Culture

  It seems the art world all but missed the dart Hurled ‘cross the continent when Hassel Smith Called Jackson...

  Hark now to the yuppies’ anthem, And the lifestyle that it preaches— How we all reside on the chic...

Cumæan  Below, beyond the tiles now cave’d down, Up from the rubbled earth arose a sound Shrieking in a pitch...

Bees Are Spectacular When people talk of “bees” it well could mean Two things: the sum of separate insects or...

On the occasion of New Year's Day 2020, two poems by Damian Robin, a writer and editor living in the...

  ‘Tis late now in the balmy eve, without the slightest stir, When lighter than a hot balloon cuts through...

  by Eric Awesud Ble Adolfo Martinez, a man who hails from Ames, Iowa, was sentenced sixteen jailed-years for the...

  Three Hundred Spartans In twilight’s ash three hundred stars await As blue-black thunder roars with battle drums, Three hundred...

One Last Candle The angry storm approaches in the night, Its curdling howl is heard for miles around. The trees...

. A play in one act based on the true story of Li Zhenjun. Play by Evan Mantyk. Characters Narrator...

Palimpsest ...written in their hearts... Romans 2.15 We try, but cannot fully scrape away those ancient words engraved upon the...

  It is rare that a bill can succeed on The Hill based on only the skill of a hobbyist....

  Christmas has been canceled—it’s naughty Santa’s fault. His haughty carbon footprint has been a grave assault on melting polar...

Come to Bethlehem / Silent Night   Song and Poem by James A. Tweedie Come to Bethlehem, come and see...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA_UsvwgdQ8 Our nakedness was swaddled by the night, With Eden’s worn-out dust our feet were shod, When heaven opened...

The Feast of the Nativity ‘Twas the night before a brilliant star They roam the desert near and far, When...

Carol They come slowly—loiter, you might say, Some with olive oil splashed on their bums, Others with enormous crooked thumbs,...

by James Sale Alessio Zanelli is a fascinating poet, and probably a fascinating man as well. This is his sixth...

  For many, the gifts are the be-all and end-all: the big screen, the tablet, the Barbie and Ken doll....

  Recalling Christmas in the past: the time I mixed my drink— a cocktail, “Everything we have”… I puked at...

Sara's Prayer* Take me beyond all thought and word, where only beauty can be heard. Then silently, before Your throne,...

  Cradled in my country’s corn-rich plains, North of the river, good and fertile land, There is a certain wood,...

Childhood Conjugation Our mother tongue’s a mile-long smorgasbord where children eat for free. With giggling ease they wolf down words...

The Lonely Ghost Speaks Each night, upon the creaking stairs My footfalls make no sound As, sad and slow, I...

  Each poem below describes a phobia. Guess what the person is scared of in each. For extra credit try...

  The Winter of Our Contentment Without the winter there would be no spring, No snowdrops, crocus, scilla, daffodils, Or...

Intruders Beware If you but knew what weakness lies concealed Within this adamantine outer shell— What woes, what worries I'm...

  Manichaeus, the 3rd century B.C. founder of the heretical religion Manichaeism, addresses the Zoroastrian god Ahura-Mazda Tremble, Ahura-Mazda! Be...

An Aussie Christmas That joyous time has come to pass When summer’s heat warms man and beast, And wheaten fields...

Hating Life after Ecclesiastes 2 Within my heart I said, “Come now, and I will test your soul with mirth.”...

  In Canto 8 the poet and Dante, accompanying him, encounter the next-door neighbour, Peter, who brutally murdered his wife...

Grimm Reckonings Summary Thoughts on Five Fairy Tales: A Sonnet Cycle   Rapunzel I wish Rapunzel could have saved the...

’Twas the Night Before Christmas ’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the malls there was widespread confusion and...

. Rosemary, Cypress, Cedar, and Pine Rosemary and Cypress, and Cedar and Pine, Green waxen needles and skin of like...

Morning in England Morning in England: web and dew. The county matters not in name, nor distant city hid from...

  Rain, lapping at the windows fast, falls cold and ceaseless, painting lines of marble on the silvered glass while...

  My Adventskalender in Germany made Of paper and glitter has Heaven displayed Through twenty-four windows. Come open with me...

  Perhaps the color of your world was dun, And you sank in your couch when work was done, To...

  From cradle to the grave, From womb to musty tomb, The sanity I crave Is in a dining room...

  There Is a River There is a river that I know that flows through quiet meadowland Nearby a row...