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Monthly Archives June 30, 2021

A Poem for Illinois Poet Laureate Angela Jackson and Other Freestylers, by Joseph Mason

The Society
June 30, 2021
Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry
22 Comments
. Ferdinand the Freestyler Angela Jackson is the Poet Laureate of Illinois and Jacqueline Jackson is a poet frequently published by Illinois Times. As I sit here chillin' and relaxin',There's some questions I...

‘The Carnelian Ring: A Still-Life’ by Joseph S. Salemi, and ‘A Note on the Objective Correlative’

The Society
June 29, 2021
Art, Beauty, Blank Verse, Essays, Poetry
11 Comments
. The Carnelian Ring: A Still-Life Footfalls echo in the memoryDown the passage which we did not takeTowards the door we never openedInto the rose-garden. —T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton I think of a walled...
poem/arredondo/niobe tears/crying

‘The Weight of a Tear’ by David D. Irby

The Society
June 29, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
. A teardrop's such a little thing, __and yet its burden varies depending on the weight of the __emotions that it carries. One's tears of joy are very light, __yet tears of grief are heavy. And tears of love...

‘Ill Wind’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
June 28, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. Ill Wind The wind, no friend, assaults us so unkindly And suffers nothing to abate its force, Though boys who fly their kites adore it blindly, As if it were a deity from Norse Mythology.  For those of us...

A Poem on Father Francis Gloudeman of California, by Margaret Coats

The Society
June 28, 2021
Culture, Poetry
38 Comments
. A Sign of the Spirit Poet’s note: These heroic couplets paraphrase the conclusion of a recent sermon for which the preacher, Father Francis Gloudeman, was expelled by Bishop Alberto Rojas of San...

Society of Classical Poets Journal IX Published

The Society
June 27, 2021
From the Society, Poetry
3 Comments
. The Society of Classical Poets Journal IX has been published. It features poetry selected from poetry published on the SCP website between February 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021. It also features exquisite...

‘A Prayer from Babel’ by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
June 27, 2021
Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. Set forth your true and lively word, O Lord, Amidst this false and deadly earthen tongue With which we are surrounded. For a horde Of men with senseless syllables comes among Us, trampling down your truth,...

‘Nil by Mouth’ by S.A. Todd

The Society
June 26, 2021
Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. All criticism of me is now hate speech, not "opinion"--- A forced agreement tyranny, for good. A new dominion where intersectionality has purged the vile before Their upturned faces paving our safe spaces...

‘Inevitable’ by Norma Pain

The Society
June 26, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
. My eyes espied a little bird And in his mouth… a little worm, That screamed a scream but no one heard. To mourn a worm is quite absurd, I guess his life had come to term. That little bird… he sang a...

‘Pride Month’ by Sarban Bhattacharya

The Society
June 25, 2021
Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. To take a walk each day is good of course, But not in June, beware, for this I know: The youngsters march in rallies loud and hoarse, You might be asked to join their pretty show. If you refuse there is no...

Longfellow’s ‘The Arrow and the Song’ Put to Music by Gunny Markefka

The Society
June 25, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry
4 Comments
. Listen to "Arrow Song" by Gunny Markefka, with lyrics from Longfellow. "Arrow Song" is from his album Arrow Songs, which features songs with lyrics from Shakespeare, Blake, Cowper, Milton, Byron, and...

Poetry Challenge: A ‘Raven’-like Poem on the Death of Edgar Allan Poe

The Society
June 24, 2021
Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests, The Raven
32 Comments
. Edgar Allan Poe was known for strange and mysterious tales, in poetry and prose. Perhaps fittingly, the circumstances surrounding his premature death at the age of 40 were also strange and mysterious. (Read...

‘The Hanging Tree’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

The Society
June 24, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
17 Comments
. The Hanging Tree The story of these bones is clear--- More than one deer was butchered here, Hung from this limb then skinned and bled By him the hunter, long since dead. Look yonder as the crow does...

‘A Progressive Englishman Speaks to Jews’ by Damian Robin

The Society
June 23, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
. In black and white terms, I would say, __You’re all more white than olive, Take Einstein, Rothschild, Proust, Bizet--- __all Western, bourgeois, stolid. Sephardic or Mizrahi breeds, __Hasidic,...

