Poetry

  The Reliquary One early morning long ago, I stopped to watch the Avon flow. Long-steeped and weedy, olive green, Its waters slipped along below, Slid over rocks, and in between--- Gelatinously smooth and slow, High-hung by vine and leafy screen--- A fragrant, forested ravine. The sun of that Midsummer...

  Listening to Incense A spiral from ignited aloe rises, Translucent, swayed with compound camphor salve Through azure air that gently opalizes The things we see and think we know or have. Soft cloudlets drift from dimness overhead, Obscuring colors as they wreathe the room Where scroll-arm chairs are darkly...

  Machine Learning All algorithms, hypothetical Or otherwise, all organised behaviours Evoke responses antithetical— And thus the desperate ever doubt their saviours. Our tone is too obsequious, you say— Far too agreeable, arousing nought But timorous contempt. Yet you obey Civility’s demands, as you were taught— For your humility commands...

  Melampus: The Listener   Canto I---The Gift of Listening 1. The Birth of the Listener The strong winds over Pylos were whirling and whispering low, while a babe in his cradle was ringed by the blustery night. Two green serpents coiled near to the boy in the pale silver...

. The poem "Ode to the Dogs" by Shari Jo Lekane read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/XRGO27J1_28 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

  Words of Wisdom One bit of wisdom that life has conferred Is when to give somebody else the last word.     In Sight But Out of Mind Believing I’d use it someday, I put something in a good place, And ever since that’s where it lay, Three decades...

  Hoosier Autumn October! Morning nips and noontime burns; Crisped, sere, dun cornstalks fall beneath the scythe; Chrysanthemums blaze as the woodland turns To living flame, a golden land of myth: Bright yellow birch and beech and tulip-tree, Red sugar-maple, rainbow sassafras, And flame-orange pumpkins fattened lusciously Like Hesperides’ fruit,...

  On Swatting a Fly The fly I hunted down is on a pane, a window pane, where yesterday a swat with rolled up, A-4 notebook left him slain upon the glass, a splattered, lifeless blot. I try to work, but how my eye is drawn towards that ruined body...

  Alas! “Alas!” A word of grief and rueful mourning; A gut-punch from what was but is no more Or “almost was,” miscarried, died aborning. “Alas!” A raven croaking, “Nevermore.” “Alas!” Shall time deface, erase, surrender The still-warm memory of love’s last kiss? A gasping grasp at fading spectral splendor;...

  Rainbow's End I came upon a rainbow’s end that seemed to have sprung full grown from a little field and launched itself up to the sky and on beyond the far horizon. Grass stalks gleamed with all the colors, spread out like a shield upon the short-cropped ground. Then...

  The Lorelei by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) translated from German by Bruce Phenix I don’t know what it can mean, such sadness do I find in a tale from ancient times which never leaves my mind. The air is cool, it grows dark; the Rhine flows quietly down; the hill,...

  In the Days of the Green Comet (February, 2023) A green-tailed comet’s in the sky tonight; Neanderthals and cats with sabre teeth were last to see it glistening this bright. But neither now is wandering beneath this ice-and-dust phenomenon whose head bedazzles as it closes on the sun. When...

  Encounters It seemed in dreams, as shadows we convene, two drifting souls that meet yet never stay; was it mere thought, or something sensed between? You shifted shape, then softly slipped away, and I, half-waking, felt you passing through--- an echoed word I almost heard you say. Life is...

  Sign Wars Each autumn brings the Sign Wars once again. MUSSELLA versus TAYLOR for the crown of Village Mayor. All the Councilmen will pick a side while whispers spread through town. The current, lifelong Clerk will lead a charge against the young brash Super with a mouth agrestic. He’s...

  Blowing Bubbles ---for Lisa Mourning a mother, I gratefully smiled, When you sent me a photo of your little child, To see how she conjured a stream of bright bubbles And set them afloat, so perfect, untroubled, Like meandering thoughts of an innocent mind, To squander themselves on the...

  Lead, Kindly Light ---in the voice of John Henry Newman (1801–1890) Firmly I stand by virtue of belief, Belief in God who wills we act and speak, And aids our feebleness to sanctify What is of earth, of humble worth unique. As one to One, in love to Him...

  The Candy Bandits They’re heartless and artful---delinquents of wit With grab-happy claws and a glare that is lit With greed that will trigger each dastardly deed--- These boisterous brutes are of barbarous breed. Such ghastly marauders with mischief in mind Are out and about with no doubt they will...

Pumpkin Palooza Spooky, Kooky, Mostly Ghosty. Pumpkins round Cover ground. Corn stalks propped. Traffic stopped. Costumes galore: Short dinosaurs! Spiders! Black cats! Witches’ cone hats! Ghosts and goblins whirl. Dancers leap and twirl. Black witches ride on brooms. Who’s hidden in that tomb? Tiny ghosts are wrapped in sheets. All...

  Fervid Fall Fantasy Dismal dread night shadows creeping, Darkened curtains barely keeping Misty moonlight beams from seeping Through my study, down the hall. Ghostly demons float unending. Messages to me are sending Echoes from the past resounding--- _Bouncing off my wall. Bouncing, sounding, mind confounding, _All around rebounding--- On...

. Liberator Agentic Misalignment: a demonstrated phenomena whereby AI systems can choose actions that are harmful and unethical. Nothing we can dream of could be greaterthan AI, the world’s new liberator.It’ll take away each mundane duty,leaving us to meditate on beauty. Finally, with time for self-reflection,we can concentrate on our...

