O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! […]
Classic Poetry: O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman Read More »
Photo by Gaurav Gupta on Unsplash Fair-haired boys running through the summer afternoon laugh at the whirlwind as it topspins and tumbles to the ground. Men and boys alike stare as the days of glories past tremble and renew. Pristine, bold and brave they lumber to the lake carrying their hopes, dreams and visions.
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge is the premier poet-critic of modern English tradition, distinguished for the scope and influence of his thinking about literature as much as for his innovative verse. Active in the wake of the French Revolution as a dissenting pamphleteer and lay preacher, he inspired a brilliant generation of writers and attracted the patronage
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When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free.” But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me. When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again,
Classic Poetry: When I Was One-and-Twenty by A. E. Housman Read More »
Image by Marisa Sias from Pixabay Intersect Close your eyes and think. Think of what gave you the greatest pleasure. The touch of a man or woman? The smile of a child? The excitement of money? Something bought or found? Now, think of what caused you the greatest pain. The humiliation of suffering? The
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Image by Suhas Rawool from Pixabay A fire once burned brightly like a beacon in the night. A nova of a super joy cut the lunar satellite. Up upon the misty hills ten thousands eyes did shine. Looking for the valley’s peace and eyesight to the blind. Questions of eternal truth cannot go
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Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay John Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina and is unarguably one of the most important people in the history of Jazz. If you have never heard his music before, please look it up on your favorite music providers. It will be well worth it.
Trane Played…by Joseph B. St. John Read More »
Photo by Hans @ Pixabay Wading through the Johnstown Flood the water running through my brain, I stood calm, collected hoping for the distant shore. Looking for the answer, looking through the rain, is this all to reason or am I just destined to go down – for the third time? Quizzing Mark stands
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Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay Change a world before my eyes. Change the color of the stars. Stare off into the sun and rhyme a lullaby. The cold ice drops off every word. A cool ridge climbs your mountain walls. Xanadu sits neatly in the frozen caves– a feast for eyes to see.
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This Epic Poem of Coleridge needs no introduction but did you know that Iron Maiden did an equally epic song. If you did not, read the poem and then listen to the song posted at the end. You are going to love it! Iron Maiden – Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Music Video)
Image by Joe from Pixabay Silence breaks the thunder. Warm, billowing masses of air stream through the night. Clouds like children gallop the skyline. A pale, refreshing breeze envelops my skin. Darkness covers all except for twilight’s flickering light. Mist, so rare a beauty– Moisture’s shiverless form pleases in its touch. The dampness lingers
COLORS OF A LIFETIME by Joseph B. St. John Read More »
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay Raging through the Heartland in a cream colored Cadillac, I saw the light’s ray illuminate the dust from my dashboard. Running through Springsteen, Nebraska, I lost my innocence somewhere between Route 85 and 95. I meet a dirt poor farmer there who told me what he thought the truth
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Image by 준원 서 from Pixabay Run through the sunlight’s core Children of the Rain Smile little and feel the heat Breathe a new day Comfort in the fact That nothing spends the night- Nothing that can be felt or seen Preclude the shadows of existence That takes lesser men’s breath Words swell on
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“Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula (NIRCam Image) When I first saw the images from the “Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula from NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, I was amazed by the beauty and surrealism of our Universe. It is, as if, we live in a masterwork of space, time and art. The picture was
William Blake and the Wonder of Nature and the Supernatural by Joseph B St John Read More »
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in
Classic Poetry: If by Rudyard Kipling Read More »
Annabel Lee by EDGAR ALLAN POE It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a
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Image by Benjamin Thomas from Pixabay Who colors the nighttime skies? Who hangs the morning’s dawn? Somewhere between Heaven and Hell Lies the cold reality of life. A moment of chance sits in the balance. A second holds forever And forever is never long enough. Minutes turn to days as each hour passes
Who Colors the Nighttime Skies? by Joseph B St John Read More »
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) Kubla Khan Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment. In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there
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Image by Oleg Gamulinskiy from Pixabay Running through the atmosphere, lost, tired and bewildered, the traveler moves to another time. Pulling aimlessly at his memory, he stands alone and lonely, watching the stars and moon fall around him. His ship filters his reality and buffers his soul from the elements that wreck his stranded
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Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay Change a world before my eyes. Change the color of the stars. Stare off into the sun and rhyme a lullaby. The cold ice drops off every word. A cool ridge climbs your mountain walls. Xanadu sits neatly in the frozen caves– a feast for
Change A World Before My Eyes by Joseph B. St John Read More »
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay Caress the morning rain. Surrender to the moisture’s cool comfort. Expression and time moves toward continuum. The dampness erases the burdens of the soul. Pull yourself toward the heavens. Feel your skin dance so alive. Remove your outer layers. Let the wind dry your gentle hair.
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Image by Mrexentric from Pixabay Gothic sunrise sitting prone, alone– mesmerized by life’s encouragement. Water, cool and easy, reflecting the light of a still dawn. Colors, purple, blue and orange, calling from the sun. A wet mist covering the earth’s shiny coat. Mysterious morn, defender of the new day, awaking all of nature. Standing
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Black Mountains roam across the sky. The moon hides its distance shore in a bask of remembrance. A man clothed in deep blue and gray walks purposefully through the night. Steel eyed and gaunt, his pale reflection stands in contrast to his surroundings. A shallow heartbeat fills the air. It’s a small but steady
Desire by Joseph B. St. John Read More »