Culture

. 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...

. The Beginning of Wisdom Within the passing noon of our own life, I saw through woodlands dark and traces grim, Those words upon the graven arches rim, Whose clarity compounds immortal strife. They claimed their maker was that power divine, The highest wisdom and the primal love, Who makes and...

. In Silence I Sing for those affected by the Mill Fire, September 2022 Uplifted to God as with wings of a bird In silence I sing without music or word. Though once filled with praise I no longer rejoice, For grief has consumed me and silenced my voice. No...

. The Adjudication “I weep for you,” the Walrus said: __“I deeply sympathise.” With sobs and tears he sorted out __Those of the largest size, Holding his pocket-handkerchief __Before his streaming eyes. ---Lewis Carroll This one’s bereaved; another is divorced: One’s poem doesn’t scan; the other’s rhymes are forced. And...

. The Way of the World Some horrid truth seems now made manifest: __Some nothingness tucked in the human core Parades itself as fullness and the best __In us—our grace, our reason—sore distorts. __In mirror after mirror we adore ____A god more false than any made of stone, ____Whose heaven...

. Drunk on Compassion How good it feels to open up your heart And groove on how compassionate you are! You advertise your causes on your car And list your Facebook “likes” upon a chart. You march in protests, always don your mask, And quite politely call men “them” and...

. For My Queen Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor April 21, 1926 - September 8, 2022 My symbol of nobility, stability and grace, Who reigned yet never ruled---she was my constant caring face On TV screen, on stamps, in scenes of history’s changing view. She slipped away this solemn day---her...

. The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, falls on Sept. 10 this year. A common tradition is to read riddles hung from lanterns while under the moonlight. The holiday usually corresponds to the harvest moon, the full moon before the Autumn Equinox.  . I.A span of seven yearsBetween the small...

. Capability Brown Lancelot “Capability” Brown was England’s greatest landscape architect. His name was Capability, A man of great humility, He knew just where to plant a tree, Enhancing England’s scenery. Of all delights we love to see, He planned with great integrity, The English Aristocracy, Would pay his most...

. Cracked Liberty Bell July the 4th—Independence. Many bands play. Parades pass by— Fireworks fly. __Rocket’s red glare . . . 1900. A song was sung From old to young: Lift every voice— They sang, rejoiced! __And shunned despair. Stoney we trod. Bitter our rod. True to our God, Who...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract 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 third poet in the sequence of meetings, which is...

. In Plain Sight Our enemies aren’t rattling at the gate. Our foes aren’t firing shots from foreign ground. They toy with minds---pain brains, and obfuscate--- We bend and bow and break without a sound. They’re lurking in the sanctuary of the church. They’re sullying the syllabus at schools. They sneak and skulk and...

. Ozymandias Begins I met the monarch of our ancient land, who said, ‘Your skill at sculpting is renowned. The hammer and the chisel in your hand will make my semblance evermore resound.’ Upon his statue’s stone-blank face I cut the ruthless glare residing in his eyes, the frown with...

. by Susan Jarvis Bryant This is a word of encouragement to all those poets out there who use their art to get a grave point on current issues across. Never let those who criticize you shut you down. Never self-censor. To use a quote from Andrew Breitbart: . Walk...

. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition  Although this mad world’s headed for perdition, Don’t cower or wring hands with misery. Spines straight, my friends! Choose gumption and ambition Just like the World War II song that says we “Should Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” When faith...

. Seminary Recalling days of vigor and simplicity, of boyish spirits spun from neural gossamer and hardened into granite by a panoply of actors: scamps of nimble wit, a conjurer of whimsy, lords of innocent irreverence. Societies of soulmates lent the sacred halls a mood Socratic, scholars bonded to evince...

. Food for Thought A Culinary Tale There once was a man wan and pallid, he Suffered from a mysterious malady: __He ate carrots and greens, __Ripe tomatoes and beans, But eschewed anything that's not salad-y. Now his wife, she was plump, but quite purty, Euphemistically "big-boned" or "sturdy"; __Which...

. The Death of the Leviathan The monster finally meets its doom: Sound out the death-knell, light the pyre! The depths are ready for its tomb--- Now let the wretch at last expire! Sound out the death-knell, light the pyre Where all the putrid flesh shall burn; Now let the...

. The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2022 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . a cicada’s husk grandfather in his best suit hands folded, eyes closed —Ngo Binh Anh Khoa . ....

. Requiem for Eurydice The sunlight dims before my eyes, __My fingertips lose yours, And as my whispered farewell flies, __The last crescendo soars. Then one breath hovers, trembles, dies— __The audience all roars. . . Mary Virginia Vietor is a high school senior from Phoenix, Arizona. She enjoys playing...

. Ode to Poets of the Past I do agree with the sights__that I have seen:the warm and comfortable steps__where love has been and with the sounds of truth__that I have heard—the whisper and the song__between the word. A now familiar species__comes to beara message from an age __beyond this...

