Society of Classical Poets logo
  • About Us
  • Join
  • Donate
  • Poetry
    Random
    • 'What Did Paul Revere?' and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

      The Society
      October 10, 2021
      Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
      9 Comments
    Recent
    • SCP Symposium In-Person in September in Naperville, Illinois

      The Society
      July 2, 2025
    • ‘Summer Family Cookout’: A Poem by Doug Stoiber

      The Society
      July 2, 2025
      6
    • ‘Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A’: A Poem by James Sale

      The Society
      July 1, 2025
      14
    • ‘Gorge’: A Poem on Fishing by Stephen M. Dickey

      The Society
      July 1, 2025
      4
    • poem/yapko/culture

      ‘On the Existence of Two Genders’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

      The Society
      June 30, 2025
      25
    • ‘Therapy’: A Poem by Mary Jane Myers

      The Society
      June 30, 2025
      9
  • Submit
  • Contests
    Random
    • The 22 Best Haiku of 2022

      The Society
      August 30, 2022
      Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests
      30 Comments
    Recent
    • The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku Competition

      The Society
      June 21, 2025
      99
    • 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
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Members
  • Poetry Contests
  • Donate
  • About Us
  • Submit
  • Poetry

Beauty

Home
Poetry
Beauty

‘Summer Family Cookout’: A Poem by Doug Stoiber

The Society
July 2, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
. Summer Family Cookout Criss-cross, hamburger toss, _Flip that sizzlin’ patty! Pretty please, and top with cheese! _You’re the Great Grill Master, Daddy! Three-two-one, slide it on a bun! _With ketchup,...

‘Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A’: A Poem by James Sale

The Society
July 1, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
. Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A “Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, who miraculously walked away from the Ahmedabad disaster, in which more than 240 people were killed” ---The Daily Telegraph on Air India...

‘Every Square Inch’: A Poem by Frank Rable

The Society
June 29, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
. Every Square Inch Her every square inch, her breath, and her voice, In all this and more my soul can rejoice. The beat from her heart, the wink from her eye, The times she is bold, and then she is shy. The...

Two Poems on Cardinals, by T.M. Moore

The Society
June 29, 2025
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
12 Comments
. Cardinals The cardinal is my favorite bird.They mate for life, or so I’ve heard.You hear them sing antiphonally—it’s like a game they play, you see,because they like to keep in touch.But be apart?...

A Poem on John Duns Scotus, by Mary Jane Myers

The Society
June 24, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
. Doctor Subtilis ---Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265--1308) A proud and canny Scot from Duns am I, an infant when Franciscans reached our coast. These friars gave me tools to weigh the why of doctrines puzzling...

‘Another Species’ and Other Poems by Sally Cook

The Society
June 23, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Another Species Each time you felt some shame you could confess The sins you had committed, but instead You whispered a revision, something less In someone’s ear in yet another bed. That is to say, you...

‘The Prayer Blanket’: A Poem Based on the Real Experience of Tim Cassar

The Society
June 22, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. The Prayer Blanket ---as related to me by my friend Tim Cassar, who recently survived a brain cancer operation by Brian Yapko The paramedics came. They took my friend To where there was no earthly pain or...

‘Together’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
June 21, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
25 Comments
. Together The windows of our dawning day_Let light in through the dew,But outdoors ambling in cool air,_I knew that I’d find you. Close comfort, venturing apart,_We played our separate games,Dreaming the...

‘The Comings and Goings of Heaven and Earth’: A Poem by David L. Williams

The Society
June 20, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
. The Comings and Goings of Heaven and Earth Clouds’ movement in the sky, the sight of birds, phenomena that draw an upward glance, may sometimes leave us at a loss for words, uncertain if we’ll get...

‘Periwinkle’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
June 18, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
11 Comments
. Periwinkle Don't know that I was on the spectrum, no, But I was weird. I read too much and played Pretend too much. My mind too often strayed To places so interior they’d glow With something strange and...

‘Salmon Skin’ and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia

The Society
June 17, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. Salmon Skin _Laid temptingly Upon a china dish, _Poached perfectly, A long, pink flank of fish. _Its scents amaze. Fork poised to dig right in, _I stop and gaze, Fixated on its skin: _Smooth gradient From...

A Poem for Father’s Day: ‘The Weight of a Father’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
June 15, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
30 Comments
. The Weight of a Father . I. The Smell of Sawdust On bawling-brother, busy-mother days, The saint who slew the dragons in her dream Whisked her through the fuss-and-fluster maze To realms where fathers shine...

‘When the Child Appears’: A Poem by Victor Hugo, Translated by Bruce Phenix

The Society
June 13, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
8 Comments
. When the Child Appears by Victor Hugo (1802-1885)translated from French by Bruce Phenix When the child appears, the family’s loud praiseBursts out in claps and shouting. His sweet, bright gaze__Makes...

