Susan McLean: Anacreon's Wisdom
Plato, in his Phaedrus, refers to Anacreon,
the author of drinking songs and erotic poems, as wise.
I’m much obliged, my king, for these
huge sums you give for my light verse,
far more than poets hope to earn –
or dare to hold. Dreading the curse
that dogs great wealth, I beg you, please
accept my thanks and their return.
Bounty like yours draws thievery:
for two nights now I've not been sleeping.
Glorious though the prize may be,
it isn't worth the stress of keeping.
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Michael Swan: A Good Day
My old cat and I swopped fantasies for a day.
He learnt perfect Chinese, turned down an OBE,
and got the Nobel Prize for literature.
I climbed the tallest tree in the garden,
took off,
flew round like a mad thing,
and reduced the starling population
to zero.
You should have seen us winking at each other
at supper.
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Marshall Begel: The War For The Shore
American vacationers will swarm their southern coast,
where tourist towns and posh resorts deliver them a host
of waterway activities to pester what remains
of creatures who survived the latest season's hurricanes.
With snorkel gear, they'll interfere with turtles, whales and coral,
despite the fact their presence there is borderline immoral.
But I would tell the animals this crisis is endurable,
for soon enough, hotels will close when labeled "uninsurable".
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Donald Wheelock: Returning to Sibelius*
Reviving how I must have thought at three
is easier than trusting memory
(after senior years away from it)
to make this foul machine perform for me;
forgetting how to play the melody,
as well as all the hard-earned harmony,
I must again consult the manual:
to play, it says, depress the letter ‘P’.
*A program enabling composers to reproduce
their music from handwriting to publishable standards.
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Alan Millichip: Frustration
When you reach them down from the shelf,
The quality speaks for itself;
You know that these chocolates inside,
Are made with precision and pride;
Then your smile turns into a frown,
You must turn the box upside down;
The makers decided to place,
The details you need on the base !
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Tracy Davidson: Formal Verse
A lazy way of writing verse,
the Triolet repeats some lines
(though Villanelles are even worse).
A lazy way of writing verse,
but still I write them. It's a curse.
I like the way the form confines.
A lazy way of writing verse,
the Triolet repeats some lines.
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Steven Kent: God's Frozen People
The church is nippy, goodness gracious;
Vicar says the room's too spacious.
Oh, for doctrines half as rigid
As my body when it's frigid –
Frostbit feet, don't let me falter
Now as I approach the altar.
Why on earth did I wear sandals?
Please, God, light a few more candles!
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Gail White: Elegy for Lewis Turco
(1934-2024, author of The Book of Forms)
Beyond the blazing universe
with all its circling suns,
our Lewis enters Paradise
to bring the angels puns.
Our private world is sunk in grief,
our public world, in strife.
But laughter sounds in Paradise
that shakes the Tree of Life.
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L. A. Mereoie: Clay Pigeon English
“. . . 2 of the finest English Skeet ranges in
in the Midlands . . .” Advertisement for a
clay pigeon shooting business.
The wicked Whirling Widgeon,
The fiendish Springing Teal,
Though clay duck-cum-clay pigeon
Grace, in the flesh, a meal.
But, as their speed keeps tasking
Those lined up to compete,
The mind can’t stop from asking
What sort of birds are Skeet?
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Robin Helweg-Larsen: Flamingo
As annuals at their lives’ ends flower in beds,
blossom and ripen into yellows and reds
as Earth throws scarlet to the day’s end skies –
so the flamingo trying to fly, pounding along
the surface of the water, pink wings flapping, pink feet slapping,
ungainly straining desperate, then sudden rise,
its work rewarded: scarlet, pink, black, strong,
suddenly graceful, airborne . . . and then gone.
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Edison Jennings: A Critique of the Antique
Antique chairs tend to creak
and if sat on, usually squeak.
Old brass hinges become green,
and silverware is hard to clean.
As for houses, antebellum,
I’ve found it best to avoid ‘em.
Though redolent of history,
owning one’s a misery.
