‘Poetry as a Pathway to Critical Thinking’: An Essay by Leland James The Society July 12, 2025 Education, Essays, Poetry 3 Comments . Poetry as a Pathway to Critical Thinking —with a focus on metaphor and image Poetry: “the right words in the best order.” —Samuel Taylor...
‘Against All Earthly Fire’: A Poem by Leland James The Society December 17, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 12 Comments . Against All Earthly Fire “Our earthly fire … no matter how fierce or widespread it may be is always of limited extent.” —A Portrait of the...
‘Plato’s Pumpkins’ and Other Halloween Poetry by Leland James The Society October 29, 2023 Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . . Plato’s Pumpkins A patchwork quilt of pumpkins sown with gourds, odd fellows green and yellow ‘twixt-and-‘tween October’s orbs of...
‘A Curveball of Blackbirds’: A Poem by Leland James The Society September 7, 2023 Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . . A Curveball of Blackbirds “Thousands of blackbirds fell out of the sky….” —The New York Times . Five thousand blackbirds from the...
‘Poetics the Ginger Cat’: A Poem by Leland James The Society August 20, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . . Poetics the Ginger Cat —Ποιητική: ‘poi-EIGH-tee-keigh’ By a caged fire I read. Around me walls of ancient lore, of poetry and...
‘Adams Mountain’: A Poem by Leland James The Society July 2, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 8 Comments . Adams Mountain I gather in from this high place, my shadow sprawled on shivered stone: Dusk drifts down: autumnal shroud upon the rusk-brown earth...
The ‘Muse’: A Poem by Leland James The Society June 7, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 11 Comments . The “Muse” A sailboat, small, unvarnished wood, her sail a swath, a patch, of red fastened by type-9 yo-yo string to a pencil mast and a stick...
‘Bend in the River’: A Poem by Leland James The Society May 8, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 15 Comments . Bend in the River In looking back, a moment since it seems, the river ran, a fawn, leaping, cavorting; and I beside would follow to the sea. The...
‘True North’: A Poem by Leland James The Society April 4, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 11 Comments . True North Light, opalescent, swirls the arctic bright; Siberian, Scandinavian, Alaskan lights. The morning sun, Aurora, hides her face. King David...
‘The Dandelion’: A Poem by Leland James The Society March 22, 2023 Beauty, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . The Dandelion Suburbia frowns upon her sunlit face: “Out, out thou upstart weed!” Poor Dandelion —like sisters Cinderella, Queen Anne’s...
‘Time Travel’: A Poem by Leland James The Society February 3, 2023 Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry 19 Comments . Time Travel I chance upon a sylvan glade, an Orphic place: moon threads, a lace of nightkin shadows. A trill of breeze awakes the guardian...
‘Now Once Again’ by Leland James The Society May 20, 2022 Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry 5 Comments . Now Once Again How many years ago, I’ve lost the count, we lay beneath these trees at summer’s end; the orchard left to tend itself for...
‘Rendering Ruins’ by Leland James The Society April 12, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 14 Comments . Rendering Ruins A barn abandoned, left to drift alone, wind torn and breached upon the reef of time; fields, now dust, where summer wheat was...
‘Love Letter to a Spoon’ by Leland James The Society March 19, 2022 Humor, Poetry 5 Comments . Love Letter to a Spoon How fine thou art my silver spoon. Your neck as graceful as a swan. Your hips full as the harvest moon. Thy manner gentle as...
‘The Pear Pit’ by Leland James The Society February 24, 2022 Children's, Humor, Poetry 8 Comments . The Pear Pit I fell into a pear pitupon a summer’s day.I fell into a pear pitand whiled the time away. How sad will be the hunter,as sad as he...
Rescuing Contemporary Poetry from Vers Libre: An Essay by Leland James The Society January 21, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry 36 Comments . Rescuing Contemporary Poetry from Vers Libre The conservative & informal vs. the free Before addressing my thesis, let me explain my choice of...
‘A Knot of Ought Nots’ and Other Poetry by Leland James The Society November 21, 2021 Beauty, Children's, Culture, Poetry 3 Comments . A Knot of Ought Nots A bright blue canoe atop of Mount Crumble, canoes can be tippy; down it might tumble —ought not to be there! The cat in...
‘A Pantoum of Wager’ and Other Poetry by Leland James The Society October 6, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Pantoum, Poetry 1 Comment . A Pantoum of Wager God said to Satan: Have you seen my servant Job, a man who fears God and shuns evil. Satan replied: You’ve bought him with...
