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Poetry

Equal Justice for All *

June 3, 2023 by Lawrence Venturato 3 Comments

Equal Justice for All *

For the privileged few
Above the law
Who commit
Crimes without consequences
An accusatory asterisk
Is appended
To the motto proclaiming
Equal Justice for All *

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Poetry

Cabin Pantry Discovery

May 27, 2023 by Edward Zahniser Leave a Comment

Cabin Pantry Discovery

On first opening the cabin for summer,
on a pantry shelf sits a mustard jar
amidst ubiquitous mouse droppings.

Mice are so sly that we do not deny
their being at coining speech—here,
say: homonyms of spices and species.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry

Poetry: Diminishing Returns

May 20, 2023 by Lawrence Venturato Leave a Comment

Diminishing Returns

Being close
Is often good enough
Beyond a certain point
Chasing perfection
Is a fool’s errand
Yielding seriously
Diminishing returns

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry

Poetry: No Chance at All

May 13, 2023 by Lawrence Venturato Leave a Comment

No Chance at All

A missed opportunity
Leaves a bitter aftertaste
Laced with regret
But it’s much better
Than the dull ache
Of having had
No chance at all

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: Poetry

Poetry: Nirvana

May 6, 2023 by Neil Shaw 1 Comment

Nirvana

I long to be free, in a world without boundaries,
And love what I see before I go down,
More trees and wildlife and clear waters to surround me,
A world all in balance, where peace and logic abound. [Read more…] about Poetry: Nirvana

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: Poetry

Poetry: Hopelessly Lost

April 29, 2023 by Lawrence Venturato Leave a Comment

Hopelessly Lost

I was advised it
Would be tricky
Getting there
But I was sure
I knew the way
So I tossed the map
And in no time flat
Found myself
Hopelessly lost

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry

Poetry: Be Careful Casting About

April 15, 2023 by Edward Zahniser 2 Comments

Be Careful Casting About

If you come across a beaver pond
where six otters swim and frolic—
at least that’s how it may look to us
—don’t hope to catch strings of trout,
which are tops on those otters’ menu,
otters who are in their element here
where you, when the trout don’t feed,
might as well be on an urban street,
trying to hail a cab with your best
Royal Coachman artificial fly, whose
hook’s barb is trimmed off because
urban lawyers are avaricious folk.
And who knows what bystander’s
eyelid you might sink your barbed
hook into—and should you hook
an eyeball, you might as well cast
yourself and all of your heirs on
the mercy of the court system.

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry

Life’s Fleeting Breath: An Epitaph for Jeremiah Clark

April 13, 2023 by Dave Waite 4 Comments

Jeremiah Clark gravestone (1783-1844)The small rural cemetery that sits along Clark Road in Providence, Saratoga County, NY, silently beckoned me to stop and visit as it came into view one Autumn morning. I was happy to oblige, hoping to be rewarded with a glimpse of insight from these final reminders that mark the end of the life of those who, like us, also once smelled the fragrance of autumn and felt the warmth of the midday sun. [Read more…] about Life’s Fleeting Breath: An Epitaph for Jeremiah Clark

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Cemeteries, Genealogy, Kayaderoasseras Patent, Poetry, Providence, Saratoga County

Poetry: Free Will – and Write Yours Soon

April 8, 2023 by Edward Zahniser 2 Comments

Free Will—and Write Yours Soon

Reductionists limit our every action
to serial impersonal events. Our genes
get transcribed, receptors get bound
to neurotransmitters, fibers in our
muscles contract, and the latest random
shooter pulls his or her gun’s trigger.

But Congress will not outlaw assault rifles,
because campaign contributions are the law,
no matter how it reads in the dusty books.
But there’s hope, as the late poet Paul Grant
wrote: “amo, amas, amat. Close your eyes
and a million years will pass fleetingly
in whom nothing dies.”

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry

Poetry: Transition

April 1, 2023 by Neil Shaw Leave a Comment

Transition

The sand is sifting, time’s moving on,
A tear drops from the Dolphin’s eye,
A flower wilts, a tall tree tumbles,
The weakened Eagle can no longer fly.

Forlorn Elk keep sniffing the earth,
But no green pasture are they able to find,
A flock of Turkeys wander the fields,
But foul fumes and pollutants make them dizzy and blind.

Man pushes buttons to know what to do,
Instructions come forth in their mechanical way,
The voice speaks up clearly and he follows suit,
A cog in the wheel, controlled day after day.

But is this the way it was meant to be,
Sacrificing our souls due to weakness and greed,
Losing our essence, giving up on ourselves,
Become a new form of man, spawned by electronic seed.

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry

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