Culture

. Lessons in Love  inspired by William George Falconer (1922 – 2006) I. The First The photo flew from Grandad’s falling wallet. It fluttered to the floor within my reach. I picked it up and saw the writing on it--- Summer ’64 at Brighton Beach. I gazed at Gran---a siren of...

. Gathering in the Names for Michael Vincent Laureate Ortiz Hill (1957-2022) I'll add names to my life until I'm subtracted, And my name is as long as this poem. There's a scroll with a list of the lives I've impacted, And my name is as long as this poem....

. Sister Thérèse Scatters Flowers Soeur Madèleine has brought me this bouquet--- Vermillion, scarlet, each rose bright and pretty. She’s kind to join me in my cell to pray, But I cannot accept her tearful pity. She’s frightened how consumption can erode A little nun like me. Her heartfelt sighs Forget...

. The 2022 State Dinner Elites come to Washington and dine On lobster harvested in Maine. (They plan To regulate the catch, create a ban, Because enviros claim the fishing line Is killing whales.) Also on the menu: Filet of beef, potatoes, roasted pears, Champagne and caviar, affected airs. Only the best...

. A Right Royal Circus a villanelle  Roll up! Roll up! Come hear the desperate call Of sparkless Markle and her spurned buffoon. With pleas for privacy, they welcome all. They welcome all like flies upon a wall To witness tears---a crocodile monsoon. Roll up! Roll up! Come hear their...

. Covid on a Clear Day One day I window watched for things to write; the next day I was lost, and underneath the spell of fever, hot, with skin stretched tight, I slept curled up with clenched and grinding teeth. Then came the dreams of elevator shafts that moved...

. CBS Has Now Verified CBS says it’s now verified, The laptop Hunter took in for repair. And other breaking news that it’s supplied Is Washington has crossed the Delaware. . . Plan Needed Republicans won’t win elections Till they learn to neutralize The harvesting of mail-in ballots Dems corruptly...

. China’s Silent Screams  The CCP will never hear the screams Of those who strive to find their way back home. It steals all hope and freedom---snatches dreams From lost souls tossed where wolves and nightmares roam. The CCP will never hear the howls Of folk whose flesh is melting from their bones--- Those burned alive as barbarism prowls Through dead-end streets...

. Grifters With smug, aggressive faux urbanity __They do their worst to seize control. They think it signals perfect sanity __When they adopt a regal role, Expecting us to stroke their vanity, __Lest our good hearts seem dark as coal. We start to question their humanity __When we discern what...

. What Now Will They Build Written upon reading about anti-colonizer graffiti recently found on a Lincoln statue. Read the story here. We see angry children Assembled after dark. Attack defenseless statues Of men who made a mark. Nothing do they know Of those they denigrate; They know not what it means For one to...

. Advent Poem When October leaves have fallen and November skies are grey, The stores proclaim that Jesus, hope, and joy are on the way. The virgins hear and heed the call (this world they long to flee), And congregate with eager hearts to trim their Christmas trees. Before the...

. Last Letter from Florence A recent incident recalls the fears Your letters have expressed: that seven years In this art-laden place might rob me of Whatever you once thought that you could love: The flat I rent lies halfway up a via Around a bend from Piazza Signoria. A...

. Making Children Lie __Canker of mind, the soul Denied—a lonely social wound Is making children lie with pruned __And grafted lines, their whole __Unfolding stories cut And rearranged. Inverted nouns And crossed-out text and scarring sounds __And blocking verbs—and what __A fearful disregard For grammar, generations’ muse, The rules...

. Check Out Your Church inspired by this article: Queen's former chaplain, others slam 'perverse' Cambridge sermon about 'trans' Jesus: ' Repulsive and shameful' Are the pronouns in the Bible ripe for change Along with gender? Does your pastor pore O’er the e’er increasing epic rainbow range Of sexes for our...

. Lightning Ben an excerpt from Legends of Liberty, Volume 2 Sing, muse! Bestow your gifts on—blah blah blah. I opened my first book with that. You get The point. Obliging poets need to draw The paths of cosmic fate, to show their debt To Heaven and their forebears. Really, though,...

. Pope-Lion by Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863)translated from Romanesco by Joseph S. Salemi Before Pope Genga went down to the grottoTo be four slabs of cured ham on the bone,He was thought by everyone in RomeTo be our best luck since the jackpot Lotto. What he did seemed never to...

. From Left to Right I started out a liberal, __Just like my family was. It made me feel superior, __That’s what leftism does. But once I moved from school to work __I saw with my own eyes, Most leftist views were fatuous, __Or evil in disguise. Conservatism, I discerned,...

. A contextual note: The American patriot Thomas Payne wrote "The Liberty Tree" early in the American Revolution; it was published in the Pennsylvania Magazine in July 1775. Payne wrote the song to be sung to the tune "The Gods of Greece." I was unable to find the tune, and...

. God’s Finger on Whittaker Chambers My baby miracle so dear Smeared oatmeal on her face; I saw her perfect seashell ear, Curving like a vase, The pinkest little fiddlehead, In spiral like a scroll. How could blind chance, inert and dead, Make such a pretty bowl? My little Ellen...

. Thanksgiving 2022 Today’s the day we gather and embrace The chance to join in praise for gifts we share. We cuddle, chat and chortle---face-to-face. We’re social souls not meant to sit and stare At frigid screens where warmth is out of reach--- Cold pixels can’t replace a tender touch....