‘The Blackbird’ and Other Poetry by Peter Hartley

The Society
June 23, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
18 Comments
. . The Blackbird So what can make this joyous songbird sing That cannot but proclaim its blackbirdhood? In fairest weather and in foul it could Convey nought but the utmost joys of spring. So fling right...

Fairytales in the Age of Transgenderism: Two Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
June 22, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry, Villanelle
22 Comments
. Grimm   The days of steering princesses from danger With sweet salvation’s life-sustaining kiss From shining-armored knight or regal stranger Are now considered horribly remiss. Young damsels in...

‘Contemplating Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer’ by James A. Tweedie

The Society
June 22, 2021
Art, Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Homer, Poetry
9 Comments
. Contemplating Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer He stands enwrapped in luminous shadowed light, A woven cord of gold across his chest, Voluminous silk sleeves of purest white Contrast the deep-black...

‘When the Statues Were Felled,’ a Rondeau Redoublé by Brian Yapko

The Society
June 21, 2021
Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé
32 Comments
. When the statues were felled the crass multitude cheered. Historians wept while the rioters yelled. Society crumbled. Debate disappeared. Where fraud gorged on Truth only anarchy dwelled. The protests...

‘McStalgia’ by Tonia Kalouria

The Society
June 20, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
. “Daddy! There’s the big yellow ‘M’!” “May I take your order ple---?” “One Big Mac, Coke and fries!” Dad  yells, “and---” “Happy Meal for me!” “Coach” Dad would bus our...

A Father’s Day Poem: ‘Our Father’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
June 19, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau
34 Comments
. Our Father loves us, one and all. He lifts us when our spirits fall. He knows the song of heart and mind; He hears the fears of humankind In every earnest, earthly call. He guides us through the grind and...

‘Raison Du Jour‘ and Other Poetry by Gerald George

The Society
June 19, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
2 Comments
  Raison Du Jour Reason is like tea.It’s best at four o’clock,Which is an hour before cocktailsAnd two hours before dark. . . Finding at the Door a Disheveled Man Late on a Sunday Afternoon You don’t...
poem/cook/cats

‘Ode to George Lionel, the Cat’ by Jeff Eardley

The Society
June 18, 2021
Humor, Limerick, Poetry
23 Comments
. It was only a two stone cat, Now what do you think about that? If it sat on your lap, Both your femurs would snap. It was twenty-eight pounds of pure fat. Its owners would feed it on fish, Which they...

First-Liners Poetry Contest

The Society
June 17, 2021
Poetry, Poetry Contests
92 Comments
. . Winners Announced Here. . CONTEST: Begin with a favorite line from another poem, (or other literature) and "take off" on it in a different way.   . PRIZE: $100. (You must have Paypal if you live...

‘Edinburgh, Scotland, 1978’ by James A. Tweedie

The Society
June 17, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
  Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, cameTo bless new student housing on The Mound.Despite his title and his royal name,Despite the Lord Mayor following around, The Scottish students studying nearby,Did not...

‘No Letters’ and Other Poetry by James Sale

The Society
June 16, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. No Letters "An odd thought strikes me: we shall receive no letters in the grave." ---Dr. Johnson, from Boswell’s Life Of all the things which I enjoy and have To lose them, then, in death, which soon I...

‘The CCP Position on the Origin of Covid’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick

The Society
June 15, 2021
Covid-19, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
. The CCP Position on the Origin of Covid Point to their part Of the globe, And you’re a racist Xenophobe. . . Conmander in Chief Things are quickly getting better, Many times Joe Biden’s said it. Though...

‘Meeting Petrarch’ by Margaret Coats

The Society
June 15, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation
10 Comments
. Francesco, is it you? Be confident. Sorgue vineyard pathways never were too dusty __For you—plump face and figure lusty. Come nearer; focus my astonishment. The monks and nuns sleep early after...

‘Logic Class’ and Other Poetry by Paul Buchheit

The Society
June 14, 2021
Culture, Humor, Love Poems, Poetry
14 Comments
. Logic Class As class convenes I quickly indicate in clear logician's diction of my eagerness to share my disposition to determine if we're here or there, or if instead we're neither here nor there. A student...

‘A Can of Worms’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
June 13, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
38 Comments
. A Can of Worms I saw it in the writing on the wall. I couldn’t help but read between the lines. I knew that pride would come before a fall; A bold and blatant sign of troubled times. Caught within the...

