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      Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
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      Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests
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Author The Society

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

“Pride Goeth . . . .” and Other Sonnets by James A. Tweedie

The Society
December 30, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
“Pride Goeth . . . .” “How dare you, sir! Your libel will not stand!” The words flew out across the now-hushed room. “Retract your vile lies or face your doom! “Repent or you shall die by my...

‘Christmas Present’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
December 29, 2020
Covid-19, Culture, Poetry
39 Comments
. Long the shadow that it casts, Christmas present, o’er our pasts. In its darkness made to bask, Mumbling carols through a mask. Oh, the distance we observe. No resistance, gone our nerve. Cowering in...

‘Anno Domini 1348’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
December 29, 2020
Beauty, Covid-19, Culture, Poetry
22 Comments
. Anno Domini 1348 ‘Tis thirteen months since those twelve ships of death Docked in Messina bearing vicious plague From the Black Sea. The fevers, rasping breath, The frightful buboes, tortured minds gone...

A Poem on the Jan. 6 Electoral Vote Count, by Christopher Flint

The Society
December 28, 2020
Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. The Burden of Truth Our founders feared and could foresee that politics might come to be far more intense than mere debate of means to best perpetuate the liberty they'd given birth unparalleled in all the...

‘The Monkeys and the Dragonflies’ by Terry L. Norton

The Society
December 28, 2020
Children's, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
  adapted from a Filipino folktale __Once, when the sun was at its height, A dragonfly thought she’d alight Upon a branch. The air was hot, And she fatigued. So, on that spot, Under the shade of...

‘The Iroha Poem’ by Kūkai (空海) (774–835), Translated by Francesca Leader

The Society
December 27, 2020
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
18 Comments
. The leaves may shine with colored gloss, But they will fall, forever lost. In this false world, what soul, I ask, May hope in timelessness to last? Today I cross these mountain depths With no vain dreams or...

‘A Sonnet on Taking a Leap of Faith’ by Brian Yapko

The Society
December 26, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
  This is the day for manifesting soul To flesh, for making contemplation real; Incorporeal yet real and whole Advancing to some heavenly ideal. Not such transcendence as annuls the Earth Or...

A ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’ Parody by David D. Irby

The Society
December 25, 2020
Poetry
7 Comments
. Freezing in a Winter Wonderland  to be sung to the melody of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" I am cold. Are you listening? On my nose, ice is glistening. Why must we roam? I wanna go home. Freezing in a...

‘The Night after Christmas’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
December 25, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. The Night after Christmas You better not cry. “Deplorable” might be how best to putit, just to underscore the gravityof chores that border on depravity,begriming Santa’s uniform with soot. A...
poem/dickens/ghost

‘A Wretch Like Me’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
December 25, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
 . 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 for a wretch like me He came,to fetch me from my sin and...

‘Can You See the Star?’ by Daniel Magdalen

The Society
December 24, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Wake up and raise the blinds, to see the light, The colors; hark, the carols, feel the cheers Emerging, from within this Holy Night. Hear choirs of hope, in spirit, ‘mid your plight, While you can’t...

‘Christmas Is a Person’: Words & Music by Jim Tweedie

The Society
December 24, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry
21 Comments
  Christmas trees and Christmas carols, Christmas lights and reindeer, too.Christmas cards and Christmas presents, wrapped with paper, bows and glue.Christmas bells and Christmas cookies, Christmas ornaments...

‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer—a Sonnet’ and Other Poetry by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
December 24, 2020
Culture, Humor, Poetry
12 Comments
. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer---A Sonnet Poor Rudolph was a reindeer with a nose resembling a bulb of bright red hue. The other reindeer laughed and said, “It glows like Santa’s after knocking back a...
poem/bryant/church music

‘Voices from Childhood’: A Christmas Poem by David Watt

The Society
December 24, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
X The play of the breeze brings the music of childhood, The tinkle of laughter as light and as clear As were our voices when singing in Wildwood The day before Christmas—the best time of year. The songs...

‘Stepfather’ by Daniel Kemper

The Society
December 23, 2020
Culture, Poetry
16 Comments
.   The hills that Joseph meditated on were black and just a bit like elephants, but if somehow they counterpointed dawn, there was no sign of its deliverance. “Beloved, my beloved, how?---and why!" Against...

‘Rote Musings’ by Edward Ahern

The Society
December 23, 2020
Poetry
9 Comments
My day dredges through its habits like chicken wings that flop through flour, like tame lettuce-nibbling rabbits, so to say, lacking brainpower. Rote nothings wasting useful hours. I need to force feed,...

A Poem on the Covid-19 Vaccine: ‘Needled’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 22, 2020
Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
45 Comments
. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” ---Albert Einstein If I put forth a single vaccine questionAbout a jab that’s whipped up in a...

‘In This Post-Christian Era I Believe’ and Other Poetry by Theresa Rodriguez

The Society
December 22, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
28 Comments
In This Post Christian Era “For he nil falsen no wight, dar I seye, That wol his herte al hoolly on him leye.” ---Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Love Unfeigned” In this post-Christian era I believe; In this...

‘Apocalypse’: Three Sonnets by Peter Hartley

The Society
December 21, 2020
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
29 Comments
_ I How will I know you or will you know me?When every bird has hurtled to the ground,When every whale and every fish has drowned,And every beast, engaged in killing spreeHas eaten every one that cannot...

‘The Rape of Lady Liberty’ and Other Poetry on Election Fraud

The Society
December 20, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
7 Comments
. . The Rape of Lady Liberty In Memoriam: November 3, 2020 by Patrick Henry Redivivus They did the awful deed within the dark--- Brute men with beastly hearts, as black as coal, And blinded minds, like...

