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    • 'The Cymbal Player' and Other Poetry by Martin Elster

      The Society
      March 4, 2018
      Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
      24 Comments
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      July 18, 2025
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      7
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      Poetry, Poetry Contests
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Author The Society

The Society

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

‘Old? Hell No!’ by Norma Pain

The Society
November 16, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
25 Comments
. Old? Hell No! in a thick British accent __It's bin three years an’ a day, __Since the Mrs. passed away, I still see ‘er face afore me smilin’ kindly. __For a while I wasn’t right, __I’d awake most...

‘Gender Reveal’ by Reid McGrath

The Society
November 15, 2021
Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry
6 Comments
. We went to a gender reveal. And we had an exceptional meal. __But the host was forlorn __when she unhusked her corn. It was pink instead of blue-teal. Her emotions were on full display. They should have...

Reading [Classical] Poetry Will Save the World: Crisis Magazine

The Society
November 14, 2021
Culture, Essays, Poetry
5 Comments
. Below is an excerpt from a Crisis Magazine article "Reading Poetry Will Save the World" by Auguste Meyrat, published November 13, 2021. (The article was passed to me by poet Joe Tessitore.) . For those who...

‘Racial Idiocy’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick

The Society
November 14, 2021
Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. Racial Idiocy My son was on a city team,__Where two kids caught my eye:Stefon---warm and articulate,__And Marcus---risk deemed high. I thought that I’d invite them to__My law firm for a day,And offer---if...

The SCP Christmas and New Year 2021 Poetry Reading, Online

The Society
November 13, 2021
From the Society, Poetry, Readings
1 Comment
. You are invited to a reading of exquisite poetry and conversations with the poets. This reading is part of a quarterly series of online poetry readings planned for 2021-2022. . Date & Time Sunday...

‘Nature’s War’ by Pat Tyrer

The Society
November 13, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
. Nature's War From far beneath the frozen soil the iris pushes high,Extending wide it reaches up to touch the sun and sky. Yet in the greening of the grass, the snows of winter stayas northern winds descend...

On Three Pre-Raphaelite Paintings, by Peter Hartley

The Society
November 12, 2021
Art, Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
52 Comments
. . The Hireling Shepherd painting by William Holman Hunt This comely wench was Emma Watkins, she Who sat for Hunt in eighteen fifty-two. Too unaffected she, she never knew What lay beyond the brink, beyond...

On World Leaders Falling Asleep at the U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow: COP26

The Society
November 12, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry, The Environment
7 Comments
. At the COP26 We all have piled up at the COP,For in a day the World may stop!No really, that’s what voters sayAnd that’s enough, so I’m here today. We must turn up or all goes pop—And yet I find my...

For Veterans Day and Remembrance Sunday: ‘Where Poppies Blow’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
November 11, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
22 Comments
. Today I feel the stirrings of the Dead In crimson-littered fields where poppies blow. I hear embittered groans and gasps of dread From churning earth neath crosses row on row. Today our freedoms fade along...

‘From a Classified Location in England’: A Veteran’s Day Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
November 11, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
33 Comments
. From a Classified Location in England Dear Jim---my son---I write from far away. From England, Spring of 1944. June first! That means you’re six years old today! So happy birthday, son! And many...

‘Colours of War’ by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
November 11, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. Colours of War What colour was the war to end all wars?We’ve watched as men, in grainy black and white,go o’er the top to face the chomping jawsof curtain fire and shrapnel’s iron bite.And when the...

A Poem for Veteran’s Day 2021, by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
November 11, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. The Soldier Keeps the Wolf at Bay The soldier keeps the wolf at bay So we may never see it. That is why the young today Simply don’t believe it. You say “We see no wolf out there? So why should we...

‘For Better or for Worse?’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
November 10, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
. For Better or for Worse? Poetic genius, swallowed from a bottle; Ingested from an opiate-filled pipe; Imagination speeding at full-throttle; A pleasure-domed Romantic archetype. No LSD or fentanyl...

‘Biden Has an Accident at the Vatican’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
November 9, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
. Biden Has an Accident at the Vatican Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia: Where Peter is, there is the Church. Ubi Bergoglius, ibi merda: Where Bergoglio is, there is excrement. I came to see the Pontiff. He is a head...

‘Imperial Invitation’ by Margaret Coats

The Society
November 9, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. Imperial Invitation Fair neighbor, come, pass through entrancing gates I made to veil surprises and seclude My masterpiece of panoramic zest, Where autumns yet unreddened bear my mark. The servants disappear...

‘Robert Jack Eardley’ by Jeff Eardley

The Society
November 8, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
28 Comments
. Robert Jack Eardley was, for many years, Chief Psychiatrist for the U.S. Justice Department. In 2000, he organised a family gathering of thousands with our surname, in the small English town where the name...

‘Bywords’ and Other Poetry by Mike Bryant

The Society
November 7, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
27 Comments
. Bywords Language rang and wedged within our mind. Centuries of words were drawn like swords. A surfeit, rhymes, soliloquies entwined, As singers fingered perfectly rung chords. Linguals clang, the cymbals...

‘Hypnosis’ by Judy Koren

The Society
November 7, 2021
Culture, Pantoum, Poetry
6 Comments
. Hypnosis Come over here, then, and sit in this chair, Gaze at this candle-flame, empty your mind, No need to worry, no need to beware--- I am so patient, so caring and kind. Gaze at this candle-flame, empty...

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Free PDF

The Society
November 6, 2021
Alliterative, Culture, Education, Essays, Poetry
7 Comments
Following the introduction below is a translated version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in PDF made free for download for teachers, students, and interested readers by the Society of Classical Poets. It...

