By Rumple Oxbridge (imaginary rhymer-in-residence) Without a witty lover sex is just a spasm, a reflex too clinical and brief, the climax prelude to a sleep or flight . . . This no wit in bed denies: a deft tongue… Read More ›
writing
“The Chancellor of Football State U.”
“We used to pay for education But it don’t pay to graduate A thinker now. No jobs, anyhow. When you think of us you think Of watching football on TV. A national brand. A marching band. A hundred thousand people… Read More ›
Rumple Oxbridge: “Breasting Men”
By Rumple Oxbridge (The Pacific’s purely imaginary in-house rhymer) Breasting Men To get it off their chests some women bare their breasts. But looking so arresting can get them arrested because it’s men they’re breasting. [A verb form of breast means to oppose or… Read More ›
“Becoming Our Enemy”
Becoming Our Enemy Sometime we’ll have to risk Becoming our enemy. It will take some warming up, Eyes and teeth offered Shyly, arms unarmed. No words at first to blur The strange exchange, just Purest greeting: a bow That looks away… Read More ›
“The Poem to End All Cruelty”
The Poem to End All Cruelty For many years she wanted to write a poem To end all cruelty. But always she failed to start Or finish because she thought: Who am I To try to change what many holy… Read More ›
“A Banished Sound”
A Banished Sound by John Kaufman Banishment has this benefit: Art becomes your argument. You’re free To dabble in the resistance of language, Rebel in babble, decorate the walls With something human that will last or have To be… Read More ›
“There Is”
There Is by John Kaufman There is injustice . . . There is tragedy . . . And there is a woman utterly frank laughing as she unbuttons her blouse. And there is an ocean far to the west… Read More ›
For the Season: Longfellow’s poems of peace
Here are two poems by the 19th Century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who was, for the record, a Unitarian pacifist who reluctantly supported the Civil War as the only way of ending slavery. Before the war, in 1845, he,… Read More ›
“Prayer for Joy”: a poem by Stuart Kestenbaum via American Life in Poetry
American Life in Poetry: Column 505 BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE Stuart Kestenbaum is a Maine poet with a new book, Only Now, from Deerbrook Editions. In it are a number of thoughtful poems posed as prayers, and here’s… Read More ›
On Politics & Poetry
(Here’s a link to a printed copy of Whittier’s poem, published in a newspaper called the Signal of Liberty in 1842.) Most days I am of two minds, a state of being I’m sure I share with many other people: should… Read More ›
“What We Must Preserve”
(This poem of mine first appeared in the last issue of Verse Wisconsin, Issue 113, in April 2014.) What We Must Preserve by John Kaufman To hear each other, what we must preserve is the dignity of… Read More ›
Feeding the Birds: a poem
Feeding the Birds By John Kaufman for W.S. Merwin Here in the city we try to remember the birds, offering seed to nourish nothing but flight and song. We have sown plants and trees to nullify the lawn and streets… Read More ›
American Life in Poetry Column 498 by Ted Kooser
Welcome to American Life in Poetry. For information on permissions and usage, or to download a PDF version of the column, visit http://www.americanlifeinpoetry.org. ****************************** American Life in Poetry: Column 498 BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE Here’s a… Read More ›
Silent for the Summer
Posts on The Afternoon Journal will resume in September with a more national, diverse perspective. In the meantime, please see the list of the most recent posts and comments (as well as archived content) in the left sidebar. JK
New Poems by Rebecca Kylie Law
[Today I’m pleased to present three new poems by Australian poet Rebecca Kylie Law. The poems were submitted to The Afternoon Journal and are published for the first time. Please note the copyright: All rights reserved.] For St Francis… Read More ›
For Earth Day: “Beauty and Truth”
Beauty and Truth Windows let in spring’s bare light, the early drab before leaf and petal glamorize the season. I must refrain from reason now– this art a beautiful indirection that gets somewhere somehow, that lets virtue bloom, crocuses… Read More ›
The Pacific 