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      The Society
      April 25, 2021
      Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry
      28 Comments
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      May 18, 2025
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      The Society
      May 18, 2025
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      The Society
      May 17, 2025
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      14
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      The Society
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      The Society
      February 1, 2020
      Best Poems, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
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      May 13, 2025
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Author The Society

The Society

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

‘From Ego to Muse, from Banality to Beauty: Getting to Poetry’ by James Sale

The Society
August 25, 2014
Beauty, Essays, Poetry
4 Comments
There are a number of reasons for writing poetry, and alas they are not all good; for not all poetry is good, and indeed some ‘poetry’ is not poetry at all. This is not to denigrate anyone’s effort, but...

‘The Commissars Oppose Falun Gong’ and Other Poetry by James Sale

The Society
August 22, 2014
Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
The Commissars Oppose Falun Gong They were old, had lost their youth, So, like the old, repressed the Truth. They fumbled, rigid in expression, So stiff – they lacked Compassion. Their purpose was...

‘Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer’ by Cees Wilerd Bui

The Society
August 19, 2014
Art, Beauty, Culture, Homer, Poetry
1 Comment
In Rembrandt's scene of 1653, Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer, there is much that we can see amidst that musty sett(l)ing of gold dust that balances upon the old and new, upon the dark and light,...

Children’s Poetry by Evan Mantyk

The Society
August 16, 2014
Humor, Poetry
2 Comments
The Bored Knight A tired knight rode to his castle After a long day of hassle. He bowed to the land’s king, his lord, “My liege, I’m incredibly bored, I’m more like a stupid monkey Than...

‘Scarlet Terms’ by Wilbur dee Case

The Society
August 13, 2014
Culture, Poetry
1 Comment
The allegory of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne isn't flawless; yet it is, in places, good. The A itself does signify adultery, able, and angel, as well as in the hornbook phrase, "in Adam's...

‘Spring Haiku’ and Other Poetry by Reid McGrath

The Society
August 10, 2014
Beauty, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry
5 Comments
  Spring Haiku I’m optimistic; like a brand new tennis ball, everything’s chartreuse. The brook trout’s belly is like a sunset I saw; its stipples the stars. Papa bear’s...

‘Helen Keller at Niagara Falls’ by Meryl Stratford

The Society
August 7, 2014
Popular Poetry Archives
15 Comments
  She could not see the avalanche cascade from foam-flecked marble rapids, being blind, but torrents of egrets and apple blossoms played whirlpools of nebulous beauty in her mind. She could not...

Short Story: ‘The Tin Shant Social Collective’ by Neal Dachstadter

The Society
August 2, 2014
Humor, Short Stories
8 Comments
I. The Tin Shant on the hill in Martinique is stoutly situated, unique in design, and built half a century ago.  Though stucco and cinderblock, we call it the Tin Shant due to a fine-sounding tap on the...

‘Apollo Builds Troy with His Lyre’ by James Sale

The Society
July 30, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
  A miracle, how else to say it then? At first, but ground, absolutely nothing there, A river meandering by, some cattle, gorse, Nettle and herbs whose use proved no sure cure. Then, as if by...

‘The Glass Bottle Tree’ and Other Poetry by Gabe Russo

The Society
July 27, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
  The Glass Bottle Tree When the wind blows through, the tree shakes. The glass bottles tip their sunlight Over a stiff hearth of twilight; Sealing its glow as night awakes. Two silhouettes do...
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‘The Funeral March of a Marionette’ by U. Carew Delibes

The Society
July 24, 2014
Beauty, Performing Arts
1 Comment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJQTF0bkq8s   The Funeral March of a Marionette is by Charles Gounod. The marionette's broken—dead— right off. The funeral procession starts off; it's D-minor....

‘Currency of Compassion’ and Other Poetry by Heath Alderman

The Society
July 21, 2014
Beauty
  Currency of Compassion Throughout the history of humanity conscious coveting with eyes, insanity anxious and eager to grasp with empty hands a void in the beating heart, deviant plans rash,...

