Culture

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...

. Sestina 276 On the night of April 14-15, 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students were kidnapped from a high school by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria The dream was vivid, sickeningly strong, the type that wakes you up because extreme duress propels your pounding heart along...

. How to Write a Formal Poem(That Doesn’t Seem Like One) abandon capitals at all times. TrustYour sense for sound but, please, avoid rhymes. ChooseA rhythm you can readily adjustAnd phrase what you mean so it does not fitIambic’s smooth predestination. UseYour head, or use a pencil if you must,To...

. Horace, in your guide to painting poems, Bid a poet paint in synchrony. Carve, in sandy caves where writers roam, Ships ensconced in loam and birds at sea. Horace, sir, you broke me at hello. Genius, wit and art---tall cups to fill. Poet’s charge is flow, I know. I...

. Dillard “Sparky” Barker Is a Doc at CDC. He’s announced a market- Driven cure for you and me. Helicaps—not beanies Are the answer to our prayers. The downward blowing breezes Now defeat all virus scares. The proof is unequivocal, The science has been settled. And now, it’s not that...

. Is poetry that’s free as free as all That?  Surely it’s the poet who is free Or not.  He makes the choice to make a sprawl Of words (and punctuation?) dribblingly Straight (straight?) along the right-hand margin, or Elects to wander from that side to God Knows where.  Then reeling like a...

. Though many scores were lost, those that remain May well be thought the richest heritage Ever bequeathed by one blessed human brain: Incomparable gems on every page, Now reverently passed from age to age, But when the ink was fresh how roughly tossed Aside as passé! And who now...

. Dear President Biden You act as if you were elected To spend my great-grandchildren’s money. By spending trillions you’ve infected Each one of them with debt gone viral, And I don’t think it’s wise or funny To doom them to a downward spiral. I know that endless spend-spend-spending Will...

. Isaiah 5:20---Uncancellable They often call good evil, And call the evil good. Misclassifying basics? One wonders how they could. With light for darkness put, And darkness put for light, Seems schooling, friends, and news, Reversed what’s wrong and right. Then put sweet for the bitter, And bitter for the...

. excerpted from the sonnet sequence Philip, Prince of Greece and Great Britain He wore a white gold crown wherever he Was living, Denmark, Greece, and also here In Scotland and in England.  Like a spree Of happiness, he was a musketeer Of royal beauty whose blond diadem Was full...

. Tribute to 19-year-old Kyal Sin, known as "Angel," a dancer, taekwondo champion, and first-time voter who was killed during the protests against Myanmar’s CCP-backed military coup Remember her proud, girlish way Of marking that Election Day? She sealed it with a purple kiss. In hindsight, ignorance is bliss, For...

. When all guns have been banned,__When all rifles are taken,When your words have been censored,__When your life has been shaken--- When all schools fear the state,__When our history's erased,When all freedom's been choked,__When religion's replaced--- Only then you’ll discover,__That the Right to bear arms,Was our only protection__From the Left's luring charms. ....

. The House That Fauci Built by Dr. Weslie Ubeca Within the U.S. government, he was the highest paid He sighed, denied, and p-lied; he was a yo-yo on display. Like Doctor Faustus, Doctor Fauci, sold his soul to be an actor on the World stage, there at the CDC....

. Our neighbours bought a sheepdog: a heeler brindled blue, And all was well (or so it seemed) until his faults showed through; For when it came to penning sheep, he lost a large amount, And bit the hand which fed him when taken to account. They use him very...

. Cherry Blossom Viewing Like someone else, in unaccustomed dress, I choose that silken smoothness graze my skin __As fragile branches effloresce, Revealing vernal consciousness within Of transient white or pink I can caress With fingers titillating opaline Just opened buds exploding as they tease __My sight. They tremble; I...

. We stick to what we know, what we can touch, Hold in our hands; unable to foretell What lies ahead, denying Time with such Abandonment, pretending we are well Aware of the truth, we close our eyes To reason, snapping pictures of the here And now, though, all the...

. Ballade of Prayer to Our Lady (in the voice of the poet’s mother) by François Villon (1431-1463), from French by Joseph S. Salemi Lady of Heaven, who holds earthly sway And reigns as Empress of the hellish deep, Receive me, one poor Christian, as I pray That I may...

. Rededication The sullen days of winter Remain a galling splinter Within my thickened skin, So let the games begin! Though I’m inclined to focus Upon the blooming crocus, The loom of April fills My mind with daffodils. With every spring, an Easter, But will it bring me feast or...

for Xiaoyao Yin and her UK family Loud thumps were more than company; __front door as thin as any. Mum walked across the noise to see __each thump enlarge to many. Then clumps of feet clacked on our floors __with yaps demanding logins To access private data stores __they’d claw...

. If He came now, God’s only Son, To save a world that’s come undone Would we continue to defy His truth, to stoke the ruthless lie That claims His name is not the One? His Word torments the twisted tongue With light that blazes like the sun; Would we...

. “The strife is o’er, the battle won”—18th c. Hymn As hapless hope and hopelessness collide The mid-day sun looms black above the cross; A dies irae bearing bitter loss Where life and death each breathed their last, and died. With undried, grief-wept tears creation cried As God’s pure gold...

