Culture

. 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...

. Camena Interrupta The measured words of poetryRise round the mystic sphere,Sift through the dirt or sing divineIn strains that soothe or sear. But now the stanzas halt and freeze:Eternity is stilled—The dog looks guilty at the doorThe poet’s muse is chilled. Goodbye “the crescent in the sky,Reaping a horde...

. . A Happy 80th Birthday Wish for the Poet's Father I wish for you the golden years Odysseus had Retired from life’s long strife, a sort of Trojan War: The births and deaths were bloody fights, some good, some bad; And there were far-flung journeys bringing more Adventures than...

. Ballade of Pride They’re a proud people. —The Frugal Gourmet Of every group whose food he shows, this Doctor of Diet, this Frugal Gourmet, this chef whose goodness simply glows and who doesn’t know there’ll be hell to pay, we need not ask just what he’ll say, for he...

. After Observing the Working Methods of a Very Important Artist The aging fool stands deep in dirty water, Cradling the carcass of a native fowl To his bare chest like a tired, suckling daughter. He wears cheap sanctimony like a cowl. With eyes closed tight in solemn meditation, He...

. Three Literary Smiles . Hemingway’s Oopsy “Up in my room the rain was coming down Heavily outside on the balcony.” I didn’t know if I should smile or frown At such a dissonant cacophony. It’s in Farewell to Arms by Hemingway Right at the start of Chapter Twenty-Two. It never should...

. I’m Not Too Keen On China Nowadays I’m not too keen on China nowadays: The moves they’ve made against Taiwan of late; The way they treat their citizens, negate Their freedoms, torture, torment, subjugate; And heaven help the soul who kneels and prays! The tactics used are such that all are...

. A Prophecy the East Fulfilled The year 1999, seventh month, From the sky will come a great King of Terror: To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols, Before and after Mars to reign by good luck. ---Nostradamus, Century X, Quatrain 72 Falun Gong was banned...

. Self Defense When he pulled out his knife I thought I had No choice so I pulled out my gun and shot Him twice, then ran the streets for miles, too glad That he lay there dead and that I did not. I got discovery in jail and read...

. To Serve and Protect Of all the events that fill the history of quiet, little–known Uvalde town, there cannot be a greater tragedy than that which gave it sudden world–renown. The dreadful act, so horribly malign, extends the sickening flow of children’s blood that drenched both Sandy Hook and...

. Apology I’m sorry if you feel like you were hurt. Not everyone in life is going to be As nice to you as you think you deserved. And he sometimes got physical with me, Too---I'm no victim. So he was “mean” To you---so what? One time he burned your...

. Keep Calm and Carry On! “UK heatwave: Temperatures to rise to 41C amid extreme heat warning” ---BBC News  “The first Red Extreme heat warning issued” ---British Met Office The BBC is roaring like the sun With news of scorching days of blazing heat. All burning thoughts of giddy, gleeful...

. The Pale Rider Comes “So then give to Caesar what is his,” our Lord and Master said, __“And to God give what is his---your sacred soul!” Yet despite these limits placed on him, with drawn sword dripping red, __Bloody Caesar comes to seize complete control. He comes wearing many...

. Sumo's Winning Ways Fierce frontal impact clenches victory In less time than an untrained eye can blink, But connoisseurs of sumo’s treasury Prefer discriminating knack. They wink When force through fine technique shows mastery. Drive into the opponent, pull him close, Then push him, force him, thrust him, crush...

. In the First Degree Had the bullet’s trajectory veered half a foot to the right, It might not have extinguished the life of this innocent youth Who had just turned eighteen. The Grand Jury moved fast to indict The young killer. Detectives parsed statements to get at the truth....

. “Hosanna,” All The Children Cried “Hosanna,” all the children cried, And Christ was pleased to open wide For them his hands and feet and side, The devil’s will to override. “Hosanna,” all the children cried. Beneath the cross the devil writhed, But in his death throes still he lied...

. The Automated Phone System I called up a business But no person answered, I got a phone system With multiple options Some rather confusing; I kept getting transferred, Spent most time just holding; Then after ten minutes I got disconnected. . . He Thought He Was Charming You sure...

. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Odes, II.8 “The first thing we learn about Barine is that she is in the habit of making and breaking promises (of love and fidelity, presumably) and that she is never punished for her inveterate perjuries. She is evidently to be imagined as having sworn some...

. A Hopeless Rondelet  All trust is dead, Killed by lies in love’s disguise. All trust is dead--- It’s buried in a sigh of dread. Its memory spills from mourning eyes. Can Truth rekindle sunless skies? All trust is dead. . . A Shrill Villanelle  My manner’s far from mild,...

. In the City The city, where the liars are in charge And all the criminals are still at large: The just have been imprisoned, brought to heel: Grateful as dogs, oh, how we rush to kneel For the littlest favor, the smallest crumbs we get From its machine, the...

. Back in My Day I tested my courage---well, no, not really. The heroic stuff had been done before. My generation was all touchy-feely. It was our parents who’d fought the war. The post-war population bulge: I have to admit we did pretty well. No combat stories to divulge, No...

. Free Verse Let us free verse from "free verse" while we can;A pile of branches does not make a tree,And fruit squashed on a plate does not make jam.While words strung down a page can never be,As eloquent as structured poetry.Let us free verse from "free verse" while we...

. America’s Most Mysterious Monument The first of the anonymously funded Georgia Guidestone’s guidelines: “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000” “The world population is over 8,000 million. According to the Georgia Guidestones, this figure needs to be reduced to 500 million. In other words, the population needs to be reduced by 95%---15...

. The Pigeon Once upon a workday morning, sleepy-eyed and loudly yawning, I was splattered without warning by a pigeon from the shore. At my half unconscious stupor, this unpardonable pooper, Took his aim just like a trooper from a raging bloody war, And he peppered me with pigeon poop...

. O Say, Can You See?   Let’s think as we sink into star-spangled wonder, Intolerable acts were the reason to fight Each pillaging bully who’d brazenly plunder The treasures of those who were drawn to the light. Let’s ponder the journey, the valiant history Of pilgrims in search of the...

. Anew Whisk me away to the mountainside. __Spirit me far to the glen. For I long to find that secret place __Where I can begin again. All of us long at least once in our lives __To flee from all that is known. But most of us die with...

. A Ballade on Being Commissioned  Twixt Florence and the Holy See Of every artist you could hire You thought it meet to torture me. You gave no weight to my desire But quick to wield the Church’s ire Commissioned me to paint for you And mount a scaffold ever...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHUuaA8DKiQ . On Palestrina's Music Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, Ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. Psalmus 41:2 As the deer desires springs of water, So my soul desires you, O God. Psalm 42:1 __Like the deer who longs for water ____And finds a living source, Listeners...

. Groomers   The words the school kids speak are not their own--- Fiends mold the untrained brain till every thought Is hostage to their noxious sexual drone. Their toxic tongues are rife with hype that’s wrought To prey on pliant minds and sully souls--- To torture and contort truth to...

. On Rupert Sheldrake’s Morphic Fields Are we just rats within a maze? Perhaps. But then perhaps there’s more to rats than what We know. Take for example rats completing A water-maze within a lab at Harvard. At first they're slow, of course, but soon they change. A drive to...

. Abiding Senescence My energy and physical abilities Will not again be limitless as once they were. To those more qualified to ponder facts like these, Without a single qualm or doubt I will defer. They tell me I should try to get more exercise, To do my best to...

. Advice from the Untalented They smugly said I’d never make much money From playing with my words and making art, That it would be a waste to spread such honey So any fool could tear the thing apart. “Forget it! You have always been contrarian. There’s money to be...