Beauty

. Dirge for a Dying Diva Who’s alive now who ever heard the voice That once adorned La Scala and The Met, A native of this land where we forget Artists quicker than books or melted ice? The wonder of her lovely lyric highs Survives in one rich memory as...

. This poem is inspired by a column in The Epoch Times written by John Falce, entitled “The Experience of Freedom” The rugged beauty of our land’s terrain Is varied, airy, beautiful, and wide, Reflecting freedom. This, our fruited plain, Is something in which we should all take pride. Americans...

. She is not a she in the Silver State. Never shall be. In the bones of her heart He will ever be he, unwombed by fate, Crafted by lies, makeup, the surgeon's art... __A petal falls, a stem is cut, a flower __And a bee; weep, no honey sweets...

. From the Bay of Naples To Titus Caesar and the Senate, Hail! Gaius Pliny brings you news most dire From Naples where your frightened people quail; Vesuvius has turned to molten fire! Pompeii is buried. Other towns as well, With countless Romans bloodied, lost or dead. I, across the...

. Amber Song I come from amber, Baltic gold, A gem but not a stone, And not a thousand ages old, A girl from pine sap grown, When fully cured, of warm physique And vibrant to the touch, A little sunshine called in Greek, Electron, for I clutch Fair living...

. June in memory of Johnny Cash (1932--2003) Johnny was no average guy, __The troubled man in black. His life, by evil, went awry, __And loving brought it back. The radio and Mama’s hymns __Filled up his youthful heart. Jack’s accident and Daddy’s whims __Then tore his heart apart. At...

. The roar of battle rends the moonlit skyWith distant thunder as of cannons booming.And bursting, crashing, popping salvos flyAbove the roar, the whirr of rockets zooming. The din deceives, for when it yields to sightA fire-dance fills the sky whose salvo joltsBlithe, awestruck smiles to gasps of sheer delightThat...

. The Future's Illumined by the Deeds of the Past inspired by a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville The future’s illumined by deeds of the past. Without history into darkness we’re cast To walk aimlessly, to suffer and bleed, To never again be the land of the freed. Our liberty...

. Nothing’s had by show of fear, When another way is clear: Courage to pursue the best When one’s met with Nature’s test. Can one sell a good or skill Fighting hard and oft uphill? Does one have the kind of heart To endure a rocky start? Can one shine...

. On Death and Life not by John Milton Ere Death’s foul fetters drag me to my tombAs fodder for the very maw of hell,Should not my weary, failing soul rebelAnd seek release from sin’s eternal doom? For didst not Eden’s God deign to presumeTo breathe eternal life into the shellOf...

. The Carnelian Ring: A Still-Life Footfalls echo in the memoryDown the passage which we did not takeTowards the door we never openedInto the rose-garden. —T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton I think of a walled garden, graced with trees:Magnolia, fig, and cherry, while grapevines(Just pruned enough to be under control)Intertwine with...

. A teardrop's such a little thing, __and yet its burden varies depending on the weight of the __emotions that it carries. One's tears of joy are very light, __yet tears of grief are heavy. And tears of love forever lost __can break a strong heart's levee. Those tiny drops...

. Ill Wind The wind, no friend, assaults us so unkindly And suffers nothing to abate its force, Though boys who fly their kites adore it blindly, As if it were a deity from Norse Mythology.  For those of us who plow The earth, its presence is a daunting nuisance...

. Listen to "Arrow Song" by Gunny Markefka, with lyrics from Longfellow. "Arrow Song" is from his album Arrow Songs, which features songs with lyrics from Shakespeare, Blake, Cowper, Milton, Byron, and Bulwer-Lytton. The album can be previewed and purchased here. . The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth...

. The Hanging Tree The story of these bones is clear--- More than one deer was butchered here, Hung from this limb then skinned and bled By him the hunter, long since dead. Look yonder as the crow does fly And see the grave where he does lie And ponder,...

. . The Blackbird So what can make this joyous songbird sing That cannot but proclaim its blackbirdhood? In fairest weather and in foul it could Convey nought but the utmost joys of spring. So fling right open all the doors, and fling The windows wide: they don’t feel, as...

. Contemplating Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer He stands enwrapped in luminous shadowed light, A woven cord of gold across his chest, Voluminous silk sleeves of purest white Contrast the deep-black velvet of his vest. Arrayed as though he were a wealthy man; A citizen of Rembrandt’s Amsterdam. An...

. “Daddy! There’s the big yellow ‘M’!” “May I take your order ple---?” “One Big Mac, Coke and fries!” Dad  yells, “and---” “Happy Meal for me!” “Coach” Dad would bus our team for shakes (whether we lost or won) cocooned in camaraderie, Great times, those days such fun! The day...

. Our Father loves us, one and all. He lifts us when our spirits fall. He knows the song of heart and mind; He hears the fears of humankind In every earnest, earthly call. He guides us through the grind and gall Of guilt and guile; the devil’s thrall From where...

  Raison Du Jour Reason is like tea.It’s best at four o’clock,Which is an hour before cocktailsAnd two hours before dark. . . Finding at the Door a Disheveled Man Late on a Sunday Afternoon You don’t believe that I am Christ returnedbecause, you say, so often you’ve been burnedby...

  Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, cameTo bless new student housing on The Mound.Despite his title and his royal name,Despite the Lord Mayor following around, The Scottish students studying nearby,Did not step out to even take a look.No “Huzzahs,” “Hip-Hoorays,” or “hue and cry,”Each student feigned more interest in their...

. No Letters "An odd thought strikes me: we shall receive no letters in the grave." ---Dr. Johnson, from Boswell’s Life Of all the things which I enjoy and have To lose them, then, in death, which soon I must, Grieves so, as thinking too becomes pure dust: We shall...

. Francesco, is it you? Be confident. Sorgue vineyard pathways never were too dusty __For you—plump face and figure lusty. Come nearer; focus my astonishment. The monks and nuns sleep early after Compline. __Fawn twilight gilds the summer evening; __Its nectared air fans out old grieving, And here I am,...

. When soldiers die,They give two lives.The one they had, And one denied: The spouse not met,The child unknown,The life unsaved,The welcome home, The hill unclimbed,The beach unseen,The books unread,The field un-gleaned, The chance to seeTheir daughter-bride,To guide their sonOn his first ride, The friends not made,The Christmas trees,The job not done,Life’s victories, The end...

. The mystic steed gave chase to red-eyed day, His forelock flying in the morn’s raw gust. Providence, my constant mount with whom I, On hills and shores, through lofty steeps and crags Had foolhardily stole, forgetting Fate In the undead days of my storm-tossed youth, Now strode o’er new...

. Storage and Retrieval In the dank cellar of the human mind Are stored a lifetime’s worth of rusted tools And strands of uttered words, both cruel and kind, That molder in the moil of golden rules. There, too, are hogsheads of untasted wine Maturing in the clench of oaken...

. “I want answers. I want all the words the poem whispers to be made flesh, to sit opposite me, and to shout out the reason for our existence…” ---Susan Jarvis Bryant on Daniel Kemper’s poem He who is, and always was, spoke light And made our tiny place. That...

. Fostering Faith Will you slip through the system’s wide cracks Like a ball down a driveway’s storm drain? Will you bounce between homes, leaving tracks That they’ll only retrace if you’re slain? See, the case plan is hard to believe When so many are carelessly tossed, Doomed to land...

. Hardship and Destiny to the Class of 2021 The time is now at hand; the bow is bent To shoot you forth across the open sky. And as you think on what these years have meant, You may know where you wish to land, and why. Or else you...

. Will this reclaim the long-lost Muse perched on the tree of I.O.U.’s? Can I now join Miss E. B. Browning as she proclaimed her love---its counting? Her art’s not mine; I know that much. The years sped by---as if by touch! And each day’s love was multiplied until its...

. The Summer's ushered in to close Spring's tale;New chapters are revealed in nature's story. The seasons' story arc will without failExpress great beauty, speaking of God's glory.There's differences of flowers, side by side,Unique in color and their time of birth With vibrant blooms that echo far and wide Midst all of...

Originally published in The Epoch Times by James Sale Very recently, I hosted a live online poetry event for New York’s Society of Classical Poets (SCP). I introduced six American poets, of whom two were naturalized Americans, one originally from Russia and the other from England. In introducing them and...

. On the Greek isle of Tilos are the ruins of the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo. Over them has been built the Church of the Archangel Michael. "Now rot here on the earth that nourishes men. No longer will you live to be an evil mischief to mortals." —Homeric Hymn...

. The enemy has canceled me And yet, as far as I can see, I still exist, I am still here And so resist and have no fear. Theirs is a vile, historic curse, But this time, friends, it will be worse. There’s nothing new in what they say, The...

. Default, to a Fault There are as many deeds I ought to do As there are jobs in urgent need of doing. My task is knowing whether to pursue Them, or, too overwhelmed, to stop pursuing. As numerous as shores that hem the sea Are duties I am constantly...

. To my friends on the wall who fought valiantly,We thank all the dead for ensuring we’re free.Remembrance, though fleeting, is etched on this wall.Above waves Old Glory. You answered his call. With honor you fought, and your life’s blood you gave.Your name’s on the wall, wherever your grave.You knew that...

. R e w i n d... If time could suck the bullet from torn flesh, And pry its steely bite from splintered bone, Stitch tattered life and limb to start afresh, Unbloody muddy trench, uncast the stone; If time could snatch back all each battle stole With hands to...

. He wakes up with the morning’s light, __stares at the empty bed. A ritual for fourteen years __since tears have all been shed. The empty coffee cup remains __unused upon the shelf, and never touched in all that time, __alone, all by itself. Old wedding pictures on the wall...

. Limerick I have lived my whole life about me And at last I can finally see That my choice only smothers, Life is all about others And the truth really does set you free. . . Senryu I was born to dance. Alas, I sat on my ass When given...

. Haiku A grounded sparrow Wings hurt, head raised to the sky "Is this how I die?" . . A Snowflake From sky’s descent and earthward bound, __A snowflake, small and bright; It’s slow and steady, floating down, Until he lands without a sound, __And shrouds the dirt with white....