Society of Classical Poets logo
  • About Us
  • Join
  • Donate
  • Poetry
    Random
    • 'Autumn’s Fairy Tale': A Poem by Yoshikaze Kawakami 

      The Society
      July 30, 2025
      Beauty, Poetry
      6 Comments
    Recent
    • ‘Michael’: A Poem by Martin Briggs

      The Society
      September 15, 2025
      1
    • ‘In the Name of Whose God’ and Other Poetry by Paulette Calasibetta

      The Society
      September 15, 2025
      7
    • Three Flower Poems by Brian Yapko

      The Society
      September 14, 2025
      10
    • ‘The Vile Monkey and the Patient Buffalo’: A Folktale in Poetry by Terry Norton

      The Society
      September 14, 2025
      1
    • ‘Predawn High Sierra Hike’: A Poem by James A. Tweedie

      The Society
      September 13, 2025
      8
    • ‘A Ballad of Fortune’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

      The Society
      September 13, 2025
      8
  • Submit
  • Contests
    Random
    • Winners of 2024 SCP International High School Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests
      2 Comments
    Recent
    • The 2025 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2025
    • The 2025 SCP International High School Poetry Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2025
    • The Best Haiku of 2025: Winners of the 2025 SCP Haiku Competition

      The Society
      August 28, 2025
      15
    • SCP Haiku Competition Featured on Radio New Zealand

      The Society
      July 26, 2025
      3
    • The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku Competition

      The Society
      June 21, 2025
      644
    • Winners of Friends of Falun Gong 2025 Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      May 13, 2025
      1
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Members
  • Poetry Contests
  • Donate
  • About Us
  • Submit
  • Poetry

Culture

Home
Poetry
Culture

‘American Espionage and the Soviet Target’: A Poem on His Experiences, by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
December 2, 2024
Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. American Espionage and the Soviet Target I was assigned to Russia as an Army attaché— A legal spy who operated every single day. The era of the Soviets was run by KGB. Just one uncareful step and then...

‘Lamb and Lion’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

The Society
November 29, 2024
Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. Lamb and Lion God spoke and caused a great commotion, putting time and space in motion. Nothing is now, or was ever not a part of His endeavor. That’s why He’s the Great I Am. The stars proclaim His...

‘Fair Game on Thanksgiving Day’: A Poem by C.B. Anderson

The Society
November 28, 2024
Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Fair Game on Thanksgiving Day Please tell me if you think I’ve crossed a line by unremittingly abusing you with strings of salty words not rightly mine but borrowed from a wicked man I knew who’d done...

‘Election Correction’: A Poem by Richard Lackman

The Society
November 26, 2024
Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
. Election Correction Newsome, Whitmer, Pritzker, Hockel, Murphy Have a strange idea of how things should be. Then, of course, there’s Minnesota’s Walz Simply watching folks destroy their malls. This is...

‘Samhain’: A Poem by Isabella Simmonds

The Society
November 25, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. Samhain Behind the turning leaves a red-breast peeks,In light dim-lit by mists on Samhain dawn;The earth is churned by drumming, grubbing beaks,Before the frosts are hard and food is worn.In orange...

‘The Lop-Sided House’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
November 24, 2024
Culture, Poetry
27 Comments
. The Lop-Sided House A lop-sided house on the edge of a cliff; A family trying so hard to be nice As their eavesdropping neighbors spy, wondering if They can catch every word said on every device. The...

‘Talk Around the Urn’: A Poem by Frank Rable

The Society
November 20, 2024
Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Talk Around the Urn In our Sunday best, on folding chairs, We solemnly talk around the urn; A tear, a sniffle, show who cares For the loved one who will not return. No box is there with dressed up...

‘A Vacillating Villanelle On Perception’ by Peter Venable

The Society
November 19, 2024
Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
4 Comments
. A Vacillating Villanelle On Perception  "Understanding the world for a man is reducing it to the human, stamping it with his seal. The cat’s universe is not the universe of the anthill." ---Albert...

‘Truth Streaked Across the Sky’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
November 18, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. Truth Streaked Across the Sky Truth streaked across the skyAlighting on a foreign strand,Where politicians buried itBeneath the lying sand. The truth was stranger than the lies,Too dazzling for the mind.The...

‘Sailing to Illusium’ and Other Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
November 17, 2024
Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. Sailing to Illusium Unheralded, the ancient oracle Appears and disappears, pronounce announcing Creaturely mortality while singing Dirges under breath; rhetorical Devices wringing images of death From...

‘First Pick Flamingo’: A Poem by Drilon Bajrami

The Society
November 14, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
. First Pick Flamingo They used to call this player the flamingo; They chaffed and mocked; they were full of bravado. ‘Cause he’s the new kid, they didn’t know his skills He missed three practice shots,...

