Author Archives: jackpelham

You can make the many mistakes of judgmentThat are germane to the painstaking processOf solving an important puzzle completely— Or you can make the one mistakeOf not trying to solve it. The choices are up to you. And then come … Continue reading →

Even the scholarRuns the riskOf missing the detailsOr mistaking the connections. He may do it less often,But still, he does it. The human mindHas its vulnerabilities.

“Hatred” used to be a noun several centuries ago (when I was a kid), and “hate” was the associated verb. More and more people today use “hate” for both the verb and the noun. Oh, and don’t forget the adjective … Continue reading →

Written in response to a Facebook friend’s suggestion for a hard-to-rhyme poem topic—the friend having pledged afterward to supply a drawing of said Platypus, which I have not yet seen, but am still patient about, because I’m cool like that. … Continue reading →

Written in reply to a rhyming challenge from a Facebook friend. I sing to you, dear Orange,Using rhymes, both true and strained.I see you as a soringeShooting sugar in my veins. But that’s not all, sweet Orange,For I have more … Continue reading →

Perhaps I’ll write a poem a day.My fans can say on what.And I will then have found a wayTo sit here on my butt. The dollars, they’ll come pouring inFrom fans both far and near.They’ll clamor here, each verse to … Continue reading →

Ah! That intoxicating hope thatSecond Things First might actually beA viable policy— That too-good-to-be-true notion that,For many vain people,Is also the too-good-to-pass-up thrill—

There are hundreds of posts and pages here, with all kinds of material. This home page shows the latest posts, and they tend to come in waves. So if you should see lots of poetry posts in a row, or … Continue reading →

Until a person Has surrendered fully To his own fallibility, And no longer supposes that “If I were wrong about this,I would know it,”— I don’t thinkHe’s ready yetTo considerThe things of this worldAs they truly ought to be considered.

They say the light from the stars Takes a very long time to reach us, And I wonder at how It seems to be the same With the light of the ancient scriptures—So distant from us in timeAnd cultureAnd speechThat … Continue reading →