Poetry

. The Cricket These mornings there’s a cricket cross the way Whose chirrup purls and eddies in the air, Autumnal now and cool, to counterpoint The city’s muffled thrum as well anoint The drowsy traipsing of my early prayer. A cricket on the hearth is luck, it’s said, And though...

. Lest We Forget     Today’s the day I cast my hard-won vote   (My voice and choice, my prized ancestral gift)   Bought with guts and grit to stop the bloat  Of greedy grifters known to scheme and shift  Their stance to fit the wants of those they ply  With charm that cloaks their freedom-stealing lie.     Today’s the day I nod to hosts of ghosts  Who paid for liberty...

. Hell Rising They’ve come with a purpose: to numb or perturb us __By infecting the already-sick, And with them they bring a more tangible thing: __A nice carrot along with a stick. They live in The Palace of Envy and Malice __And demand that we pay our “fair share”;...

. Who's Behind the Door The quiet words, the trembling lips, __we’ve heard it all before. Keen questions dwell within our minds, __like who’s behind the door. We saw the lights, heard voiceless words, __asked, “Is there any more?” The speaking’s frail and actions flail, __but who’s behind the door?...

. Autumn Trail Dreamy glimpses of a world recalled and yet to come: The Stagecoach Trail declines and wends through thickets under trees, Illumined red and gold beneath November’s slanting sun And rustling in the mesh, Alaska’s first exploring breeze. The season waits uneasily with vigilance its due, The first...

. Think (Ideo)logically Say---friend or foe? What else could people be? … Stop thinking, since it’s useless, and it’s hard. We’ll do your thinking for you---play our card! These glasses will now show you what to see: This world’s in black and white. We’ve gauged its worth. Here’s all our...

. Guitar by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Translated by Joshua C. Frank Gastibelza, the rifleman coming to town, Sang loud and clear: “Has someone seen Doña Sabina around, Someone from here? O villagers, sing and dance, go have your fill While the night gains! The wind that comes flying around every...

. CDC: Save the Planet from Poison CO2!! “We used to think CO2 was a harmless trace gas… How wrong we were!” ---Dr. Dillard “Sparky” Barker, SMFS, The CDC’s Second Most Famous Scientist Your noxious exhalations contain tons of CO2 So Dillard “Sparky” Barker has the newest mask for you....

. Poetry 101 Lecture Today we shall discuss why poems have a poor repute (Though if one dislikes poetry, apology is moot). Let’s take four types of poems with their strong points and their faults: Well-crafted love poems are a jewel; but most of them, near schmaltz. Eschew the superficiality...

. Note: The above photos are of the poet's grandparents, Herbert W. & Evelyn Slater Tweedie in 1914 Wedding Picture; Glacier Point, Yosemite; Top of Pyramid Peak, Desolation Wilderness . 1914 Sierra Honeymoon A picture’s worth a thousand words, they say; A rock at Glacier Point, Yosemite. Folks aren’t allowed...

. Sonnet to a Friend It’s you who’ve been a constant in my life from earliest thirst and to this very day. You’ve helped me sail through lassitude and strife, have always kept the ennui at bay. You’ve shown me stars and galaxies above: spelled out their numbers, called their...

  The Players Legacy: The Saga Begins is a 14-chapter narrative poem that is set to launch on January 21, 2023. This is an excerpt from Chapter 11 in which Vallenbee the Wise speaks to the main character, Abelbee.   The answer disappointed Abelbee,who hoped to hear about his destiny,a predetermined...

. Fool’s Gold In a febrile jungle region where the threats to life are legion And deflected rays land each on greenness rich as burnished jade Ventured forth a treasure seeker, heeding not a Mayan speaker Who forewarned of visions bleaker than the jokes Camazotz played. The ascent ahead was...

. Gone Are the Days The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young. ---Oscar Wilde Gone are the days—the halcyon, magical days of yore, When you were young and full of marrow in your bones, And hot and swift the blood ran...

. A Half Century Ago Oh there once was a time in our nation so fair, When the pledge to our flag was in schools everywhere, When young children could safely walk daily to school, And not be attacked by some crazy half-ghoul. There were boys, there were girls, and...

. Halloween---The New Normal The maskless masses mingle on the street Pooh-poohing overreaching, grouchy rules. The granny-slaying, unvaxxed ogres meet As curtain-twitching witches eye these ghouls From hazmat-suited safety as they fume At murderous monsters milling neath the moon. The spawn of fierce smut-busters fool around. They snigger as they...

. It’s Halloween It’s Halloween, and musty tombs expel Damnation’s brides and grooms; ghoulish creatures rule the night, a ghastly resurrected blight as Satan’s grinning visage looms. Hell’s emptied out its catacombs! While witches boil up poison shrooms, the zombies drool, the vampires bite. It’s Halloween. In ancient woodland wolfsbane...

. Night Visitor Between the ticking of the clock I thought I heard a haunting knock. I pondered what I thought I heard, "Perhaps the tapping of a bird?" The hearth was warm and so was I, Until a cold draft struck my thigh. The shadows seemed to dance about,...

. Are You Prepared for All Hallows’ Eve? All Hallow’s Eve will soon be here--- A time when our two worlds come near. They roam our world for just one night--- And you may fear until it’s light. . . K.M. Hayes is a freelance writer from Gainesville, FL. 

. Shroud-Eater The undead Shroud-Eater, or mâcheur de suaire, is not as well known as the vampire, but is just as horrifying. He prowls cemeteries chewing on his shroud and his own flesh, attacks persons, and brings plague or misfortune to anything in the vicinity. He can be killed only...

