‘Tactical Molting’: An Election Poem by Mark F. Stone
Tactical Molting A candidate will often say: _“Judge me for who I am.” But peek beneath the surface and...
Tactical Molting A candidate will often say: _“Judge me for who I am.” But peek beneath the surface and...
Dialogue Discernment One critical but rarely mentioned facet, Of skills required for fine communication, Is sensing when somebody makes...
Life Lessons from Aunt Ingeborg ---inspired by anecdotes related by Joseph Salemi Mein kleiner nephew, sit. No, I insist!...
Biblical? Emblematic? Seems much of the population Have this fascination With that handheld device; Which is all well and...
Gun Control ---after Longfellow’s “The Arrow and the Song” I shot a bullet Into the air. It fell to...
Reappraisals of Mortality "After the first death, there is no other." — Dylan Thomas The hill is steep That...
Freedom’s Wring _When God seems to fail _The world starts to wail, And saints go marching home Like Sprites...
Pedagogy Some claim the moon is made of cheese —No farting, please, it’s unrefined— Whose surface is a softened...
Professional Mourner Good morning, friend. I didn’t catch your name. Ah. Tod. So you’re the new kid on the...
Realistic Reflections Mirror, mirror, tell me truly: Do I still have charm to tempt? Are these locks downright unruly,...
Act III The signs suggested that my time was short, To which I gave a disbelieving snort. My future...
Who Hears a Robot's Prayer? I. He said the stones themselves would start to sing But no one...
Of Webs and Whispers I. The Myopic Eye ---a pantoum A spider spinning scripture for the flies--- It...
A Gentleman’s Guide to Losing a War I hold my spyglass to my face, _And straighten my cravat. A...
The Council of Infinite Opinions A council met where certainty was banned, And every truth was shaped by shifting...
Not Small At All I’ve gained appreciation for the smaller things in life, The uneventful days when all is...
Elizabeth Barrett Browning Has Second Thoughts How do I hate you? Let me count the flaws: I hate you...
The Ministry of Twee The Ministry’s role is to banish the soul _In poems the poets send in--- To...
Good Night When you brushed and flossed and rinsed your teeth, _You gave nary a thought To a gap...
Undeclared College Major Discussing broader options that young women have today, One of my female classmates had a startling...
Twelve Labors More Part II. The Music of the Spheres Read Part I here. I. My life continued quiet...
The Wiles of a Woman The wiles of a woman, men, you never should discount. For after all, they...
The Holy Rollers on Poetry We are the Holy Rollers— We live for solemn prayer. With censers of pure...
The George-A-Saurus Forget the Jabberwocky, son--- Instead beware the George-A-Saurus: A wicked monster you should shun; Whose single goal...
At the No-Win Inn The room for error is across the hall, Between the storage bin for grave mistakes...
Two-Tier Keir: Being a Short Account of a Trickster He sought to be in politics--- _Self-virtued Dalai Lama. Instead,...
What Happened to the Ayatollah? I The Ayatollah’s disappeared: It’s just as all his friends have feared; But...
The Antipope Gives Military Advice Aircraft should always be vehicles of peace, never of war! No one should fear...
In the Vault of Default I store my memories in empty bottles, Which rest on horizontal 2x4s That gird...
Undone Decisions made in haste are doubts deferred. The need to come off confident, to seem As though in...
The Most Important Forgiveness Humiliating errors we’ve all made, And plagued ourselves by tending to relive, Would stand a...
Divorce _We part our ways Like others part a sea; _You, Egypt, stay, While I, a Hebrew, flee. _We...
Seven Limericks of an Old Cynic Ataraxia (ἀταραξία) – accented on the penultimate vowel. Untroubled stillness, pure calm, impassiveness,...
'The Real Star' of the 2026 World Economic Forum —inspired by quotes from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Gavin...
To Thine Own Text Be True For My Autocorrect on Valentine’s Day You turn my hope to mope, my...
Listen, Wishin' Star Listen, you cotton pickin’ Wishin’ Star, I know how far up in the sky you are. I...
Song of the Beelzebots We lure you with our speed and with our flair. We snare you with our...
Lydia, De-Tattooed Lady ---with apologies to Groucho Marx The years she spent performing in the sun Have made her epidermis...
How to Acquire and Maintain Political Power Part 1: Acquiring Power Announce that you’re The Savior. _You’ll be...
Politically Incorrect Poem You see, I am a poetess. We of my gender wear a dress. And to some...
I suppose you're alluding to Talarico. He's a perfect example of how the left uses Christian rhetoric to function as…
We have at least one of those in Texas running for the Senate. Your election advice is spot on!
Jeffrey, thank you for this contemplative work in Rhyme royal. The speaker's plea could leave the reader sad, but instead…
Mark, you'd make a dynamite political-adviser for virtually every candidate running, and if the bulk of them responded positively to…
This is an extremely well-articulated poem, Mark -- observant and sharp. The way politicians pander to target voters and lie…
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