Society of Classical Poets logo
  • About Us
  • Join
  • Donate
  • Poetry
    Random
    • 'A Robin's Song' by Connie Phillips

      The Society
      February 1, 2018
      Beauty, Poetry
      6 Comments
    Recent
    • ‘The Comings and Goings of Heaven and Earth’: A Poem by David L. Williams

      The Society
      June 20, 2025
      2
    • poetry/mantyk/don quixote

      ‘Tilted Tales’: Three Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant

      The Society
      June 19, 2025
      5
    • poem/anderson/beauty

      ‘Enigma’: A Poem by Steve Cooper

      The Society
      June 19, 2025
      4
    • ‘Periwinkle’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann

      The Society
      June 18, 2025
      9
    • ‘A Winter’s Tale’ by Jeff Eardley

      The Society
      June 18, 2025
      13
    • ‘Get Along, Little DOGE-ie’ and Other Social Commentary Poetry by James A. Tweedie

      The Society
      June 17, 2025
      13
  • Submit
  • Contests
    Random
    • Ekphrastic Contest: Write a Poem on This Photograph

      The Society
      October 8, 2020
      Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry Contests, The Environment
      148 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.

‘It’s Coming for You!’ by Sandi Christie

The Society
January 8, 2022
Covid-19, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. It’s Coming for You! It’s coming to devour you, you know. There’s no escape no matter where you go. It waits and watches, hides behind the door With fetid breath from pathogenic spores. Far worse than...

‘The Ninth Day of the Emperor’s Wrath’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
January 7, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé
22 Comments
. The Ninth Day of the Emperor's Wrath a rondeau redoublé The stadium roared at the end of the fight. In triumph the victor uplifted his sword. The emperor signaled thumbs down with cold spite. Death’s blow...

‘Good Conscience’ by Ed Ahern

The Society
January 7, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
. Good Conscience Under our cauls a sleepless giber lurks, A callous judge of all our selfish smirks Who slices through our veils of self delight To show us prancing for unholy cirques. Our ego tells us to...

Poetry by José de Espronceda, Translated by Adam Sedia

The Society
January 6, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation
5 Comments
. Sonnet by José de Espronceda (1808-1842) | translated from Spanish by Adam Sedia Fresh, lush, pure, and perfumed luxuriantly, The blooming garden’s flair and ornament, Coxcomb perched on the stem's...

An Excerpt of Jack DesBois’s Western Star for Epiphany: January 6, 2022

The Society
January 6, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Song Lyrics
4 Comments
. https://youtu.be/dYyxThEY71o . An Excerpt from The Western Star for Epiphany, January 6, 2022 The road stretched out forever in the morning, giving Balthazar plenty of time and space for thought. The...

A Poem on the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol Hill Protest, by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
January 5, 2022
Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. Annuary Stichs Jamesian intricacies swarmed about the voter-counts; a massive fraud had taken place beyond the lovely mounts. Nobody had expected Apate and Dolos to ubiquitously fake vote-counts in the...

Poetic Pitfalls: An Essay by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
January 5, 2022
Education, Essays, Poetry
18 Comments
. There are a number of ways to go wrong in poetry. Unfortunately, the Poetry Establishment is only willing to admit the existence of a select few of them. The others are either kept under wraps, or disguised...

‘The Language of Hope’ by Satyananda Sarangi

The Society
January 5, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
18 Comments
. The Language of Hope The heart forbids the mind to let it go; __Extinguished love has deeper scars, __The foremost friend, the dreaded foe, It burns and scatters flames like broken stars. I pace upon the...

Review of A Thing With Feathers, by J. John Nordstrom

The Society
January 4, 2022
Essays, Love Poems, Poetry, Reviews
2 Comments
. Reviewed Book: A Thing With Feathers, by J. John Nordstrom, independently published, 2021 by Andrew Benson Brown A Thing With Feathers is the debut novel of J. John Nordstrom (the pen name of Joseph J....

‘Forever Faun’ by Emory D. Jones

The Society
January 4, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Forever Faun In mottled shade of forest stood a faunSo still he seemed to be no living thing;The sun beamed down, already he was gone—His presence was a fleeting sign of Spring.Once in the distant past,...

‘Unprofitable Servant’ by Margaret Coats

The Society
January 3, 2022
Culture, Poetry
25 Comments
. Unprofitable Servant Bergoglio clarifies his views on the Latin Mass A treasure was mine, but it’s too long ago For me to recover what now I despise. Fearful and sickened and sadly too slow I was to...

