Poetry

. Watching My Children at Play in a Graveyard Laughing, the children slip between the stones Laid out in rows like cracked and crooked teeth, And tread with little care upon the bones Of those who dream of better worlds beneath Grief’s gifts of plastic flowers, faded pale. But youth...

. To Mr. Evan Mantyk, . I know you lead a busy life curating the Society of Classical Poets and I don’t want to waste a bunch of your time with some long-winded missive.  That being said, if you can spare a few moments—can spare a few moments to read...

. Jerzy and Cyla Jerzy, a Polish teen in World War Two, Arrested for suspected membership Of the resistance, faced a one-way trip To Auschwitz. There, where womenfolk were few, Labouring in a storehouse used for grain He witnessed the arrival of a crowd Of girls. One, by extremity uncowed,...

. The Devil’s Trill I.     A heavy meal and three glasses of port Weighed down Tartini when at length he rose From supper to retire. “Ah, there he goes— Tartini, feted at each royal court He visits,” said one of the guests. “Who knows, He may be finished,” came...

. The Dance __'Tis springtime _And air is a-breezin', Wafting through fair winds that blow. __The blossoms _From flowering jasmine Are waltzing along with the flow. __As vines twist _And twine in a tango, A rhumba with bees fills the hive. __The warblers _Sashay in a frenzy--- 'Tis springtime, and...

. The Knight of Monticello Everywhere and always, Jefferson read. His library stocked a sage’s daily bread. Four volumes, leather-bound, well-thumbed, perused: Don Quixote, his most peculiar muse. He understood as written, Spanish words, no episodes obscured, no meanings blurred. Delighting in that knight’s befuddled thoughts, he seemed to mold...

. . Theópneustos Greek, “God breathed” . The Word of God is absolute— __Or else, some claim, it’s obsolete. Many hold it in disrepute, __Dismiss it as myth and deceit. . I say it’s for the destitute, __For those below life’s balance sheet. Emmanuel is resolute: __He beckons to His...

. Lyrics and vocals by Evan Mantyk / guitar by Jeff Eardley . The CCP Song (CCP: Chinese Communist Party) The world ain’t got the balls to take on China And all them greedy nations wanna sign a Free trade pact that isn’t free at all— They’ve shanghaied us to...

. When the Dragon Spreads Its Wings Millennia, the Dragon stayed at home, Consumed its own, kept dissidence at bay, Until it felt a gnawing urge to roam, To make its global domination play. With Belt and Road, the Dragon stretched its limbs And made its presence known across the...

. A Shakespeare Garden Stroll Of all the blooms, I like the lily best. Might you prefer a deep vermilion rose? Well, each to earth some special good can give; Let’s glean what naturally in season grows. At dawn the tree tops whisk the milky moon, And winking Mary-buds ope...

. Shakespeare's Women for Susan Jarvis Bryant, who has a spiritual home in Stratford-on-Avon It’s April 23rd. The rain is pouring And from the Gulf the Poet can hear thunder. She sips Earl Grey. Her regal cat is snoring. The Folger in her hand fills her with wonder. She gazes...

. Exodus "The entire community of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron in the desert. The children of Israel said to them, If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when...

. Not Sonnet 18… Yet I strain in vain to sparkle like the Bard. I strive to spill slick iambs by the ream. Comparing thee to spring in my backyard Just doesn’t thrill like Will’s lush summer dream. My charmless, tuneless, sunless, bloomless day Beneath a muddy, buzzard-busy sky Will...

. Another Coffee Shop, Another Crush Another coffee shop, another crush, a moment frozen just before my turn, a chance to grin and let her make me blush, a true inscription on a Grecian Urn... The crowded room abuzz, the slamming doors, the step by step; these morning-people low like...

. https://youtu.be/ICEvMGx4WnY . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American Revolution if he lives to complete it. Though he writes history articles for American Essence magazine, he lists his primary occupation...

. On an Otter He slinks beneath, but not for long; surprise! he sprouts atop the pool to stare: his leather nostrils round, his prickled whiskers clean and cruel, with juggled bounce above the wave, a subtle charmer’s circus seal, he cranes his nimble neck to spy the inklings of...

. Climate: The Movie learn about and watch the movie here It shows there is no basis found in science for its fare.The film exposes the alarm as an invented scare.We are not witnessing extreme events in weather’s realms,nor do the levels of carbon-dioxide overwhelm.It counters claims high temp’ratures reveal...

. Rolling the Roads The Days Before Snow Plows . A major storm throughout the night __Of heavy, wet, spring snow. Nor'easter off the coast of Maine __Hence wicked winds did blow. When finally the storm was over, __A six-horse team stood hitched To a double drum snow roller; __Teams...

. The Moment I’m sure of what will happen when The tide resumes its rise again And drowns the beach: Erasing signs that we were here, The water will be sure to clear What’s in its reach. The wind will whisk, as surely, too, Our words away, both false and...

. Carpe Diem Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. (“Seize the day, trust as little as possible in tomorrow.”) Horace, Odes I:11 We live our lives, we make our plans, and then Both time and circumstances intervene To bring us back to making plans, again. Tomorrow can be only guessed,...

