Culture

. Split a line from a nursery rhyme and use the halves to open and close a poem. Post yours...

. Part II of the Coffee Trilogy. (Part I can be found here.) In the beginning was the Word, and...

. Today I spied you, red in beak and claw.You perched atop a roadside pole to dineOn scaly prey with...

. There once was a very big lie, That our country refused to deny. While we did what they told...

.. Whoever said that change is good Is living in a purple wood Behind a tree behind a bough; A...

. Set your priorities—don't be uncouth—know the Secret to happiness lies in this truth: “Though the Sum of all things...

. Six hundred years before Old Sarum fell, the might of Rome faced down the Gallic tribes on earthen ramparts...

.   "To indulge in hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian tergiversation is not to show your erudition: rather, it is to be superficial.” ---Steven...

Compiled by Roy E. Peterson Readers are encouraged to add other great poets' and writers' epitaphs in the comments section...

. One Fate Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 Shall I portend, and shall I explicate What eyes can see themselves, ere they go...

. Prayer Of people who pray, Routinely or not, He wonders what the case is. Are they of belief Prayer...

by Michael Curtis When next you float down the Yangtze River through Jingzhou City, likely you will notice Guan Yu,...

. "I Lived and languished.” —Andrei Platonov by "Weird” Ace Blues Last year we learned th’ Empire struck back with...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5FdfL8sVRM Like Abelard and Heloise Like Abelard and Heloise This woman has the gorgeous mind. Her touch of tenderness...

. written while walking out my front door You weren’t born with that thing on your face, So look in...

. Vaticination  Sibylla says, Fear archers of immunity! Beware the vanguard shock troops sharpening double tongues, Whetted with grave authority...

. The Tale of Governor Do-as-I-Say-Not-as-I-Do-som It’s funny how Democracy In many states now colored blue Produces rank hypocrisy, A...

. We’re poets first-and-foremost and agree that meter, rhyme and rhythm oft are spurned; the plethora of poetry we see...

.  Brush with Shame In reference to “Couple accidentally paints over $500,000 artwork,” Ben Cost, New York Post, 4/3/21 The...

. Themistocles Athens, Greece, 483 B.C. “Barbarians loom upon the coast—dark clouds. Athenians see them, but don’t think they’d pour...

. This poem is commemorating the peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners for freedom of belief, in Beijing, on...

. The gaffe-prone Duke of Edinburgh has died, who asked if native Aussies still chucked spears and told some Brits...

. Martyred daughter of a libeled Czar, You for whom St. Basil’s bells have rung, Condemned to die dishonored and...

. Bardolatry He boasted an iambic ear, That playwright with insight, Shakespeare; Yes, Measure for Measure He’s given much pleasure With Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. The...

. A Eulogy for Justice It looks like we got justice for George Floyd Because of the techniques that were...

. A Chemistry Lesson There was a time she pined to be a boy, Around the age of six or...

. The Odyssey of a recovering patient of the Orthopedic and Spine Specialists (OSS) hospital in York, PA; January 2019....

. . On a Starred Night derived from a George Meredith poem On a starred night, Prince Lucifer uprose; From...

April is National Poetry Month. On this occasion, take words about poetry from a famous poet, or anyone else you...

. Sestina 276 On the night of April 14-15, 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students were kidnapped from a high...

. How to Write a Formal Poem(That Doesn’t Seem Like One) abandon capitals at all times. TrustYour sense for sound...

. Horace, in your guide to painting poems, Bid a poet paint in synchrony. Carve, in sandy caves where writers...

. Dillard “Sparky” Barker Is a Doc at CDC. He’s announced a market- Driven cure for you and me. Helicaps—not...

. Is poetry that’s free as free as all That?  Surely it’s the poet who is free Or not.  He makes the...

. Though many scores were lost, those that remain May well be thought the richest heritage Ever bequeathed by one...

. Dear President Biden You act as if you were elected To spend my great-grandchildren’s money. By spending trillions you’ve...

. Isaiah 5:20---Uncancellable They often call good evil, And call the evil good. Misclassifying basics? One wonders how they could....

. excerpted from the sonnet sequence Philip, Prince of Greece and Great Britain He wore a white gold crown wherever...

. Tribute to 19-year-old Kyal Sin, known as "Angel," a dancer, taekwondo champion, and first-time voter who was killed during...

. When all guns have been banned,__When all rifles are taken,When your words have been censored,__When your life has been shaken--- When...