon his beard, a visage to be feared,Stallions in his care that do...

. Sincerity of the Left The sanctuary cities said: “Undocumenteds may come here, It’s merciless to keep them out, We welcome them with open arms!” “We’ll grant your wish,” DeSantis said, "Take fifty more of them right here.” “That’s inhumane!” the Libs all shout. “A cruel stunt that only harms.”...

. The Good Samaritan Scene: The road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is now three days since a good Samaritan has left an injured robbery victim in the care of an innkeeper. Your wounds are healing? Good. No, please don’t speak. Just have some wine. Fear not. You cause no...

. Serious Poetry Serious poetry, somber and grim; Dashing, descriptive, with narrative flair. Formal and versified; Rhythmic and dignified; Romance and rhetoric; ribald and prim. Taking you places while curled in your chair. Serious poetry, rhyming each line. Sonnets, rondeaus, villanelles, triolets. Explosive hand-grenades; Sharp-witted razor blades. Dangerous, edgy, designed...

. Equal Schmequal   The traits of men were glibly mocked __By those who thought men strange--- Those who thought the world half-cocked __ And fought for chop and change--- All those who chose to rise and rail Against the rock and role of male--- __‘Twas time to rearrange The natural order of the...

. The Tech Addict’s Lament As I take one more hit of electronic cocaine, I snort a fresh shot of noise into my brain And feel the cacophony’s endless refrain Charging at me like a runaway train. I collapse on the floor, and I think, “What a drain! I’d love...

. 1960s Soap Operas “Soap operas,” they called them. Housewives watched Them while they sewed or cooked or ironed clothes. At two o’clock each afternoon began The sleazy saga to which mom attached Attention, sympathizing with the woes Of characters unlike her, who would plan Adultery or revenge. She sat...

. Green Energy with apologies to Dr. Seuss I do not like green energy Don’t subsidize it, AOC. I do not like it in the dark, My solar panels will not spark. I do not like it with no breeze, Wind generators tend to freeze. I do not like green...

. Sonnet 89 I passed her on the footbridge (underneath, the cars rushing pell-mell to Hades’ mouth). Backwards flowed time then as I scoped her face: lineaments of smack; thin, whorish, thief up for the morning from the blighted south, Hartcliffe or some such godforsaken place. I watched her back...

. A Woodstock for China You sit within a public Chinese bus, And out the window: buildings, concrete, dust, Which all are perfect—life is simply thus. You stare with shining eyes, soft-spoken trust. A face so ruddy, beard and hair unkempt, The locals turn to stare—once, twice, again. Guitar appears,...

. Uncontrolled When my behavior needs to change, __But I can’t make that be, Such lack of self-control seems strange, __And I’m ashamed of me. Sometimes the angst I feel inside __Was planted long ago, And all success that time’s supplied __Can’t counteract back flow. . . Two Forms of...

. Vicente el Bisonte (Vincent the Bison)  Vicente el Bisonte used to live in Mexico He said, “I do not like it here, it’s time for me to go. For lunch they give me Bison Chow, Purina mixed with hay, I’m penned up in the nighttime and I’m watched throughout...

. Congratulations and Homage to Giorgia Meloni Italy rises up and overthrows The stench of leftist tyranny at last. Rage among the EU’s pooh-bahs grows— They realize that their heyday is now past. Thwarted will, hurt pride, and disbelief Send quaking scum in Germany and France Into apoplectic fits of...

. The Last Detail Two cocksure, loud–mouthed lads one day set out, Intent on catching perch. “No,” Jim said, “trout.” The hole they headed for neither one knew: All for adventure, they sought someplace few Of their acquaintances had been before. “It’s just five hundred yards from Sandy Shore,” Said...

. Sex in the English Garden Light, feathery Astilbe Sways gently in the breeze Afraid she always will be Faint fluff beneath the trees Concealing dear Sweet William, Who rings each foxglove’s bell Mid coreopsis ruffles, While lily, like a shell With deeper inner meaning, Disdains to join with them;...

. Sentimental Song A pad and pen lie by his side __This moonless night of fall. And though he tries to hush his pride, To only see the tears she cried, His hands refuse to breach the wall, __A pithy line to scrawl. His mind, in angst, replays the day...

. Cruise Control? based on a real incident in San Francisco on April 1, 2022 (though not an April Fool's joke) A well-mannered Cruise driverless-car Drove light-less, but didn’t get far. Its empty seats were perused, By cops in their cruiser, confused: No driver to argue or spar! The well-mannered Cruise driverless-car Bolted...

. The Recollected Dream When midsummer rain is spearing From storm clouds darkest grey That provide no hint of clearing To reveal the blue of day, The scent from marshland grasses Permeates each breath of air That summons as it passes, Winged creatures from their lair. Then the wattled spur-winged...

. Milking the System We waited, we have waited, and we wait. Delays continue to increase the cost Of doing business.  Every magistrate Can understand the hours and dollars lost But yet cannot, according to the Law, Provide a satisfying remedy. It doesn’t matter what they really saw, Or how...

. Carcassonne by Gustave Nadaud (1820-1893) Translated by Joshua C. Frank “At sixty years, I’m getting old, And I’ve been working all my days Not being able to behold Fulfillment of my wishing gaze. I see that life on earth is filled With perfect happiness for none. My wish, it...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract 2 Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to meet the fourth poet in the sequence of meetings, which...

. Paracelsus Creating man demands not much: Combine the four base elements In right amounts; the lodestone’s touch At once should jolt him into sense. First Earth, in greatest quantity: For what is flesh but sculpted clay That feigns a crude nobility, Then quickly shrinks and wastes away? And most...

. I. Lefties, in fact, are cool with using guns. Their Mayakovsky howled The floor is yours, Comrade Mauser! as they came for the sons of their serfs, knocking grimly on their doors. What leftists won’t put up with are the guns We have, who are to shut up and obey, Ceding...

. The Odyssey Translator's Note: The Odyssey, Book 1, which exemplifies an essential feature of Homer's art as a storyteller, the way he composes the books of his epics as wholes, each with its own beginning, middle, and end. by Homer (circa 8th century BC) Translated from Greek by Mike...

. Obedience by Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863) translated from Romanesco by Joseph S. Salemi It’s not true, Christians, what you have been told— That you need endless patience to obey. Obedience gives great rest to man, I say. That’s why the custom of obeying’s old. Listen: God blessed and joined...

. An American Tragedy In his mind the purple walrus __mutated to a bat, its unstable form evolving __till it became a cat. "Old cat," said he, "you frown at me, __it seems you are annoyed." "I am your mind," the cat replied, __"it's I, you have destroyed." "This is...