. The Sound of Dirt   in memory of my granddaughter, Valerie (March 30, 2020 - April 20, 2020) Above uneven chairs a canopy Protects the mourners from the blazing heat. It does not shield from view the pile of dirt That yesterday was six feet in the earth. The canopy...

. On Noms de Plume Justin Von Depathos strode across the ballroom floorTo sit with Carlton Vishizwa and Charlotte Genevieve—While I, in silent fascination, watched them from the door—The “major players” waltzing ‘round the room that Friday eve. Thurston Beaumont Jr. brushed my arm as he walked by!His 12 best-selling...

. If Need Be If lawfare prosecutors aren’t proficient, And Biden family crimes can’t be denied, The ballots that they harvest aren’t sufficient, Their policies’ gross failures they can’t hide, If truth leaks from behind the censor’s curtain, Fake news is obvious despite the show, Don’t worry Democrats---and know for...

. Snowy Egret Here where sunlight sparkle rinses Cypresses whose balding branches Shoulder epiphytic orchids (Cowhorn, spider, ghost, or scented), Tangled mangrove swamp condenses Fortress walls against surf breakage; Leggy roots and finger shoots pry Into algal mats fermented. Spanish moss like pearl-grey hair flows Over knobby knees of pond...

. . On the Altar of Our Nation I must confess it took a long, long time For Donald Trump to grow on me. He’s gruff, Undiplomatic, calls opponents slime And scum. Of course the man is right, but rough . Around the edges. Loud, uncensored, brash. Plus I can...

. The Woods Have Waited Anxiously The woods have waited anxiously for me to reappear. I left them when the snow piled high in fall of late last year. The tree trunks have another ring while branches reach for air. What changes have transpired since last fall when I trod...

. Miss Pronoun-ciation She know how Grammar Nazis be all anal. Their like theyre fancy, boring words—so banal. When grading papers, allways giving discounts— All airy like some Eiffel-tootin viscounts. “Sowhatif words ain’t spaced write? For one hole Your making a big deal—its’ hyperbole.” (Don’t judge…she goes to public school....

. Gallows Lane A lesser charge once meant the pillory, With head and wrists securely set in blocks; For just the legs and feet, a pair of stocks; Or stripped and strapped against the whipping tree, Then branded “A” as in Adultery. Offense to God or Christ the great Redeemer...

. The Proud “You are proud because you live in those high, inaccessible cliffs. ‘Who can ever reach us way up here!’ you boast. Don’t fool yourselves! Though you soar as high as eagles, and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you plummeting down,” says the Lord....

. To the Evening Breeze When I unbolt the terrace door, He enters quickly, greeting me With kisses on my cheeks and hair As if a friend who'd longed to see My face for countless centuries. As night begins to blacken more And, ray by ray, the moonlight flees, I...

. A Clock Describes People Their faces do not show the time of day But something called emotion: what that is, I've no idea; but I can tell you this: they worry as the hours slip away. “Time's a great healer.” So they like to say, and yet it carves...

. Empire “We have been nought, we shall be all!” —The Internationale “The Empire is a country for fools” — Joseph Brodsky, Post aetatem nostram That’s the Empire’s last few days. It’s been a while since it was splendid. Then rules and customs got amended. Who had been nothing got...

. Counsel from a Self-Help Guru I haven’t come here purposed with defendingYour excesses or manifold omissions,Or promise all of you a happy ending:I’m here to explicate a few conditions That bear on how you’ll elevate your game.If you repeat your most egregious errors,The end-result will likely be the sameAnd...

. Goodbye, Sweetie Oh, devil-angel, Sugar! Your time’s done! You rot my teeth, yet melt upon my tongue. I’m forced to hide my black smile from the sun; meantime, my exhalations smell like dung. You cause us cardiovascular disease and diabetes I and II, as well; you pile the flesh...

. Lone Musketeer "To be a poet in a destitute time means: to attend, singing, to the trace of the fugitive gods. This is why the poet in the time of the world’s night utters the holy … Poetry is a place marker for the gods in times of great...

. The Meat Purveyor’s Son Aesthetically impaired, she was the heir to daddy’s fortune. She was plumpish, short and much too close together were the eyes. She hankered after marriage with a man to birth at least a daughter and a son. Alas! She wasn’t what you’d call an English...

. The Snares of Simplicity by Joseph S. Salemi Liberals, Communists, and capitalists all share one dangerous and demonically-prompted trait. They want to simplify. The complexities and nuances of any traditionalist society irk them no end, and they are driven by an impulse to flatten and homogenize everything. To understand...

. Poem I of the three Quiet and Peaceful Melody Poems by Li Bai The clouds like swirling clothes, the flowers like a face, The Spring breeze brushes railings, dewdrops condensate. If you don’t see her at the mountaintop displayed, Meet there beneath the moon at the terrace known as...

. A Reverie Some days in August there’s a summer hum Of distant outboard motors, or a plane Relentlessly pursuing a puffed cloud, Echoes of past revelers, and then some More silent moments, full of what’s to come. Waves I will see crash shores, cold driving rain, Fast traffic on...

. How to Build a Monster Don’t bother digging corpses up to suture body parts; Don’t seek out full-moon werewolves or unstake vampiric hearts--- For monsters can be crafted much more easily of late: First, take a child and train him to hate everyone you hate. Then sneer at common...