Poetry

. The Sum of All Fears “Oppressive government is fiercer than a tiger.” ---Confucius Psst. Be careful what you post online.The slightest threat, even made in jest,And alphabet men will don the armored vest.Your life’s a dossier to data-mine. Your guilt’s a given, and they don’t have to proveIt. Modus operandi—strike at...

. Night Bird Singing Birdsong is a conspicuous avian vocalization often used for mate attraction. ---Basic Ornithology Long after midnight, a lonely bird sings; From tangles of tree branches, a sudden song springs. Again and again, the haunting refrain— It pierces the darkness of the black windowpane. Note follows note,...

. On Being “Chopped” On TV, watching the show “Chopped,” I see Three losing chefs go home each episode; And one who celebrates a victory For a dessert they called, “Shrimp a la Mode.” Imagine being a top-notch chef gourmet And hear your Crab Creole described as “bland.” Beneath Ted...

. The Thief He stole my song, my music;He stole my poetry.He broke my holy vesselsAnd felled my sacred tree.He climbed my garden’s rampartAnd stole amongst the leavesAnd stole away the applesof my Hesperides.Then I was left to witherWithin my walls of stone.A winter overtook meWith loneliness unknown.All my fragrant...

. Three Ways of Avoiding Reason . Ambivalence The man who doesn’t want a thing (And then he does) will tend to cling. Don’t importune him in his scene— Leave him alone, and in between Let moments that were better spent Swing to and fro. Ambivalent Is he who longs...

. The Golden Calf a rondeau The golden calf draws shouts of awe From wanton men who bray and caw. The fevered crowd ignites a fire Then cheers as flame on flame grows higher And fuels the lusts of groin and jaw. Some dress to kill, some words are raw;...

. Cantankerous Limericks on Good English Prose I love a complexly wrought sentence With phrases and colons that went thence __To make concise points __With their well-dovetailed joints And gave one no cause for repentance. Your prose should be sharp as a razor And cut through all crap like a...

. Phil S. Rogers captured these photos of a roadrunner seeking relief in his sprinkler during drought-like conditions in Texas. Phil's ekphrastic poem is below. Add yours in the comments. . A Summer Shower One hundred four degrees today, __Texas is parched and charred, a lack of rain has baked...

. Gloom at the Shore Down at the shore of Lake Ontario, Battleship gray under inclement sky, We vied for space with seagulls standing by. Call it a draw—a strange scenario. Colorless, too, an umbra to the eye, Were all the trees and other vegetation, As if they’d bring us...

. Under Which Altar Eros, at last, has left the field. The flowers on the bushes yield __to coming winter. See Lyssa, Mania, Ares, Furor, older gods (and often purer), __who now reenter. Together with Hermes and Apollo, they serve the eldritch gods who follow. __They chant the names of...

. Meditation on the Myth of Sisyphus Like Sisyphus, whose fate it is to bear A boulder on his back, and up the mound, Only to watch it roll towards the ground, As if it mocks his strain to climb the stair; So I, long burdened by the weight of...

. . Freedom high school algebra class; May 12, 1993 . A breeze blows in; it wisps my hair, And flutters papers in the air; It carries, with the scent of rose, A dream---and takes one as it goes. . Upon its wings the gentle breeze Transports sweet memories with...

. Losing Battles It seems when we declare a war, we rarely win them anymore. So, though much money will be spent by our corrupted government, the thing on which war’s been declared is very likely to be spared. A recent war was Poverty. A worthy target certainly. With trillion...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 6 Part 3 of 3: Why Are Trendy Poets Weirdos? Eccentricity vs. Creativity If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . https://youtu.be/T3uO6wnifkU . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few...

. The Tale of Wanton Ange . The Number 53: Unholy Thoughts Wanton Ange makes her appearance That’s Ange there on the 53 at Plumstead; She’s thinking once again about the vicar. “’E’s even older than yer dad!” Siobhan said; That didn’t stop her heart from beating quicker. She’s wondering...

. But What of Us? They have it all,The richest men on earth.No calculator can compute their worth.Yet doomed to fall.And it’s no secret why.For rich men, just like you and me, will die. Their wealth immense.With vast, tax-free amountsSecured in stocks and offshore bank accounts.It makes no sense,For them to...

. Younger Selves I have you leaning up against my side, Our boys and girls around us on the couch. Below the window, watching from outside, Our younger selves, age twelve, crawl up and crouch. The boy and girl each took a time machine, The dial set to travel here...

. Earthquake in Morocco---8 September, 2023 My flight to Casablanca landed late, and through an ill-chanced vagary of Fate I found myself---soon Mauritania bound--- Inside a gangway, meters off the ground, Queuing, hot and sweaty, as our plane Stood ready to accept a weighty gain. At first my bones and...

. Reflection on the Approach of Another Birthday “He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland…” ---Deuteronomy 32:10 I find, I fear, I can’t outleap, As age begins its yearly creep To center stage, the gnawing sense That time is getting shorter yet For all my failings to beget Some...

. Not Forgetting 9.11 in 2023 New York, the City that I've only seen In flashes, glimpses, footage, faraway, New York I've read about, you filter in To every cranny of America. We are your suburbs, everywhere we go. If it happens at all, it happens here. What's done to...

