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Two Anapestic Poems on Summer’s Heat, by C.B. Anderson

The Society
September 15, 2024
Humor, Poetry
18 Comments
. Light Wave Heatwave When the temperature rises, a worker despises __The withering glare of the sun. When the sweat’s so profuse that our skin is a sluice, __Even golf and croquet ain’t no fun. A jug of...
poem/howard/love poems

‘Supply and Demand’ and Other Poetry by Benjamin Cannicott Shavitz

The Society
September 6, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
3 Comments
. Supply and Demand Infinite happiness isn’t available. Something so precious just isn’t that scalable. Boundless dismay, though, is much more attainable. Being uncoveted, pain is quite gainable. . . Off...

‘Garden Party’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

The Society
September 1, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
. Garden Party The sparrows near the feeder flit and preen While predators politely quit the scene. A mockingbird is chirping up a storm, And soft drinks on the cart are getting warm. The worms beneath the...

‘The Mannequins Are Melting’ and Other Hot Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
August 20, 2024
Culture, Humor, Poetry
10 Comments
. The Mannequins Are Melting The mannequins are melting as we speak Now that the summer heat wave's at its peak. __While passing by the clothing store __This afternoon at half past four, I saw the havoc waves...

‘Washington Assumes Command at Cambridge’: from the Mock Epic Poem by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
August 11, 2024
Epic, Humor, Poetry
12 Comments
. Washington Assumes Command at Cambridge from Legends of Liberty, Volume 3 Devoted Billy Lee, a stalking fox, Observed his master’s swaying ponytail. The ribbon coming loose, he stopped to fix It, leaning...

‘Cold Blooded Murder’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
August 7, 2024
Humor, Poetry
26 Comments
. Cold Blooded Murder It is a hot and muggy Sort of Texas day. Time to do my stalking And hunting down my prey. I’m armed and dangerous. My weapon I half-hide. When killing I am cautious And patiently...

‘Washington Departs from Mount Vernon’: from the Mock Epic Poem by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
July 28, 2024
Epic, Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
. Washington Departs from Mount Vernon from Legends of Liberty, Volume 3 “Wouldn’t you rather stay?” Watching her doveOf sixteen summers, Martha’s hazels, tearingAway from patriarchal pupils, doveBelow...

‘It’s All Her Fault’ and Other Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
July 24, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
31 Comments
. It’s All Her Fault ---with a nod to Eleanor Brown's "Bitcherel" Why write in meter when penning a poem, __You ask me, so here’s my reply: When I drop the rapturous roll of a rhythm __My muse fades away...

‘My Vacation Trip in Verse’ by James A. Tweedie

The Society
July 19, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
. My Vacation Trip in Verse by James A. Tweedie One of the comments in response to the recent “On the Meeting of Poets” post read: “A diary in verse. It’s original and interesting. I’d like to see...

‘Second Chances’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
July 18, 2024
Beauty, Epigrams and Proverbs, Humor, Poetry, Villanelle
14 Comments
. Second Chances Just know that you’ve been staked a second chance At any time the future’s looking muddy. Put on your shoes and socks, and join the dance. Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth,...

‘The Small Commission’: A Poem by Paul Erlandson

The Society
July 17, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
14 Comments
. The Small Commission When school yearbooks are thrust forth to be signed, We give out life advice. We speak our mind, And charge our classmates to keep some small vow: “Recall our good times!” “Stay as...

‘Washington and the Cherry Tree’: Excerpt from the Mock Epic Poem by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
July 14, 2024
Epic, Humor, Poetry
25 Comments
. Washington and the Cherry Tree from Legends of Liberty, Volume 3 Young George chopped down his father’s cherry tree, Not knowing that a woman lived inside. While playing with his hatchet, too carefree Out...

‘Problem Child’: A Poem by Frank Rable

The Society
July 13, 2024
Humor, Poetry
9 Comments
. Problem Child Barley and hops acquainted, meet, __And yeast completes the marriage. Soon happy news as something brews __With keg for baby carriage. Where he appears good cheer is found; __When gone, he's...

‘Anniversary Remembrance’: A Poem by Daniel Pugh

The Society
July 12, 2024
Humor, Poetry
5 Comments
. Anniversary Remembrance Sometimes I envy them the lives they lived, the death they died: They perished at the peak of lovers’ hopes and nuptial pride--- No growing old for that glad monarch or his happy...