‘First Parting’ by Robert Walton

The Society
July 18, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
When the last candles smoldered on the funeral eve, And no echo of condolence rippled midnight silence, I rose in scented darkness and took my leave. December met me at the church’s door and raised my...

‘Fathers and Grandfathers’ and Other Poetry by Neal Dachstadter

The Society
July 15, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
  Fathers and Grandfathers When we see our Brethren bold, Reach the age called Growing old, Men grow thoughtful, mind afire, With the echoes of a Sire. Working, eating, drinking,...

‘August Reverie’ by Angela Porter

The Society
July 12, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
I walked around the garden, and did think. If I had my own how would I create? With enclosed space I’d make myself here sit. Comfortably, and I could have tea and cake. From broad leaved plants a...

‘True to Nature’ and Other Poetry by Dean Robbins

The Society
July 9, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
True to Nature Men take up arms to battle in the sun, anticipating minor victories won o'er valiant, steadfast foes who, if they could, would laugh and say our blades do little good as far as cutting...

‘Aspens Turning’ by Donald Mace Williams

The Society
July 7, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
The aspens are turning, my neighbor said. I went to see. Mostly gold, some red, They stood and whirled, their white trunks bare. A bright sheen (spun gold) filled the air. The whole big hill was turning,...

‘LinkedIn’s Censorship in China’ and Other Poetry by Evan Mantyk

The Society
July 5, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
Originally published in The Epoch Times. LinkedIn's Censorship in China LinkedIn connects people the world over, Crafting a cozy café oceans wide Where people can sip with each other, Do business...

Translations of Classical Hungarian Poetry by Frederick Turner and Zsuzsanna Ozsváth

The Society
July 3, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
1 Comment
Poems from the Hungarian Poetry Reading 9/19/2013   Twenty Years Later By János Vajda (1827–1897) / Translation by Zsuzsanna Ozsváth and Frederick Turner Like snow on Mont Blanc's distant...

‘I Left My Gloves at the Analyst’s’ by Nancy Weber

The Society
June 30, 2014
Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
I left my gloves at the analyst's He called to say he'd found them Black, he said, lined with cotton Green, I said, lined with satin He saw them right, confound him Not the leather, a fine dark...

‘Yin and Yang’ by Jane Blanchard

The Society
June 27, 2014
Humor, Poetry
1 Comment
“Hello, again!” the sun does say when rising on a morn in May. “Thanks for the break,” replies the moon. “I need to go to bed quite soon.” The sun then bids, “Don’t fade so...

‘The Calm’ by John Gray

The Society
June 24, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
1 Comment
That distant bellow is merely a case Of west wind rushing through the tamarack In a race with itself to cliff and back, Far from the lake's quiet undisturbed face But for the waxwings' endless mayfly...

Essay: ‘To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme?’ by James Sale

The Society
June 21, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Popular Poetry Archives
81 Comments
Imagine that you were lost in a wilderness and had to find your way out. Fortunately, you have with you a number of things, or tools if you will. In the first instance you have a kitbag, which is itself...

Children’s Poetry by Scáth Beorh

The Society
June 18, 2014
Humor
1 Comment
Some People Say Some people say that giraffes were petite and they grew their necks out to properly eat, or they were once dinosaurs who lost their wings. But I know God makes serendipitous...

‘Seasong’ and Other Poetry by Mandy Moe Pwint Tu

The Society
June 15, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
Seasong I heard the wreathéd coral horn That Triton blew, and less forlorn Did suddenly I feel: I heard the sirensong afar I launched a ship and tracked a star How soon my heart did heal! I saw the...

‘The Living Thinking on the Dead’ by Alberdi Ucwese

The Society
June 12, 2014
Art, Beauty, Poetry
On the painting "Le berges d'Arcadie" by Nicolas Poussin The rugged mountains in the distance stand beyond, above the three, young shepherds and the shepherdess, who gather round a tomb that they have...

‘At the Moment of Our Death’ and Other Poetry by Robert King

The Society
June 9, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
2 Comments
At the Moment of Our Death At the moment of our death As we draw our final breath Should we not project a fear Of the prospect of not being here? The moment that closes tight The door of time, turns...

