Poetry

. To Dance with Death I caught the fierce gaze of the trickster, Death. He charred bleak Aztec ruins with his breath And shadowed me through pueblo, plaza, palace, With knife in hand---a Mexican Macbeth. The pyramids perspired with his malice. An apparition with a straw hat crowned, Death stalked...

. All Saints' Day by Gabrielle de Coignard (c.1550–1586), translated by Margaret Coats O Saints, you have your heritage in hand Because you battled Satan’s sanctimony! Though burned or tortured, you gave testimony; A thousand torments tore your valiant band. Arrived in port, you see the whirlwinds fanned Around our...

. The Legend of Ole Stingy Jack Do you recall Ole Stingy Jack?Whose tricks cost him a great set back?They say he tricked the Devil twice,But when he died he paid the price. At first denied the pearly gateAnd left to wander shadows late.The Devil did show some remorse,And gave an...

. Word Witch She’ll tease and tempt with mystic words, __This foxy sorceress. Her syntax soars like sun-bound birds--- __This wizard poetess Casts slick linguistic spells that sing __Of Cupid’s carnal kiss. Her saucy muse is sure to bring A red, red rose and diamond ring, __But cannot conjure bliss. She’ll thrill and spill the sweetest sea __Of honey...

. The Great Sonnet I set myself to write a sonnet. I labored hard and long upon it. Sweet verse some maid might shed a tear at, More ere's than one could shake a spear at. I spoke of luv, both hers and his's With lots of thee's and thou's and tis's. "My...

. Mrs. Cyclops Ain’t really gonna leave. I’ll just pretend, Brontesa. Cy and I are bound. I simply Can’t bear to turn a blind eye to my mate--- Not even if our love-life’s off of late; Not even if his skin is coarse and pimply. At least not till his...

. The Democratic Party Dressed for Halloween The Democratic Costume Party is held on Halloween With Hillary as Jezebel, the dangerous sleazy Queen. Joe Biden comes as Dracula, the vampire looking flushed, Who tries to take a bite of every female neck he touched. Kamala is a stringed Pinocchio with...

. . Plato’s Pumpkins  A patchwork quilt of pumpkins sown with gourds, odd fellows green and yellow ‘twixt-and-‘tween October’s orbs of orange the overlords of cowboy, tramp, and witch come Halloween. . The pumpkins, large and small, a fertile ground: goose eggs and horns and hooters, fat and lean —the...

. Extract from DoorWay Canto 3: Constellation of the Virgin DoorWay is the Poet’s journey through Heaven. Having left the constellation of Libra in Canto 2, he now enters the Constellation of Virgo where he finds and meets various ‘innocents’ and literal virgins of life, as well as Dr. Johnson,...

. Apocalypse Women The Christians gather at the baby’s grave. There are no tall stones in the children’s field. Red scarves veil women’s heads among the crowd And one, eyes streaming with a grief unhealed, Turns toward us, mouth wide open in her cry, Her full-throat wail. The veil of...

. Autumn by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), translated by Bruce Phenix The falling leaves seem fallen from afar, as though in heaven distant gardens faded; they fall with gestures that deny, negate. And, falling in the night, the earth’s sad weight finds solitude apart from every star. We all fall....

. Reviewed Book: Selected Verse of Émile Nelligan: Québec's Great Lyric Poet, translated with commentary by Ian Allaby, Petra Books, 2023 by Gabriella Bedetti His masts touched the sky, he sailed on seas unknown. Ses mâts touchaient l’azur, sur des mers inconnues ---Émile Nelligan’s gravestone epitaph With today’s rising trends...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 7 Part 2: C.B. Anderson, Poetical Gardener If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPKUavbuZs . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of...

. The Number 192: Inside the Floor in which we encounter a vision of Hell ’Twas on the 192 at Tottenham Hale, It happened not so many years ago, A certain Mr. George Arbuthnot Dale Experienced a bout of vertigo. While standing on the lower deck as usual He thought...

. The Reincarnations of Donald J. Trump after Andrew Benson Brown’s Legends of Liberty  . I. 218 B.C. Above the mellow grass, cliff faces soar Like walls to house a huge primeval god. The pass into the valley is his door Through which a hundred thousand soldiers plod. Their war...

. After Brain Death Based on the article “May We Donate Our Organs?” by Drs. Jay Boyd and Paul A. Byrne:  Warm and pink, his heart still beating, Cells dividing, still digesting, Still his blood is circulating, Lungs by ventilator breathing, Wounds still healing, urine passing, Eyes still open when...

. Mike Burch Still Around? Good Lord, No… with apologies to J.C. Squire’s Ballade de l’Évolution Créatrice Strange beasts have gone to their reward— The snaky Gorgon and the Sphinx, The centaurs and the satyr horde, The Cyclops with his foetid stinks. A backward glance through time, methinks, Reveals such...

. Excusing Evil A peaceful protest just took place, and some unlucky people died. Hamas just wanted more air space where at-risk kids could paraglide. As their kids soared, they saw a crowd, and they were frightened to their core. The pulsing music was so loud, it brought past trauma...

. The Word “Let there be light,” He said and light there was. The seething chaos split to day and night And space and time were brightly set abuzz. From atom unto Adam, highest heights To deepest depths His mystery did unfold Although we still don’t understand it quite: Among...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 7 Part 1: The Problem with Arts Grants If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. .   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI302_8xiA . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress,...