‘Jehu Destroys the Temple and Statue of Baäl’: A Poem by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
November 13, 2024
Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
7 Comments
. Jehu Destroys the Temple and Statue of Baäl "—What did that madman want?" ---2 Kings 9:11 He saw Jehu Destroys the Temple and Statue of Baäl, the print by Maarten van Heemskerck of darkness to appall. He...

‘The Ghosts of Altamira’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
November 10, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
27 Comments
. The Ghosts of Altamira ---a meditation A herd of prehistoric bison; blood beliefs Depicted in concentric whorls with prints of hands. Stick petroglyphs which hint at ice age births and griefs, And spells to...

‘For the Sake of Ten Thousand: A Supplication from New Sodom’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
November 9, 2024
Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. For the Sake of Ten Thousand: A Supplication from New Sodom And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?  Suppose there were fifty righteous…?’” ---Genesis...

‘O Lord, Let Me Not Fall’: A Sonnet by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
November 9, 2024
Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. O Lord, Let Me Not Fall O Lord, let me not fall today, I pray, Not in some vague or metaphoric way, As into sin or moral turpitude Or somewhat less than pious interludes. I’m talking, Lord, my face against...

‘Sometimey People’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
November 8, 2024
Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. "Sometimey” People Sometimes he’s quite responsive, Sometimes he disappears. Sometimes he’s downright friendly, Sometimes he switches gears. Sometimes he’s so straightforward, Sometimes he seems to...

‘Contra Computerdom’: A Poem by Mary Jane Myers

The Society
November 8, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Contra Computerdom I hold this fountain pen with thumb and fingers, burgundy barrel, gold and rhodium nib, Montblanc white-sea-star floating on its cap. German, this instrument, successor to the stylus...

A Sonnet on the Vogelherd Horse and Other Poetry by Phillip Whidden

The Society
November 7, 2024
Art, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
. Horse Figurine —one inch by one point nine inch, 32,000 to 35,000 years before Giacometti's famous horse   A hallowed tiny horse, but missing legs, Comes down to us impossibly, or near In its...

Nov. 5 Guy Fawkes Day Poem, by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
November 5, 2024
Culture, Humor, Poetry
12 Comments
. Guy Fawkes Night Makeover November 5th! To Guy Fawkes let’s be kind--- no burning him in effigy this year. His hanged-and-drawn-and-quartered doom I find excessive; let’s reverse his fate most drear! His...

A Poem for the 2024 Presidential Election: ‘Polarities’ by C.B. Anderson

The Society
November 4, 2024
Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. Polarities The only certain solidarity among the Self-Reliant is the ease with which their pride in insularity is spoken of like some esteemed disease they welcome to their homes: To seek a cure would be a...

‘Loose Me!’: A Villanelle by T.M. Moore

The Society
November 3, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
8 Comments
. Loose Me! “Loose him, and let him go.” ---John 11.44 O loose me, Jesus! Jesus, set me free from all that binds my soul and blinds my way. Unwrap the shrouds of death that cling to me! Let every shade of...

‘Fall Back: Central Standard Time’: A Daylight Savings Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
November 2, 2024
Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. Fall Back: Central Standard Time Already it is dark: the falling arc Of each advancing year, when the eager moon, To catch the setting sun, comes up too soon. Full light no longer lingers at high noon, Or...

‘Lady Gwyn’: A Halloween Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
October 31, 2024
Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Lady Gwyn  I hear the scratching of a claw--- A disembodied monkey’s paw Scraping at decaying bones. I feel a gust of ghostly moans Wuther through my withered heart. It’s time to stir. It’s time to...
poem/rosenbaum/culture

‘Healthy Relics’: Three Sonnets by Margaret Coats

The Society
October 30, 2024
Culture, Poetry
34 Comments
. Elisha's Bones II Kings 4:32–37, 13:20–21 Elisha died, the prophet doubly strong In spirit, and his sepulcher was grand, For he had caused a lifeless child to stand And speak, then heard the mother’s...

‘Lucifer’s Lament’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant: Reading and Video by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
October 29, 2024
Classical Poets Live, Culture, Poetry, Readings
14 Comments
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zId3BCl6M . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of...

‘Where Babylonic Rivers Flowed’: A Poem by Jeff Kemper

The Society
October 28, 2024
Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. Where Babylonic Rivers Flowed after Psalm 137, a lament at the destruction of Jerusalem Where Babylonic rivers flowed We settled down to weep and mourn And mused on Zion, our abode, Our city sullied and...

‘Prayer as an Antidote for Unbelief’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
October 27, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
. Prayer as an Antidote for Unbelief Just imagine if, while you’re entreating the sky, You were met with the wink of a generous Eye. __A very grave disaster it would be __If all there was to your approach...