‘Durus Frater, Alma Mater’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

The Society
June 11, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
. Durus Frater, Alma Mater Spring forward to where former arch-rivals Fall back on tall stories of the travels They enjoyed after two years of college, Before graduation sealed the knowledge Of how little...

‘Time and Place’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

The Society
June 8, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
11 Comments
. Time and Place He gave me his coat once in Dublin At dusk in a damp, chilly draft. We spoke of those old Irish writers--- Just where had they mastered their craft? Did Wilde wield his pen in Dun...

‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
June 8, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
46 Comments
. Soldier of the Rising Sun Date/Location: February 19, 1974---Uninhabited jungle, Lubang Island in the northern Philippines. The matter: Believing that Japan is still fighting World War II almost 30 years...

‘Double Rondel for Pentecost’ by Margaret Coats

The Society
June 7, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Poetry Forms, Rondel
41 Comments
. Double Rondel for Pentecost Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! O fire that warms my soul, You burn within to turn my love heart-whole, And burst beyond as fervor unsuppressed. Celestial flame, my most delightful...

On the Art Institute of Chicago’s South Garden and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia

The Society
June 3, 2025
Art, Beauty, Poetry
17 Comments
. In Urbe Hortus ---June afternoon in the South Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago Hard stone and brick, cold glass and steel Shrink behind the canopy Of intertwining leafy boughs Sprawling from each...

‘In Her Fair Foundry, Nature Forges Art’ by Claude Gaspar Bachet, Translated by Josh Middeldorf

The Society
June 2, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
6 Comments
. In Her Fair Foundry, Nature Forges Art by Claude Gaspar Bachet de Meziriac (1581-1638) translated from French by Josh Mitteldorf In her fair foundry, Nature forges art, Divinity of beauty knows no peer. The...

‘To a Virginia Bluebell’ and Other Poetry by Lee Evans

The Society
June 1, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
7 Comments
. To a Virginia Bluebell You nod to me across the trail That runs before my garden seat. With clustered bells of blue you greet My visit with a subtle peal. You wave your frolic fans of green So gaily, as if...

‘A Walk in Solitude’: A Poem by Angel L. Villanueva

The Society
May 29, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. A Walk in Solitude I strolled a path in solitude As snow and frosty winds renewed. The night was giving way to light When I beheld a startling sight: There was a figure up ahead Whose twisted shape invited...

‘Song of the Heron’ by Ueda Bin, Translated by Yoshikaze Kawakami

The Society
May 28, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
6 Comments
. Song of the Heron by Ueda Bin (after the French of Emile Verhaeren) translated from Japanese by Yoshikaze Kawakami By the bleak golden waters, Where the water lilies bloom, The heron slowly hovers, And sends...

‘Forsythia Fading’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
May 27, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
16 Comments
. Forsythia Fading ---after Robert Frost and A.E. Housman Green leaves push yellow blooms away. Bold colors leave, their lives an hour Compared with green things’ lengthened day. It’s true that nothing...

‘On a Raging Storm’ and Other Poetry by Jeff Kemper

The Society
May 26, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. On a Raging Storm Storms raged in the eastern U.S. in Spring of 2019. Is it a freak of summer or the norm? A gale, a blast, a squall is roaring past. In wrath that cuts and claws, the raging storm Leaves in...

‘Ten Pennies Per Paper Poppy’: A Memorial Day Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
May 26, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
25 Comments
. Ten Pennies Per Paper Poppy ---a childhood memory of Memorial Day Ten pennies per paper poppy I helped my mother sell We sold some fifty poppies ---She thought we did quite well. Pretty paper poppies For...

Hurricane Poems: ‘The Genesis Wind’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
May 25, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé
24 Comments
. The Genesis Wind ---written in the wake of Hurricane Milton I close my eyes to better gauge the gusting wind. It howls and tantrums hard against the metal shutters And bends the flailing palms and scrub...

‘What the Caterpillar Calls the End’: A Poem by Scharlie Meeuws

The Society
May 23, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
11 Comments
. What the Caterpillar Calls the End ---for those who are becoming The light grew dim, the air grew still, The green world closed, the leaf went chill. “I am undone,” the small voice cried, Wrapped in a...

‘Sonnet XIII’: A Poem by Jenna Tedesco

The Society
May 22, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
8 Comments
. Sonnet XIII On days you do not need my sound embrace, When tenderness and warmth envelop you And Fortune shines upon your amber face And suffering and sorrow are but few, I wonder what your mind then does...

‘Young Catherine’s Vision’ and Other Poetry by Mary Jane Myers

The Society
May 19, 2025
Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry
13 Comments
. Young Catherine’s Vision ---on St. Catherine of Siena Invested with the Dominican Habit by Giovanni di Paola A maiden kneels on gray da Torre stone. Save for a crucifix, the room is bare. Her thighs seem...

