Poetry

. The Leprechaun Come mid-March, the leprechaun Glides up and o’er the rainbow, Playful as a unicorn That’s prancing in a meadow. With greedy eyes glimmering, And shim’ry as a peacock, He slides to earth, shimmying, And lands among the shamrock. “Where, O where’s me pot-o-gold?” Those greedy eyes, now...

. "The Lark in the Morning" is a traditional Irish song performed on classical guitar by poet and professional musician Jeff Eardley: . . Jeff Eardley lives in the heart of England near to the Peak District National Park and is a local musician playing guitar, mandolin and piano steeped in...

. Freedom Convoy Song To bravely speak is to turn on the lights, __To silence darkens all of our debate; Yea, We the People know free speech unites __What foreign censorship did separate. The former, it is our G-d given right __That every patriotic soul respects, Whereas the latter was...

. St. Jerome’s Cicero Obsession based on St. Jerome’s letter to his disciple St. Eustochium in Rome, A.D. 384 When I was young and foolish long ago, I traveled to Jerusalem alone To fast and pray away from everyone. My book collection I could not forgo; With greatest toil I...

. Beatrice Smiles: Canto XXXI of Purgatory by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns “You, on the other side of the sacred river,” __Lethe __she called to me, and sharply to the point, __Beatrice __after her blade’s edge left a cut so bitter, and then commenced: “Say, say, if...

. Θαλῆς 2.0 In days of yore, Thales, the famous sage, Went out on a stargazing walk and fell Straight down an overlooked and vexing well. A passing woman mocked him: “At your age You ought to know your eyes belong down here!” The tale was once a lesson to...

. The Sea Cliffs Imposing, somber, motionless they stand, Like ranks of rugged soldiers primed for war, They stand where they have always stood before Through generations—guardians of the land. In dark array, with militant persistence, They rise up in their crumbling armor where They keep watch, with a proud...

. Britomart and Marinell In Edmund Spenser's epic poem, The Faerie Queene, Britomart is a female knight who represents the virtue of chastity.  Marinell is a knight whose mother has prophesied that he will only be conquered by a woman—romantically, he presumes. When Britomart takes on Sir Marinell, The waves are...

. The Scottish Gourmand A culture-rich country which lay to the east where we were invited to conference and feast from Cuba to China, and some of the rest they bade them here gather and money invest for though that land needed infusions of cash its laws were quite muddled...

. Winter Sunset Gnarled, naked boughs, shadowed skeleton arms Stretch in despair and agony. They frame Like barbed-wire twists the western sky aflame Red-orange, ember-glow that no longer warms--- The blasted remnants of a milder day, Clawing its harsh heir, fading fast away. Come, moonless, starless night. Come, let your...

Pastoral Calls—Part 2 of 3 . Face-to-Face A weeping woman called me on the phone And said, “My daughter’s in the county jail. They will not let me see her on my own She’s charged with murder with no hope for bail. “But you’re a pastor and they said that...

. The Number 17: Ondine and Lucien’s Great Adventure;  Or, The Kind that Can Float from The Bus Poems: A Tale of the Devil, currently in preparation. Now this is a tale of two very good friends; They lived on a road made entirely of bends. And he was called...

. The Very Best Business by Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863) translated from Romanesco by Joseph S. Salemi First I was a gardener (a disaster), Then a bookseller. I made even less. So did I change my business plan? Oh yes— I turned and became an upper-crust whoremaster. In this, I...

. El Melon There is a maze or map on melon skin Even the blind could read and seek to solve. A little girl watches the housewives, deft, Touching the head shapes swiftly, one by one, Until they somehow know which to select. Sometimes they set it wobbling in the...

. Poet Tree Legacy: The Saga Begins is a 14-chapter narrative poem. In this excerpt, the adolescent hero Abelbee, who has to venture deep into the Great Wood to find wise Vallenbee, arrives at Vallenbee’s Place. Abel finds an unbound scroll on a desk. It’s a poem that Vallenbee wrote to...

. Why Strike? With prices high and living standards low, Our times are like what our grandparents knew. They fought world war; we slave for war abroad And soon will labor through retirement too. We export energy but can’t afford To heat our homes; we’re tired of interference And more...

. Farinelli A thousand thanks, Martini, for your visit. Bologna is a town of balladeers. You’ll love it! Now I wonder, how long is it Since we both quit Madrid? Ah! Twenty years Since I last sang before the King of Spain! And forty since vast crowds hailed me on...

. Lean on Him after Ecclesiasties We labor long beneath the sun. Forgotten soon by everyone. We come from dust and end the same, Depart this life just like we came. It’s all just chasing wind because Whatever is already was, And what will be has been before, There’s nothing...

. Gossip “There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it hardly becomes any of us to talk about the rest of us.” ---Edward Wallis Hoch Its spice, its ire, its hot desire __Will lure the listeners in...

. Evolution I can’t run fast or jump high anymore. Mistakes I make I never made before. Some maladies and aches don’t have a cure, Alertness and reflexes are less sure. My memory is challenged on most days, It’s easier to get stuck in old ways. But some emotions long...

. Homeric Hot or Not (Hotness Ratings Out of 10) . 10 By birth divine and radiantly tressed And beautiful and of a charm possessed That turns men into pigs if she’s inclined, A better girl than Circe none can find, 10 While of the boys, for clever, handsome, strong...

