Poetry

. Part II of the Coffee Trilogy. (Part I can be found here.) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.    ---John 1:1 A light without a shadow could exist like a lonely star in lonelier space; a shadow though,...

. Today I spied you, red in beak and claw.You perched atop a roadside pole to dineOn scaly prey with silver skin, pecked raw—A mullet dish of thrashing flesh; a fineBeachside feast; a smorgasbord of sweetAnd briny meat with spiny, hairbreadth bones,All talon-torn by hunger bared and wild.I gazed upon...

. I asked the moon, "Do you feel all alone?" She said, "I have no time. I've lots to do. To all the stars, I am a chaperone. Tonight I'm in good company with you." I asked the moon, "Do you begrudge the sun?" She said, "my heart's devoid of...

. There once was a very big lie, That our country refused to deny. While we did what they told us, To the Commies they sold us And we kissed all our freedoms goodbye. . . Joe Tessitore is a retired New York City resident and poet.

.. Whoever said that change is good Is living in a purple wood Behind a tree behind a bough; A purple horse and purple cow, For progress is a purple haze Confusing nights; confounding days. Our education system’s shot. No morals teach for we forgot To Pledge Allegiance, say a...

. Set your priorities—don't be uncouth—know the Secret to happiness lies in this truth: “Though the Sum of all things is a secret worth looking for, Perfect lasagna is something worth cooking for.” Take what you know, do a Ted Talk and teach on it. Don’t overdo it, present it,...

. Six hundred years before Old Sarum fell, the might of Rome faced down the Gallic tribes on earthen ramparts between circles scribed, intent to bring rebellion to the quell. Caesar himself came out to face the Gauls but Vercingetorix had scorched the land and left the Legions without ground...

.   "To indulge in hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian tergiversation is not to show your erudition: rather, it is to be superficial.” ---Steven George Krantz Thalamic tarantismLed to tachyphagia...Ventripotential schism,Perhaps a slight dysphasia? My nudiustertian hike Featured pogonotomy.This mumpsimus is likeA walking botched lobotomy. Hippopotomonstro-sesquipedalianism,It sounds like an animal, thoughIt’s what every animal isn’t....

Compiled by Roy E. Peterson Readers are encouraged to add other great poets' and writers' epitaphs in the comments section below, or write a poem for their own epitaphs. . Prologue Both authors well and lesser known Write their own epitaphs for stone. What fascinations fill my mind To think what...

. One Fate Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 Shall I portend, and shall I explicate What eyes can see themselves, ere they go blind? The moral and sagacious of mankind Know not a whit what destinies await, For to the hand of God they are consigned. Who knows what fortune then shall arbitrate,...

. Prayer Of people who pray, Routinely or not, He wonders what the case is. Are they of belief Prayer has an effect, Or touching all the bases? . . Opinions in Fact Some folks voice opinions So matter-of-factly They seem to think everyone Reckons exactly. . . Decisions in...

by Michael Curtis When next you float down the Yangtze River through Jingzhou City, likely you will notice Guan Yu, God of War, looking rather ambitious, rather restless; at 190 feet in height, a bit imposing, at 1,320 tons, quite a bit threatening, a person out-of-place at Upper-East-Side cocktail parties,...

. "I Lived and languished.” —Andrei Platonov by "Weird” Ace Blues Last year we learned th’ Empire struck back with fierce synergy. The populace was pummeled by the techno-tyranny. O, Obi Wan Kenobi—he was nowhere to be found. Across the Globe we lived and languished; innocence was drowned. From China...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5FdfL8sVRM Like Abelard and Heloise Like Abelard and Heloise This woman has the gorgeous mind. Her touch of tenderness and ease Calms the ravages I find. Her cheeks are one dear downy bed For my sore heart to rest upon, And the sultry words she said Vanish but are...

. written while walking out my front door You weren’t born with that thing on your face, So look in your mirror and see the disgrace Of a coward whipped into his or her place--- Your dignity’s vanished and left not a trace. . . Joe Tessitore is a retired...

. Like a bell struck in the clear night, A voice that no one hears Tells me to leave my bed and write With ink distilled from tears. The stars exert their influence, The moon shines white on black, The planets weave a circle dance Around the zodiac. Bent under...

. Vaticination  Sibylla says, Fear archers of immunity! Beware the vanguard shock troops sharpening double tongues, Whetted with grave authority To weaken hearts and spew contagion into lungs. They bend ingenious bows of bitter consequences; The arrows superspread aberrant effluences Throughout a population’s rungs, First targeting hale elders, and those...

. The first soft days of Springtime greet my eyes __Like a young girl’s face smiling fresh and clean, The sunlight falls, like hope, from cloudless skies __Upon a budding world, all tender green; But sweet, sad odors drift upon the breeze, __That seem to carry my soul far away,...

. The Tale of Governor Do-as-I-Say-Not-as-I-Do-som It’s funny how Democracy In many states now colored blue Produces rank hypocrisy, A birthright of the privileged few. And there we notice Gavin Newsom Imbibing wine for all to see, Complicit in a maskless twosome Inside a swanky eatery. But this is urban...

. We’re poets first-and-foremost and agree that meter, rhyme and rhythm oft are spurned; the plethora of poetry we see is free verse and should frankly be returned to sender if an emo, teenage brain or lovesick chump composed the referenced work whilst classicists are grappling to regain elusive words...