. . Wings of Desire: Canto I of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns . God’s glory, which moves all, sends beams to bless __each thing in space, reflected just as bright __as that thing’s worth is deemed, here more, there less. Now to that Heaven that...

. Dirge of the Dimwits  “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than   sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”  ---Martin Luther King, Jr. We’ve reached the point of no return. __We hurtled way off track. We watched the mocking clock hands spurn __Our plea to wind on back To days before the eerie roar From something scary at...

. . Blackberry Memories We’d fill our buckets to the brim--- __my brother, sis, and I--- and rush the juicy berries home __for Grandma’s cobbler pie, our oatmeal, or for Mama’s jam--- __sweet scenes from days gone by. . Those berries came to mean much more __than something good to...

. Perchance to Dream __The sky is wide, __The sea is deep, And when we’ve woken into sleep __A place to hide __Cannot be found, For probing eyes are all around. __The day is bright __And notes are sharp When chubby cherubs play the harp. __Much like the night, __The...

. Nine: A Song for a Granddaughter for a girl, M___, raised in my household, though not a blood relative 1 She is the girl who cheers my heart: “Come, Jeff. Let’s play!” she voices smart And innocent as we depart. We go outside beneath the azure skies--- She advocates...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 6 Part 2 of 3: The Problem with Prestigious Poetry Journals If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His...

. Have a Pity for War! Have a pity for war, When its friends are no more. All its chums gone away, With no one to slay, Left silent and calm, And no one to harm. It’s a destitute life In a world without strife! . . David Hollywood co-Directed...

. . A Curveball of Blackbirds “Thousands of blackbirds fell out of the sky….” —The New York Times    . Five thousand blackbirds from the sky. ____I don’t know why. Neither do they, the EPA, State U…. . Nearby and far, nobody has a clue. ____No way, no why. Not...

. Pilgrimage The strong will long to go on pilgrimage, Assembling to reclaim their heritage Of sanctity and stable permanence Embezzled by debased belligerence, For life is war, as Job so aptly said; We battle even when we are misled, But gaining ground in stout strategic march We take unrivaled...

. The Workaholic Takes Time Off Dear Partners: I apologize for having Less than normal time today. I have a wedding lunch at noon, But will stay free till then I pray. I’ll also be available At 2 if you should need to call, Before the wedding service starts, Though...

. Hymn to the Night Every thinking creature adores the light __Where twinkling stones and stars and flowers stun Senseless matter into a sense of sight __And all behold the splendors of the sun. First masterpiece of the created world, __God fashioned you but not like Adam’s wife, ____Spun from...

. A Madrigal Setting Music composed by James A. Tweedie for William Shakespeare's "Come Away" from Twelfth Night. Words by William Shakespeare are below. . . Come away, come away, death, __And in sad cypress let me be laid. Fly away, fly away, breath; __I am slain by a fair...

. On Professionally Hesitant Poets O, for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention! —Shakespeare, Henry V Old Vergil guided Dante to the place Where uncommitted, opportunist souls Swarm back and forth, through tracts of vacant space, Unfit for heaven, or infernal coals. Neither good...

. On Going Through Max's Things in memory of Max Rizley, Jr., 1956-2001 As sand slips through my fingers at the beach, Withdrawing swiftly, like the sighing tide, So slipped your life away beyond my reach, Out of my earthly grasp, the day you died. Not all the gathered wisdom...

. . Late Bloomers My last red rose-of-sharon __Is slowly curling closed, Each giant shell-shaped petal __Beginning to turn in, The five of them a pinwheel, __Crepe-paper veins exposed To August’s reminiscence __Of the summer that has been. . Today it holds its brightness; __Tomorrow it will fall--- Frail, old,...

. Fallen The Universe was perfect, Heaven and Earth, Upon Almighty God’s Creation’s birth! He made the spirit-beings, Angels, free; And later, Man with physicality. Most-favored Lucifer the Fair grew proud, Ungrateful for the gifts he’d been endowed, Called for an armed rebellion; one-third followed And rose against the Master,...

. Reviewed Book: Making Music by Sally Cook, White Violet Press, 2012 by Monika Cooper Making Music by Sally Cook is a book that comes with a painting on its cover, a still life no less. Wine-colored drapery adorns a blue bowl with a pedestal stem, the bowl mounded with...

. But the great Master said, "I see No best in kind, but in degree; I gave a various gift to each, To charm, to strengthen, and to teach." ---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Singers" First Prize: $2,000. Publication on the Society's website and Journal. . Submission Fee: $20 (The fee...

. But the great Master said, “I see No best in kind, but in degree; I gave a various gift to each, To charm, to strengthen, and to teach.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Singers” First Prize: $200. Publication in the Society's website and The Society of Classical Poets Journal. ....

. Covidiocy a rondeau It’s coming back! The tyrants tack From tongues that twist and hearts that lack An honest song. It’s on the news--- Cruel rules for fools who suck up schmooze That oozes from each yakking quack. Wolves paid to scare and sneer then snack On swindled sheep...