. Before Going to Sleep as a Boy I saw Him when I closed my eyes, Gazing down sidelong, seeing all, Serenely, stoically wise. I knew that judgement was to fall But found His habit was to look Past me—a boy’s vain hope, as He Was of his conjuring? I...

. Ruben “We have words that speak of the ongoing presence of such privations: orphan, widow, widower. And perhaps the fact that we have no word for the parent who has lost a child is itself a testimony to the unspeakable abiding horror and pain of such a circumstance.” ---Carl...

. Civics 101 Jejune excuses used too many times Do not undo the doer from the deed: A miscreant accused of many crimes Is not the type of model children need. A partisan devoted to a cause Who votes his party, never mind the man, Should not complain when his...

. Of When I Lived in Prague--- I wander through a maze of gold and stone, Mosaic pavement watched by gilded faces; Bridges, towers etched with cryptic traces Of bygone kings that haunt a bygone throne. I wandered through that city all alone, Aimless through its trove of secret places,...

. Eulogy for a Them We gather here to celebrate a him Or her (an it? a they?) and in the end A prophet of the present who could bend Reality to suit their loosest whim. For whatsoever they had been or might Have been, they were their own priority;...

. Screened. I. The Phony Mom a true story Her phone, in hand above the stroller, Blocked her baby from her view. She held it like a game controller, Adoring every pixel’s hue As mothers not so long ago Adored their babies just for being. What more could phony glow...

. Peach Blossom Dreaming Peach blossoms furnish inwrought dreaming room Intangible to fingertips corrupt; __Substantially beyond each tapered petal’s plume Flow fragrances to subtly interrupt The wintry retrospectives of my gloom. On water shields and Long Jing tea we supped, But now beneath peach buds you prate of wine __Poured...

. Spring Shower How beautiful the rain– The cool and cleansing rain! I watch as tiny rivulets Run down my window pane And countless glad and golden drops Renew the earth again. How tender is the rain! With what maternal grace It nourishes the passive earth And wipes its soiled...

. Born in a Wuhan Lab Newsflash: U.S. Energy Department says it was probably a lab leak. Those men in suits and labcoats thought it worth The lives of millions from their ivory tower To falsify the truth about my birth Lest China lose its influence and power. The masks,...

. ABOUT THE CONTEST Many poets who have been published by the Society of Classical Poets have had their poems linked to, and therefore promoted, by the news aggregator Whatfinger over the years. The people who put this grass-roots site together are genuinely interested in truth and justice despite being...

. The Piano Student Glissandos flow like rivers from the keys, One by one, you slide with practiced skill And let us hear some hidden melodies, Delighting in these notes that lift and thrill. When you play Bach or other masterpieces, Interpreting in ways that give a new Shape to...

. Delmon’s Progeny Delmon, also known as Dilmun, is a Semitic culture connected to Mesopotamia that flourished in the 2nd millennium B.C.  Beneath the torrid coastal sun tenacious men these waters rode. They ferry pearls from port to port; each City sings its special ode. Some sing of spice, some sing...

. Bite Your Tongue If you should feel the sudden urge __To put forth your opinions, Letting sundry thoughts diverge __To influence the minions. Just take a moment to reflect __On whether to opine, Or shut-up and inject __Another soothing anodyne. If you should find yourself about __To state your...

. Winter Hyphenation Knit cap above, two squinting eyes below Face frozen fresh-fall snowfall, white as snow. Constricted pupils dim the sight and fight Against the blinding sunrise-lumined light. An ice-chill world where exhaled, hot breath steams And wreathes a winter wonderland of dreams Where muffled footfalls squeaky-clean impress Compressive tracks...

. A Woman’s Right Eli Hart's story was highlighted by the Daily Wire here. Come hear of little Eli Hart— His father fought the “family court,” Misnamed misandrists lacking heart. His mind-sick mother got support From "child welfare" workers, who, __Despite his father’s wishes To raise his son himself, just...

. On Hate God hates the evildoer and I can do no less. He gave us ten commandments for evil to assess. He helped identify them—the evil and the bad— And then he brought destruction with every power he had. Sodom and Gomorrah were suffering in sin. God said to...

. Moon Garden Party It’s small and all reserved For plants that love full sun, Edges distinct though curved Refine how moments run Through dainty daisy days Succeeded when they’re done By crazed azaleas’ blaze. The details glow at closer range: Kaleidoscopic shape, spread, height Delight the guests whose interchange...

. Aristotle Abridged* And so we ponder virtue and vice. __We seek the mean, not the extreme. Perplexed, I ask for wise advice: __Why does not vice ever suffice? Excess—restraint—both have a price. __So hard to find the Good between. Quench the fire—thaw out the ice. __How shall I choose?...

. Willy Wonky on the revision of Roald Dahl’s works  The whacky wokester clowns employed at Puffin Are wrecking classics with exciting stuff in. They’re ditching all the derring-do and dark (The spunk and spark and funk and quirk and snark) For noggin-numbing, glum and humdrum dross That doesn’t make despotic critics cross. They’re swapping all that’s riveting and peachy For joyless crap that’s sappy, flat and preachy: Chocolate factories free from nuts and dairy, Aunties that aren’t spongy-spiky scary, Oompa Loompas tolerant and tall, No one ugly, beastly, fat or small. Next will be the...