. Easter! by Rosario Previti (1882-1967), from Italian by Joseph S. Salemi Why your bitter torment on the cross, Martyr of Golgotha, if the world on which You poured your blood in agony remains Savage and fierce, and man still steeped in sin? The hand that healed the leprous and...

. Praise Him for the lightning in the gale,For balmy winds, for crystals in the snow.Wonder at the gaudy peacock’s tail,Observe how huge the elephant can grow! The turtledove, the maculate giraffe,The leopard’s feral stealth, the eagle’s wing,The neighing of the horse, the dolphin’s laugh;The joy in God which once...

. Sonnet 181 Jesus had suffered more than we can tell, But when released, His soul at once aspired To save the just, whom their long wait had tired. See Him descend to Limbo’s dreary hell In search of those who early served Him well And, ages since, His coming...

. I’ve had a nightmare! Let that just man go! You’re right that he’s done nothing wrong. They’re wrong To want him dead. No, nothing you could write Above his head could possibly undo Your guilt. He’s innocent, however long You try to wash your hands of him. That rite...

. Behold the Queen of Heaven weeping, seeping __Tears that rend her heart and ours. As one __Who mourns she grasps and clasps the seeming-sleeping, __Pierced, and bloodless body of her son. A body void of God’s expired breath; __A pietà of human flesh and bone __Where heaving, grieving love...

. She burns to bear his burden (take the weight) But he is far beyond her guiding reach. Beyond her soothing arms, he meets his fate. Her heavy heart has nothing left to teach… For these are not his first steps; they’re his last. His skin (once kissed and dressed...

. The Lovely World Behold the frozen, flaxen fields at morn– The tall grass shining on the hills of clay Which sunlit wisps of winter frost adorn In dazzling white, as for a bridal day. An air of holy wantonness imbues The outspread earth which, quiet as a nun, Displays...

. Sue was the star of Central High. In girls’ athletics she excelled. Her competition would just sigh. The best of it she ably quelled. Track, swimming, wrestling, volleyball— No other girl could match her skill. Twenty-five trophies lined her wall And she looked forward to more still. Alas, her...

. A Box of Chocolates is like Life: (That Mrs. Gump she got it right.) You  never know just what you’ll get, so take a chance: Jump in; don’t fret! Life’s Bittersweet---both dark and light--- but with some luck, most bites you’ll like. It helps to read the Contents Card, as some...

. Ode to Hidden Splendor I heard your rolling croon beyond my vision Blooming in the balm of winter’s breeze--- A thrilling spill of crystalline precision Amid the Spanish moss draped on the trees. My heart took flight with each falsetto note, Then fluttered at the height of your refrains--- The dazzle and pizzazz of soaring song Rising from your silken-feathered throat. Your air, beyond compare on coastal plains, Resounded with a twang so sweet and strong. Yet when I looked...

. The candlelight was dim and spare And Claire was there, lost in prayer And slightly swaying to and fro (She dances for Him, this I know) And I do swear that she did glow--- Whence comes this light? He does bestow. . . Joe Tessitore is a retired New...

. The Parting of the Sea Salvation in the parting of the Sea, Its churning waves pierced by a knife of cloud And split in two allowing us to flee Egyptian swords! As one astonished crowd We ran with haste into the wondrous scene! A liquid canyon carved from waterfall...

. “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” ---Exodus 12:13 As you have commanded, the blood to The lintel and the doorposts of my heart Has been applied. Because I’ve done this, through Your power, sin and death are kept apart From life. I am protected,...

. The fire roars and spits within the square Blazing angry red. The rabble looks With savage joy; their whooping lards the air. Such glee to see the burning of the books! One man stands apart from the hot flame, His eyes averted, grimly cloaked in shade. Aldous Senex is...

. Don’t you love the Oxford Dictionary?  When I first read it, I thought it was a really really long poem about everything. —David Bowie A dictionary is an indispensable Companion on the journey through the many words Forgot or never learned.  It’s reprehensible How soon they fly away, like...

. A kangaroo visiting from Australia beholds the kangaroo court attempting to impeach President Trump for the second time and, taking the current kangaroo judge’s momentary absence as an opportunity, dresses up as judge and addresses the court. Folk took my name in vain When they joined in the refrain...

. Grain If the future were a famine And tomorrow were a blight, Would we close our eyes today in Light of Future’s tragic sight? If the future were a famine And eternity, disease, Would we leave our fields and flocks to Wither, living lives of ease? If the future...

inspired by the late John Whitworth’s “The Examiners”  Through the burst of youth and giggles in the balm of budding spring, __You are there. Through the seal of something sacred where two souls conjoin to sing, __You are there. Through the cries of pain and sighs of mirth the awe of birth will bring To hands that pave a future for their newborn everything. Through grins and frowns and tears that brim and sting, sting, sting--- __You are there. ...

. A touch of wit is worth its writ in gold. We miss you, John, for being ever bold. You spoke your mind or, rather, wrote it down with learning lightly worn, and played the clown. Your loyal readers understand this truth: Such seriousness requiring a sleuth to figure out...