. The Red Carpet There's nothing left to tease imagination When so-called starlets, vying for attention, Sashay the carpet practically...

. The Expert Class “Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see” ---Benjamin Franklin The experts...

. My Patchwork Quilt Somewhere within my closet a patchwork quilt rests there; The patches cut by hands and with...

. Houses Made of Stone Masvingo, southern Africa’s the place; a backwater, land tired and over-farmed, where army ants cut...

. Promises Made, Promises Kept... Give Me a Break! We know, because they promise us their virtuous intent when allocating...

. Becalmed When life is smooth—a gentle breeze On a porch swing—the garden lush. Retirement! Do as I please. Watch...

. Street 3/4 On both sides of this street, there are small stores Of groceries, canned food, medicine, and toys....

. The Lord of His Castle Setting: King Stephen’s siege of Newbury Castle, England during the English civil war known...

. I Need My Coffee  I need my coffee; don’t get in the way Of that which wakes me up...

. A Console Table after a Google entry A console table in the entryway __Provides a focus for a guest...

. A Hurricane by Any Other Name... The lights went out in Mexico today. A fury hit Cancun with no...

. Dandelion Dreams ---to Melody, on the occasion of her fifth birthday I see her, through the window, picking flowers....

. The Convert “Uh, Professor, I don’t get it, Why do people choose to read that? Does it just not...

. It Goes Without Saying "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they...

. . Battle Hymn of the Republic The Lord doth come; the grapes of wrath are crushed! Behold His fiery...

. American Dream Where Did You Go? American dream, where did you go? Visions grand that I loved so? Land...

. Miss Jewell’s Suicide ---from a story by George Gissing The chipped and mismatched crockery,Two boiled eggs and tepid tea,A...

. Endless Dreaming a villanelle I lunge ahead in bed and start to scream. The nightmare’s end is far; I’m...

. Fed Up It’s not just fogies and the aging nanniesThat look askance at all the mixed-up trannies.The everyday American...

. . Militant Books Marshaled ranks of silent books Formed on shelves as in brigade, Fill the wooden dusty nooks...

. The Rise of Washington from Legends of Liberty, Volume 3 IT’S TIME! Let’s give our story’s star some space....

. A Formalist Poet at the Open Mic Part IV: Becoming a Poet Laureate by Daniel Kemper Inflationary times. The invisible...

. Ba’al "And they built the high places of Ba'al to burn their children with fire as burnt offerings to...

. Three Views of Venus "When you’ve got a goddess, make good use of her. —local guide, Green Velvet Bedchamber...

. Elder Abuse What’s left to us to say? There’ll be no more debates. We know the truth now. Biden...

.  Soulmate Your spouse ideally is your best friend,Providing love and laughter end to end,Supporting and enhancing all day through,But...

. To the Full Moon Heavenly voyager, you course Across the skies’ infinity--- The calm, serene celestial sea, Which yields...

.. 1. Generative artificial intelligence As for-profit tech makes some obverse sense: It markets to itself, its own monopoly Secured...

. The Pink of Gentle Hermione and White of John Paul II The lodger pauses, as he leaves, to gaze...

. Again Sir Charles Hallé plays Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata for Henri–Montan Berton and Luigi Cherubini, Paris, ca. 1835 The two...

. Savannah Blossoms Blossoms dress the trees __On Southern parkways Where petals glow like silk __If skies are fair, And...

. The Lazarus Effect Until you’re raised, you’ve no idea how dead You were, how long you’d been beyond the...

. Rending the Night Remembering My Army Service in Vietnam . Flying bullets rend the night, Sleeping birds in instant...

. Were She to Ask, and I Affirm Were she to ask, and I affirm That I'd still love her...

. Spanish Moss A thicket hides the remnants of a grange, An antebellum place of ghosts and rue--- A gothic...

. Memento Belli _My father had mementoes of the war; _he kept them in a box above his clothes, _where...

. The Plagiarising Poet A young lad sat in class—geography— Bored and in a peaceful reverie. The school bell blared,...

. On the Dine-and-Dash Phenomenon In restaurants, we dined but didn’t pay; we gourmandised, then upped and ran away. An...

. Flamingo The S-curve of that sinuous neck,The stern black tip of that great bill,The blue eye with which we...

. Just Like That No special words, no passionate embrace; No gazing, full of meanings, soul to soul. Just casual...