Poetry

. Enlightened Minds Most live life unsure and frightened, bearing burdens they want lightened. Waking, working, living, dying. Wondering why they keep on trying. Until thoughts that sound so heightened come from minds that seem enlightened, and provide an explanation for our desperate situation. What they teach sounds so appealing,...

. The Barista’s Hands Surprisingly, she knew my name and used the chance to give a fleeting glimpse and catch me off my guard. I cocked my head, perused her angled pose, and stretched enough to match her risk. "You have one up on me, I think: I never caught...

. A Valedictorian’s Address at Harvard, about Claudine Gay written at the request of Brian Yapko, and in deepest appreciation of Chris Rufo, who broke this story wide open We’re gathered here to say goodbye to Harvard’s precious flower— The moving trucks are ready to clear out her little bower....

. Kintsugi  There is an ancient practice in Japan--- Chipped and broken vessels, dear to hearts, Are mended with a striking golden blend. These cracked ceramics, kissed with artistry, Have former glory honorably restored. Each gleaming seam adds meaning to their worth. This emphasis of imperfection shows The wonder of destruction and rebirth--- The value of life’s scuffs and...

. The Resistance There’s something in the way you hear __My meanings when I speak; It draws me dangerously near, __Makes my defenses weak. There’s understanding in your eyes __That shakes me with each glance; It strips my soul of all disguise __And leaves me with no chance. Your gaze...

. Ghosts: At the gate of Auschwitz Наш поезд уходит в Освенцим— Сегодня и ежедневно (Our train is departing for Auschwitz, today as it does every day) —А . Галич, "Поезд. Памяти С. М. Михоэлса" (A. Galich, “The Train. In memoriam Solomon Mikhoels) In Auschwitz, it’s cold. It is winter....

. Foothold Of hearth and home the better part is not the decorator’s art: not tasteful pillows, painted walls, or photographs along the halls, but sturdy footing, on whose rust a body steps with careless trust. One walks most surely when at home. But I have gone, away, alone, and...

. Jewish Detractors of Israel Israel’s Jewish detractors, do you experience remorse? How does it feel to be traitors? Low’s the price of your voice. Jewish self-hatred runs rampant when Israel’s under attack, Israel emerges triumphant, breaking her enemies’ back. Jewish detractors, can Israel manage without your brain cells? Yes....

. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/87O4CNfrZ2M https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ufJcOO-y7Ho?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GG9J2oEEiyY?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 lists his...

. Symbolic Expression As polar opposites these days,The liberals and conservativesExpress opinions different ways. They rarely ever are in sync,Since Liberals always say “I feel…,”Conservatives start with:  “I think….” . . Out Of Order When life interrupts my routines,It then is a rather good bet,That such change of regimen means,Some things...

. The Hunchback The belfry beckons. Once again it’s time. This is my cross, the task I’m forced to bear. “To the Cathedral! Hear the noon bells chime!” I summon all of Paris here for prayer. Monseigneur says this justifies the scraps Of moldy bread which keep my wounded heart...

. In The Beginning We’re stuck in the middle, unsure of the ending but guessing the outcome by how things are trending should make it apparent it’s foolish to frolic and cause us to worry and be melancholic. When all the signs indicate evil is winning, it’s good to remember...

. Nero Redivivus Others suppose that he was not killed, but withdrawn instead so that he might be supposed killed and that he is still alive and in concealment in the vigour of age he had reached at the time of his supposed death, until ‘he will be revealed at...

. On Turning the Page of a New Year---2023-2024 The hour-glass is almost void of sand,a rounding of the sun described in grainsthat drain away. Now little time remainsas New Year stalks the browns and greens of land.Don’t ask me with what warring tribe I stand,the sting of every squirming...

. A Prayerful Pantoum for the Perpetually Pessimistic  "We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne."  ---Robert Burns For bellyachers belching bile this year For sourpusses (huffish and offended) I’ll pray for spines of steel and hearts of cheer--- A splendid year where rifts are swiftly mended. For sourpusses (huffish and offended) For...

. New Year's Eve So swiftly tick the minutes to the close Of these twelve months, this day, and life itself! Which jars of clay will stay upon the shelf Another year, and which will break? God knows. For only He who gave us life has power To take us...

. Woke Christmas We dream of Christmas like we used to know, With Santa Claus and sleigh rides in the snow, Big families all together, super-sized, But leftist thinking has metastasized And each says, “Season’s Greetings,” like a parrot, And Frosty’s a snow-“woman” with a carrot. School bullies are excused...

. After the Stroke Aphasia: an impairment of a previously held ability to produce or understand spoken, written, or signed language, due to disease or injury of the brain. With pencil at the ready, Thesaurus for the word, Mind full of concepts heady, Profound but slightly blurred, By light of...

. Anniversary Pastoral for Benedict XVI Trustworthy Shepherd of all shepherds, hear Today’s renewed appeal in concord made For Benedict, departed now one year. That he to restful comfort be conveyed, His mourners beg from pasture, grove, and glade. Ye pastors of dejected flocks, arise And lead your sheep in...

