Society of Classical Poets logo
  • About Us
  • Join
  • Donate
  • Poetry
    Random
    • 'On the Killing of Falun Gong Mother and Child' by Damian Robin

      The Society
      April 25, 2018
      Human Rights in China, Poetry
      13 Comments
    Recent
    • ‘Periwinkle’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann

      The Society
      June 18, 2025
      2
    • ‘A Winter’s Tale’ by Jeff Eardley

      The Society
      June 18, 2025
      3
    • ‘Get Along, Little DOGE-ie’ and Other Social Commentary Poetry by James A. Tweedie

      The Society
      June 17, 2025
      9
    • ‘Salmon Skin’ and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia

      The Society
      June 17, 2025
      6
    • ‘What Is a Man?’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

      The Society
      June 16, 2025
      11
    • ‘Everyday Care’: A Poem by David Ram

      The Society
      June 16, 2025
      7
  • Submit
  • Contests
    Random
    • poetry/mantyk/poetry contests

      The 2023 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2023
      From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
      3 Comments
    Recent
    • Winners of Friends of Falun Gong 2025 Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      May 13, 2025
      1
    • 2025 Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Competition

      The Society
      March 31, 2025
    • The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of SCP International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      28
    • Winners of 2024 SCP International High School Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      2
    • The Best Haiku of 2024: Winners of the 2024 SCP Haiku Competition

      The Society
      September 29, 2024
      14
    • The 2024 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      August 31, 2024
      16
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Members
  • Poetry Contests
  • Donate
  • About Us
  • Submit
  • Poetry

Author The Society

The Society

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

poem/essmann/beauty

‘The Garbageman’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
May 15, 2023
Beauty, Poetry
15 Comments
. The Garbageman Adrift amid a world that’s lost all rhyme, Where reason reels from first degree assault, It’s little wonder that from time to time One’s inner life can lapse into default. Our former...
poem/peterson/beauty

‘The Power of One’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
May 15, 2023
Beauty, Poetry
25 Comments
. The Power of One You think that you're alone. There's nothing to be done. But I say, "You have strength. It is the Power of One." You may have had ideas That you have told to someone. They may have laughed...
poem/bryant/beauty

From a Grandmother to Her Grandaughter: Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
May 14, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
. Newness a sonnet corona for Doris   I watch you view the newness of your world. Your widened eyes are dazzled by the light. Your fists of curiosity unfurl Like flexing wings on chicks who dream of...
poem/Frank/mothers

‘The Ballad of the Heroic Mother’ and Other Poetry for Mother’s Day by Joshua C. Frank

The Society
May 14, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. The Ballad of the Heroic Mother a true story A toddler into water fell __And sank as quick as rock. At nine feet deep, she couldn’t yell __Or jump or thrash in shock. Her mother heard the splash...
poetry/benson brown/readings

CPL: Pulitzer Prize Winner, Sally Cook, Interview with Susan Jarvis Bryant, Thomas Gray, and More

The Society
May 13, 2023
Classical Poets Live, Interviews, Poetry, Readings, Video
38 Comments
. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 2: Fake Poets and Hollow Prestige . Audio version available here: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nbFbs2YtvlgZ2B4RtQOcG Apple Music:...
poetry/mantyk/poetry contests

Winners of Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Competition Announced

The Society
May 13, 2023
Human Rights in China, Pantoum, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Villanelle
14 Comments
. FIRST PLACE . Tooth and Claw a pantoum by Susan Jarvis Bryant Observe the tooth and claw of savage deed. Beware the ferric breath of looming dread. Don’t let the taunt of terror sow its...
poetry/salemi/essay

Poetry As The Philosophers’ Stone: An Essay by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
May 12, 2023
Essays, Poetry
44 Comments
. Poetry As The Philosophers’ Stone by Joseph S. Salemi The alchemical art, though long in disrepute, is nevertheless of great antiquity.  Supposedly founded by Hermes Trismegistus, a Ptolemaic Greek reflex...
poem/benson brown/epic

