Poetry

. The Dark Wood: Canto I of Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns Midway along the journey of our days __I found myself astray in a dark wood, __for lost was right direction in that maze. How hard a thing to speak of how it stood:...

. A Show Tonight The young dawn pierces languid night And dips the theater in newborn light. The Shen Yun trucks are at its doors, For there will be a show tonight. The crewmen build but time is tight With staging, props, two hundred lights. They dare not let a...

. The Vice Worse than the addiction of a smoker, And harder to get over than cocaine, More drawing than to gamblers their poker Is a vice that never ends the game. It’s worse than the attraction of a hooker And easier to fall into its claws. If Death came...

. Distance Kills Distance kills. It’s always true. In time and space, In all we do. Those on our team, Who leave the sport. Those at our work Who find new port. The friends we make Who move away. The school we loved--- Though we did say… “Let’s keep in...

  Old Man at the River Old man's at the river painting the scene.He's working on boats and feeling serene.Unnoticed, a person's drowning out therewhile scents from the food shacks float through the air.A boat's coming closer, rescue is near.The drowner will live to conquer his fear.The rowboats have oars...

. If I Could but Touch His Hem ---Mark 5:25-34 Forgive me, Lord, you know it’s true That I have prayed twelve years to you, To stop the bleeding and the shame To live a normal life again. And now there is this man I hear From far-off Galilee he’s...

. Trumped by Reason Our elitists loved extolling all their virtues while controlling each dimension of all nations through new laws and regulations. The more burdensome the better, and they held us to each letter of each law while loudly screeching, and ignoring their own preaching. Each elitist thought it...

. Mr. Bluebird Your spirit rose before I spied your form. It dulled the winter sting and stilled the storm. Your warming warble quelled the bitter chill--- __A merry trill. I saw you perched upon a leafless limb--- A feathered chorister of crystal hymn. Your pristine chirrup sliced through ire...

. Winter Midnights Old numbers on the radio; Through foggy panes, a street lamp's glow; Some aircraft's feebly buzzing sound; Barks of mansion-guarding hounds; A drunkard's wrangle with another, Then quick amity—each a brother; The thought you still think well of me; These things, alone, my company. . . Shamik...

. Renaissance for Rob Salminen I am as old as I have ever been, And I've not seen all that I'd hoped to see— But every day my life begins again, And I'm as young as I will ever be. . . Lost and Found a pantoum It’s hard to...

. As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies The Bibas deaths... how do I tell this news? A mother and her sons---all blameless Jews--- Killed senselessly. My words seem desecration... For I have not one word of consolation, No explanation, nor a gift for silence When faced with ululating savage violence. No...

. Enamoured String me a strand of pure white pearls supernal, Warming my throat as quivering fingers do, Roughened but figuring tenderness eternal, My love is wholly kind, old, young, and true. Swing me sweet swirls of redolent effervescence From blossoming branches of heady magnolia sprung, Dewy ambrosia of long...

. My Heart's Desire There is one thing that I long for, _and another that I need. One essential to my soul, _the other made of dreams. My heart tries to deceive me, _wants what I can’t have. The Spirit dwelling deep within me _has a better plan. I justify...

. Howl at the River Howl at the river, cry me a moon; Blow up on a drum, and beat a balloon; Smirk like a sailor, drink like a prig’ Eat like a football, drop-kick a pig. Jimmy crack rainbow, over the corn; Internet pie, and easy as porn. Taking...

. At the Ready ---Distant Thunder, Andrew Wyeth (USA), 1961 The coming storm won’t let young Rattler lie asleep, but he’s not ready yet to wake her up. It’s quiet now but the pale sky is turning gray. He squints his eyes to take the whole horizon in. Her coffee...

. . Der Knecht An einem Teich in einem Tal, am Felsenfuß entlang, Da steht ein Mädchen ohne Schal, als Decke nur der Hang. Vorbei bin ich schon hundertmal, mit Gaben und Gesang. Mein Singen ist ihr ganz egal, als wär’ es Vogelklang. Erhellt sie nur der Sonnenschein, zum Weinen...

. Truths Be Known _A cryptical dawning _This foggy gray morning With images drifting about. _Deceptive impressions, _Opaque are the visions, Illusions of Wonder, no doubt. _Then comes a clearing, _All truths now appearing As vapors disperse to the sky. _Conceptions unveiling, _Awareness prevailing, Reality cannot deny. . . Margaret...

. Wanted: A Verse Curriculum and Pedagogy David J. Rothman discusses the curriculum of the Poetry Concentration in the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Western Colorado University, which offered a close emphasis on poetic form. He designed the founding curriculum of the Poetry Concentration and led that concentration from...

. Chasing COLAs in a Hard World COLA: cost-of-living adjustment We learned, each time we tried to file a claim, _That dealing with the Demiurge Adjustor _Takes all the fortitude that we can muster, And that the ploy of reassigning blame Is not a winning move within this game. _The...

. Mistaken Identity I never really found out who you are, I only saw what I preferred to see. I realise now it wasn’t meant to be. I thought you were my one true shining star, My cordon bleu, champagne and caviar But really you’re a lukewarm cup of tea....

