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      'Dirge of the Dimwits' and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

      The Society
      September 10, 2023
      Poetry, Satire
      39 Comments
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      The Society
      June 23, 2025
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      June 23, 2025
      5
    • ‘Archaic Torso of Apollo’ by Rilke and ‘Reconciliation’ by Goethe, Translated by Josh Olson

      The Society
      June 22, 2025
      7
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      The Society
      June 22, 2025
      10
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      June 21, 2025
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      June 21, 2025
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      The Society
      July 31, 2024
      Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests
      393 Comments
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      June 21, 2025
      15
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      1
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      March 31, 2025
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      February 1, 2025
      28
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      February 1, 2025
      2
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      September 29, 2024
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Author The Society

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The Society of Classical Poets was founded in New York in July, 2012.

‘Console Her With the Atheist’s Philosophy’ by Samuel Johnson

The Society
February 24, 2017
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
2 Comments
  Console her with the Atheist’s philosophy: ____Never mind! Your grandma’s dead. It’s Nature’s way of denoting an atrophy ____In the muscles, lungs and head. I mean to say her central...

‘Death in the Desert’ by Michael Glassman

The Society
February 23, 2017
Poetry, Terrorism
4 Comments
  Heat waves frolic along the desert’s endless edge I hear the shuffling of camel’s toes The soft landing of camel dung The smell adding to my woes My knees embedded in sand Awaiting the wrath...

‘Riven’ and Other Poetry in Traditional Bardic Forms by Elizabeth Spencer Spragins

The Society
February 22, 2017
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, The Environment
2 Comments
Riven (A Rannaigheacht Ghairid) Once I dreamed Ospreys soared where salmon teemed. Frigid streams and waterfalls Frosted walls where glaciers gleamed. Darkness cowled The moon whenever wolves...

‘Layoffs at the Antiquities Museum’ by Seth Thomas

The Society
February 21, 2017
Humor, Poetry
  After college, in my job search I found A prestigious post in antiquities At the historic museum downtown (As a gift shop clerk, more accurately). In my second year, the docents told us A few...

‘Winter’s Passing’ and Other Poetry by Dona Fox

The Society
February 20, 2017
Beauty, Poetry, Terrorism
6 Comments
  Winter’s Passing Now I can see no sky above your space, For dark clouds hide the blue that may be there. The air is full of rain that pelts my face, The ground is flood and mud the grieved must...

‘Where is Alice’ by Paris Michael

The Society
February 19, 2017
Children's, Poetry
1 Comment
Where was it that Alice went, One bright and shining day, A rabbit's lair, beneath the blare, A restless child at play, And where was it that Alice was, To greet a smoking bug, Who's pipe spelled...

‘Humble Shant’ and Other Poetry by Alec Ream

The Society
February 18, 2017
Poetry
5 Comments
. . Humble Shant My humble shant be free of strife Untroubled see my simple life Skiff and paddle, hat and brim Gift unaddled bright, not dim Photo by Tunde Hegedus at Inle Lake,...

‘Education: To Be Continued…’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 17, 2017
Culture, Education, Poetry
3 Comments
  Education:  To Be Continued ... There is no lack of opportunity For education in this spendthrift age, And boys who wish to earn a decent wage Must show the general community That they have...

‘Says Simon Cowell (A Villanelle)’ and Other Poetry by Agnes Bookbinder

The Society
February 16, 2017
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Villanelle
1 Comment
  Says Simon Cowell (A Villanelle) “Which came first, the egg or fowl? This is what I’d like to know.” “Who cares?” says Simon Cowell. (Not so much “says” as speaks in growl) I...

‘Once Flew and Flown No More’ and Other Poetry by Zachary Dilks

The Society
February 15, 2017
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
  Once Flew and Flown No More Such heights I once had seen and gusts of winds that caught my caution Through clouds above a world I didn't know And pressed towards horizons, body wrought with all...

‘Time (for Children)’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

The Society
February 14, 2017
Beauty, Children's, Poetry
3 Comments
  Time (for Children) Time flies, as everyone knows and time marches on, as the saying goes and time will stand still now and then when we wish but does time ever swim for fish? And does it swing...

‘Haiku’ and Other Poetry by Wendy Lee Klenetsky

The Society
February 13, 2017
Haiku and Senryu, Humor, Poetry
  Haiku "You are what you eat!" That's what all of the books say Then I guess I'm nuts!   Naturally You walk into the beauty shop to get help for your hair, the receptionist greets you at...