‘The Devil Comes to Buckingham’ from Legends of Liberty: Volume 2, by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
May 12, 2023
Epic, Poetry, Satire
14 Comments
. The Devil Comes to Buckingham from Legends of Liberty: Volume 2 One day as Britons cheered their sovereign’s sight, The devil crawled into his servant’s brain. He entered through the ear as a termite And...
poem/coats/beauty

‘On the Divine Mercy’: A Poem by Eustache Deschamps, Translated by Margaret Coats

The Society
May 11, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation
29 Comments
. On the Divine Mercy Seven times the just man falls, and rises again. ---Proverbs 24:16 by Eustache Deschamps (1346-1406) translated by Margaret Coats The just man seven times a day offends, Says Solomon’s...
poem/rizley/beauty

A Poem on ‘Land and Lake and Sky’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
May 11, 2023
Beauty, Poetry
25 Comments
. Land and Lake and Sky Here standing by the margin of a lake, I look into its waters, cool and deep, Then scan its surface, glassy and opaque, Rimmed by the ancient hills, sublime and steep. They rise up...
poem/pain/satire

‘Why Can’t I Marry My Pit Bull?’ and Other Poems by Norma Pain

The Society
May 10, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Satire
28 Comments
. Why Can’t I Marry My Pit Bull? Why can’t I marry my pit bull? He’d make an incredible spouse, In spite of the dog hair and doo-doo, He’d always be king in my house. He’d listen whenever I talked to...
poem/eardley/satire

A Poem on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, by Jeff Eardley

The Society
May 9, 2023
Culture, Poetry, Satire
12 Comments
. September 9th 1901… A September evening in old Paris town, The time when Parisians let their hair down. There’s laughing and dancing and folk getting drunk, And all of the ladies are looking like...
poem/freeman/humor

‘Ode to the Turnip’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
May 9, 2023
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
31 Comments
. Ode to the Turnip Oh, turnip! You’re a vegetable maligned, suggestive of a drunk’s empurpled nose. Baked, or boiled, or steamed, on you I’ve dined, then revelled in a peaceful night’s repose. Your...
poem/james/beauty

‘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 river widened, hurried, running fleet, bright, quickened...
poem/corey/beauty

‘Poet, What Dreamer Thou Art’: A Poem by Cheryl Corey

The Society
May 8, 2023
Beauty, Poetry, Satire, Villanelle
18 Comments
. Poet, What Dreamer Thou Art  "I feel more and more every day, that as my imagination strengthens, that I do not live in this world alone, but in a thousand worlds." ---John Keats I’m busy doing nothing,...
poem/anderson/satire

‘The Shortfalls of Empirical Knowledge’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
May 7, 2023
Culture, Humor, Poetry, Satire
19 Comments
. The Shortfalls of Empirical Knowledge Sorry, Iowa. Each night is different from all previous And therefore not the same as those to come. The ways of Nature can be devious: They test experience and leave us...
poem/bryant/culture

A Poem Inspired by the Coronation of King Charles III, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
May 7, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
35 Comments
. An Unexpected Smile inspired by the coronation of King Charles III  Today I woke before the sun had spread Her golden grin across the Texas skies. With childlike zest and joy I leapt from bed To cram my...
poem/salemi/reading

‘Byron Swims the Hellespont’ by Joseph S. Salemi: A Reading by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
May 6, 2023
Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video
8 Comments
. If you enjoy this video from Andrew Benson Brown's Classical Poets Live, please click on "Watch on YouTube" and then press like and...
poem/sale/epic

DoorWay Canto 2 Extract from James Sales’ Epic Poem

The Society
May 6, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Dante, Epic, Poetry
16 Comments
. DoorWay Canto 2, Extract The Poet has gone through the ‘DoorWay’ and entered heaven. Here in the second Canto and in the constellation of Libra he meets his dead grandfather (who was a Libran: 30/7) and...
poem/bryant/culture