‘The Venetian Doge on the Sack of Constantinople’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
October 27, 2024
Culture, Poetry
22 Comments
. The Venetian Doge on the Sack of Constantinople Setting: Constantinople in the Summer of 1204 AD. Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice prepares for bed after an exhausting day visiting Byzantium’s famous bronze...

‘The Java Joe Machine’ and Other Poetry by Gigi Ryan

The Society
October 25, 2024
Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. The Java Joe Machine My jiffy Java Joe machineAllows me to make only oneCup of coffee when I please,Convenient when I’m on the run. But in the seconds as it brewsI recall my coffee potDripping cheerfully...

‘Senior Village’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
October 25, 2024
Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. Senior Village The ambulances come and go. Last night it was the man across The hall, whom I’d begun to know. Another friend, another loss. __I never know, From day to day, who I will see Driven away....

‘Homage to Morton of Merrymount’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
October 23, 2024
Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
. Homage to Morton of Merrymount To you I pay this homage and devotion: Thomas Morton, Host of Merrymount— You, whose learnèd writing put in motion The court suit that brought Plymouth to account. Yes,...

‘S O S’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
October 21, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
49 Comments
. S O S Keep the fleecy wolves from bleating. Hold the pack of jackals back. Seize the greedy grubbers eating Scraps from bowls of those who lack. Bar the charlatans from cheating. Quell the yak of quack and...

‘The Mask’ and Other Poetry by Peter Venable

The Society
October 21, 2024
Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
. The Mask Sin wears a Cherub’s mask And beams forth paradise. “Come in, recline, and bask.” Discerning eyes looks twice: The gate shuts like a vice. . . The Strange Case Of Homo Sapiens At my right...

‘Look Up’: A Poem Inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, by T.M. Moore

The Society
October 20, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. Look Up Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on a world split apart The prophet scorned the academic dress of those who had invited him to their Parnassus of the Ivy League. Why wear their garb, when he intended not to...

‘The Night My Father Punched the Cow’: A Poem by Sally Cook

The Society
October 19, 2024
Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. The Night My Father Punched the Cow The night my father punched the cowWas dark and windy, late; and nowHis job was dangling on a row,And he was sick of it, somehow__That night. He broke his hand, and held...

‘Apologies at Antoninus Pius’s Table, 155 A.D.’: A Poem by Christopher Fried

The Society
October 17, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Apologies at Antoninus Pius’s Table, 155 A.D. . I. Rome’s Glory “Arriving at this feast, how proud I stand that Rome endures to succor those who dwell here in this citadel and those whose hands till...

‘Sudan, 2005—On the Death of Dr. John Garang’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
October 15, 2024
Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. Sudan, 2005 ---on the death of Dr. John Garang, Liberation Fighter and Sudanese Vice President Garang is dead! An accident, they say--- his helicopter downed by slanting rain. This man who kept the...

‘Westward, with Columbus’: A Poem for Columbus Day by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
October 14, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. Westward, with Columbus The North Atlantic Ocean was awashwith monsters and leviathans, or sowe fearfully supposed, and thought it toshby sailing west, to India we could go. Then Christopher Columbus raised...

‘Their Principal Principle’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

The Society
October 13, 2024
Culture, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
. Their Principal Principle With their hideous lies and a gleam in their eyes They disable each new generation, For the best route to power in districts gone sour Is attacking the heart of the...

‘A Roman Noble on Constantine the Great’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
October 13, 2024
Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
. A Roman Noble on Constantine the Great Setting: A villa on the outskirts of Rome, ab urbe condita 1082 (329 A.D.) Cornelia, no. The household gods should stay. Wait till the clothes and furnishings are...
  1. 5
  2. 6
  3. 7
  4. 8
  5. 9
  6. 10
  7. 11
  1. Debra on Five Greatest Poems by Robert FrostSeptember 15, 2025

    I have recited, memorized, and loved many of his works throughout my 70 odd years. Though I seem to grow…

  2. Brian Yapko on Three Flower Poems by Brian YapkoSeptember 15, 2025

    You made laugh, Michael, and that's not easy these days! Thank you for that! Yes, it's true that this jungle…

  3. Shamik Banerjee on ‘Predawn High Sierra Hike’: A Poem by James A. TweedieSeptember 15, 2025

    Such a smoothly flowing poem, Mr. Tweedie, with a deep message to mull upon. Enjoyed reading it very much. Thanks…

  4. Michael Vanyukov on Three Flower Poems by Brian YapkoSeptember 15, 2025

    Brian, if the orchid had a modicum of sense, it would ask you to marry it.

  5. Roy Eugene Peterson on ‘Michael’: A Poem by Martin BriggsSeptember 15, 2025

    Martin, you captured the names of so many rapscallions in your marvelous poem. What a great way to conclude with…

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

  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • 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