‘Meditations on Ecclesiastes’ by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
January 3, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. Meditations on Ecclesiastes . Inquiry “What profit has a man for all his labor…?” ---Ecclesiastes 1: 3 None knows what all his work accomplishes; What one begins, another finishes A different way. Or,...

‘The Dark Knight’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
January 2, 2022
Culture, Humor, Poetry
35 Comments
. The Dark Knight I’ve always held the Queen in high esteem, Her ever-classy, never brassy aura Shines noble splendour on the regal scene And blesses folk who openly adore 'er. Today the corgi-hugging...

‘So It Is Written’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
January 2, 2022
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
19 Comments
. So It Is Written The books that I have owned for many years, Still sitting on my shelves or stored in boxes, Have yellowed pages—damaged belvederes— With covers bearing pale mildewy poxes. I’ve read...

‘Forever and Evermore’ by Margaret Hunt Brisbane, Put to Music by Gunny Markefka

The Society
January 2, 2022
Beauty, Found Poem, Music, Poetry
14 Comments
. Introduction In a second-hand bookshop, located in the French Quarter (New Orleans), I discovered a poetry book by Margaret Hunt Brisbane (1858-1925). It had been in mid spring of 2005, a couple of months...

Two Poems for Christmastide by Sally Cook

The Society
January 1, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. Last Christmas I’d rushed there through the afternoon In someone else’s borrowed car Where you, distressed I’d come too soon, Were giving samples in a jar. The last I ever spoke with you Was in that...

“Lud’s Church” or “The Green Chapel” by Jeff Eardley

The Society
January 1, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. “Lud's Church" or “The Green Chapel” after Sir Gawain and the Green Knight I travel to this place each New Year’s Day, To where the fluting curlew builds his nest. Upon these stegosaurus hills I...
poem/music/Burns/auld lang syne

‘For Auld Lang Syne’ and Other New Year Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
January 1, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
. For Auld Lang Syne Each New Year’s Day is like a colander Through which we strain and drain away the days Of auld lang syne, throw out the calendar, And set the count-down-midnight-sky ablaze. Take down...

A Holiday Poem Reflecting on Slave Labor in Communist China

The Society
December 31, 2021
Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Readings, Video
17 Comments
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4HH4MeT9Mo . Read the complete poem here: https://classicalpoets.org/2013/12/12/two-psalms/#/ CREDITS Poetry: Evan Mantyk (b. 1982) Audio/Visual Work: Society of Classical...

’20/20 Vision’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 31, 2021
Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
16 Comments
. 20/20 Vision You’re lurking in the shadows with a wink. I see your flute of crystal, hear you pop Your cork as spirits soar and keen arms link To strains of Auld Lang Syne as clock hands...

‘On the Birth of the Grand Millenium: 1 January 2000’ by Jeff Kemper

The Society
December 31, 2021
Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. On the Birth of the Grand Millenium 1 January 2000 A panoply of adolescent eyes Looks out into the frosty air they breathe Into the puffs of mist their mouths devise At wild humanity whose shoutings...

‘Auld Lang Syne’ by Robert Burns: Poem Reading for New Year’s Day by S.A. Todd

The Society
December 30, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video
8 Comments
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okGcYTF8pHk . CREDITS Poetry: Robert Burns (1759-1796) Audio/Visual Work: Society of Classical Poets Voice-Over: S.A. Todd Photos/Footage: (1) "Drei Mönche bei der...

‘While Unheard Anthems Raise’ and Other Poetry by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
December 30, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
. While Unheard Anthems Raise Nature has a panoply __Of instruments it plays. The forests form the canopy __Uplifting arms in praise. Woodwinds play the melody __Blowing on the reeds. Cold sleet plays the...

‘The Dodo of Mauritius’ and Other Poetry by Peter Hartley

The Society
December 29, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
39 Comments
. The Dodo of Mauritius This island nation scarcely can be proud Of avifauna lacking common sense, Surviving only in the perfect tense, Their right to life, existence disavowed. With beaks immense, these...

‘Fields of Grass’ and Other Poetry by Norma Pain

The Society
December 28, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
. Fields of Grass In youth I ran through fields of grass, Convinced that I could fly, And endless were the days to pass Seen through my guileless eye. Childish thoughts and childish games, The fun went on and...

‘Poppy’ and Other Poetry by A.S. Chuba

The Society
December 27, 2021
Beauty, Culture, High School Submissions, Pantoum, Poetry
7 Comments
. Poppy A vase of poppies on the table there, Twelve years have past, all white is now her hair. A shadow running up the path she sees, Her son has come! Her end to miseries. Twelve years have past all white...