Cat Poems by Gigi Ryan

The Society
May 18, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
17 Comments
. Sally  November rains brought to our basement door From the woods some pleading, needy eyes Staring from a fur mass, soaking wet. Our catless home (about to be no more) Welcomed her and tended to her...

‘Bonanza’: A Poem by Jonathan Kinsman

The Society
May 17, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
13 Comments
. Bonanza The March of rains has staked its claim, its boast _To brag upon these thousand hills, and opened the sluice of the motherlode to mantle the slopes in yellow and gold. _From Tehachapi to the poppied...

‘Going Home to Campania’: A Poem by Patricia Rogers Crozier

The Society
May 16, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. Going Home to Campania I come back to my cool and quiet road, Testudo-shielded by umbrella pines, Where pavement cracked and garbage overflowed To fade beyond in bright converging lines. I come back as a...

‘The Spring Has Come’ and Other Poems by Alan Steinle

The Society
May 14, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Rondeau
18 Comments
. The Spring Has Come The mating call of the black-capped chickadee (a North American songbird) sounds like "Hey, Sweetie!" "Hey, Sweetie!"—this is what you say.Small chickadee, it is your wayto signal...

‘Ghost Town’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
May 9, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. Ghost Town With phantoms, I have lived for far too long. Both day and night, I’ve sighed, without a song. In vacant shells, I’ve tried to make my home In this ghost town of memories where I roam. They...

‘The Sky’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

The Society
May 8, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
8 Comments
. The Sky _I'm watching the storm_From the sea coming in,Windy and rowdy and gray._The raindrops begin_And the gale makes a spin.Pelicans swoop o'er the bay. _A downpour at last_With some lightning and...

‘Riverside Breeze’: A Poem by Daniel Howard

The Society
May 7, 2025
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
15 Comments
. Riverside Breeze ___How beautiful you look __Browsing the flowers one by one _While lying down along the babbling brook; ___And there, beneath the sun, __Whose melting kisses mark your skin, _The faintest of...

‘Pollinator’: A Poem by T.M. Moore

The Society
May 3, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
19 Comments
. Pollinator When swift spring breezes suddenly excitethe conifers out back, they really comealive in dips and bows and surges rightbefore my eyes. I watch to see if froma few of them, or even one, a cloudwill...

‘Back to the Greenwood’: A Poem by Patricia Rogers Crozier

The Society
May 1, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. Back to the Greenwood The spring has come to England once again But I am far away and cannot see The blackthorn blossoms blowing in the wind, And blackbirds in the heavens, flying free. The sun, grown...

‘Zips and Zooms’: A Hummingbird Poem by Gigi Ryan

The Society
April 29, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
11 Comments
. Zips and Zooms The hummingbird both zips and zooms To search for nectar in the blooms Of flowers that unfold in spring. The hummingbird has peewee wings And yet she moves with lightning speed. Her eggs...

‘How I Spent My Spring Vacation’: Poetry and Photography by James A. Tweedie

The Society
April 29, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
19 Comments
. How I Spent My Spring Vacation: Poetry and Photography by James A. Tweedie . It Begins 45 Days Surrounded by the circle of the sea I cruise Atlantic waters, eastward bound, As knot by knot each longitude...
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  1. Brian Yapko on ‘On the Existence of Two Genders’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJuly 2, 2025

    Mike, I'm so moved to read this compassionate new comment which shows such an intense awareness of what this poem…

  2. Brian Yapko on ‘On the Existence of Two Genders’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJuly 2, 2025

    Thank you very much indeed, Andrew. The rhymes on this one were particularly difficult to figure out because the poem…

  3. Carole Mertz on ‘Summer Family Cookout’: A Poem by Doug StoiberJuly 2, 2025

    I truly enjoy the flap snap of your hamburger toss and all its fixin's down to the yellin' for the…

  4. T. M. on Two Poems on Cardinals, by T.M. MooreJuly 2, 2025

    Easy to praise what you prize, no? Thanks, Susan.

  5. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A’: A Poem by James SaleJuly 2, 2025

    The story is definitely apocryphal. Hitler was wounded twice in the war -- once in 1916 by a shell fragment,…

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Daily Poems

Subscribe to receive updates in your email inbox

poetry/benson brown/reading

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Beauty
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Chaucer
  • Children's
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Culture
  • Dante
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Education
  • Ekphrastic
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
  • Featured
  • Found Poem
  • From the Society
  • Haiku and Senryu
  • High School Submissions
  • Homer
  • Human Rights in China
  • Humor
  • Interviews
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
  • Popular Poetry Archives
  • Readings
  • Reviews
  • Rhupunt
  • Riddles
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shakespeare
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • The Raven
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

Poetry Archive

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • 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