Poetry

. 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...

. The Qua-Train In four lines stood iambic feet To board the quatrain from the street. The poem made of quatrain cars Passed each four lines like music bars. Each quatrain car rolled down the track, First the front, and last the back. Now that all the poem’s said, The...

. A Formalist Poet at the Open Mic Part I: Before the Reading by Daniel Kemper A two-story, square shaped “U” made of corrugated tin. Two theaters, a haunted attic. A gravel lot with reserved parking spaces—handicapped—and unofficial reservations. Some are simply old. Nestled deferentially in the corner, the SPC,...

. Old New England Logging Camps My father-in-law oft told me tales __Recalling logging camp— Tough men who cut gigantic trees __In winters cold and damp. Nearly all were bonded Frenchmen, __Who hailed from old Quebec. And pledged that when the winter passed __Back homeward they would trek. Formal schooling...

.\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8of3uhG1tCI . Uncle Joe B inspired by “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B,” sung by the Andrews Sisters, lyrics by Don Raye and Hughie Prince He was an up an’ comin’ kid from down New Castle way. The game of blowin’ hard he knew just how to...

. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zCa93J600VM?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gbbU83mrtis?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mgYQHhoBR9g?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K5bwONw9M-E?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eqtlO3hbcxQ?feature=share . . 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...

. Ovid in Tomis Relegated, scorned, I languish here in this drab town. Unwitting, I caught sight of what must not be seen; my wretched plight, harsh exile from my laureate lettered sphere. The ancients tell of Actaeon, a brash voyeur, ravishing virgins his sanguine princely right. I think my...

. State of the Apple Pie I stepped into the finest restaurant, A destination nearly all would want, My expectations firmly in the sky, From its long famous, luscious apple pie. A pie I’d savored since I learned to crawl, Jam-packed with apples, three full inches tall. OK, the fat...

. Poetry in the Image of God Conjure and weave a calligraphic spell Within the wells of mystic words and themes, And bring to life a voice with tales to tell Of life and death, of laughter, love, and dreams. Conceive, command, contrive, connive, cajole From sweet romance or willful,...

. A Fitful Veil A wanton wave of pallid hail descends from ashen skies. Its drifts are carried through to every nook and peak by lofty winds; abundant, jutted, powdered sheets imbue terrains with bright white hues, as structured flakes display arrays of lustrous reveries. This frigid reign persists. A...

. The Light Under the Door for GGG, in lieu of roses On school days, dark on winter mornings, my mother rose Before us all and in her quiet way imposed Rough order on our little world. I’d lie listening To kitchen sounds—the kettle filled, the openings And closings, porridge...

. Thoughts Upon Hearing of the Taiwan Earthquake Big earthquake in Taiwan. My first concern: “Will China take advantage and attack?” Why did that cross my mind? Where did I learn To think like that? My brain is out of whack! My wife reminds me that someone we know Is...

. The Mock Savior's Song also known as the Mobster Quadrille, after Lewis Carroll Saving critters from extinction (lonely lovelies, prone and rare) Is our calling. Gaia told us, “Save the toad with tufty hair!” Our imperiled fuzzy buddies are our busy destiny--- Help preserve these coiffured croakers---will you come...

(Advertisement) Request for Papers---PAMLA 2024 Conference Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association . Deadline for Proposals: April 30, 2024 . Conference Details The conference will be held from Wednesday, November 6 through Sunday, November 10, 2024 at Margaritaville Resort, Palm Springs, California. . Description: The standing Poetry and Poetics session...

. Rudolf Hess Deputy Führer found strangled at Spandau Prison, August 17, 1987 Odd winter whirlwinds occupy my brain With telepathic messages I cherish. Dynamic years! Mein Führer cannot perish When august frenzy storms my mind’s terrain, But fever may mean poisoned food. I sensed it. These Allies once starved...

. Soviet Tactics I Witnessed and Still in Use Today by LTC Roy E. Peterson Outside of the Chinese Communist Party, which itself uses forms of capitalism to advance its economy, people today tend to think of communism as an antiquated bogeyman. They point their fingers elsewhere: statism, totalitarianism, corporate...

. Sapphire Space and Eden Green "...and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself." ---Exodus 24 "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" __---Revelation 21 O Son of God, this ground...

. Hymn to Evolving Faith after C.S. Lewis Lead us, Liberalism, lead us Past hidebound inerrancy; Prick us with your needle, bleed us Of our elders’ certainty (Mired in knowing they keep sowing Biblical idolatry). Culture always is evolving; Paul is often obsolete. Who would look to him for solving...

. Glimmers Alone in rumination, distant dawn Eludes the desperate aching of my eyes, My senses blunted by a cheerless pall, Upon a cratered landscape, dazed hope lies. . Unbridled chaos there for all to see In unrelenting waves from every side, Strong breakers pound the ever-shifting shore And leave...

