• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry Beauty

‘Irrelevant’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

October 2, 2019
in Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
A A
10
poems 'Irrelevant' and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

 

Irrelevant

If the room
is the tomb
then the elephant
is irrelevant.

 

Haiku

From my heart was shown
how very much I loved her—
could she not have known?

 

I have found my voice.
I do not rejoice—I fear
I have lost your ear.

 

Haiku remind me
of tasty little morsels—
popcorn poetry.

 

 

Joe Tessitore is a retired New York City resident and poet.

 

 

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here

RandomPoems

‘Confucius Institute Workers’ and Other Poetry by Damian Robin
Culture

‘Confucius Institutes’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

June 19, 2018

(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) Confucius Institutes "Three things cannot be hidden long: the sun, the moon and truth."...

The Poetry of Thomas Hardy: An Essay by Adam Sedia
Essays

The Poetry of Thomas Hardy: An Essay by Adam Sedia

September 16, 2025

. A Poet First: The Poetry of Thomas Hardy by Adam Sedia Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is known today primarily as...

Next Post
A Cento from the Political Poetry of Presidents Lincoln, Taylor, and Taft by Beverly Stock

A Cento from the Political Poetry of Presidents Lincoln, Taylor, and Taft by Beverly Stock

A Translation from Goethe’s Roman Elegies V

A Translation from Goethe’s Roman Elegies V

‘The Human Skylight’ by Satyananda Sarangi

'The Human Skylight' by Satyananda Sarangi

Comments 10

  1. Joe Tessitore says:
    7 years ago

    We fight this cold, uncivil war.
    Whatever for? Whatever for?

    An elephant has indeed entered the room since I submitted these, and to talk about anything else but impeachment seems to me to be truly foolish.

    I wonder if any of you are as angry and as heartbroken about it as I am, and if any of you believe that there’s light at the end of this tunnel we now find ourselves in?

    Reply
  2. Anna J. Arredondo says:
    7 years ago

    Joe,

    This is the light-hearted (I hope not entirely foolish) response to your post that popped into my head before reading your own very sober comment.
    Regarding “Irrelevant”: true indeed. But —

    If the setting
    Were a wedding,
    The pachyderm
    Might make you squirm.

    Reply
    • Joe Tessitore says:
      7 years ago

      Nothing wrong with a good laugh!

      Reply
  3. David Paul Behrens says:
    7 years ago

    The elephant calls out:
    Here I am! I matter!
    As he goes balls out
    In eloquent chatter.

    Reply
    • C.B. Anderson says:
      7 years ago

      David, do you mean “bawls” out?

      Reply
      • Joe Tessitore says:
        7 years ago

        Interesting both ways – good that you asked!

        Reply
      • David Paul Behrens says:
        7 years ago

        “Going balls out” is a slang term with much the same meaning as “going all out” or “to the fullest extent.” I was referring to the sound an elephant makes.

        Reply
      • David Paul Behrens says:
        7 years ago

        Example: The jockey went balls out going down the home stretch. He gave it everything he had.

        Reply
  4. C.B. Anderson says:
    7 years ago

    Joe, you owe a debt to Ogden Nash. He wrote a bit of light verse in which he rhymed “elephant” with “irrelevant.” If I’m not mistaken, in that same poem he rhymed “rhinoceros” with “preposterous.””

    Reply
    • Joe Tessitore says:
      7 years ago

      I wish I would’ve thought of that last one.
      I once thought I came up with “Can butter fly?” and a fourteen-year-old told me “Not so much.”

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


  1. Dawna Renee Upadhyay on The Society of Classical Poets 2026 Haiku CompetitionSeptember 27, 2026

    Over frozen soil wind weathered weeds staunchly watch withered leaves race wind My silent toes grasp green slime rocks in…

  2. Anne Curran on The Society of Classical Poets 2026 Haiku CompetitionSeptember 27, 2026

    shimmering moonlight - call of a sharp-eyed raven from the castle crest a sleepy full moon - the boatmen huddle…

  3. Bob Elkins on The Society of Classical Poets 2026 Haiku CompetitionSeptember 27, 2026

    Pacheco Pass in spring seems like millions of poppies on the north side hills.

  4. Paul Millan on ‘A Pot of Tea’ and Other Poetry by Samuel GreggSeptember 27, 2026

    Thank you for the note, I was able to appreciate the second poem because of it, which was written well…

  5. Michael Pietrack on The Society of Classical Poets 2026 Haiku CompetitionSeptember 26, 2026

    Spring rain on gravestones A robin unearths a worm Crying newborn chicks

Subscribe to Daily Poems

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,660 other subscribers
No Result
View All Result

Resources

       1. A Guide to Writing Poetry

      2. The Best Poems of 2020      

      3. Poetry and Writing Contests

      4. Journals Accepting Formal Verse

Recent Poems

  • ‘From California to Louisiana’: A Sonnet by Mark F. DeWitt
  • ‘A Pot of Tea’ and Other Poetry by Samuel Gregg
  • Eight Riddles for the 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival, by Evan Mantyk
  • ‘Swallowtails’ and Other Poetry by Mary Jane Myers
  • ‘All Flesh Is Grass’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson
  • ‘May a Smile Be Your Umbrella’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson
  • ‘Flexibility’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick
  • ‘Sabin Howard’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise
  • ‘Ode to a Dragonfly’ and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia
  • ‘Hobby Horse’: A Poem by A.R. Pereira
  • ‘Big Cat Dance’: A Poem by Paul Erlandson
  • ‘Freedom’s Wring’: A Poem by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘Island of Poets’: A Poem in Sapphic Verse by Margaret Coats
  • ‘Military Quatrains, or the Modern Archilochus’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘The Secret Rose’ and Other Poetry by Luke Perera
  • ‘The Family Archive’: A Poem by Robert Thomas
  • ‘Pedagogy’: A Poem by Jonathan Kinsman
  • ‘Who Are the Villains?’ and Other Poetry by Adam Wasem
  • ‘Isle of Romance’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton
  • ‘Professional Mourner’: A Poem by Brian Yapko
  • A Distillation of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Martin Briggs
  • ‘How the Mighty Fell!’: A Poem by Jeff Kemper
  • ‘The One Lone Juror’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘Soul of a Prophet’: A Trialog Poem by T.M. Moore
  • ‘Nelson and George’: A Poem by David Filpula
  • ‘When She Arrives’: A Poem by Bhairab Barman
  • ‘On to Better Days’: A Poem by Bruce Dale Wise
  • ‘Serenade’ and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia
  • ‘Self-Exploration’ and Other Poems by Paul Millan
  • ‘Victory’: A Poem by Jonathan Graver

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Educational
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
    • Interviews with Poets
    • Poetry Reviews
  • Featured
  • From the Society
  • Great Poets
    • Dante Alighieri
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Homer
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Robert Frost
    • William Blake
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
  • Human Rights in China
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
    • Beauty
    • Children's Poems
    • Culture
    • Ekphrastic
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Humor
    • Riddles
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
    • Curtal Sonnet
    • Haiku
  • Poetry Readings
  • Rhupunt
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Sonnet
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Submit Poetry
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.