A Poem and Warning for the Coronation of King Charles III, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
May 5, 2023
Culture, Poetry, Satire
58 Comments
. A Right Royal Coronation Anon the pomp and pageantry will beam From London as King Charles III is crowned. The Abbey-bound procession’s set to stream On gleaming tides of splendour to the sound Of jaunty...
poem/freeman/childrens

A Bus Poem by Paul Martin Freeman: ‘The Number 151: Teatime in Cheam’

The Society
May 5, 2023
Children's, Poetry, Satire
14 Comments
. The Number 151: Teatime in Cheam A Cautionary Tale . Now this is a story of two little girls; The older had pigtails, the younger one curls. They lived in the wonderful village of Cheam And both were...
poem/bethe/culture

‘Planets, Gods and Weekdays’: A Poem by Isabella Simmonds

The Society
May 4, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
. Planets, Gods and Weekdays Alarms are snoozed, and Monday's born. A few more snores as dreams are shorn, And sleep is corked by clanging horn; __The moon's bereft, Her silver day now dimmed and worn __By...

Poems on Books and Devices, and Other Poetry by Russel Winick

The Society
May 3, 2023
Culture, Poetry, Satire
22 Comments
. Books Some say that books are obsolete, __Preferring new devices. But reading books is still a treat, __No gadget quite suffices. . . Tipping Etiquette The credit card machine implied that __I should...
poet/stellinga/beauty

‘Sophisticated Lady—Small Town Girl’: A Poem by Mark Stellinga

The Society
May 3, 2023
Beauty, Poetry, Readings
6 Comments
. . Sophisticated Lady—Small Town Girl “Sophisticated lady” gropes the table at her bedside, blindly taking random swipes to kill the morning scream That shatters little privacies she shares with no...
poem/yapko/plath

‘On Binge-Reading Sylvia Plath’: An Expanded Sonnet by Brian Yapko

The Society
May 2, 2023
Culture, Poetry, Satire
47 Comments
. On Binge-Reading Sylvia Plath Verdammte mirror-bee-eyes stare at you As you describe in depth colossal pain. You say too much: your tormented achoo Your lack of faith, your overactive brain. I read your...
poem/essmann/beauty

‘The Sonogram’ and Other Poetry by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
May 1, 2023
Beauty, Poetry, Satire
11 Comments
. The Sonogram Dodona housed the oracle of Zeus, And there the Greeks sought his prophetic aid (Whose force depended on how much they’d paid) In auguries divinely quite abstruse. Beneath his sacred oak they...
poem/gardner/culture

A Recipe and a Poem: ‘Chicken and Andouille Gumbo’ and Other Poetry by Mary Gardner

The Society
May 1, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. Chicken and Andouille Gumbo Try my gumbo recipe From the land of andouille: ½ cup unsalted butter; ½ cup all-purpose flour Melt the butter, whisk in flour, Cook and stir a quarter-hour Till it’s...
poem/peterson/masks

‘Who Is Behind Your Mask’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
April 30, 2023
Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. Who Is Behind Your Mask Now some of my friends, who put on a good show, Are brave in the face of their fears, this I know. The burdens of life they are striving to hide, So what are the things they are...
poem/tweedie/culture

Dogs, Cats, Nursery Rhymes & Mother Goose: Three Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
April 29, 2023
Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
. Why Children Like Nursery Rhymes A story to be told, a tale to tell Of things that do not matter much at all. Who cares about the farmer in the dell? Or Humpty-Dumpty falling off a wall? The pickled peppers...
poem/benjamin/love

On the Passing of the Poet’s Wife: A Poem by Tod Benjamin

The Society
April 29, 2023
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
10 Comments
. A Requiem for Suzi She fed the birds, she knew them all by name; She cried to see a small dog hurt or lame; She stroked stray cats and even wild ones tamed. __She was wonderful, we loved her. She loved all...
poetry/brown/video

Classical Poets Live (CPL) with Andrew Benson Brown – Episode 1: Why Classical Poetry?