‘A Town’ and Other Poems by Sally Cook

The Society
July 11, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
11 Comments
. A Town The difficulty of describing how This town was then, may only be because So little happened there, compared to now, Though what occurred (the bustle and the buzz) Filled every room in each small...

‘I Need My Coffee’: A Villanelle by Gigi Ryan 

The Society
July 6, 2024
Humor, Poetry, Villanelle
24 Comments
. I Need My Coffee  I need my coffee; don’t get in the way Of that which wakes me up and makes me tick. Addicted? Yes. I’ll quit another day. I’ve work to do; on task I need to stay. My morning  cup...

‘Miss Jewell’s Suicide’ and Other Poems by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
July 3, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
16 Comments
. Miss Jewell’s Suicide ---from a story by George Gissing The chipped and mismatched crockery,Two boiled eggs and tepid tea,A single slice of buttered toastWith marmalade—a dab at most—And oatmeal...

‘The Rise of Washington’: Excerpt from the Mock Epic Poem by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
July 1, 2024
Epic, Humor, Poetry
18 Comments
. The Rise of Washington from Legends of Liberty, Volume 3 IT’S TIME! Let’s give our story’s star some space. He’s famous through the land, you know his role: “A fire in his eyes, a light in his...

‘Were She to Ask, and I Affirm’: A Poem by Sohaib Aboona

The Society
June 25, 2024
Humor, Love Poems, Poetry
10 Comments
. Were She to Ask, and I Affirm Were she to ask, and I affirm That I'd still love her as a worm, I'd make it clear (because my dear Has Northern Cardinals to fear) The Robins and the Starlings Would die before...

‘Four Letter Words’: A Poem by Gigi Ryan

The Society
June 22, 2024
Humor, Poetry
27 Comments
. Four Letter Words My dad was smart, my dad was wise; He crossed his t’s and dotted i’s. His grammar skills were without taint. And he did not say y’all or ain’t. He taught an English class to...

‘Reward for How You Live’: A Poem by D.A. Cooper

The Society
June 21, 2024
Culture, Humor, Poetry
5 Comments
. Reward for How You Live from Italo Calvino’s Italian folktale “Gesù e San Pietro in Friuli” One night, while traveling on a mountain road, two wanderers came upon a small abode. The vagrants, Jesus...

‘The Day the Roofers Came’ and Other Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
June 19, 2024
Humor, Poetry
26 Comments
. The Day the Roofers Came He fled the day the roofers came. His fur was fluffed and frizzy. He whizzed across the busy lawn so quick it made me dizzy. The slam and clang and hammer bang had left him in a...

A Revised Version of ‘Little Boy Blue’ by Doug Dawson

The Society
June 11, 2024
Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
. . Little Boy Blue . Original Version Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn, The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. Where is the boy who looks after the sheep? He's under a haystack, fast...

‘Phone Home’: A Poem on the Jodrell Bank Observatory, by Jeff Eardley

The Society
May 31, 2024
Culture, Humor, Poetry
19 Comments
. Phone Home I often talk to radio astronomers, The kind of guys who like to stay anonymous, Who chew on reams of stellar data every day From objects, many million, zillion miles away. In England’s fields,...

‘A Tiny Tabby’: A Poem by E.V. Wyler

The Society
May 30, 2024
Humor, Poetry
28 Comments
. A Tiny Tabby Beside our garden’s scalloped fence, where English Ivy’s vines are dense, we viewed an unexpected sight; a mini tiger, gold and white! This morning’s new, bewildered guest, abandoned here...

‘I Saw a Naked Wood Nymph’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
May 29, 2024
Humor, Poetry
25 Comments
. I Saw a Naked Wood Nymph I sat down in the forest, a picnic in the shade. I saw a naked wood nymph flitting across the glade. I dropped my sandwich there laying on the ground. I went to chase the wood...

‘I Never Do a Happy Dance’: A Poem by Lisa Marie Miller

The Society
May 26, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
. I Never Do a Happy Dance I never do a happy dance, Or look online to find romance, Speak my sentences upended, Or keep saying I’m offended, Check my email every hour, Never seeing tree or flower, Drink my...

‘Just Off the Cuff’ and Other Poems by Stephen M. Dickey

The Society
May 24, 2024
Epigrams and Proverbs, Humor, Poetry
19 Comments
. 1. Just off the cuff, I’d cap the alcoholic swill __Before it calls your bluff and saps your will. . 2. The dead, although their tongues are somewhat tied, Might know already all you might...