‘For Prithivi’ by Frank De Canio

The Society
February 12, 2017
Beauty, Poetry
2 Comments
(thanks for your kindness) How like a star in a darkening sky, appears an unexpected friendly deed. How much more so when storm warnings belie the growth potential of one’s kindling seed. But though...

‘Mozart’s Whisper’ by Robert Phelps

The Society
February 11, 2017
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
Mulched beyond bones, but reprieved, Wolfgang has a home in my mind, and he’s still bereaved. From his pauper’s grave, and with a whispered pitch, I’ve summoned him with my ‘On/Off’...

‘On Super Bowl LI’ and Other Poetry by Reid McGrath

The Society
February 9, 2017
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
  On Super Bowl LI I went to bed. The Falcon’s made it 28 to 3 and yet I never should have doubted the poised Tom Brady. Halfway through the third-quarter he had a ways to go. I woke up in the AM...

‘The Earth We’re Leaving Behind’ by Niloufar Behrooz

The Society
February 9, 2017
Beauty, Poetry, The Environment
2 Comments
There used to be a limpid lake Home to the finest birds you'd find. We'd watch their glory till daybreak. But now those days are far behind. I used to hear the bullfrogs croak Before the pond was...
poem/freeman/limericks

How to Write a Limerick

The Society
February 8, 2017
Education, Limerick, Poetry, Poetry Forms
5 Comments
Related How to Write a Sonnet How to Write a Haiku How to Write a Rondeau How to Write a Villanelle How to Write a Poem Like the Raven by Dusty Grein The history of the poetry form we know as the...

‘How Eden Weeps’ by Mark Sheeky

The Society
February 7, 2017
Poetry, The Environment
4 Comments
  How Eden weeps to see, the ache of every tortured tree. How Eden doth recoil, at bitter cancer of the soil. Man was placed as king of beasts, his palace carved of nature's stone, and every...

Whitworth Over Whitman: A Poem by Sally Cook

The Society
February 6, 2017
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
41 Comments
What a Wit is Worth For John Whitworth, poet Oh,  Whitman was a rhymer who enjoyed to play the part Of complicating everything.  It's something of an art To ramble on for pages on the pinprick of a...

‘It May Be Better’ by Pierre Sotér

The Society
February 5, 2017
Beauty, Poetry
1 Comment
What thoughts has thinking hard put in my brain, that show a different world than my eyes see, before, things easier were, clear and plain, but now are always less than used to be. What did I learn from...

‘Susan B. Anthony Upbraids Elizabeth Cady Stanton’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 4, 2017
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
10 Comments
You’ve not come to a meeting in three years— Within the movement, there are buzzing fears That marriage has ensnared you in its cage. And frankly, I myself have reached the stage Where anger has...

‘Vexed By A Verb!’ by E. V. Wyler

The Society
February 3, 2017
Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
  “Vexed by a verb!” I often vent, undeniably discontent. Let my quirky quote be the key to promoting a patent plea for the status I’d reinvent: Pairing “I am” with “years” has...

‘On the Protesters Filled With Hate’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
February 2, 2017
Culture, Poetry, Terrorism
11 Comments
On the Protesters Filled With Hate By Bruce Dale Wise And while American airports were filled with screaming hate, Chief Petty Officer Will "Ryan" Owens met his fate, caught in a raid against Al-Qaida's...

2017 Poetry Competition Winners Announced

The Society
February 1, 2017
From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
2 Comments
First Prize ($500): James Sale, Bournemouth, United Kingdom “In Telling This Story” “Obi-Wan Bin Laden RIP” “Imitating Shakespeare’s Sonnet 107” Second Prize: Lorna Davis,...

‘Bubbles’ and Other Poetry by Mike Dashiell

The Society
January 31, 2017
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
1 Comment
  Bubbles I swish the stick To watch a spread of bubbles gleam; Free and delightful they float Almost a dream. This pristine orbs, A fragile yet audacious batch Seem hopeless until they...

On Their Uncanny Similarities: Hamlet and Journey to the West

The Society
January 30, 2017
Culture, Education, Essays, Shakespeare
5 Comments
by Evan Mantyk WHAT DOES THE classic Chinese story Journey to the West have to do with William Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet? A lot it turns out. Both Hamlet and Journey to the West were...