‘Evocation’ by Leo Zoutewelle

The Society
December 20, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
I set up my beloved theodolite And slowly, gently, aimed it at the moon, Then focused sharply on the lovely site, Which put its fragile eye piece well in tune. As always, it was truly great and...

Three Poems on Photography, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 19, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau
32 Comments
. Still   “Many eyes go through the meadow,  but few see the flowers in it” ---Ralph Waldo Emerson  I aim and shoot with fierce alacrity   As artistry unfurls before...

‘From a Prophet to the Emperor’ by Sterling Osborne

The Society
December 18, 2020
Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
  The corpses laid before your cast iron throne will never wake again. Their eyes alone accuse you from the veinous marble floor, but you dismiss their gaze and look once more to conquest: paring...

‘The Screen Is Life’ by Michael Charles Maibach

The Society
December 17, 2020
Covid-19, Culture, Poetry
1 Comment
The screen is life, The screen is king, The screen is now Our everything. The place we learn, The place we meet, The place we go When friends we greet. Our church on-line, Our school remote, Our office...

‘Dominion’ and Other Poetry on Voter Fraud

The Society
December 16, 2020
Culture, Poetry
28 Comments
. Dominion “No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do.”  ---Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game by Susan Jarvis Bryant Dominion is the despot’s aim Employed to zip loose lips and...

‘The House of Life’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
December 16, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
The House of Life to Stephen Come in, my friend, and warm yourself; come in out of the cold! The night is dark, and icy winds blow harshly on the wold. Inside you´ll find a roaring fire to warm you as you...

‘At Sea with the Virus’ by Damian Robin

The Society
December 15, 2020
Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
based on a true story My wife’s in bed with lowered head and even lower mood. Her chin’s on her chest and she’s not impressed though at least she’s eating her food. Her smiles are...

‘My 2020 Christmas List’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 14, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. The coziest wrap of a cuddle To wear under snow-swollen skies; The grin of a kith-and-kin huddle To glisten in sparkling eyes; A tipple of mistletoe kisses To quench my intemperate thirst; A feast of...

‘Prince Hamlet Speaks About Election Fraud’ by Evan Mantyk

The Society
December 14, 2020
Culture, Poetry, Shakespeare
34 Comments
. . Prince Hamlet Speaks About Election Fraud Prince Hamlet speaks about election fraud:"O villainy! Ho! Let the door be locked.Treachery! Seek it out." And this we laud:A voice half crazy yet all true that...

The Struggle for the Formalist Tradition: An Essay by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
December 13, 2020
Deconstructing Communism, Education, Essays, Poetry
58 Comments
  Why are many young persons so bad at writing formal poetry? Why do they struggle and labor and twist and turn when trying to compose formal verse? OK, I’ll grant you this: every beginning poet has...

‘Stages of Arrested Development’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
December 12, 2020
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
36 Comments
. Stages of Arrested Development __The lads who once had wet their beds __Adventured off in brand-new Keds, Exploring every corner of creation. __Age twelve or so, they raced on sleds __Down icy streets and...

‘On Your Marx’ and Other Poetry on Karl Marx by Damian Robin

The Society
December 11, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
24 Comments
_ On Your Marx If humans ran a Human Race, __Karl Marx would not be in it. The human depth that he could trace __would leach out in a minute. For he is neither man nor beast __but half-life near demonic, A...

‘Philoctetes: A Myth Retold’ Excerpt, by Bruce Wren

The Society
December 10, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
What is One to do with a Useless Man?: Philoctetes: A Myth Retold is a poetic play by Fr. Bruce Wren.   Act 5 Scene 2 Philoctetes alone (singing the first quartet softly, then soliloquy) If solitude comes...

Poetry on Exposing Fraud in the 2020 U.S. Election

The Society
December 9, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. Strange Election inspired by President Trump's speech on election fraud (below) by Evan Mantyk Strange numbers were appearing in the dead of night From ballot boxes As if foxes Crept there out of...

Poem Found on Our Lady of Guadalupe Painting, Translated by Margaret Coats

The Society
December 9, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Found Poem, Poetry, Translation
26 Comments
The Painting of the Virgin God, seeing in America a child Embracing Faith with jubilation meet, Took up His paints, and on a flowered sheet By His own hand a portrait deftly styled, For He intended...

Turn a Joke into a Poem—Poetry Challenge

The Society
December 8, 2020
Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
87 Comments
Poet Susan Jarvis Bryant challenges her fellow poets to adapt a favorite joke into a poem with meter and rhyme. Enjoy her examples and then post your own joke-turned-poem into the comments section...
poem/yapko/love/sonnet

‘Summer’s Fall’ by Luke Hahn

The Society
December 8, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
  Oh, the joy of summer's fall, Tripping on her tassels tall, Laughing with such deep release The ombre maples blush. How she twirls through apple trees-- Such a brief, chromatic breeze That...

A Poem on the 79th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 7, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
36 Comments
. That Day of Infamy ∼ December 7th, 1941 Zeros burst through bluest skies __Like stealthy birds of prey, Set to swoop and pulverize __Pearl Harbor’s soul that day; That day of scarlet rising suns __On...

‘Peradventure Before Naptime’ by Denise Sobilo

The Society
December 7, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
for my two-year-old grandson, Exander “There’s no tale in the world I can’t believe.” I said.“If you have learned belief, you have learned something.” ---Rudyard Kipling, “Bimi” X We meant to...

Stop the Steal: A Play on the 2020 Election (Excerpt) by Evan Mantyk

The Society
December 6, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
20 Comments
. Act I Scene I NARRATOR Imagine now the scene: the angry engine, Its beeping brain, its smooth and metal muscles That barely seem to strain beneath the mighty load; And standing all around no creature...
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