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Beauty

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Beauty

‘And Yet We Wash Our Hands’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
May 14, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
25 Comments
. And Yet We Wash Our Hands When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, butthat instead an uproar was starting, he took waterand washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I aminnocent of this man’s...

‘Look Homeward, Sweet Afton’: Poem by Brian Yapko, Set to Music by Jeff Eardley

The Society
May 14, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Song Lyrics
32 Comments
. Music by Jeff Eardley . Look Homeward, Sweet Afton after Robert Burns Look homeward, Sweet Afton, back to thy green braes, Recalling with pride Britain’s glorious days. Then forward flow strongly, I pray...

‘A Mother’s Day Sonnet’ by Evan Mantyk

The Society
May 12, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
22 Comments
. A Mother’s Day Sonnet I hope you have a happy Mother’s Day And take a moment out to feel the love I’m sending to you there, though faraway, Like kisses raining down from high above, Each one a memory...

‘Hookerville School’: A Poem on the One-Room Schoolhouse by Phil S. Rogers

The Society
May 11, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
. Hookerville School Built just before the Civil War, employed till twenty-nine, This one-room school that stands today withstood the test of time. Turn back the clocks to times long passed, so many years...

‘Orpheus’: A Poem by James Sale

The Society
May 10, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. Orpheus We want the heroes back so we can learn: Herakles smashed his way to hell and stormed By violence the ferryman and three-faced dog; Even yanked Theseus from his deep-rooted seat Without a...

‘To a Beet’: A Poem by Kensley Greene

The Society
May 8, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
. To a Beet I sing the bristled hedgehog grainno horticulture can explain,with six sly seedlings in its brain:__the unborn beet.  That hook-and-hollow hydra seed, a spiny knell to nascent weeds;nor leaf nor...

When Less Is More: A Poetry Challenge

The Society
May 7, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
64 Comments
. When Less Is More An SCP Poetry Challenge by James A. Tweedie In a recent email exchange with a poet friend, I found myself typing the following sentence: “Poetic forms, such as sonnet, etc. force poets...

‘The Cropland’: A Poem by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
May 7, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
16 Comments
. The Cropland Though coins, good health, and victualsAre mortal man's essentials,I pray for great fertilityOf that arable land in me,Where crops of different names take birth:Love, Beauty, Humour, Grief, and...

‘Truth Is Not Beauty’ and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank

The Society
May 5, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
31 Comments
. Truth Is Not Beauty “What is the worst mistake you ever made in bed?” Reply: “My son.”  (Actual dialogue on social media) I learn the truth; I’m more and more aggrieved. There’s nothing left, no...

A Poem on Rubens’ ‘The Hippopotamus Hunt,’ by Casey Robb

The Society
May 4, 2024
Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry
8 Comments
. The Sultan’s Aging Son Recalls the Hippo Hunt “The Hippopotamus Hunt” by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1615-1616 “The sultan sent three sons…” His voice is frail; the boys lean in. “On horseback,...

‘Reservoir’: A Poem by Stephen M. Dickey

The Society
May 2, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
. Reservoir Those who can still see through accreting years Are getting scarce, those who can lift such veil To remember when the Corps of Engineers Dammed a minor river to end its tale Of flood and misery...

‘Easter Evening Appearance’ and Other Poetry by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
May 1, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
8 Comments
. Easter Evening Appearance Luke 24 Sealed up within my upper room, Absorbed by morbid discontent And fear, I questioned everything I’ve done and wondered what it meant. Though slim perspective chided me And...

May Songs from Miracle Plays, Translated by Margaret Coats

The Society
May 1, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Song Lyrics, Translation
19 Comments
. May Songs . I. Where does loyalty take its rest? Where is charity’s portraiture, Except in you, sweet virgin pure? Where has virginity possessed The honor due its high allure? Where does loyalty take its...

‘Some Can’t See the Beauty’: A Springtime Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
April 30, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
20 Comments
. Some Can't See the Beauty Some can’t see the beauty in __A flower or a tree. I call them nature blind because __Their minds won’t let them see. Perhaps it’s biophobia— __A general fear of...

