In standing against injustice, we must use language carefully and fairly, lest we find ourselves speaking and acting unjustly.
Protest Shakes the Poetry Foundation
Limerick: To Pray in the Pub
There was an old man named O’Pious
John Bolton’s Wars (a poem)
If Rudy* is a “hand grenade”*Why did Bolton* send his aideTo disarm the whole charadeWhile Bolton lounges in the shade? Well, that is how his wars are made:From the safety of Bolton’s […]
Three Poems of Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Here are three poems by a neglected (some would say deservedly so) Wisconsin born and raised American poet– Ella Wheeler Wilcox, whose late 19th and early 20th Century verse is full of […]
The Human Wall (a poem)
Because no one will pay to build His WALL– Not Mexico, not Congress, not even the Wall Street Journal or Faux News, not anyone— The PRESIDENT will send soldiers with guns To […]
As If a Cell Can Bar a Soul (a poem)
In honor of World Poetry Day Couplets for those who don’t betray The verse of stars, the vow of stones And meet the sinking sun alone– As if a cell can bar […]
To Honor Poetry on World Poetry Day, Help Imprisoned Poets Across the Globe
By John Kaufman PEN International is profiling four poets on World Poetry Day now being held either in prisons or under house arrest for dissenting against injustice through art and/or journalism: Aron […]
Introducing Rhymed Couplets in honor of the Trump Administration . . .
“Tough Love” Trump will issue tariffs in “a very loving way.” (He thinks that we will love him even when we lose our pay.)
Robinson Jeffers: “Be Angry at the Sun”
[JFK: Here’s a poetic perspective on politics some may call cynical, some may say stoic. Jeffers referred to his philosophical distance from people as “inhumanism.” This should not, however, be confused with […]
Poem: “Death of a Journalist”
By John Frederick Kaufman Sick of screens that blind with light, I’ll sing myself to sleep and let all facts arrive to you undeniably as night. I watch the snow fall silently […]
The “Human Rights Poetry” of Yevgeny Yevtushenko Very Relevant Today
By John Frederick Kaufman Speaking of his poetry, here’s what Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, who died yesterday in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 84, told the Associated Press in an interview […]
April: Poetry & Mud
A poet in a bad mood can ruin a reputation, as T.S. Eliot did for April when he called it “the cruellest month”, adding an extra letter l for emphasis. I prefer […]
A Poem: “Fists and Flags”
By John Frederick Kaufman Fists and Flags “America first!” the president cried and raised his fist to punch the sky while someone punched a fascist in the head: the fist is […]
“Is public virtue dead?”: Shelley’s “Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things”
By John Frederick Kaufman What better poem to turn to than one recently discovered in England, a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1811 when he was just 18 and a student at Oxford […]
Poem for the International Day of Peace
“International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) is observed around the world each year on 21 September. Established in 1981 by resolution 36/37, the United Nations General Assembly has declared this as a […]