.  Brush with Shame In reference to “Couple accidentally paints over $500,000 artwork,” Ben Cost, New York Post, 4/3/21 The whole world over they are in a stew: Our artists and creators share the view That “artwork” they create or else display Is “hands off”—there’s just nothing else to say....

. O Spring, you’re such a tease, Fickle as a good-time lover; Temptingly, you hover Warm against my cheek, Windless, save a zephyr; And oh so soft your whisper Of promise, only to hide Away again. I seek, Not to find. Your breeze Blows hot, then cold. Decide! . ....

. Themistocles Athens, Greece, 483 B.C. “Barbarians loom upon the coast—dark clouds. Athenians see them, but don’t think they’d pour Their cataclysmic flooding on our shore. They only hear the nearby shouts from crowds. And so it goes. Let them do what they like… But what if I raised up...

. This poem is commemorating the peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners for freedom of belief, in Beijing, on April 25, 1999. The appeal ended when practitioners left after being given empty promises of fair treatment. A “coup”? The will for truth. A “mob”? Respectful souls Responsibility unites in...

. The gaffe-prone Duke of Edinburgh has died, who asked if native Aussies still chucked spears and told some Brits they’d end up slitty-eyed for living in Beijing too many years. Yet what a gap this man of action filled. In World War Two he rode the cruel seas, then...

. The Seven Dwarves of Old Age The seven dwarves of old age __Have come to live with me, But what could be the use of them __Is more than I can see. First Napper came and gave a wink __And slept upon my bed. Warm afternoons are quiet time...

. Martyred daughter of a libeled Czar, You for whom St. Basil’s bells have rung, Condemned to die dishonored and unsung, Yet gentlest of the Romanovs by far In silent black-and-white forever young. It seems your life was but a royal dream Of gold tiaras wrought by Cartier And gilded...

. Bardolatry He boasted an iambic ear, That playwright with insight, Shakespeare; Yes, Measure for Measure He’s given much pleasure With Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. The Bard’s jealous fellow, Othello, Brings lust, unjust murder and bellow— You’re after a laugh? Then check out Falstaff Or Malvolio’s tights of bright yellow. In mystic Midsummer Night’s Dream  Titania’s a mean fairy queen; There’s Puck, of wild antic, And Bottom, a frantic,...

.   __Like Don Quixote’s windmills, rhymes keep spinning in my head! My dark-passion is to write Light Verse; my curse, to go unread. __I keep submitting—vain attempts!— though earnest, judged a joke. My Poetic License—not expired— they’ve chosen to revoke. __Though I’d rework, rewrite, revise to grace some lit...

. A Eulogy for Justice It looks like we got justice for George Floyd Because of the techniques that were employed. But what about the life of Ashli Babbit? Shouldn’t justice be a constant habit? The Floyds got all the money and the verdict But the Babbit name? No one...

. A Chemistry Lesson There was a time she pined to be a boy, Around the age of six or maybe eight, When centipedes and beetles were her joy And skinning knees in trees, her frequent fate. There was a time she longed for hair so short No brush would...

. Poet's Note: These poems are non-autobiographical. . When Love is Lost To see the summer sun and wish for rain; To smell the springtime flowers and wish for snow; To wake at dawn and wish for night again; To trade today for dreams of long ago. To grieve the...

Dear SCP Members and Readers, Poet Leo Zoutewelle died on March 11, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina under the care of Presbyterian Hospital hospice. He was born on December 19, 1935 in Holland and grew up while Holland was occupied by Nazi Germany. He emigrated to the United States after...

. She started her Pilates class, Upon the Internet. The city was in lockdown, So, she knew, some work she’d get. She started on her webpage, Working hard into the night. She knew it wasn’t easy, So, she had to get it right. But she wasn’t good at spelling, As...

. You meekly poke your purple heads Through stubborn clumps of snow That yet persist in fallow beds Though balmy breezes blow; First to hail the waxing sun, First to scent the air, First to paint the lifeless dun With a stroke of flair. So unassuming, small, and frail, Yet...

. The Odyssey of a recovering patient of the Orthopedic and Spine Specialists (OSS) hospital in York, PA; January 2019. (My hospital experience could not have been better. Surgeons, nurses, aids, therapists, and dietary personnel are all first-rate. But my body's reaction was another matter.) Prologue My L-five, S-one fusion done,...

. . On a Starred Night derived from a George Meredith poem On a starred night, Prince Lucifer uprose; From smoke and stink and howl of the distraught And sulphur stench and brimstone, change he sought. Garbed in inconspicuous human clothes, He walked abroad, but not a one of those...

. Who took the years? Who stole the time away? Where did it go? I just don’t understand. There were so many things that I had planned, Such clever dialogue I had to say. Have I been written out of my own play? The years seemed plentiful as grains of...

April is National Poetry Month. On this occasion, take words about poetry from a famous poet, or anyone else you deem fitting, and turn them into a quatrain (four-line poem). Below are four examples from poet Roy E. Peterson. Post your quatrain in the comments section below. . Poetry is...

. I wish I could build me a magic machine, A magic machine that would last, Till the octopus sings and the Orca grows wings, And the lowly worm ceases to cast. I’d fashion the walls out of wonder and trust, The floors out of paper-maché, The roof a fine...