‘An Interlude’ by Sally Cook

The Society
November 6, 2021
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
22 Comments
. He was the stream and she the underbrush; The rain that fell upon his upturned face. She was the shadowed glade in evening's hush That memorized the sun, received its grace. She was the sea, and he the...

‘Last Rites’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
November 5, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Terza Rima
8 Comments
. Last Rites Let not the Rock of Ages ever break Or send apostate magi to the stake; A golden era favoring good men Will likely never come around again. This world, in winter, is a dreary place, Devoid of...

‘End of Summer’ by Angel L. Villanueva

The Society
November 5, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
. When summer left and took her warming shawl, The birds towards the south began to fly. The leaves of wizened trees began to dye, As shorter days announced the hues of fall. In town, there is the snore of...

‘Let’s Go, Brandon…’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
November 4, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
22 Comments
. "Let's Go Brandon" People don’t want to say “F--k” When dealing with President Schmuck. So they say “Let’s go, Brandon” instead To a leader who’s nearly brain-dead. They know that the...

A Poem on Glenn Youngkin Winning the Governor Seat of Virginia, by Margaret Coats

The Society
November 4, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. New Day for the Old Dominion "This is what unity looks like" —Glenn Youngkin, Virginia governor-elect Virginians venture toward a vivid day Of family life and work as each sees fit; Next year the cost of...

Poetry Contests Accepting Rhyming and Metered Poems

The Society
November 4, 2021
Poetry, Poetry Contests
10 Comments
by Evan Mantyk A strange phenomenon in recent years, probably dating back to the mid 20th century and with roots in Whitman, is an aversion toward rhyme and meter in poetry among poetry establishments...

‘The Mystery of the Amber Room’ by Brian Yapko

The Society
November 4, 2021
Art, Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
21 Comments
. A fabled place adrift in history Which makes the spirit ache for what was lost; A masterpiece destroyed in mystery Then resurrected at a crippling cost; A priceless room of amber! A caprice Of luxe and...

‘Vitamin DC: In Praise of Dark Chocolate’ by Jeff Kemper

The Society
November 3, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
29 Comments
. When I crave from my enclave something to eat (Not apples or peas or muffins or meat) I steady my stare at my pantry’s archive And spot a great lot that’ll keep me alive. In my haste for a taste of the...

‘Autumn in Vermont’ and Other Poetry by Lucia Haase

The Society
November 2, 2021
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
. Autumn in Vermont October’s maples blaze a way __around a tall church steeple and sugar maples have their say __by raining gold on people. Such leafy vibrance begs to call __all those who wish to see, the...

Poems by Yevgeny Baratynsky (1800—1844)

The Society
November 1, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation
7 Comments
. translated from Russian by Sasha A. Palmer . Prayer God above, King divine! Heal this spirit of mine! Earthly lies drive away Lest they lead me astray— And for Thy heav'nly toll Please give strength to...

‘A Vagabond Song’ by Bliss Carman, Put to Music by Jack DesBois

The Society
October 31, 2021
Beauty, Music, Poetry, Readings
7 Comments
. . A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carman (1861-1929) There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood -- Touch of manner, hint of mood; And my heart is like a rhyme, With the yellow and the purple...

‘Tokens of the Liberal Artist’ by Sarban Bhattacharya

The Society
October 31, 2021
Art, Culture, Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
. The cats are creatures of a liberal kind, For on the laps of commie artists, you’ll find Them. Coffee too you’ll find in their domain, Not to drink so much as to maintain Their fashion, always looking...

‘Approaching Halloween’ by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
October 30, 2021
Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Approaching Halloween “You live in the same kind of grayness as the filthy stuff that formed you.” —Jack Finney, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers They’re here! like werewolves roaming round our...

‘BOO!’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
October 30, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
29 Comments
. BOO! I feel a fleshless...

‘Glastonbury’ and Other Poetry by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
October 30, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
. Glastonbury A deathless tree stood witness while The marshlands round a nearby isle Were drained and bared a hill forlorn; A lonesome tree, long in exile Since Joseph sailed from the Nile— The Glastonbury...

A Poem on Fauci and ‘Dead Puppies,’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
October 29, 2021
Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
. Dead Puppies On a break from the propaganda mill I found puppies I thought I could kill, So I shot them with zombie-rich juice--- I am Fauci, I need no excuse. I just couldn’t believe how they screech, So...

Poems on the Grim Reaper and God, by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
October 29, 2021
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. How Grim Is the Grim Reaper? How grim is the Grim Reaper? Rapacious and rambunctious; Solemn stalker, soul seeker, Slayer uncompunctious. How dim his lair’s darkness? Capacious, crenellated Wailing walls...

‘The Asinine Armoress: Hannah Gutierrez Reed’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
October 28, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry
7 Comments
. To all the tough women in Texas who actually know how to handle guns. My daddy got the job for me. He wanted me to work. And daddy’s got a lot of social clout. I told him “When it comes to guns, I’m...

‘We’ and Other Poetry by Mike Bryant

The Society
October 28, 2021
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
24 Comments
. We Sum total of all life is death, And breath sustains us for a time. We’ll live until we’ve spent God's dime. The meter's running faster still. No matter what we want or will, We’re always in His...

‘An Incident on the Cornish Cliffs’ by Peter Hartley

The Society
October 28, 2021
Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. So many things were churning in his mind When scrambling down the track towards the cove, To take especial care or drop behind Them both, decide perhaps it might behove Him to feign injury before his...

‘It’s Raining Now in New York City’ by Martin Rizley

The Society
October 27, 2021
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
23 Comments
. It's raining now in New York City; Yes, I know that's true. For like that dreamer, Walter Mitty, Daydreams take me, too, To fabled places far away Upon a lazy, rainy day Where I can see and do and say What...
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