. I Am Thankful for Thanksgiving I am thankful for Thanksgiving, A special holiday That doesn't require atonement, Or starvation, by the way. There are no gifts I need to give, Less money to be spent. Just cook a turkey dinner In an aluminum foil tent. Everybody has their favorite...

. Thanksgiving Memories A honeyed ham impaled with clove; Mashed yam with bits of sweet pecan; A turkey lurking in the stove With tryptophan to make us yawn. Tomato juice with horseradish Lime Jell-o mixed with cottage cheese. And green beans (my least favorite dish) Are old Thanksgiving memories. Fond...

. A Thanksgiving Offering We offer thanks to You who made this Earth The sun and stars, for health and love and mirth. For granting us the sacred gift of life Along with faith to overcome all strife; For dignity and grace beyond all measure; And freedom---something righteous people treasure....

. Just Say It Two bombs exploded in Jerusalem Today. A boy of just 15 is dead--- A Jewish student on his way to school. And 18 more were wounded, all of them Israeli Jews at bus stops now streaked red. The media would play us for a fool. It’s...

. Heirs to Alexander These snuff-brown mounds piled up ten thousand feet Gaze on toward Hindu Kush peaks twice their height; Green threads of valleys mark the rough retreat Wherein Kalasha keep their recondite Festivities with sacrificial meat. Good wine and brandy old Caucasian folk Knew how to make when...

. Inviting Some Friends to a Birthday Dinner after Ben Jonson's "Inviting a Friend to Supper" Tonight, dear friends, you’re welcome to observe Another birthday dinner---and deserve To know it’s mainly an excuse for us To invite friends, no gifts required, no fuss Expected, though I will confess, I still...

. Nero Before the Tomb of Simon Magus And Peter, looking steadfastly against Simon, said: “I adjure you, ye angels of Satan, who are carrying him into the air, to deceive the hearts of the unbelievers, by the God that created all things, and by Jesus Christ, whom on the...

. Clowns Teach Writing Classes Students’ attitudes were dismal; composition skills, abysmal! Desperate to make things better, teachers asked expert go-getters, “Will you please get their attention? What we need’s an intervention, something new-wave, fresh, progressive— something youth will find impressive!” “We will help you,” they asserted. “HEROES!” weary teachers...

. Science or “The Science”? “‘The Science' and science are opposites.” ---Richard Lindzen So you believe “The Science”? That is odd.Science cannot be about compliance.Scientists are skeptics. They’re not yes men.Belief’s more often used to just oppress men. Reserve belief for the Almighty God.Skepticism doesn’t mean defiance.Science doesn’t punish a transgression.“The Science” always...

. No News Is Good News The world contrives, in many different ways, To overload the minutes of our days __With items that anesthetize __The sensibilities that filter Our sound ideas from the out-of-kilter. __And please try this one on for size: I sat down in my chair to watch...

. Unmasked Musings on the Plea for Pandemic Amnesty upon reading this Atlantic article Today I hear a murmur of surrender--- A shifty whisper from the cutting edge Of vicious tongues (sword-sharp with virtue’s splendor) That cursed the cautious with a poisoned pledge To ruin all who shunned the peddled...

. The Return of Trump No matter how you try to stop Don Trump __He always will come back. __He’ll lie in wait then jump __In tiger-like attack. You put him in a box that’s wrapped in chains __And throw him in the sea, __And yet despite your pains __You...

. The Last Man on the Moon for Gene Cernan My gaze was set toward the Western sky, To see if I could see him flashing by, I’d never felt so glad to be alive, With my model of the mighty Saturn five. With “Countdown, engines on you’re good to...

. Lullaby of New Mexico, Part Two Part One can be read here. Duerme Papi---Dad, it’s time to rest. I smooth your blanket here at Desert Sage And look with worry at your wrinkled face. My calloused hand adjusts your thin-white hair. You fall asleep to one of your CDs---...

. No Extra Lives While all his friends were learning skills To gain them wives or pay their bills, John fought with monsters on a screen, Got knighted by a game world’s queen, Amassing troves of digi-treasure That bought eight bits of gaming pleasure. But as the habit lasted longer,...

. Our Superman Porfirio Landa (1925–2022), one of the United States Army’s longest surviving World War II veterans The modest glory of this veteran Began when he was born a Mexican, Baptized before the State declared grim war On Catholic faith Cristeros battled for. Church doors were locked next time...

. Mother Nature Is Bipolar Mother Nature is bipolar. She needs to take a pill. One minute she's a blowhard. The next one she is still. I've seen her hail in April. I've seen her snow in May. I've seen her sun in treetops, Before blowing them away. When she...

. Lest We Forget     Today’s the day I cast my hard-won vote   (My voice and choice, my prized ancestral gift)   Bought with guts and grit to stop the bloat  Of greedy grifters known to scheme and shift  Their stance to fit the wants of those they ply  With charm that cloaks their freedom-stealing lie.     Today’s the day I nod to hosts of ghosts  Who paid for liberty...

. Hell Rising They’ve come with a purpose: to numb or perturb us __By infecting the already-sick, And with them they bring a more tangible thing: __A nice carrot along with a stick. They live in The Palace of Envy and Malice __And demand that we pay our “fair share”;...

. Who's Behind the Door The quiet words, the trembling lips, __we’ve heard it all before. Keen questions dwell within our minds, __like who’s behind the door. We saw the lights, heard voiceless words, __asked, “Is there any more?” The speaking’s frail and actions flail, __but who’s behind the door?...