. Ghouls Rules Out in the middle of Howling Heath Lives a mean old monster with a million teeth, In a mouth as big as a catamaran, To accommodate the limbs of moose and man, And kids that fiddle with their food at dinner While hungry kids get thinner and...

. The Modern Prometheus Grrrr! Linden trees with falling leaves infest These ancient mountains. Crimson-faced they scream Like mobs in Transylvanian villages Which brandish knives and torches. Hate-obsessed, They yell “the Monster! Nature’s veil is torn!” Compassion dead, they make me what I seem: A raging brute who kills and...

. A Seasonal Concoction He loved to have a cup of coffee in dawn’s dimmest light. It helped clear cobwebs from those heavy eyelids of the night. His narrow pumpkin head could start to gaze with orange eyes. His skeleton could once again experience surprise. The ghost-white sheets of sleepy...

. The Three Democrats of the 2020 Election after Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1 Scene: Thunder illuminates a 2020 calendar page in an undisclosed conference room where a pot bubbles on an electric stovetop. Enter the Three Democrats. FIRST DEMOCRAT Thrice each democrat will vote. SECOND DEMOCRAT Thrice at...

. The Italian Job a true story “I’m from Pisa,” she cried with a giggle, As she leaned, towering over the man, With the beard, the bald head and the glasses, Climbing out of the janitor’s van. He cried, ”I must sort out your drainage, For your pipes are all...

. Everyday Angels  inspired by Guadalupe Amejorado (1955-2021)  They don’t appear in swathes of white   __On scintillating wing.  Their heads aren’t crowned with rings of light.  __They never claim to bring  Salvation to an ailing Earth,  Yet I can feel their weight and worth  __As silently they sing.    They don’t descend from pearly plane  __Where shining seraphs fly.  Instead, they...

. The Empirical Strikes Back Let’s emulate Liberia with measurements superior; once more we’ll weigh our cereal in ounce and pound imperial. And why not copy Myanmar--- use p.s.i. and ditch the bar? Farewell to Celsius’s scale, let Fahrenheit’s degrees prevail. We’ll mimic, too, the USA, where inch and foot...

. The Polls The polls are looking up right now, __But my faith’s not complete, Because no poll can measure how __The Democrats might cheat. . . The Boulder Field The glacial remnant boulder field, __A geological delight. Except a few stones that revealed __Graffiti some jerk had to write....

. Cemetery The grasses, flowing amber on the breezethat speaks to me in verses intimate,are stilled, as if contented to appeasemy meditative spirit, to permitobeisance from afar to monumentsof lifeless stone. Shall not eternitybe brashly coveting my every sensein moments soon to come? My destinyawaits beneath these fronds, their silhouetteslike...

. Storehouse of Memories My memory seems worst of foes when conjuring the times she knows will hurt me worse than fist-thrown blows __and bring hot tears. When memory is best of friends, sweet thoughts of blissful times she sends and, with her powers, soothes and mends, __herself endears. Rose-colored...

. While Reading Burns' 'Stanzas: On the Same Occasion' "Fain would I say" Burns wrote, has me inspired. Perhaps this inspiration’s meant to be a call to listen to a hope desired from Jesus.  Those once blind who see shall sing His way.  This soul inside of me will listen, keeping ever...

Playing with Matches "We don’t seek conflict with Russia but we are ready." ---Antony Blinken, March 4, 2022 We don’t seek conflict with Russia but we are ready, make no mistake. The finger that pushes the button will not tremble, the hand will not shake. When pillars of fire crown...

. Meditation Say to yourself at break of day: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, proud, treacherous, envious, malicious. All this is because they do not know good and evil. But I know what the good is, and what evil is; and I know the offender, for...

. His Pen a villanelle written upon watching the movie Eternal Spring His pen flies back and forth, a righteous flurry That recreates the scenes of saintlike deeds, Giving shape to all that once was blurry. In youth, the ancient heroes’ wartime glory Inspired his hand—with legendary speeds His pen...

. A Southern Italian’s Reply to Shakespeare If you compare me to a summer’s day then, Bill, your mind has melted in the heat. Let’s go inside, there’s no one on the street. Just look at how the snowbirds flew away. If I were wealthy, I would not delay. Our...

. A Conversation Between the Poor and the Poorer, followed by an Envoi From the book five of the Man'yōshū, this poem is believed to be based on what the author witnessed while working as a provincial governor, as it is unlikely that Okura, a nobleman, experienced such extreme poverty...

. What Life Throws at Us A sentiment can sometimes get the best Of me and bring hard logic to an end. I need someone to share my destiny; Perhaps I need to find a better friend. Just why I feel this way is still a puzzle, Despite what certain...

. The Trees: A Moment Amongst the trees in such a wood That veils the sky with vaults of green, In sudden joyous peace I stood As nature did in full convene; The leaves and boughs above my head, A narrow path which elsewhere led. Outside the sun revealed the...

. Ambience Oh, what a difference lighting throws __On these autumnal scenes, As back and forth it hides or shows __Drab browns or emerald greens. When cloud conceals the light of day, __The life it also drains--- Apparent is the slow decay __Of foliage that remains, But let the sun...

. When Orpheus Looked Back I find no peace. I lean upon this stone As wine-dark waves crash on the Grecian shore, My voice and lyre silent as the grave. I have no songs for children nor of war Nor for a marriage I’d have died to save. A dirge...