‘King George III Declares War’ from Vol. 2 of Andrew Benson Brown’s Mock Epic Poem

The Society
May 19, 2024
Epic, Humor, Poetry
17 Comments
. King George III Declares War from Legends of Liberty, Volume 2 Note: The British have won a pyrrhic victory at Bunker Hill. King George, who has been showing some erratic personality quirks since being...

Poems About Doing the Dishes, by Julian Woodruff

The Society
May 18, 2024
Humor, Poetry, Song Lyrics
18 Comments
. Dishing Out Advice Why are there always dishes in the sink? So lazy and undisciplined. You’d think they might show just a little more respect and know that household members will object. But there they...

‘Epicure’s Delight’ and Other Poetry by E.C. Traganas

The Society
May 9, 2024
Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
. Epicure's Delight A wondrous day, my love, is this— An afternoon of utter bliss! The two of us alone at last Embracing tightly, holding fast! The setting sun could scarcely vie To match the fire in your...

‘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...

‘A Curse Against a Thief’ from the Carmina Burana, Translated by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
May 6, 2024
Humor, Poetry, Translation
27 Comments
. A Curse Against a Thief from the Carmina Burana Let the thief who stole my cap be by death collected: Let it happen suddenly, and be unexpected; After death, to endless pain let him be subjected; Once he’s...

‘A Divine Mistake?’: A Poem by Norma Pain

The Society
May 4, 2024
Humor, Poetry
25 Comments
. A Divine Mistake? Dear Father up in Heaven, Why create thou rats. Six times out of seven They even scare the cats. Why create thy creature’s eye So beady and so small, With no redeeming features, Why...
poem/anderson/love/valentines day

‘Overkill’ and Other Light Verse by James A. Tweedie

The Society
May 3, 2024
Humor, Poetry
16 Comments
. Overkill K.I.S.S. ("Keep it simple, stupid.") My heart enflamed with rapture, burned With passionate desire; yearned For her and only her, consumed By fire. And like a flower, bloomed Poetic as I told her...

‘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...

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...

‘Not Sonnet 18… Yet’ and Other Poetry for Shakespeare’s Birthday, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
April 22, 2024
Humor, Poetry, Shakespeare
40 Comments
. Not Sonnet 18… Yet I strain in vain to sparkle like the Bard. I strive to spill slick iambs by the ream. Comparing thee to spring in my backyard Just doesn’t thrill like Will’s lush summer dream. My...

‘Goodbye, Sweetie’: A Poem on Sugar by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
April 12, 2024
Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
. Goodbye, Sweetie Oh, devil-angel, Sugar! Your time’s done! You rot my teeth, yet melt upon my tongue. I’m forced to hide my black smile from the sun; meantime, my exhalations smell like dung. You cause...

‘The Meat Purveyor’s Son’: A Sestina by Shirley Bunyan

The Society
April 11, 2024
Humor, Love Poems, Poetry, Sestina
14 Comments
. The Meat Purveyor’s Son Aesthetically impaired, she was the heir to daddy’s fortune. She was plumpish, short and much too close together were the eyes. She hankered after marriage with a man to birth at...
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  1. Brian Yapko on ‘Surviving the Cultural Revolution’: A Poem by Brian YapkoAugust 31, 2025

    Thank you, Roy. Actually, it's blank verse as opposed to prose since the piece is in iambic pentameter. And it…

  2. Roy Eugene Peterson on ‘Surviving the Cultural Revolution’: A Poem by Brian YapkoAugust 31, 2025

    Brian, this is excellent prose capped by a perfect portrayal at the end of the stolen soul of China that…

  3. Roy Eugene Peterson on ‘At Brown University, 14 August 2025’: A Poem by C. WalkerAugust 31, 2025

    Our college and university academic institutions surely are like a timeless island--an oasis amidst bustling surroundings. This detachment from reality…

  4. Carey Jobe on ‘Spacewalk’: A Poem by Carey JobeAugust 31, 2025

    Dear Dr. Salemi, your comments are spot-on! I was trying to describe a character undergoing a transformative journey similar to…

  5. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Coming Attractions (1994)’: A Poem by David GreenwoodAugust 31, 2025

    "Coming Attractions" is a great poem in monorhyme. What the reader is left to wonder about is this: Who is…

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