New Tang Poets Reading

The Society
June 4, 2014
Beauty, Poetry
1 Comment
  Held on May 26, 2014, at Da Tang, in New York, participants read Tang Dynasty poetry, translated poetry previously written by attendees, and wrote poetry. Here are some of the...

‘Blue and Yellow Barn-Swallows’ and Other Poetry by Reid McGrath

The Society
June 2, 2014
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
Blue and Yellow Barn-Swallows She made a note to note when they arrived. It’s obvious whenev’r they fin’lly do. Over the cows they dipped and ducked and dived. “They have two houses; shouldn’t...

‘Give And Take’ by Damian Robin

The Society
May 30, 2014
Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
  Our ends and deaths sit with us all the time defining executioners and crime; and though we try to keep them from our door, many killings lie within the Law— are even processed as a human...

‘Coastal Shingle’ and Other Poetry by Len Krisak

The Society
May 27, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
Coastal Shingle There, totem-stacked in paratactic charm, The words cascade: Hay.Shavings.Piglets.Straw. I had not sought a sign from Salt Marsh Farm, But since this was the only one I saw, I turned...

‘Zhen-Shan-Ren’ by Evan Mantyk

The Society
May 24, 2014
Culture, Poetry
Zhen-Shan-Ren: “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” the three main principles of Falun Dafa Zhen-Shan-Ren, Zhen-Shan-Ren… Hear the Truth that sounds like “Zhen,” Rhythm that can vanquish...

‘Ashamed I Will No Longer Be’ and Other Poetry by Firestone Feinberg

The Society
May 21, 2014
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
Ashamed I will no longer be... Ashamed I will no longer be To write an older poetry -- I have the right to reach for rhyme And make the most of measured time -- While looked upon I am with scorn...

A Health Insurance Limerick by Troy Camplin

The Society
May 19, 2014
Humor, Limerick, Poetry
1 Comment
The cost of insurance was such Its price I could sadly not touch -- So I gave all of that To a young bureaucrat And now it costs three times as much!   Troy Camplin is an author, poet, and...

‘Ascending the Phoenix Terrace in Jinling’ by Li Bai, ‘Yellow Crane Tower’ by Cui Hao

The Society
May 17, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Education, Poetry, Translation
2 Comments
Updated January 10, 2020 Ascending the Phoenix Terrace in Jinling by Li Bai (701-762) Here phoenix roamed four hundred years ago, A sign of the enchantment that once thrived; How empty now, where no...

‘The Battleground’ and Other Poetry by Ken Kenigsberg

The Society
May 15, 2014
Humor, Poetry
The Battleground The slashing blades strike fierce and deep The newly stricken fall down in heaps. In vain: the foe storms back enraged, The scythe-like swords remain engaged. The rampaging hordes...

‘Cynthia Moon’ and Other Poetry by Clinton Van Inman

The Society
May 12, 2014
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
1 Comment
  Cynthia Moon Go drag your white skull before blind seas That tumble dazed to your mono-eyed magic Go string the treadmill tides around the poles And make all starry lovers pale and sick Go...

‘Waiting, Sadly’ and Other Poetry by James Sale

The Society
May 9, 2014
Culture
2 Comments
Waiting, Sadly For Keats I'm waiting, sadly, for a guest to come: What hour defeats me and how I don't know. But come he will, like some ghost to his own, And when he knocks I'll answer him and...

‘Two Strangers Passing on the Street’ by Richard Lackman

The Society
May 6, 2014
Humor, Poetry
1 Comment
The two were different as could be as anyone could surely see One was tall and thick and white, the other black and thin and slight To look at them it would be clear to any stranger standing near That...

‘The Fallen Vestige’ and Other Poetry by Theresa Rodriguez

The Society
May 3, 2014
Beauty, Culture
4 Comments
The Fallen Vestige The fallen vestige of her foliate time: Browned leaves beneath; coarse needles of old pine Once green and pungent; when her nests in spring With peeping chicks, and swaying boughs,...
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