‘A Strange and Sweet Unrest’ and Other Poetry by William Ruleman

The Society
January 29, 2017
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
4 Comments
  A Strange and Sweet Unrest Awake forever with a sweet unrest . . .” —John Keats, “Bright Star” She stands at the windowpane, no one in sight, No one behind her in the silent room, No human...

‘On the Sheffield Tree Fellings’ and Other Poetry by Damian Robin

The Society
January 28, 2017
Human Rights in China, Poetry, The Environment
Trees, Libraries, and Chinese Communism To wrap a ribbon round a UK tree And tie it into Chinese tyranny, Or flag up five star Chinese hostelry Above a Yorks* Art Deco library, May tighten minds to ask:...

‘Lyric’s Breath’ by John Robinson

The Society
January 27, 2017
Beauty, Poetry
“This foyer of the spirit is the seat of a sovereign.” - Anca Rosu The lyric lures release of thought, emotive creation, human-made; a breath-carved essence in one’s idea, the living word in phrases...

‘Ballad:  Our Crew of Two’ and Other Poetry by Amy Foreman

The Society
January 26, 2017
Beauty, Humor, Poetry, Short Stories
14 Comments
Ballad: Our Crew of Two When we set forth, the breeze blew fair, The sun shone balmy, warm. Our sheets were fixed; sail filled with air, No warning of the storm. Our crew of two, so cheerfully, With...

‘Song of Ulysses’ and Other Poetry by Clinton Van Inman

The Society
January 25, 2017
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
Song of Ulysses For greatness and glory’s sake For all things rich and noble In proud ships tall let us make Again where only men are able Tired we’ve grown of glitter and gold Of the clamor of...

‘Old School’ and Other Poetry by Allan Heller

The Society
January 24, 2017
Beauty, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Terrorism
3 Comments
  Old School I saw two women at a table in a small café Not making eye contact or talking, but in their own way Communicating, and I found myself a bit perplexed. Then realized that they had...

‘A Tour Guide’s Speech’ by John Kolyav

The Society
January 23, 2017
Poetry, Terrorism
2 Comments
  “Tourist, see this stained beach in Tripoli Where one and twenty men were forced to kneel Ere cutting down their heads by unholy Fanatics, as god’s servants themselves feel They are still at...

‘Buyer’s Remorse’ and Other Poetry by Lorna Davis

The Society
January 22, 2017
Human Rights in China, Poetry, Short Stories
10 Comments
Buyer’s Remorse How long are we allowed to close our eyes To who produces what our money buys? How can it be that goods made by a slave Are justified by how much cash we save? The cargo ships that...

‘The “Greatest Show on Earth” Is Coming to a Close’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
January 21, 2017
Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
The "Greatest Show on Earth" Is Coming to a Close By Sirc de Budalewe The "Greatest Show on Earth" is coming to a close in May; financially it could not make it in the USA. The Ringling...

‘My Goldfish Has an MFA’ and Other Poetry by Gene Fendt

The Society
January 21, 2017
Humor, Poetry
1 Comment
My Goldfish Has an MFA Roundel for Gillian My goldfish has an MFA; I got official notice just today. Of course, she cheated all the way, but, still, my goldfish has her MFA. She thought about a...

‘Walked the Mountain’ and Other Poetry by Uche Ogbuji

The Society
January 19, 2017
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
  Walked the Mountain What shape is that, the mountain's brow? A glacier field, a glacier field! I walked to read the mountains mood; Of what I read my lips are sealed. What threads make up the...

‘Lotus’ by Catherine Huang

The Society
January 18, 2017
Beauty, High School Submissions, Human Rights in China
4 Comments
Rising above the silt and murky mud, Clean and pure is the small pink bud, Supported by a supple stem of jade, Adorned with gleaming dew drops, crystal made. Elegant yet sweet this gentle...

‘Shin-Rin-Yoku: Forest Bathing’ and Other Poetry by Betsy Hughes

The Society
January 17, 2017
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
Shin-Rin-Yoku Forest Bathing You stand beneath this canopy of trees, surrender will, hold still.   You close your eyes and listen as the rustling of the leaves and lapping breeze-blown waters...

Inaugural Poem for Donald J. Trump (with Audio)

The Society
January 15, 2017
Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Popular Poetry Archives, Readings
107 Comments
Pibroch of the Domhnall   By Joseph Charles MacKenzie Author’s Notes: § The refrains at the end of each stanza are to be recited by the Inaugural crowd. § A Pibroch is a rallying bagpipe...
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