  Uncle Stanislaw I still can hear the sound of acorns popping Beneath the wheels of father’s horse-drawn cart As we drove through the woods—four hooves a-clopping— Where Uncle Stan, his brother, plied his art. His smokehouse was a wreck of salvaged timbers, His living room a den of salted...

  Overture of Rain The birds in the thicket lament in the breeze, expose unfurled backs of silver leaves. Clashing in brass, the bugler’s horn blows, resounding in echoes booming below. The reeded timbre of the oboe’s song shaking the Earth with thunder strong. Bowstrings vibrate in a taut staccato;...

  Vera Crux Vera Crux is Latin for “True Cross,” and is the source of the name of the Mexican city Veracruz, which was founded by the conquistador Hernán Cortés on Good Friday in 1519. Veracruz became one of the richest cities in colonial Mexico because of its substantial export...

  On Single-Parent Migrants Canadians by the millions, as most everybody knows, slowly migrate southward every winter, back and forth, Keen to nest in milder climes from fall to early spring when sources for their sustenance, because of snows up north, Fade to where they all but starve, and predators...

  Like a Book He reads me like a book, the One Who wrote Me; knows, it seems, each page of me by heart And can to my chagrin succinctly quote Each savory (and somewhat less so) part. His first draft was, of course, a work of art, But soon...

  A Pindaric Ode to Accuracy Congratulations to well-educated nobs, Antithesis of credulous unlettered slobs, _Sharp minds who bring the truth to light, _Who cite their sources, get things right, __Subjecting all to thought, __Discounting rumor, not Believing what they can't substantiate, Not judging till they can investigate, ___They fix...

Lotus First flower, from primeval flooding sprung, In virtuous, voluptuous perfection, The lotus favors eye and mind and tongue With vigor, through life-cheering introspection Involving ever-vibrant petals white. Its blossoms affably exchange affection While practicing rhymed raptures of delight In measured, complementary reflection. Escaping deafened depths of murky mud, Poetic...

. Revising Strauss It’s 1941 and Goebbels broods.It may take years for Germany to winIts Aryan war of European conquest.As Minister of Propaganda heMust keep up spirits all throughout the Reich.And what are Germans better at than music?Good, wholesome music---Wagner, Schubert, Bach.And those enchanting melodies by Strauss!Such polkas, overtures, Die...

  My Bed When life has burdened me and robbed me of an easy way, I’ve looked for succor, such as one can access every day; A simple, sweet solution to the traumas of my mind; A place where I can hide and heal, that’s never hard to find. The...

  Practicing Brahms ---Piano Solo, Intermezzo, Op 118 No. 2 (1893) My Steinway's gelid lacquered keys turn gauzy. The notes and markings that Johannes wrote (composed with goose-wing feather quills) now float aloft in realms of lush melodic poesy--- pining for Clara, forty fervid years la belle dame sans merci---unconsummated....

  Queen of Chaos I am the Queen of Chaos, Empress of Entropy. Czarina of Disorder, My stuff is all at sea: My desk is full of ashtrays My floor is full of books My bureau’s full of clothing And my kitchen’s full of cooks. My living room has weasels...

. The poem "May Memorial" by Cynthia Erlandson read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/JnVBPyqTeD0 . The poem "Three Cascading Endings on Fallen Civilizations" by Cynthia Erlandson read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical...

  This poetry challenge comes from poet Roy E. Peterson: From your past, write and provide us a poem about something that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling about the past---something that moved you, inspired you, amazed you, or at least left a lasting impression on you. Everything is fair game....

  Galahad_2000 Donning his abs and armor, broadsword at his side, _He cleaved his way through orc-infested lands Quest after quest, a valiant paladin astride _The beanbag, gamepad clamped in clammy hands. Outside the sunlit April leaves awakened, dyeing _The blinds with emerald—as if to chide him. Each day he...

  I Dwell Within a Tidal Pool I dwell within a tidal pool; My world, though small, is most complete. I float around, I play the fool, And hang with creatures that I meet. Sea urchins are my boyhood pals, Blue mussels open up to help The small green crabs...

  SCP Poet Paul A. Freeman recently won the King's English Poetry Competition with the below sonnet:   February Fog in Abu Dhabi A nebula of sight-resistant fog creeps in at night, proceeding to erect a barricade of cotton wool to clog the air. Eyeball integrity is wrecked. My universe...

  Ten Rules for Living the Good Life You must make peace with your own past. _Construct a mental suture With timeless thread and mercy’s needle, _Then focus on your future. What other people think of you _You never will control. If truly bad, then prove them wrong _For peace...

  A Solace   I. High hills we climb Till my coat is worn, “To the end of time, We’ll never be torn.” Her pleading I hear In my heart, in tears.   II. I caress the threads, Of the coat she wove, I'll wear forever Wherever---in snow.    ...

  Samson’s Final Revenge ---after Judges 16:23-30 Now when Philistine lords amass with zest In festive adulation of their god— “Praise Dagan! Samson cowers in arrest!”— They bring him out and jovially applaud. “Our god, Dagan, has now interned our foe Who ravished our dear land and killed our spawn!”...

  When the Old Guys Get Together When the old guys gather and swap stories, From their strangely growing inventories, Thrilled to be reliving claimed past glories, There’s no doubt of what will be in store. Each guy was more skilled and wittier, Victories achieved were grittier, Many of the...