‘Third-Degree Burns’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

The Society
April 29, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Limerick, Poetry
22 Comments
. Third-Degree Burns A young poet who came from Dundee Looked around him and then took a knee, __For the older he grew __The more surely he knew That accomplishment wasn’t to be. But another lad, whom...

‘Watching My Children at Play in a Graveyard’: A Poem by Shaun C. Duncan

The Society
April 28, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
18 Comments
. Watching My Children at Play in a Graveyard Laughing, the children slip between the stones Laid out in rows like cracked and crooked teeth, And tread with little care upon the bones Of those who dream of...

‘Jerzy and Cyla’ and Other Holocaust Poetry by Peter Austin

The Society
April 27, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. Jerzy and Cyla Jerzy, a Polish teen in World War Two, Arrested for suspected membership Of the resistance, faced a one-way trip To Auschwitz. There, where womenfolk were few, Labouring in a storehouse used...

‘The Dance’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

The Society
April 26, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
. The Dance __'Tis springtime _And air is a-breezin', Wafting through fair winds that blow. __The blossoms _From flowering jasmine Are waltzing along with the flow. __As vines twist _And twine in a tango, A...

‘The Knight of Monticello’: A Poem on Thomas Jefferson by Mary Jane Myers

The Society
April 25, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
16 Comments
. The Knight of Monticello Everywhere and always, Jefferson read. His library stocked a sage’s daily bread. Four volumes, leather-bound, well-thumbed, perused: Don Quixote, his most peculiar muse. He...

‘Theópneustos’: A Poem by Peter Venable

The Society
April 25, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. . Theópneustos Greek, “God breathed” . The Word of God is absolute— __Or else, some claim, it’s obsolete. Many hold it in disrepute, __Dismiss it as myth and deceit. . I say it’s for the...

‘A Shakespeare Garden Stroll’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
April 23, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Shakespeare
22 Comments
. A Shakespeare Garden Stroll Of all the blooms, I like the lily best. Might you prefer a deep vermilion rose? Well, each to earth some special good can give; Let’s glean what naturally in season grows. At...

On the Occasion of William Shakespeare’s Birthday: ‘Shakespeare’s Women’ by Brian Yapko

The Society
April 23, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry, Shakespeare
26 Comments
. Shakespeare's Women for Susan Jarvis Bryant, who has a spiritual home in Stratford-on-Avon It’s April 23rd. The rain is pouring And from the Gulf the Poet can hear thunder. She sips Earl Grey. Her regal...

‘On an Otter’: A Poem by Kensley Greene

The Society
April 21, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. On an Otter He slinks beneath, but not for long; surprise! he sprouts atop the pool to stare: his leather nostrils round, his prickled whiskers clean and cruel, with juggled bounce above the wave, a subtle...

‘Rolling the Roads—The Days Before Snow Plows’: A Poem by Phil S. Rogers

The Society
April 20, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
. Rolling the Roads The Days Before Snow Plows . A major storm throughout the night __Of heavy, wet, spring snow. Nor'easter off the coast of Maine __Hence wicked winds did blow. When finally the storm was...
poem/essmann/beauty

‘The Moment’ and Other Poems by Benjamin Cannicott Shavitz

The Society
April 19, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. The Moment I’m sure of what will happen when The tide resumes its rise again And drowns the beach: Erasing signs that we were here, The water will be sure to clear What’s in its reach. The wind will...

Carpe Diem: A Poem by James A. Tweedie

The Society
April 19, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. Carpe Diem Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. (“Seize the day, trust as little as possible in tomorrow.”) Horace, Odes I:11 We live our lives, we make our plans, and then Both time and...

‘The Sound of Dirt’: A Poem by Gigi Ryan

The Society
April 18, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
. The Sound of Dirt   in memory of my granddaughter, Valerie (March 30, 2020 - April 20, 2020) Above uneven chairs a canopy Protects the mourners from the blazing heat. It does not shield from view the pile...

‘If Need Be’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick

The Society
April 17, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Satire
20 Comments
. If Need Be If lawfare prosecutors aren’t proficient, And Biden family crimes can’t be denied, The ballots that they harvest aren’t sufficient, Their policies’ gross failures they can’t hide, If...

