Poetry

. Cruise Control? based on a real incident in San Francisco on April 1, 2022 (though not an April Fool's joke) A well-mannered Cruise driverless-car Drove light-less, but didn’t get far. Its empty seats were perused, By cops in their cruiser, confused: No driver to argue or spar! The well-mannered Cruise driverless-car Bolted...

. The Recollected Dream When midsummer rain is spearing From storm clouds darkest grey That provide no hint of clearing To reveal the blue of day, The scent from marshland grasses Permeates each breath of air That summons as it passes, Winged creatures from their lair. Then the wattled spur-winged...

. This photo comes to us from Joshua C. Frank of Texas. Write an ekphrastic poem based on it and post it in the comments section below. . .

. What I Learned from Tolkien The darkness comes and all seems bleak and wrong, My calm is rent, right burdens can’t be borne And Evil holds an iron grip so strong It seems it must prevail. With all hope torn, The path ahead seems lost in storm and murk....

. Milking the System We waited, we have waited, and we wait. Delays continue to increase the cost Of doing business.  Every magistrate Can understand the hours and dollars lost But yet cannot, according to the Law, Provide a satisfying remedy. It doesn’t matter what they really saw, Or how...

. Illusion At times we can’t tell what we’re looking at. It could be this or else it could be that. A beautiful young woman? Or old hag? Do lines run parallel or zig and zag? Two silhouetted faces face-to-face? Or is it just the outline of a vase? And is...

. Carcassonne by Gustave Nadaud (1820-1893) Translated by Joshua C. Frank “At sixty years, I’m getting old, And I’ve been working all my days Not being able to behold Fulfillment of my wishing gaze. I see that life on earth is filled With perfect happiness for none. My wish, it...

. . The Night When most have fled the day and sought their beds Pre-empting stealthy onset of the night; When every corner holds its store of dread And the courage my soul held has taken flight; When my eyes can’t see past the evening veil Nor the eerie shadows...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract 2 Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to meet the fourth poet in the sequence of meetings, which...

. Paracelsus Creating man demands not much: Combine the four base elements In right amounts; the lodestone’s touch At once should jolt him into sense. First Earth, in greatest quantity: For what is flesh but sculpted clay That feigns a crude nobility, Then quickly shrinks and wastes away? And most...

. To a Cloud  You’re a pillow of marshmallow. You balloon and bob and billow As I sprawl beneath the willow __On the grass. You’re a swish of whitest feather. You’re awash with hues of heather. You’re a whisper of wild weather __As you pass. You’re a starlit stratus wonder. You’re a moon-kissed nimbus under Luna’s spell before Thor’s thunder __Wages war. You’re a splash upon my brolly. You’re a dash of fuzzy folly. You’re that woolly wisp of jolly __I adore....

. Last Place Winner after winning the 30-34 age group with a last-place finish in a 5K Inhaling frozen oxygen, he rounds The final turn. No cheers, just muffled sounds. He barely wobbles ‘cross the finish line And checks the lit-up numbers on the sign. Nobody else is coming, there...

. I. Lefties, in fact, are cool with using guns. Their Mayakovsky howled The floor is yours, Comrade Mauser! as they came for the sons of their serfs, knocking grimly on their doors. What leftists won’t put up with are the guns We have, who are to shut up and obey, Ceding...

. Mid-September Reverie from the book Eternal Spring Moonbeams at midnight and frost on the pole; Wind in the willows to tickle the soul; Roses in gardens still share their perfume; Peonies offer the last of their bloom. Squirrels grab the acorns to store in their nests. Baking a pie...

. The Odyssey Translator's Note: The Odyssey, Book 1, which exemplifies an essential feature of Homer's art as a storyteller, the way he composes the books of his epics as wholes, each with its own beginning, middle, and end. by Homer (circa 8th century BC) Translated from Greek by Mike...

. The Salt Spring Island Trolls I have a boat In Fulford Bay. She does not float To my dismay. She lies forlorn Upon the shore, Ragged and torn To sail no more. An invalid All full of holes, Inhabited By empty souls. A home for sand fleas, Obsolete. Her...

. Obedience by Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863) translated from Romanesco by Joseph S. Salemi It’s not true, Christians, what you have been told— That you need endless patience to obey. Obedience gives great rest to man, I say. That’s why the custom of obeying’s old. Listen: God blessed and joined...

. An American Tragedy In his mind the purple walrus __mutated to a bat, its unstable form evolving __till it became a cat. "Old cat," said he, "you frown at me, __it seems you are annoyed." "I am your mind," the cat replied, __"it's I, you have destroyed." "This is...

. The Beginning of Wisdom Within the passing noon of our own life, I saw through woodlands dark and traces grim, Those words upon the graven arches rim, Whose clarity compounds immortal strife. They claimed their maker was that power divine, The highest wisdom and the primal love, Who makes and...

. In Silence I Sing for those affected by the Mill Fire, September 2022 Uplifted to God as with wings of a bird In silence I sing without music or word. Though once filled with praise I no longer rejoice, For grief has consumed me and silenced my voice. No...