. Sophisticated Stupidity Preserve the fish, defend the trees_And save the wilting daisies;Protect the coral in the seas_But kill the unborn babies.Such is the logic on displayBy science “experts” of today. Recycle and conserve the earth_For future generations,Prevent environmental dearth---_What pious aspirations!Yet underneath the verbal frills,We see extorted dollar bills....

. Margaret Brennan’s Plan to Stop Genocide “Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide" ---Margaret Brennan, February 16, 2025 on “Face the Nation” Miss Margaret Brennan just proved she is wise, and her brilliance has finally opened our eyes. She has...

. Capacity “This is too big and inexcusably Extravagant, so next time I insist We buy a smaller glass. This one will be Always half-empty,” said the realist. “You say this from experience,” replied The visionary, “But should realize That if our lot improved then you and I’d Be sorry...

. Aged Elation When reaching that age where you fear getting slow, The advent of faculties starting to go, It’s great inspiration---you can’t ask for more--- To figure out something you couldn’t before. . . Adaptation We aren’t blessed with complete compatibility. At times I’m not so sweet; you more...

. Strauss Vater Scene: Vienna, Austrian Empire: Midnight, October 15, 1844. On this night the famous musician, Johann Strauss, Sr. snubbed the professional musical debut of his soon-to-be famous son, Johann Strauss, Jr. (nicknamed “Schanni” by his relatives) at Dommayer’s Casino. Strauss Sr. had been engaged in a campaign to...

. The New York Times' Attack on Shen Yun Is an Attack on Arts and Culture by Evan MantykSCP Editor & President In the last six months or so, the New York Times has completely lost its senses and run a series of articles, many on its front page, trying...

. Scarlet Pimpernel Amassing clouds—the air still warm; But you, my scarlet pimpernel, You sense that there's a coming storm, Compress your petals, and transform To brave the current's rising swell. . The pimpernel is also called the "old man's weathervane" because it closes when there's a drop in atmospheric...

. Made from Scratch! An ever-growing-number of our adolescent children are suckled by the biased breasts of prejudice and greed--- born to persons steeped in hatred, keen to fashion soldiers built to fit in tightly with their anarchistic breed. Unaware their destinies are virtually preordained, raised by those who thrive...

. How Did You Woo Me? Let Me Count the Way You didn’t sweep in on a snowy steedClad in armor buffed until it glittered---A shining knight of bright and mighty deedClutching ribboned gifts on which you’d fritteredA wad of dosh from coffers spilling splendorTo get your dazzled damsel to...

. My Pensive Valentine Devout Love is not in the offered sweet, nor does Love proclaim in the proffered rose, nor the cliché tucked tight in a bouquet bought sight unseen, not in any of those mundane nudges and gestures, of one day, of one month, of each year, does...

. Lines for Your Valentines Without you here, my life is like A broken pencil, simply pointless. And if you tell me to take a hike, My legs won’t move, you’ve made them jointless. When I got up today I sneezed And God blessed me with seeing you. What’s that...

. Fifties Country Living Sit down with me my children, come! __I'll spin a tale or two About when I was just a kid __in nineteen fifty-two. No cell phones, televisions, laptops, __email, or internet, Connecting with each other face __to face was your best bet. Oil was for cars...

. The Potentate and the Pontiff by Joseph S. Salemi I have often argued that the formalist techniques of traditional poetry are ideologically neutral, and can be made to serve any agenda or cause. I still believe that. If the Communist Pablo Neruda, the Fascist Ezra Pound, and the High...

. Moments Matter When my daughter was just three __I took her to the zoo. She laughed and smiled and had a blast __And I myself did, too. My friends said, “Why did you do that? __She will not recall The day you took her to the zoo, __At least...

. Dog Eat Dog As cells get divided, if outcomes are guided _completely by rolling the dice, the fit must survive so their genes stay alive, _while the weak pay the ultimate price. So students of Darwin, say people who are win- _ners of this genetic roulette must all procreate...

. A Grain of Sand A grain of sand got lodged into __A little seagull's eye. He spluttered with indignant rage, __"Now I can't even fly!" And so his eye grew worse and worse, __The seagull shrieked and whined. Until one day the poor old bird __Eventually turned blind! A...

. Evensong The embers dimmed on the Pacific; _The sky a scarlet hue. One might conclude the fire seraphic--- _A seascape brushed by the muse. Some mares’ tails smudged the vista with soot _While gulls alighted on sand. The beach was wet---I’d not set foot _And desecrate this strand. The...

. A Bogus Bishop’s Prayer My prayer is not pitched heavenward _To fall upon deaf ears. It’s lashed to Earth for greater good. _It cashes in on tears. It's feathered several nests for years--- _I'm Croesus-rich and famed. I’m feasting at the public trough _And I am not ashamed. My...

. Leoncavallo Fumes at the Premiere of Puccini’s La Bohème, 1896 Damn Giacomo Puccini and his little La Bohème. How dare he bring this sentimental clap–trap to the stage? Especially after hiring me to help cut, stitch, and hem Manon Lescaut’s libretto, page by undistinguished page. And knowing I’d begun...

. Another Winter Another winter's growing old. __Another spring is coming. Another hive, gripped by a branch, __Will make its endless thrumming. Another smile's to soon emerge __From pastel white primroses. Another swallowtail will grace __Our garden with her poses. Another year for taking out __The worn clothes from my...