The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 The Society August 30, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 30 Comments . The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2022 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . a...
‘Requiem for Eurydice’ by Mary Virginia Vietor The Society August 29, 2022 Beauty, Culture, High School Submissions, Poetry 10 Comments . Requiem for Eurydice The sunlight dims before my eyes, __My fingertips lose yours, And as my whispered farewell flies, __The last crescendo soars. Then one breath hovers, trembles, dies— __The audience all...
‘Ode to Poets of the Past’ by Joe Kidd The Society August 26, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . Ode to Poets of the Past I do agree with the sights__that I have seen:the warm and comfortable steps__where love has been and with the sounds of truth__that I have heard—the whisper and the song__between...
A Conceit or Just a Similitude? Two Brief Illustrations from Sir John Suckling, by Joseph S. Salemi The Society August 25, 2022 Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . A Conceit or Just a Similitude? Two Brief Illustrations from Sir John Suckling by Joseph S. Salemi One of the earliest things one learns in poetry is the distinction between a simile and a metaphor. In...
‘Not the Third Reich… Yet’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society August 25, 2022 Culture, Poetry 34 Comments . Not the Third Reich... Yet It makes me burn to hear the left berate Good policy and leaders they dislike With claims the U.S. is a fascist state--- “A Nazi nation just like the Third Reich.” Invoking...
On Insects and Worms for Food: ‘Snub the Grub’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 24, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Satire 61 Comments . Snub the Grub upon reading news of a beetle burger, The Daily Mail, August 24, 2022 I scan the menu (a la carte) To find that I can take no part In scarab chowder with a pinch Of millipede. It makes me...
‘Daedalus’ and Other Poetry by Morrison Handley-Schachler The Society August 24, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Love Poems, Poetry 7 Comments . Daedalus Icarus, you have disobeyed, As all men do, and dearly paid. Too recklessly your heart did fly Between high seas and louring sky. The wings I gave you, it is true, But what would you have had me...
‘Poetry Lessons’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 22, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 26 Comments . Poetry Lessons The poet said he’d show and never tell--- His imagery would mesmerize and blaze. In quatrains laced with Aphrodite’s spell, His sibilance would scintillate and daze. The poet said...
‘Un-Justice Merrick Garland’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society August 18, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 19 Comments . Un-Justice Merrick Garland “Garland is a moderate,” Obama swore, We all can see his moderation now--- The Trump raid tactics never used before, Which Garland must have learned from Chairman...
Persia, Ferdowsi, and the Shahnameh: An Essay by Adam Sedia The Society August 17, 2022 Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry, Rubaiyat 3 Comments . POEMS THAT BUILT A NATION PART II. Persia, Ferdowsi, and the Shahnameh by Adam Sedia A previous essay highlighted how the Finnish national epic poem, the Kalevala, spurred the development of Finnish culture...
‘Persistence’ by David L. Williams The Society August 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 4 Comments . Persistence It seems when flies get in from the outside, They never find how to get out again; Instead they only buzz around and hide, A game that often is the death of them. At times hours pass when you...
‘An Anti-Evolution Song’ by Evan Mantyk The Society August 15, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Satire, Science 31 Comments . An Anti-Evolution Song Evolution Is False. God Is True. inspired by the writings of Zhang Tianliang How probable is it, however you spin it, __That man has evolved out of nothing? Do I look like a schmuck...
‘Images of Darwin, post-1859’ and Other Poetry by Damian Robin The Society August 15, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Satire 13 Comments . Images of Darwin, Post-1859 1859: The year the ponderously titled On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle For Life was published. A fat,...
A Poem for Salman Rushdie: ‘Mightier Than the Sword?’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 14, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 49 Comments . Mightier Than the Sword? His Eighties searing splash of fiery ink Scorched the skin of those who won’t allow The flare of feisty words. His weren’t in sync With those of kowtow howls. He wouldn’t...
A Poem on Taxes: ‘Give and Take’ by Norma Pain The Society August 12, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Satire 19 Comments . Give and Take Mr. Taxman, you’re a peach, Fill your pockets we beseech. Having money is a curse, Please take freely from our purse. We may catch up some time later, Certainly your need is greater. Money...
‘Byrd in Flight’ and ‘Summer Sunday Baroque’ by Cynthia Erlandson The Society August 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 24 Comments . Byrd in Flight The surplice-vested, five-part choir, Like sparrows on a five-tiered wire, Gives flight to canticles of Byrd. The flocks of lightweight, living notes Ascend to where celestial thoughts Send...
‘Non Existent’ and Other Poetry by Gary Borck The Society August 9, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Shakespeare 12 Comments . . Non Existent One day my body disappeared, __nor could I touch or taste, but I could feel the flood of tears __that filled my missing face. My presence was by no-one known. __Not felt, nor seen, nor...
‘Awake’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 8, 2022 Culture, Poetry 36 Comments . Awake At night I quake and lie awake in bed. My racing mind likes pacing to and fro. My thoughts, they peck and caw just like a crow. I’m in the grip of woe from tip to...
‘Tapestry’ by Mary Gardner The Society August 8, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 21 Comments . Tapestry My grandfather Evangelos did trading with the Turks Of pipes and hookahs, hash, and cloths, and skillful carpet-works. A tapestry he gave his wife in Main in nineteen-ten, A secular non-Muslim...
‘Byron Swims the Hellespont’ by Joseph S. Salemi The Society August 6, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 43 Comments . Byron Swims the Hellespont On May 9, 1810, Lord Byron swam across the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos to duplicate the legendary back-and-forth trips made by the mythical Leander on visits to his lover...
