Beauty

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. Last Words They say I traced my finger in the air Before I died and let the wind erase My final, silent words. Those who were there Had fixed their eyes upon my dying face But found they were unable to agree On whether I had died in peace...

. The Red Sea From quite far off we smelled its salt And now stand stunned upon its shore. We stare into the writhing vault Where Moses sees a corridor. It seems there were not graves enough In Egypt so that now it’s rough And shallow holes of bloodied sand...

. Eluding Beauty  “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” ---William Shakespeare I yearn to write about the moon, __The moon and that is all--- The moon, a lunar-pearl balloon, The moon that drenches mossy tomb, The moon that blenches blue lagoon… __But I can hear you call. You call from...

. Just Not Alone…   I never asked For easy tasks, For burdens light For just delights. Expected not The breaks I’ve got, And when they came I sought no fame. As demands abound, I’ve stood my ground. As storms have come--- I have not run! I asked to fight...

. Moonburst I saw a comet streak across the night, And rend the sky with fire-tipped harpoon; While stars went out in fits of astral fright, The comet struck and burst the silver moon. The moon came down in shards of silver ice, In million bolts that pierced the trembling...

. Σχολή (Leisure) A Meditation on Horace’s Carmen I.IX You see the glist’ning peak of Mount Soracte, which towers, high with snow, its straining forests bent low and cracking under their wintry burden, and frozen rivers stop, sharp with ice. So after supper fetch another log to feed the fire,...

. Making Apple Butter Once he got the fire good and hot, Old Silas filled the kettle with some cider; and when it boiled down to golden amber, he added quartered apples to the pot. He settled in his chair beside the fire on this, a mild day for late...

. Critical Failure Failure to launch in every direction; Ran out of fuel before firing the rocket. Time for some long internal reflection; Retool the nav and reschedule the docket. Lost in the black with no way to light it; Missing in action way out on the ocean. Time to...

. Tower of the Winds Eight winds blowing, bluster overflowing,Buffet all the crevices of earth.Eight winds searching, lustily and lurching,Spawning every misery and mirth. First blows Boreas, minion of Polaris,Bane of maids and travelers on the deep.Frost upon his beard, a visage to be feared,Stallions in his care that do...

. Brain to Heart God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. —Ecclesiastes 3.11 To dig deep holes for bushes, shrubs— White Hydrangea, Crape Myrtle red— Sweating, grunting, post-hole digging . . . Tulips ready for flower beds. I pause, gaze...

. The Good Samaritan Scene: The road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is now three days since a good Samaritan has left an injured robbery victim in the care of an innkeeper. Your wounds are healing? Good. No, please don’t speak. Just have some wine. Fear not. You cause no...

. Serious Poetry Serious poetry, somber and grim; Dashing, descriptive, with narrative flair. Formal and versified; Rhythmic and dignified; Romance and rhetoric; ribald and prim. Taking you places while curled in your chair. Serious poetry, rhyming each line. Sonnets, rondeaus, villanelles, triolets. Explosive hand-grenades; Sharp-witted razor blades. Dangerous, edgy, designed...

. Equal Schmequal   The traits of men were glibly mocked __By those who thought men strange--- Those who thought the world half-cocked __ And fought for chop and change--- All those who chose to rise and rail Against the rock and role of male--- __‘Twas time to rearrange The natural order of the...

. 1960s Soap Operas “Soap operas,” they called them. Housewives watched Them while they sewed or cooked or ironed clothes. At two o’clock each afternoon began The sleazy saga to which mom attached Attention, sympathizing with the woes Of characters unlike her, who would plan Adultery or revenge. She sat...

. Elysium O golden hour, soft denouement of day, O mystic time of quietude and peace, When boughs and rushes whisper as they sway, Twirled by the sighing zephyrs’ soft caprice; When, fallen from his blinding noonday height, The dimmed, declining sun, departing west, Immerses all in glowing, golden light---...

. Bergerette by Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), translated by Margaret Coats O shepherdess, my friend,On love alone I live.True love is life’s true end,My heart can comprehend,And therefore I intend_My love unceasingly to give.O shepherdess, my friend,On love alone I live. Love lends me confidence,Grants conscience calmer sense,Builds patient competence,_Forms...

. Lay of the Oak I now recall a lay for you, A Briton’s tale of love made new. A humble knight rode through light morn, Until dark clouds made blue skies mourn. Lost he was soon in a dreadful storm, Fair Summer turned to dark---forlorn. Dismounted then, the knight...

. Fire on Ice How shall I serve my anger up to you? Shall I become like one most distant star Burning intensely, far from where you are, Incinerating---infinite degrees Made a mere twinkling to the earthly view--- Till, when its light has reached you from afar, By then, my...

. Congratulations and Homage to Giorgia Meloni Italy rises up and overthrows The stench of leftist tyranny at last. Rage among the EU’s pooh-bahs grows— They realize that their heyday is now past. Thwarted will, hurt pride, and disbelief Send quaking scum in Germany and France Into apoplectic fits of...

. The Last Detail Two cocksure, loud–mouthed lads one day set out, Intent on catching perch. “No,” Jim said, “trout.” The hole they headed for neither one knew: All for adventure, they sought someplace few Of their acquaintances had been before. “It’s just five hundred yards from Sandy Shore,” Said...

. Sex in the English Garden Light, feathery Astilbe Sways gently in the breeze Afraid she always will be Faint fluff beneath the trees Concealing dear Sweet William, Who rings each foxglove’s bell Mid coreopsis ruffles, While lily, like a shell With deeper inner meaning, Disdains to join with them;...

. Sentimental Song A pad and pen lie by his side __This moonless night of fall. And though he tries to hush his pride, To only see the tears she cried, His hands refuse to breach the wall, __A pithy line to scrawl. His mind, in angst, replays the day...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...