Culture

. Voyage Among the Ancients "Tread softly, for here you stand On miracle ground…" ---Lawrence Durrell, "On Ithaca Standing" ( 1937) The Juno anchors, docks. We disembark. Each landfall’s an Odyssean surprise. Uncanny myths have left their canny mark. These islands are ruin-studded, rocky, stark. To wander is to feel...

. Two Lyrics by Philodemus of Gadara translated from Greek by Joseph S. Salemi . V.124 Summertime has not yet cast off her buds Nor has the grape bunch turned to purple for you, The one near bursting with its maiden bloom. Already the young Cupids are at work Whetting...

. Stone’s Point of View They brought Him to the tomb and rolled me into The right position to seal in the dead, And there was nothing I could do to undo The suffocating sense of loss and dread. The bloody face they wrapped in finest linen Retained a look...

. Easter Couplets Easter’s more than just about eggs and bunnies;More than what you may have read in the funnies. Short and sweet, (although I can’t guarantee it),This is what it’s all about, as I see it: Jesus died and rose again—or he didn’t.What the Bible says is true—or it...

. Who Are You and Who Am I ---a villanelle Who are you and who am I That you fill my life with light And for me you chose to die. I have fallen from on high, I am foolish, you are wise, Who are you and who am I?...

. Emmaus We barely saw he’d joined us as we made Our way along the road, so sad, afraid, So utterly confused by what had come To pass, so unsure as to what was rumor And what was true. And we were near struck dumb To hear the fellow didn’t...

. In the Garden of the King In the garden of the King I sit beside a crystal spring. The Tree of Life shines up above Fed by God’s eternal love. The Rose of Sharon is in bloom Freely giving sweet perfume. Friends and loved ones everywhere. The King is...

. Holy Saturday "Call the Sabbath a delight." —Isaiah 58:13 His weary, soulless body needed rest, Not only pierced and physically exhausted, But racked with mental pain, the scourging test Of misbelieving judgment that accosted The Word, yet found its wandering ways the best. Disciples treating Truth as an impostor...

. Crucified  She pondered horrors of the modern age. He thumbed through piles of dusty history tomes. She craved the timeless wisdom of a sage. He chewed on clues and mused like Sherlock Holmes. He scrutinized the motives in Ukraine. She grappled with the rabble on the jab. She mapped...

. Unless . . . As un-sun darkness swallows up the day, And quake shake rends an empty Holy Place, God’s grief-strewn Via Dolorosa way Leads to a cross and Jesus’ death-stained face. For here at Calvary creation cries, As ageless faithful saints and martyrs rise To watch with wide...

. Good Friday Rain I wake and hear the rain cascade. Its cleansing drops roll down my pane; They soak the garden, bathe the glade, Refresh the grass, and swell the grain. Stretched out in bed, from stress aloof, I lie in peace, content to hear The pleasing patter on...

. . Lament for Clairac by Théophile de Viau (1590-1626) translated from French by A.Z. Foreman Sun-hallowed walls where I once loved Phillis, Sweet places where my soul knew charm and wonder, Today, beneath our wrecked roofs, just a piece Of a high-handed army's bloody plunder. Altar cloth vaporized, great...

. Poetry Legacy Superb is her poetic contribution, Unique in its design and execution. She hopes the work is widely loved and lasting— With love beginning prior to her passing. . . Restricted Lane He sees her every several days, _They talk a bit each time. As soon as she...

. "But Fruits Are Not Concealed in Them" ---Friedrich Schiller, "Breath and Depth" We hear the ancient rule: The fools think they are wise; The wise know they are fools… But who knows their own lies? The lights or shades inside Will clear or smudge the lens. However much we...

. The Hermit Curses Sharp sunrises cut white streaks on the plain, whet edges on black soil, where all at once the spirit clefts from matter, and my gains recoil when I recall your face. Not front or profiled, but the back—like some long cursed outlander on the road you...

. Curb Appeal . I. You really couldn't find a better plotOn which to build a house. The yard is rimmedIn masonry. The hedge is neatly trimmed;Without a doubt, a perfect corner lot.  There's something everywhere you look to pleaseThe eye: the mailbox post; the shrubbery;The blooms; surrounding woods for...

. Druthers I’ve never warmed to the absurd idea That I should lean toward being what I ain’t. I’m more inclined to move to North Korea Than hanker to become a martyred saint. I want to live an unencumbered life And have some say in making my own rules; I’ll...

. Ovechkin Beats Gretzky He’s the greatest at one task, it’s putting biscuits into baskets. He scores goals from awkward angles after making dekes, and dangles. He’s a hockey fan amazer, wearing blades sharp as a razor, that ensure he skates with style on past each stationary pylon. After picking...

. Cantarella Wine Rome. 1501. Lucrezia Borgia hosts Bishop Giovanni Cavalieri of the Republic of Siena. He is visiting Rome as the leader of a faction of priests intent on pressing the Church to address allegations of materialism and clerical inchastity. Cavalieri’s positions are threatening to Pope Alexander VI---Lucrezia’s father...

. Strange Blindness: A Play in Two Acts . Prologue Joseph and Jesus knew that perfect timing---and not plain, unforeshadowed proclamation---would show the deepest truth about life’s drama.Its plot twists often need a drawn-out commafor characters who need some preparationbefore they can perceive the play’s full meaning. . Act I...