. The Adjudication “I weep for you,” the Walrus said: __“I deeply sympathise.” With sobs and tears he sorted out __Those of the largest size, Holding his pocket-handkerchief __Before his streaming eyes. ---Lewis Carroll This one’s bereaved; another is divorced: One’s poem doesn’t scan; the other’s rhymes are forced. And...

. The Way of the World Some horrid truth seems now made manifest: __Some nothingness tucked in the human core Parades itself as fullness and the best __In us—our grace, our reason—sore distorts. __In mirror after mirror we adore ____A god more false than any made of stone, ____Whose heaven...

. The Morning’s Crest The morning’s crest is in its youth, The dawn has yet to lose a tooth, The virgin firmament is dark, The sun’s no more than a tired spark Transcended by the cold, brash moon. But then the leaves foretell the noon, Aglow with some prophetic light;...

. Drunk on Compassion How good it feels to open up your heart And groove on how compassionate you are! You advertise your causes on your car And list your Facebook “likes” upon a chart. You march in protests, always don your mask, And quite politely call men “them” and...

. For My Queen Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor April 21, 1926 - September 8, 2022 My symbol of nobility, stability and grace, Who reigned yet never ruled---she was my constant caring face On TV screen, on stamps, in scenes of history’s changing view. She slipped away this solemn day---her...

. The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, falls on Sept. 10 this year. A common tradition is to read riddles hung from lanterns while under the moonlight. The holiday usually corresponds to the harvest moon, the full moon before the Autumn Equinox.  . I.A span of seven yearsBetween the small...

. Capability Brown Lancelot “Capability” Brown was England’s greatest landscape architect. His name was Capability, A man of great humility, He knew just where to plant a tree, Enhancing England’s scenery. Of all delights we love to see, He planned with great integrity, The English Aristocracy, Would pay his most...

. Who Shaves the Barber? shaves all those, and those only, who do not shave themselves.  —Bertrand Russell The barber had a gift for cutting hair, And once a month the men who lived in town Would take a seat upon his cushioned chair To have four weeks of outgrowth...

. Cracked Liberty Bell July the 4th—Independence. Many bands play. Parades pass by— Fireworks fly. __Rocket’s red glare . . . 1900. A song was sung From old to young: Lift every voice— They sang, rejoiced! __And shunned despair. Stoney we trod. Bitter our rod. True to our God, Who...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to meet the third poet in the sequence of meetings, which is...

. In Plain Sight Our enemies aren’t rattling at the gate. Our foes aren’t firing shots from foreign ground. They toy with minds---pain brains, and obfuscate--- We bend and bow and break without a sound. They’re lurking in the sanctuary of the church. They’re sullying the syllabus at schools. They sneak and skulk and...

. Ozymandias Begins I met the monarch of our ancient land, who said, ‘Your skill at sculpting is renowned. The hammer and the chisel in your hand will make my semblance evermore resound.’ Upon his statue’s stone-blank face I cut the ruthless glare residing in his eyes, the frown with...

. by Susan Jarvis Bryant This is a word of encouragement to all those poets out there who use their art to get a grave point on current issues across. Never let those who criticize you shut you down. Never self-censor. To use a quote from Andrew Breitbart: . Walk...

. Summer Nocturne In steady, humming monotone, With synchronism the crickets drone, And hushedly through the night intone __Their evening chant, Accompanied by a brusque descant, In equal-measured, rhythmic slant Of katy-did and katy-didn’t. __In call to mate, The owl decides to dedicate An octave in crescendo. Eight Tu-whoos in...

. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition  Although this mad world’s headed for perdition, Don’t cower or wring hands with misery. Spines straight, my friends! Choose gumption and ambition Just like the World War II song that says we “Should Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” When faith...

. Seminary Recalling days of vigor and simplicity, of boyish spirits spun from neural gossamer and hardened into granite by a panoply of actors: scamps of nimble wit, a conjurer of whimsy, lords of innocent irreverence. Societies of soulmates lent the sacred halls a mood Socratic, scholars bonded to evince...

. Food for Thought A Culinary Tale There once was a man wan and pallid, he Suffered from a mysterious malady: __He ate carrots and greens, __Ripe tomatoes and beans, But eschewed anything that's not salad-y. Now his wife, she was plump, but quite purty, Euphemistically "big-boned" or "sturdy"; __Which...

. "Yet, do thy worst old Time; despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young." ---William Shakespeare, Sonnet XIX First Prize: $2,000. Publication on the Society's website and Journal. . Submission Fee: $20 (The fee comes with a free subscription to our monthly e-Newsletter.) . Submit:...

. “Yet, do thy worst old Time; despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young.” —William Shakespeare, Sonnet XIX First Prize: $200. Publication in the Society's website and The Society of Classical Poets Journal. . Submission Fee: $5 (The fee comes with a free subscription to...

. The One Standing Tall for the Poet's father The home is where he lives, his heart is full Of love, no wealth can buy his rich esteem; No rock can match those nerves that hold our life Together still like one heroic dream. I think of childhood wrapped in...