. Mythological Limericks on Defloration . Venus and Adonis Adonis was cute as a berry And Venus was sexy and merry— __The boy said “No dice” __But without thinking twice She jumped him and popped the kid’s cherry. . Hades and Persephone Hades was hot for a missus And longed...

. They Have Our Genes They have our genes; they’re human beings, Our fifteen frozen embryos. Regardless of your disagreeings, They have our genes; they’re human beings. They must be born, by God’s decreeings, Be hugged, and play where water flows. They have our genes; they’re human beings, Our fifteen...

. An Abandoned Cemetery Pines thinly hid them on the forest floor: huge, useless molars, only three or four upright---a sign remembrance, too, had died. He climbed the rusted gate and jumped inside. Thick, unpruned brush could mask but not deny these double deaths.  But leaf-flecked morning sky gave him...

. Christmas Medley performed by Jeff Eardley . . Absent Friends The Christmas lights are twinkling on the houses all around. All we need’s a frosting and some snow upon the ground. But as this old year rattles on, and crashes to its end, It’s time to raise a glass...

. The Evening The Times Newspaper Turned Into Jane Eyre My life had become like a broadsheet,__The Telegraph, maybe The Times:The financial section---prose sober and neat;__Inflation---the yen falls and climbs. While reading this daily, and ever more jaded,__By boring discussions of wages, My newspaper tore, the ink quickly faded: __You...

. Common Currency There’s little written that cannot be said in some way that misunderstands or read as was not meant to be. There’s little heard that’s taken just as meant. There is no word confined by edges---words are not like coins, though valued nonetheless; they don’t enjoin some measured...

. I Know Them Well Don't preach to me of heaven and of hell expecting me to tremble and to cower. They're here on Earth, and yes, I know them well. I do not need to hear your church bell knell from high atop some dominating tower. Don't preach to...

. https://youtu.be/MZLhwCyQLcs . Read the complete translated text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight here. . . 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...

. At The Metropolitan Museum one good reason for the French Revolution Once at the Met, we walked the halls, and she Looked past locked doors, each shaded mystery; Then gazed in silence at a gilded bed— Gasped in delight. French fripperies! she said. Not any couch where Mama might...

. To One Outspoken for A.B. If I had but a fraction of the zeal That burns in you like a volcanic flame And rings like a war-trumpet’s brazen peal Enraptured by the truths it dares proclaim, I doubt not my own righteous rage would deal Deft, crushing thunder where...

. Christmas 2010 "Love isn't something you find.  Love is something that finds you." ---Loretta Young I hadn't given up on love. I simply thought it couldn't be. I wouldn't buy the concept of A oneness for eternity But musings passing back and forth For moons across five thousand miles,...

. Christmas Hallelujah sung to the melody of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen When I hear a song of destiny, Of peace and love and harmony, From deep within I feel an Hallelujah. When I can feel a tingling spine, A heavenly vision with earth align, Then from my soul I'm...

. The Ancient Christmas Tree A Dream Memory . The ridge out the window was blanketed white With snow that had fallen that long winter’s night. A lad of eleven, I woke to the noise Of far-away shouts from the neighborhood boys Who were rolling up snowballs and forts for...

. The Ultimate Christmas Gift “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.” ---Dr. Seuss This gift winks in the sparkle of the star That tops the twinkling tree with spangled joy __In honor of His boy--- The one who drew three Magi from afar, And shepherds from...

. Author/Composer’s Note: The noël, Il est Né le Divin Enfant (“He is Born, the Divine Christ Child”) is one of the most beloved and beautiful French carols to have crossed into the English-speaking world. For Christmas this year I have taken the opportunity to compose a new piano arrangement...

. . “Even now, in sordid particulars, the eternal design may appear.” ---T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral . Among the moan of kine and smell of sheep, The plaintive whine of fowls half-asleep, A woman in the throes of Eve’s distress (Who never chose this charge, yet answered “yes”)...

. Sleigh Rides Do Not a Christmas Make While folks down under get to ride their bicycles __And dine alfresco at a Christmas picnic, We blokes up over are avoiding icicles __And making every effort not to nitpick The ugly woolen sweaters Santa left behind. __Because we live in different...

. The Wisemen and the Shepherds after Eileen Duggan The camels’ footfalls over and around Baked dunes, through pebbled streams, on forest floors; The sages straddling humps without a sound Who’ve long exhausted scholarly word stores; Like galleons cresting glittering hill on hill, The sunburnt sailors’ wills bent to their...

. Christmas by Force The jostling beast increases the distress Of Mary whose first labor has progressed. Joseph of the donkey’s reins keeps hold; The night is clear and calm, the desert cold. In town each door rejects their urgent need, Prophetic theme for this, the promised Seed. Labor does...

. Christmas I don’t recall the tree or what we ate With sentiment Dickensian and sweet. The tree was in a Midwest way ornate; The food: potatoes certainly; some meat. The past for me gives off more light than heat And memory is nearly pure caprice: As images within its...

. . Decay What causes a relationship to fail? Decay sets in when thoughtlessness persists, when selfishness extends beyond the pale, and chances to show love are blindly missed. . Vacated houses crumbling with decay once teemed with life and families with dreams. Now in the wind, these spindly structures...