‘Snowy Egret’ and ‘Dusky Seaside Sparrow’: Two Bird Poems by Margaret Coats

The Society
April 17, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
39 Comments
. Snowy Egret Here where sunlight sparkle rinses Cypresses whose balding branches Shoulder epiphytic orchids (Cowhorn, spider, ghost, or scented), Tangled mangrove swamp condenses Fortress walls against surf...

‘The Woods Have Waited Anxiously’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
April 16, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
41 Comments
. The Woods Have Waited Anxiously The woods have waited anxiously for me to reappear. I left them when the snow piled high in fall of late last year. The tree trunks have another ring while branches reach for...

‘To the Evening Breeze’ and Other Poetry by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
April 14, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
17 Comments
. To the Evening Breeze When I unbolt the terrace door, He enters quickly, greeting me With kisses on my cheeks and hair As if a friend who'd longed to see My face for countless centuries. As night begins to...

‘Lone Musketeer’: A Poem by James Sale

The Society
April 11, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
25 Comments
. Lone Musketeer "To be a poet in a destitute time means: to attend, singing, to the trace of the fugitive gods. This is why the poet in the time of the world’s night utters the holy … Poetry is a place...

Spring Poems from the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), Translated by Evan Mantyk

The Society
April 10, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
20 Comments
. Poem I of the three Quiet and Peaceful Melody Poems by Li Bai The clouds like swirling clothes, the flowers like a face, The Spring breeze brushes railings, dewdrops condensate. If you don’t see her at the...

‘A Reverie’ and Other Poetry by Sally Cook

The Society
April 9, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
19 Comments
. A Reverie Some days in August there’s a summer hum Of distant outboard motors, or a plane Relentlessly pursuing a puffed cloud, Echoes of past revelers, and then some More silent moments, full of what’s...

‘Old New England Logging Camps’: A Poem by Phil S. Rogers

The Society
April 7, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Old New England Logging Camps My father-in-law oft told me tales __Recalling logging camp— Tough men who cut gigantic trees __In winters cold and damp. Nearly all were bonded Frenchmen, __Who hailed from...

‘Poetry in the Image of God’ by James A. Tweedie

The Society
April 5, 2024
Beauty, Education, Poetry
12 Comments
. Poetry in the Image of God Conjure and weave a calligraphic spell Within the wells of mystic words and themes, And bring to life a voice with tales to tell Of life and death, of laughter, love, and...

‘A Fitful Veil’: A Poem by Daniel Moreschi

The Society
April 4, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
. A Fitful Veil A wanton wave of pallid hail descends from ashen skies. Its drifts are carried through to every nook and peak by lofty winds; abundant, jutted, powdered sheets imbue terrains with bright white...

‘The Light Under the Door’ and Other Poems by Tiree MacGregor

The Society
April 4, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
20 Comments
. The Light Under the Door for GGG, in lieu of roses On school days, dark on winter mornings, my mother rose Before us all and in her quiet way imposed Rough order on our little world. I’d lie listening To...

Nazi Death Songs: Poems on Rudolf Hess and Rudolf Höss by Margaret Coats

The Society
April 3, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
34 Comments
. Rudolf Hess Deputy Führer found strangled at Spandau Prison, August 17, 1987 Odd winter whirlwinds occupy my brain With telepathic messages I cherish. Dynamic years! Mein Führer cannot perish When august...

A Poem for Israel: ‘Sapphire Space and Eden Green’ by Alec Ream

The Society
April 2, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Sapphire Space and Eden Green "...and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself." ---Exodus 24 "I saw a new heaven and a new...
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  1. Ron C. Moss on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 4, 2025

    Please unsubscribe me from getting all the comment posts.

  2. Peter C Free on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 4, 2025

    Hi Roy Most often haiku start each line with a lower case letter Peter

  3. Peter C Free on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 4, 2025

    spring wind song playing the time between you and us stick :: stick insect dance a distant laughter handfuls of…

  4. Priscilla King on ‘The Playland’: A Poem by Shamik BanerjeeJuly 4, 2025

    Or not English only? Is it one of those expressions, like "lotus eyes" or "long eyes" for prettiness or "still…

  5. Joanna Raja Sekar on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 4, 2025

    cardinal returns, hops along the picket fence, little blur of fire - coarse beneath my hands splintering bark, bustling leaves…

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