. A Conceit or Just a Similitude? Two Brief Illustrations from Sir John Suckling by Joseph S. Salemi One of the earliest things one learns in poetry is the distinction between a simile and a metaphor. In clearest terms, a simile makes use of the word like or as to...

. Not the Third Reich... Yet It makes me burn to hear the left berate Good policy and leaders they dislike With claims the U.S. is a fascist state--- “A Nazi nation just like the Third Reich.” Invoking Hitler’s name with chilling ease They publish propaganda that’s untrue. They swarm...

. Snub the Grub upon reading news of a beetle burger, The Daily Mail, August 24, 2022 I scan the menu (a la carte) To find that I can take no part In scarab chowder with a pinch Of millipede. It makes me flinch. I see a cricket on the ticket...

. Daedalus Icarus, you have disobeyed, As all men do, and dearly paid. Too recklessly your heart did fly Between high seas and louring sky. The wings I gave you, it is true, But what would you have had me do? No hand does good, no heart loves well Constrained...

. Poetry Lessons The poet said he’d show and never tell--- His imagery would mesmerize and blaze. In quatrains laced with Aphrodite’s spell, His sibilance would scintillate and daze. The poet said he’d kiss the listening ear With similes as smooth as silken lips. His spondees would ignite the stratosphere In scores of metaphors. They would eclipse The waxing moon. His dactyls dipped in gold...

. Un-Justice Merrick Garland “Garland is a moderate,” Obama swore, We all can see his moderation now--- The Trump raid tactics never used before, Which Garland must have learned from Chairman Mao. . . You Know It’s Coming Which will it be? A new outbreak? Whole new disease? What will...

. POEMS THAT BUILT A NATION PART II. Persia, Ferdowsi, and the Shahnameh by Adam Sedia A previous essay highlighted how the Finnish national epic poem, the Kalevala, spurred the development of Finnish culture and even of Finland as a nation. That is hardly the only instance of a poem...

. Persistence It seems when flies get in from the outside, They never find how to get out again; Instead they only buzz around and hide, A game that often is the death of them. At times hours pass when you think they have died But then you glimpse a...

. An Anti-Evolution Song Evolution Is False. God Is True. inspired by the writings of Zhang Tianliang How probable is it, however you spin it, __That man has evolved out of nothing? Do I look like a schmuck who would think that dumb luck __Could just randomly tweak and make...

. Images of Darwin, Post-1859 1859: The year the ponderously titled On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle For Life was published. A fat, combed beard mimes fluffed white wool While in a pose of gravitas That at...

. Mightier Than the Sword?   His Eighties searing splash of fiery ink Scorched the skin of those who won’t allow The flare of feisty words. His weren’t in sync With those of kowtow howls. He wouldn’t bow To Ayatollahs raging overseas, Forcing thought upon its buckled knees. A fatwa didn’t...

. Give and Take Mr. Taxman, you’re a peach, Fill your pockets we beseech. Having money is a curse, Please take freely from our purse. We may catch up some time later, Certainly your need is greater. Money earned is ours to give, We don’t need it just to live....

. Byrd in Flight The surplice-vested, five-part choir, Like sparrows on a five-tiered wire, Gives flight to canticles of Byrd. The flocks of lightweight, living notes Ascend to where celestial thoughts Send back their echo, and are heard On earth because of William Byrd. The varied voices that compose The...

. . Non Existent One day my body disappeared, __nor could I touch or taste, but I could feel the flood of tears __that filled my missing face. My presence was by no-one known. __Not felt, nor seen, nor heard, imprisoned in a realm alone, __dissevered from the herd. Back...

. Awake  At night I quake and lie awake in bed. My racing mind likes pacing to and fro. My thoughts, they peck and caw just like a crow. I’m in the grip of woe from tip to toe. The paradise I knew is lost or dead--- At night I quake and lie awake in bed. My head is shrouded in a cloud of dread. A veil of darkness dims my guiding light. A grim penumbra lingers in my sight. I pine for times before this frightful blight. At night I quake...

. Tapestry My grandfather Evangelos did trading with the Turks Of pipes and hookahs, hash, and cloths, and skillful carpet-works. A tapestry he gave his wife in Main in nineteen-ten, A secular non-Muslim piece, showed animals and men. In foreground, street-scene, shops and people, harnessed camel clear, A palm, a...

. Byron Swims the Hellespont On May 9, 1810, Lord Byron swam across the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos to duplicate the legendary back-and-forth trips made by the mythical Leander on visits to his lover Hero. This was a distance of about one nautical mile, in very cold water with...

. Deschutes River Reverie The river, swift and shallow, roils its way Beneath the outstretched arms of old-growth pines, Past bank-side willows diamond-dewed with spray, And hillside ferns and thimbleberry vines. A fallen cedar, once a forest lord, Contributes to the nascent euphony As broken branches add a vocal chord...

. Transgender Madness: For All the Children Being Harmed Beyond Repair inspired by When Harry Became Sally by Ryan T. Anderson . I. At age 5: the tomboy I cared not for the Barbie dolls in pink; I chased the balls, with boisterous boys I ran; My teacher said to...