‘Fishing on the Fly’: Three Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society August 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 21 Comments . Deschutes River Reverie The river, swift and shallow, roils its way Beneath the outstretched arms of old-growth pines, Past bank-side willows diamond-dewed with spray, And hillside ferns and thimbleberry...
‘Transgender Madness: For All the Children Beyond Repair’ by Karen Darantière The Society August 2, 2022 Culture, Poetry 12 Comments . Transgender Madness: For All the Children Being Harmed Beyond Repair inspired by When Harry Became Sally by Ryan T. Anderson . I. At age 5: the tomboy I cared not for the Barbie dolls in pink; I chased the...
‘Camena Interrupta’ and Other Poetry by Peter Venable The Society August 1, 2022 Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry 4 Comments . Camena Interrupta The measured words of poetryRise round the mystic sphere,Sift through the dirt or sing divineIn strains that soothe or sear. But now the stanzas halt and freeze:Eternity is stilled—The...
‘A Happy 80th Birthday Wish’ by Evan Mantyk The Society August 1, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings 20 Comments . . A Happy 80th Birthday Wish for the Poet's Father I wish for you the golden years Odysseus had Retired from life’s long strife, a sort of Trojan War: The births and deaths were bloody fights, some...
‘Ballade of Pride’ by E.M. Schorb The Society July 25, 2022 Culture, Poetry 52 Comments . Ballade of Pride They’re a proud people. —The Frugal Gourmet Of every group whose food he shows, this Doctor of Diet, this Frugal Gourmet, this chef whose goodness simply glows and who doesn’t know...
‘After Observing the Working Methods of a Very Important Artist’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society July 23, 2022 Art, Culture, Poetry 34 Comments . After Observing the Working Methods of a Very Important Artist The aging fool stands deep in dirty water, Cradling the carcass of a native fowl To his bare chest like a tired, suckling daughter. He wears...
‘Three Literary Smiles’: Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society July 21, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 12 Comments . Three Literary Smiles . Hemingway’s Oopsy “Up in my room the rain was coming down Heavily outside on the balcony.” I didn’t know if I should smile or frown At such a dissonant cacophony. It’s...
Two Poems on China Nowadays, by Cheryl Corey The Society July 20, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 4 Comments . I’m Not Too Keen On China Nowadays I’m not too keen on China nowadays: The moves they’ve made against Taiwan of late; The way they treat their citizens, negate Their freedoms, torture, torment,...
A Poem on Nostradamus’s July 1999 Prediction, by Daniel Magdalen The Society July 20, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 4 Comments . A Prophecy the East Fulfilled The year 1999, seventh month, From the sky will come a great King of Terror: To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols, Before and after Mars to reign by good...
Two Courtroom Sonnets by Carl Kinsky The Society July 19, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . Self Defense When he pulled out his knife I thought I had No choice so I pulled out my gun and shot Him twice, then ran the streets for miles, too glad That he lay there dead and that I did not. I got...
‘To Serve and Protect’ by Julian Woodruff The Society July 18, 2022 Culture, Poetry 12 Comments . To Serve and Protect Of all the events that fill the history of quiet, little–known Uvalde town, there cannot be a greater tragedy than that which gave it sudden world–renown. The dreadful act, so...
‘Apology’ by Myrlin A. Hermes The Society July 18, 2022 Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . Apology I’m sorry if you feel like you were hurt. Not everyone in life is going to be As nice to you as you think you deserved. And he sometimes got physical with me, Too---I'm no victim. So he was...
On the UK Heatwave: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On!’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 105 Comments . Keep Calm and Carry On! “UK heatwave: Temperatures to rise to 41C amid extreme heat warning” ---BBC News “The first Red Extreme heat warning issued” ---British Met Office The BBC is roaring like...
‘The Pale Rider Comes’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society July 16, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 10 Comments . The Pale Rider Comes “So then give to Caesar what is his,” our Lord and Master said, __“And to God give what is his---your sacred soul!” Yet despite these limits placed on him, with drawn sword...
‘Sumo’s Winning Ways’ by Margaret Coats The Society July 15, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 24 Comments . Sumo's Winning Ways Fierce frontal impact clenches victory In less time than an untrained eye can blink, But connoisseurs of sumo’s treasury Prefer discriminating knack. They wink When force through fine...
‘In the First Degree’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society July 14, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 13 Comments . In the First Degree Had the bullet’s trajectory veered half a foot to the right, It might not have extinguished the life of this innocent youth Who had just turned eighteen. The Grand Jury moved fast to...
On the Recent Overturning of Roe vs. Wade, by Alena Casey The Society July 13, 2022 Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . “Hosanna,” All The Children Cried “Hosanna,” all the children cried, And Christ was pleased to open wide For them his hands and feet and side, The devil’s will to override. “Hosanna,” all the...
‘The Automated Phone System’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society July 13, 2022 Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry 11 Comments . The Automated Phone System I called up a business But no person answered, I got a phone system With multiple options Some rather confusing; I kept getting transferred, Spent most time just holding; Then...
A Translation of Horace’s Barine Ode, by Joseph S. Salemi The Society July 11, 2022 Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Sapphic Verse, Translation 20 Comments . Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Odes, II.8 “The first thing we learn about Barine is that she is in the habit of making and breaking promises (of love and fidelity, presumably) and that she is never punished...
‘A Hopeless Rondelet’ and Other French Form Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 10, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau, Rondel, Villanelle 27 Comments . A Hopeless Rondelet All trust is dead, Killed by lies in love’s disguise. All trust is dead--- It’s buried in a sigh of dread. Its memory spills from mourning eyes. Can Truth rekindle sunless...