The Society
April 28, 2023
Classical Poets Live, Interviews, Poetry, Video
16 Comments
. This inaugural episode features an interview with Society of Classical Poets' co-founder and editor Evan Mantyk who talks about the founding of the SCP and its growth. He also discusses the FoFG Poetry...

A Poem for National Poetry Month: ‘Salutations, Spring’ by Janice Canerdy

The Society
April 28, 2023
Humor, Poetry
7 Comments
. Salutations, Spring We sing your praises long before you’re due and after you’ve departed—all year long! You bring green grass and flowers into view— plus bugs, torrential rains, and winds so...

A Poetic Call to Action Regarding Transgenderism and Fairness in School Athletics

The Society
April 27, 2023
Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. Let Us Lift Our Voices Higher by Mark F. Stone Don’t let leaders make their choices never having heard your voices. Pay no heed to churlish chatter, that your input doesn’t matter. They are hoping...
poem/coats/beauty

‘Delightfully Mine’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
April 27, 2023
Beauty, Poetry
32 Comments
. Delightfully Mine Of handsome landscapes I admire, How few were planned to please my sight. High skies of which I never tire Are gifts of light, not owned by right. The borrowed mountainsides I see Beyond...
poem/Frank/wisdom

‘Encapsulations of Classic Texts’: Four Poems by Joshua C. Frank

The Society
April 27, 2023
Alexandroid, Beauty, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. Encapsulations “It’s a shame that the tradition of producing small poetic encapsulations of classic texts seems to have died out.” ---Joseph S. Salemi . I. The Way of Peace an alexandroid Thomas a...
poem/cooper/beauty

‘La Luna’ and Other Poetry by Monika Cooper

The Society
April 26, 2023
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. La Luna The poet compares the moon to Eve, our fallen but redeemed mother, and the sun to Mary, daughter of Eve and Mother of us all; she celebrates Our Lady’s victory over witchcraft, communism,...
poem/mantyk/human rights in china

‘Receiving an Organ Transplant from China’: A Poem by Evan Mantyk

The Society
April 25, 2023
Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry
38 Comments
. Receiving an Organ Transplant from China The waiting time was short, extremely short: A couple weeks and fifty thousand bucks Was all it took in China; somewhere else It’d take six months at least, which...
poem/holt/writing

A Poem for New Writers: ‘The Window Seat’ by D.T. Holt

The Society
April 25, 2023
Beauty, Poetry, Satire
24 Comments
. The Window Seat “They don’t read poets till they’re dead.” That’s what my wise-guy father said. “They wait till they have gone away ‘fore caring what they had to say. Still if that’s what you...
poem/robin/human rights in China

Sketches of Three Communistic Big Heads: Poems by Damian Robin

The Society
April 24, 2023
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Satire
9 Comments
. Sketches of Three Communistic Big Heads  . 1. Xi Jinping Who thinks this belly-flopping avarist is good except those marrying the flies that buzz and hiss while he rips up the world, gnashing it to...
poem/alighieri/paradise

Beatrice Does Not Smile: Canto XXI of Paradise by Dante Alighieri, Translated by Stephen Binns

The Society
April 24, 2023
Beauty, Dante, Epic, Poetry, Translation
6 Comments
. Beatrice Does Not Smile: Canto XXI of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns And now my eyes were fastened once again __upon my lady’s face, and all the while __Beatrice __my...
  1. 38
  2. 39
  3. 40
  4. 41
  5. 42
  6. 43
  7. 44
  • Poetry Resources
  • Poetry Readings
  • High School Poetry
  • Translation
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
  • From the Society
  • Poetry Archive
  • Education
  • Humor
  • Reviews
  • About Us
  • The Raven
  • Riddles
  • Journal
  • Members
  • Terms of Use
  • The Society of Classical Poets © 2024