‘Anti-Racist Cant’ by Julian Woodruff

The Society
June 13, 2021
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
18 Comments
. False statements spurn. Let’s shut them out completely. Quash so–called free speech. Cancel all you can. Do people think deplorables sing sweetly Or weren’t all guilty since the world began? If...

The Perils of “Perfection”: An Essay by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
June 12, 2021
Essays, Poetry
40 Comments
. Persons devoted to formal, metrical poetry are susceptible to a specific disease, much in the same way as light-skinned persons are apt to get bad sunburns, and sedentary persons are prone to hemorrhoids and...

A Review of Amanda Hall’s The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse

The Society
June 12, 2021
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
31 Comments
Reviewed Book: The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse by Amanda Hall, 2021. by Margaret Coats So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. ---Shakespeare, "Sonnet...

‘Two Lives’ by Michael Charles Maibach

The Society
June 11, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. When soldiers die,They give two lives.The one they had, And one denied: The spouse not met,The child unknown,The life unsaved,The welcome home, The hill unclimbed,The beach unseen,The books unread,The...

‘Providence’ by Stephen Ramsek

The Society
June 11, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
. The mystic steed gave chase to red-eyed day, His forelock flying in the morn’s raw gust. Providence, my constant mount with whom I, On hills and shores, through lofty steeps and crags Had foolhardily...

‘Storage and Retrieval’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
June 10, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
8 Comments
. Storage and Retrieval In the dank cellar of the human mind Are stored a lifetime’s worth of rusted tools And strands of uttered words, both cruel and kind, That molder in the moil of golden rules. There,...

‘Back to The Beginning’ by Mike Bryant

The Society
June 10, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
45 Comments
. “I want answers. I want all the words the poem whispers to be made flesh, to sit opposite me, and to shout out the reason for our existence…” ---Susan Jarvis Bryant on Daniel Kemper’s poem He who is,...

A Poem on Foster Care: ‘Fostering Faith’ by Bethany Mootsey

The Society
June 9, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Fostering Faith Will you slip through the system’s wide cracks Like a ball down a driveway’s storm drain? Will you bounce between homes, leaving tracks That they’ll only retrace if you’re slain? See,...

To the Class of 2021: A Graduation Poem by Benjamin Daniel Lukey

The Society
June 8, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
. Hardship and Destiny to the Class of 2021 The time is now at hand; the bow is bent To shoot you forth across the open sky. And as you think on what these years have meant, You may know where you wish to...

‘Golden Anniversary’ by Johanna Donovan

The Society
June 8, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry
12 Comments
. Will this reclaim the long-lost Muse perched on the tree of I.O.U.’s? Can I now join Miss E. B. Browning as she proclaimed her love---its counting? Her art’s not mine; I know that much. The years sped...

‘The Change of Seasons’ by Lucia Haase

The Society
June 7, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
16 Comments
. The Summer's ushered in to close Spring's tale;New chapters are revealed in nature's story. The seasons' story arc will without failExpress great beauty, speaking of God's glory.There's differences of...
  1. 1
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  1. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Kissing Cousin’ and Other Poems by Joseph S. SalemiMay 24, 2025

    Well, you know more about these seven different types than I do. If philautia is self-love, then it is a…

  2. Margaret Coats on ‘Wedding Night’ by Christine de Pisan, Translated by Margaret CoatsMay 24, 2025

    Thank you, Roy. The fine young husband's name is Estienne [Stephen] de Castel. He and Christine were happy for ten…

  3. Frank Rable on ‘Kissing Cousin’ and Other Poems by Joseph S. SalemiMay 24, 2025

    Okay. I will ask this as a student to the professor, and absolutely no criticism is intended. When first hearing…

  4. Cynthia L Erlandson on ‘What the Caterpillar Calls the End’: A Poem by Scharlie MeeuwsMay 24, 2025

    This is beautiful! My favorite lines were "Wrapped in a thread the dusk supplied." ; "But Time, that patient artisan";…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘Sumo’s Winning Ways’ by Margaret CoatsMay 24, 2025

    Thanks, Warren. Glad I noticed this just as 24-year-old Onosato won the May tournament with two days of fighting yet…

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