. Hannah Duston She looms there, immortalized, in bronze gone blue, a puritan woman with crude hatchet cocked. Her stare is as cold as the New England dew, the blood of her captors still slick on her frock. Kidnapped and beaten, through the snow she was led, the head of...

. Spring Bloomers ---a triolet A lick of spring has kissed the air Whispering of skimpy knickers--- It’s time to toss thick underwear. A lick of spring has kissed the air. I’ll hurl my hat, let down my hair As chill will thaws and fever flickers. A lick of spring...

. The Tale of the Moon’s Reign ---an elegy Above the skies where reigns the moon _So bright in hours of gloom Lived those whose hearts no longer feel _Nor suffer and yearn to heal. We mortals hailed this sacred realm, _Where bliss must overwhelm. Their princess once found herself...

. Porphyro and Madeline: The Epilogue By Byron "Let us away, my love, with happy speed; There are no ears to hear, or eyes to see..." —John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes” _A long, hard gallop brought them to the coast; _They bribed a captain bound for northern Crete...

. Sit in Silence ---a pantoum It's pure stupidity to sit in silence. It's only idiotic to be idle. Unconscientious deeds should be derided. Decisive daily action's very vital. It's only idiotic to be idle. There's nothing worse than watching death's arrival. Decisive daily action's very vital. The opposite's a...

. Challenge: Take a well-known figure from history or literature and insert him or her into a modern-day situation. Choose any form. Choose any mood. I hope you enjoy my example below. I hope you have as much fun creating your poem as I had composing mine. ---Susan Jarvis Bryant...

. A Ceiling Fan's Life (Is Like a Man's) On wintry days, it rarely spins Except when mopped floors need to dry. Its mission, once December's in, Is just to idly hang on high And watch us squabble, cackle, cry In earthy dramas' peace and strife. This is the childhood...

. The Wedding Dress The dress, first cleaned and vacuum-packed, _Was safely stored back then, Remaining perfectly intact _And never seen again. . . The Prestigious Publication’s Poetry The words seem arbitrarily selected, And randomly presented on the page. With any meaning in them undetected, And I’m as smart as...

. Spot the Fool! ---for April Fools’ Day, 2025 . I.  Today’s the day to fox and fool. Today’s the day to flick some fuel On laughter with a cuckoo joke, A wicked lark, a wacko poke So sick Old Nick will think it cool. Today’s the day to warp...

. Worth the Wait? At last! The long-awaited, much belated Recreated digital creations Of ten thousands JFK-related CIA et alia citations. Allegations of assassinations, Congos, Argentinas, (Panamas?) Delete Allende and Lumumba, intimations; Fraudulent elections, coup d’etats. Forgotten, hidden names revealed at last; Subversions now spread out for all to see....

. Ink A lot of people nowadays adorn The spotless skin they had when they were born. While many think it’s smart to gild a lily, Dissenters deem this practice downright silly. As beauty’s in the vision of the gazer, Mistakes can be corrected with a laser. Now, when it...

. The Polish Martyrs Forever faithful to his flock, Good Father Rapacz would not flee. Steadfast he heard the soldiers knock. Devout, the priest was made to bleed. “For God I’ll suffer every loss, For I shall not renounce the Cross.” The Soviets with foul intent Did eye the nuns...

. Burning the Pieta Thoughts After Viewing Public Cremations at the Pashupatinath Temple Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal ---for Alok With tears wash fallen feet which once had stood To face a fated life with wonder and desire. Inhale the smoke and ash of flesh and wood; Breathe in the acrid...

. Dim & Blinding Lights The lights that shine from streets and cities block out all the stars at night. The dim lights of our partial science block out everything that's wise. These lights don't triumph by their brightness, but through sheer proximity. We don't prefer them for their beauty,...

. Blood Moon Eclipse (14 March 2025) The Moon’s blood red this morning as it floats within Earth’s shadow, bathing it in light refracted round our atmosphere, which coats the lunar dust in rust—a wonderous sight! Meantime, on climate change we chew the cud, the Middle East and Europe are...

. What the Wind May Do The wind’s come out to exercise today. It tests itself: how long can it exhale? With steady breath it makes the trees obey: they bend while waiting for the rush to fail. It tires of that pursuit; the steady pace becomes a series of...

. Learning Curves In classrooms smeared with monkey poop__Where questions meet deceit,She heard she came from soupy gloop---__A slab of soulless meat.Her teachers preached from thrones of bones---__They dragged brains to the brinkOf simian survival zones__That missed a vital link. Professors of the hammer tore__The wings from seraphim.They tethered lore...

. Boomerang In the chronicles of hist’ry There we see a vast array Of malicious, scheming tricksters Who themselves became the prey, Thus, confirming what the Psalmist In his wisdom once had said Of the violence of the wicked Boomeranging on his head. Haman tried his best to ruin Mordecai...

. The Unknown God ---Paul’s Address at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31) My dear Athenians, this I surveilled While passing by: you’re quite religious men! I scanned what you are worshiping, and then I stopped before an altar that regaled A god herewith: “This to an unknown god.” As to this...

. How Many Homes? ---January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires Twelve thousand lost, from stricken memories more Schools, churches, meeting places, shops and homes Of residents and others moved away, Bereaved of yesterday disastrously. The concrete evidence that life was lived In cool or agonizing passageways Lies toxic waste in space...