. April Fools’ Day is Dead I’m sad to say this merry day’s no more. It died alongside guts and grit and glee. Insanity (now writ in twisted lore) Makes plain to those of saner brain that we Are spinning in a sphere that’s so bizarre No prank could match the...

. The Emmaus Highway Each day we wake up and we walk to Emmaus, escaping what has, and what may yet dismay us. Returning each evening downcast and defeated. Arising again as this loop gets repeated. We start every journey with thoughts that are clouded, and inch down the highway...

. He Knows Our Hearts The Sunday flocks who sing as glory pours Through fancy glass as lusty organs play, The loner bowed in prayer behind closed doors, The lonely who have lost their will and way--- __He knows our hearts    ____He hears our call   ______He loves us...

. Who Believes in Easter Anymore? "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God...

. Peter’s Story a villanelle I’m standing by the Sea of Galilee And Jesus calls for me to come along With James and John, the sons of Zebedee. I’m with Him as He sets the prisoners free, Feeds the hungry, and instructs the throngs. I’m standing by the Sea of...

. Once Once he was finally dead; once just a piece Of meat nailed to the planks of scabrous wood; Once suffering had done all that it could To him before it ceded him release; And once it seemed that evil no surcease Or reasonable limit understood And thereby the...

. Stations of the Cross . I. Pilate Why, Pentheus, Cambyses, why, Why, Antony, in days gone by, Did you the sons of gods defy? __Well, I your madness share. __Barabbas I shall spare __And must the dread abide __Of Jesus crucified. . II. Disciple  Hence leads the long and...

. The Lilacs on Good Friday Tumult of noontide long ago dismissed— The rent veil unremembered, and the sun Relit, though shrouded in a new eclipse Of rainswept sky. The garden seems to shun That spectral agony of blood and bone; Consigns itself instead to placid sleep Untroubled as the...

. The Lamb “And suddenly there was with the angel a heavenly host saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” ---Luke 2:14 The lamb looks up and sees a light, a star Or something heavenly, a highness like A lamb’s best dreams.  He...

. The Book on Lefty McBane McBane could do no wrong—from his debut, late in his rookie season, right on through his grandfather’s retirement. Every pitch he threw gave batters a decided itch to hit ... the bar. His curve was arrow–straight, and quicker on its journey to the plate...

. Distress Signals an extended villanelle Distressing times are coming round again, And all the talking heads now flap their jaws To say it isn’t if, but rather when.— There is a dearth of good upstanding men, And far too many convoluted laws; Distressing times are coming round again, As...

. Reading of Mark F. Stone's poem "The Wisdom of Ric Edelman" by Ric Edelman on his show available here: https://www.thetayf.com/blogs/this-weeks-stories/the-wisdom-of-ric-edelman . The Wisdom of Ric Edelman Tush on the sofa and heels on the hassock. Buying a fancy car, new or a classic. Drinks with umbrellas, imbibed on the...

. Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus I think this velvet dinosaur is fine. Please wrap it up. Does this store still take cash? On Tuesday when my daughter’s son turns nine, This T-Rex really ought to make a splash! Young Jack will throw his arms around my shoulders And then he’ll holler...

. Imagine Mountains For the Sesquicentennial of Robert Frost's birth (March 26, 1874 – March 26, 2024) "Let chaos storm! Let cloud shapes swarm! I wait for form."  ---Robert Frost, "Pertinax" Imagine a mountain’s patient peaks revert to wave-rinsed shoals of sand, that limestone’s undulating streaks or slate stairs crumbling...

. The Line For Ashes Line is long and moving slowly: Step by step, the high and lowly, Halt and limber, shorter, taller, Young and elder, greater, smaller, Plainer, fairer, pallor, color, Father, daughter, mother, brother Creeping toward the mark of dead then Signed across an offered head, an Ember...

. You Do You God’s willing to let you do you despite the fact it pains Him to since you’ll go where you should not go, and do much worse than stub your toe then, when you do, you’ll curse His name although it’s you who you should blame. You’ll ask how...

. Deep State Anonymity Ah, the devil. His motive? To deceive __And for us to deny, To dismiss him as simply make-believe. He loves attention. Like All Hallows’ Eve: __Witches and goblins fly As all his demons snicker and high-five. Malevolent plots he rolls up his sleeve! __Incognito and sly!...

. Shades of Vesuvius Seldom does one see horror in a tranche De vie like that in Herculaneum And Pompeii, when a sudden avalanche Of heat and ash ruptured your cranium (After you met your death in frenzied throes), Leaving your brain a shriveled clump of glass And you stiff in a...

. Limerick Perhaps it’s a marketing trick, or else Iceland’s taking the mick; __for what kind of fun __is an Easter Day bun when the cross has been swapped for a tick? . taking the mick: making fun tick: check mark . . Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir,...