. The Life of the Party The commissar, in his most common clothes, Patrols the margins of their conversations, And tries to feign that cheer which he so loathes, But is too cluttered with recriminations To offer more than trite regurgitations Of the most tedious new orthodoxies. Instead he listens...

. Cystolitholapaxy Cystolitholapaxy (si-stow-luh-THAA-luh-pak-see): a procedure to break up bladder stones into smaller pieces and remove them “It’s Cystolitholapaxy for you, For guys of your age, it’s the best I can do. I’ll see you back here in a couple of weeks, And give me a call if you get...

. Be Careful What You Ask For “Genie, please make me a banana split.” Poof! “You are a banana split! Just feel yourself sliced down the middle. Doesn’t it feel cool, dear Tony? I’ve thrown out the peel, and now that slit is widened by three scoops of rich vanilla ice...

. The Truth about Fall Colors  I am October’s most submissive bitch, And just when I believed I’d struck it rich, The gold that hovered overhead was blown Away before I’d claimed it for my own. And now the maples turning scarlet red Will shed their leaves on every flower...

. Quiet Night Thoughts by Li Bai (701-762), translated by Talbot Hook My bed looks over bright moonlight. I muse: could it in fact be frost? I lift my head and watch the moon; I bow my head and think of home. . 静夜思 , 李白 床前明月光 疑是地上霜 举头望明月 低头思故乡...

. Unveiled, They Appear Reminiscence, and longings, and echoes unseal, from the depths in the ground which has covered, concealed, recollections of those who you meant to reveal. What your senses revere, neath our cavern of earth, Is the essence you feel, for all that we’re worth. In your mind...

. Salome's Soliloquy John the Baptist rebuked Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, for an incestuous and adulterous union with his brother’s wife, Herodias. Herodias therefore wished to kill John, and found an opportunity when her daughter Salome performed a lascivious dance at Herod’s birthday feast. Herod swore to give the...

. Avoidance I don’t sign up for group Zoom calls __With folks I know are boorish. I don’t go visit galleries __Where art is amateurish. I don’t make plans which likely will __Cause me to have to wait, At my expense for people who __Repeatedly are late. I loathe when...

. Bunker Hill an excerpt from the forthcoming Legends of Liberty, Vol. 2 . The Eve of Battle The midnight moon. The month of June. A neck Of land. A hill of sand. A group of shadows With wheelbarrows—squeaking. “Quiet, heck!” —“No speaking—whisper!” Shovels out, they burrowed Ditches and raised...

. Words of Wisdom  “The only true wisdom is knowing  you know nothing.” ---Socrates She knows the what. She knows the why. __She knows the when and where. Her tireless tongue will testify __She knows the foul from fair--- A lofty boffin strutting tall, This knowing crower knows it all. He knows the how....

. A Petless State after Katherine Philips' A Married State, 1664 A house with pets affords but little grace. The best of dogs or cats destroy the place. Note when you visit friends you can detect foul odors, hairballs, housekeeping neglect. A petless state insures all’s calm and clean. It’s...

. Congratulations to Society of Classical Poets Member Paul A. Freeman who won the Queen's English Society Poetry Competition. His winning poem was "An Apple for Geoffrey Chaucer." Read the official announcement and winning poem here. . . .

. My Brother in Galilee I had a fearsome dream---I saw my friend -- My teacher-brother---nailed onto a cross. I wept with sorrow at my brother’s feet. He said his mother henceforth would be mine. Unearthly lightning blazed across the land. I gasped and woke, my blanket cold with sweat....

. A Leftist Rebukes Hamas Hey, Hamas, you silly dolts, You need to mow down more adults. Keep fighting for your patch of sand, Since Jews do not deserve the land, But chopping off their babies’ heads And slashing children in their beds? You really need to be more subtle;...

. Autumn Winds have Come Again Autumn winds have come again, Whistling wafts are dithering, Trees are shedding leaves like rain, Garden vines are withering. Looking from my window sill Out into the snowy night, Snowflakes clad the leaves until My world’s wrapped in a winking white. Here inside I...

. Epiphany It stays in your memory like a pealing bell, A smallish thing, an unimportant fact— The mute suggestion of a random act. What do I speak of? Listen, I shall tell: A kindness from someone you barely knew Dropped like a curtsey from the chambermaid Who smiles to...

. Trump in Asia the carp glows in dark waters, remembering the time that Trump fed him . . White House Advent Melania walks in her orchard of glass fruits her Christmas forest . . Monika Cooper is an American family woman.

. Autumn in Pennsylvania in 2023 In response to Susan Jarvis Bryant’s poem on "Autumn in Texas" If Autumn is a bummer down in Texas, Up north it casts forth some contrasting hexes. Fall has befallen us in Bill Penn’s Woods We feel the reel of summer’s passing goods Run...

. Two Bugologues . Moth Onto a wall in chilly gloom I fold myself, all silk and dust, and then, from half across the room, the candle flickers: Come. You must. I am well past my crawling days when, wingless, I thought only of my next mealtime. Now, nothing stays...

. Homage to the Cultural Contributions of Native Americans Columbus bumped into this wondrous land— Out of his ships came a little band To offer up thanks on the golden sand. Chris found three things that can wreck your brain, Each one endemic to this domain: Tobacco and syphilis and...