‘Saddle Tramp’ by Leland James The Society July 18, 2021 Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry 5 Comments . —like his saddle, hat, and spurs No silver on this cowboy’s working saddle; borne bedrolls, stray calves, and dry canteens, carried beside lame...
‘Stream’ and Other Poetry by Leland James The Society January 19, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle 4 Comments . Stream Above the bend, the water deep and clear, the current strong; seen from the Buckman Bridge, ten minutes walk for me, my cabin near, through...
‘A Rose for Ezra Pound’ by Leland James (+Commentary) The Society November 6, 2013 Culture, Essays, Poetry 3 Comments “He strove to resuscitate the dead art/Of poetry; to maintain "the sublime"/In the old sense. Wrong from the start …” –Ezra Pound, “Hugh...
“Beauty is Truth …” by Leland James The Society October 25, 2013 Beauty, Poetry —a sonnet of differing with Keats Behold this naked truth, and say not Beauty: a body splayed, nailed cruelly to a tree, spit upon, a jeering...
Children’s Poetry by Leland James The Society August 10, 2013 Humor, Poetry The Three Little Pigs —a story retold There were three little pigs, one, two, three —roly-poly and pink, as pink as could be— porkers...
Poetry by Leland James of Bellaire, Michigan The Society October 31, 2012 Poetry 5 Comments Into The Mist This shadow life passing away, mute requiem of falling snow, a prayer to end the mortal day; then to a far sweet place I...
The Best Poems of 2023: Winners of SCP International Poetry Competition The Society February 1, 2024 Best Poems, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 28 Comments . The Best Poems of 2023: Winners of the 12th Annual SCP International Poetry Competition Judges Joseph S. Salemi, James Sale, Evan Mantyk, Sally...
The Society of Classical Poets Journal XI Published The Society April 16, 2023 From the Society, Poetry 10 Comments . The Society of Classical Poets Journal XI has been published! It features poetry, translations, and essays selected from those published on the...
Society of Classical Poets Journal X Published The Society May 24, 2022 From the Society, Poetry 9 Comments . The Society of Classical Poets Journal X has been published! It features poetry, translations, and essays selected from those published on the SCP...
The Best Poems of 2021 The Society February 1, 2022 Best Poems, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 16 Comments The Best Poems of 2021: Winners of the 10th Annual International SCP Poetry Competition JudgesJoseph S. SalemiJames SaleEvan Mantyk Past First Place...
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...
The Best Poems of 2020 The Society February 1, 2021 Best Poems, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 28 Comments The Best Poems of 2020: Winners of the 9th Annual International SCP Poetry Competition JudgesJoseph S. SalemiJames SaleEvan Mantyk Past First Place...
The SCP Journal The Society January 16, 2017 . Journal XIII The Society of Classical Poets Journal XIII has been published! It features poetry, translations, and essays selected from those...
2016 Poetry Competition The Society August 31, 2015 Featured, From the Society 17 Comments Society of Classical Poets 2016 Competition Guidelines (Closed) (See details for Hudson Valley, New York Competition below*) -Submit three to...
2014 Journal Released The Society March 14, 2014 From the Society 7 Comments We are proud to announce the publication of The Society of Classical Poets' 2014 Journal! The best poetry of the last year has culminated in...
Announcing 2014 Poetry Competition Winners The Society February 15, 2014 From the Society 1 Comment First Place: Bruce Dale Wise (Prize: $500) Second Place: Damian Robin Third Place: Reid McGrath Honorable Mention: Betsy M....
2013 Poetry Journal Released The Society March 5, 2013 Featured, From the Society, Poetry 1 Comment The Society of Classical Poets is pleased to announce the publication of its First Annual Poetry Journal, available on Createspace and Amazon....
Poetry Competition Winners Announced The Society February 15, 2013 From the Society, Poetry Dear Competition Participants, Thank you for your submissions! I am pleased to announce the winner and honorable mentions of the 2012 Society of...
Members The Society February 21, 2017 X Members of the Society (MSCP) 2025Aboona, Sohaib, MichiganAdrian, David J., MichiganAnderson, C.B., MassachusettsAshurst, Alan, GermanyBaker,...
10 Greatest Poems Ever Written The Society January 7, 2016 Best Poems, Culture, Education, Essays, Poetry, Popular Poetry Archives 266 Comments Updated: April 26, 2024 10 Greatest Poems Ever Written An Ambitious "Best Poems" List Limited to Poems Originally Written in English and of 50 Lines...