‘Sonnet 1 (In Theory, Real)’ by Hannah Yee

The Society
December 27, 2021
Beauty, Culture, High School Submissions, Poetry
10 Comments
. Sonnet 1 (In Theory, Real) Are dreams confined to stars or stars to dreams? Both full of mysteries and seldom clear, Restrained, yet free to dance in vivid streams Of consciousness, of life and fire and...

‘To Saint John the Evangelist’ by Eustache Deschamps, Translated by Margaret Coats

The Society
December 27, 2021
Beauty, Chant Royal, Culture, Poetry, Translation
14 Comments
. To Saint John the Evangelist by Eustache Deschamps (c. 1346–1406) | translated from French by Margaret Coats Young, perfect, just, in all you had to do, Fresh virile flower of virginity, O man of marvels,...

‘Anyone But You’ and Other Poetry by Anna J. Arredondo

The Society
December 26, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Limerick, Love Poems, Poetry
7 Comments
. Anyone But You The phone may ring; The call will bring __Anyone but you. The mail will come; It will be from __Anyone but you. A text may buzz; I’m sure it was __Anyone but you. Oh, this is dire; I...

‘My Sonnet as Texted’ and Other Poetry by Carl Kinsky

The Society
December 26, 2021
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
11 Comments
. My Sonnet as Texted Her face, uplit as she scrolls through her phone, no feelings shown, she wears light like a mask. Have we two lives we share? Is each one’s own? Afraid that I know, I’m too scared to...

‘A Sentimental Villanelle’ and Other Christmas Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 25, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Terza Rima, Villanelle
28 Comments
. A Sentimental Villanelle This year I’m wrapped in Christmases of old--- The tinseled tree and glee of hearts on high. My mood is laced with myrrh and graced with gold. The air is spiced with mulling wine...

Three for Christmas Day: Poetry and Music by James A. Tweedie

The Society
December 25, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Song Lyrics
12 Comments
. Introduction Each year I compose or arrange music in celebration of Christmas. This year I have created three arrangements of familiar Christmas music, each introduced by a poem. The organ piece is based on...

‘A Wretch Like Me’: a Christmas poem by Joe Tessitore, set to music by Jack DesBois

The Society
December 25, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Video
10 Comments
. https://youtu.be/fx3NidSVFKk . A Wretch Like Me by Joe Tessitore To miss the mark, to lose my way,To choose the dark, on Christmas Day.No star I see, no Virgin Birth,No joy for me, no peace on earth. But...
poem/dickens/ghost

‘A Christmas Carol,’ after Charles Dickens, by Talbot Hook

The Society
December 24, 2021
Beauty, Children's, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. . Dramatis Personae: Ebenezer Scrooge: An infamous miser Bob Cratchit: Scrooge’s assistant Mrs. Cratchit: Bob’s wife Tiny Tim: Disabled child of the Cratchits Jacob Marley: Scrooge’s old partner Mr....

‘The Night He Came’ by Martin Rizley

The Society
December 24, 2021
Poetry
12 Comments
. The Night He Came The stench of damp straw mixed with mold, The low moan of the night wind cold, The murky shadows draping all Within a drafty cattle stall--- These were the first things that He sensed The...

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ by Brian Yapko

The Society
December 24, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. It's a Wonderful Life The forecast promised luscious, gleaming snow; Instead the sky pours bitter, freezing rain. The lights are strung but half of them won’t glow.Our tree sags like the one in Charlie...

‘The North Pole’s on Lockdown’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 23, 2021
Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
31 Comments
. The North Pole's on Lockdown ‘Tis the night before Christmas; it pains me to say--- The North Pole’s on lockdown before the big day. The elves have been furloughed and fester in bed. The toy...

‘The Tunnel to Australia’ by Jeff Eardley

The Society
December 23, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry, Song Lyrics
21 Comments
. The Tunnel to Australia It’s raining every day in Merrie England. It’s falling from the sky most every day. But I’ve just heard about a place that’s burning, In a country that’s so very far...

‘The People That Walked in Darkness’ by Paul Erlandson

The Society
December 22, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. The People That Walked in Darkness The Christmas lights are out tonight, __Early and fierce and brave. The lawns of all suburbia, __A parti-colored nave. Their swollen ranks caused me to think __How changed...

‘Hedge Theory’ by David Watt

The Society
December 22, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
. Hedge Theory The hedge plants are trimmed by a gardener with shears As they have been, like clockwork, for twenty-five years. Yet they push out new shoots in continuing hope Of extending their reach through...
  1. 60
  2. 61
  3. 62
  4. 63
  5. 64
  6. 65
  7. 66
  • 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