Poetry

  In an old timber town lived a man of renown; With a chainsaw he couldn’t be beat, And as quick as you’d say “What’s for dinner today?” Limbs would fall, cut precise and complete; And...

The pika climbs the snowless slopes in hope of finding cooler climes. A tailless kin to hares, he shelters under stones to cope with rising temps within his furry skin. The ball of fur appears to roll...

  Tulip Tree in Bloom, January Every working day I pass a tulip tree on yellow grass and strain to see, when it appears, petals out this time of year. Even our southern winter's strong-- it...

  The Fairies Danced The fairies danced and shone like diamonds on __The lake below. My pole across my knees; __My creel on my lap; the sun and trees __Stood still; the mountain breeze had passed and...

The Devil’s Details There’s a devil in the details, Those traits we like to sort; There’s a devil in the details, The minutiae we contort. We once marched for color-blindness; Now we muster into...

Lullaby When you sang to your baby boy did other hearts not fill with joy those few who just happened to hear? for even on their darkest day your lullaby would chase away every doubt and pain and...

  The painful birth of motherhood So few have really understood Is but a shadow that foretells The pain our parents knew so well Of children singing out farewell As to their freedom they rush...

''A good poem helps to change the shape and significance of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.'' —Dylan Thomas By Gideon Cecil We are living in...

I used to be politer, but more boring, my friends say. They could take me anywhere. My conversation wasn’t overbearing. My actions seemed as if I didn’t care more than was apt. Now I appear...

Update: Winners announced: https://classicalpoets.org/shortest-poem-contest-winners-announced/\ Scroll down and read the comments section to enjoy all of the submissions. Write the shortest possible...

 (All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) Am-air-ica by Eber L. Aucsidew Die Welt proclaimed the biggest drop in CO2 was in America, in the first year of Donald Trump—no spin. Though worldwide emissions...

  At last, some time to catch my breath – a rest, a respite in the fight – How many times I parried death! Bask now in this fast-fading light. ___Behold the whispering golden sea ___so wide...

From the White Cloud Poetry Society. Translation by Jennifer Zeng, rendition in formal verse by Damian Robin   With all the trees in shrouds of falling snow, We move towards the moment of Time's...

  When naming things, you have to use a noun; A verb shows action or a state of being. An adjective describes—that is, marks down The qualities of objects that you’re seeing. An adverb tells...

Sing me a sonnet of spring's first sweet kiss. Let me gaze at splendid colors around. warm sun touching my cheeks; the cold remiss. those angelic sounds of spring now abound. The morning songbirds sing...

When spring arrives, the wildflow’rs start to grow In woods and fields, and by the country lanes. In reds and yellows, see the vernal show, Inaugurated by the winter rains! But in the state of Texas,...

I am the shining star above-- The perfect ray of light. I am the wisest thought conceived, I am the earth's delight. I am God's greatest creation, The angels sing my name. I never have been false or...

On looking into the mirror one afternoon An old buzzard once came and he knocked on my heart, And politely he asked to come in for a while. He had said he was looking for carrion to eat, “Oh no...

  When cathedral bells toll through the morning and sunlight touches steeples with its glare, and arrows on the town hall clock stop turning, you will find him on the market square, sweeping leaves...

Charles the Bold was the last independent Duke of Burgundy. Killed at the Battle of Nancy by the Swiss, his realm was partitioned in subsequent decades by France and by the ascendant House of Habsburg, setting...

  by James Green “Come live with me and be my Love, And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield.” —Christopher...

In the painting, she has turned to look back At where her lover’s  corpse lies in the  ground. Her face is blurred; her dress, funereal black, Stands out from  greenery flourishing all round. Within...

  Goose Sense A burden and a bore I must have been; As handy as another leg, I'd slouch The farm in borrowed overalls, and when My chores were done I'd nap on grandpa's couch. I thought of books and...

In dactylic hexameter Turgid the sea as it billows and foams in the face of the tempest. Wind-lifted wave-crests explode into diamonds agleam in the sunlight. Surf-spray erupts atop surge-curled water...

Ms. Wang Lixuan and her son, Meng Hao, were detained on Oct. 22, 2000. Mother and baby both died at the Tuanhe Forced Labor Dispatch Division in Beijing on Nov. 7, 2000. The coroner’s exam determined that...

In my dreams, I always see you smiling, Your bright eyes twinkling like a million stars. In my dreams, there is no sense to crying, Your gentle touch has healed the painful scars. We stroll alone...

A Cello Knows Amidst the smoke and light and laughter Along the smiles and cheers thereafter A sound is bled, wrung free from strings It bounds and treads and wholly sings Inside each song, a secret’s...

April 26 is Poem in Your Pocket Day, part of National Poetry Month. On this day, people are encouraged to carry a poem in their pockets and share it with others. Below are recommended rhyming poems for this...

The lamp holds sway along the shadowed streets A penumbra encircles its sweet shine As night rests softly like a feathered cloak Upon a multitude of dancing stars And night and stars and lamp become a...

Fear A ballad I said to Fear, “Away from here!” And, softly, he withdrew. But, lost in thought, I plain forgot To bar the door anew. So Faith and I sat down to try And chat the night away. But...

From Lost Love & Other Lyrics A casida Sleep, the enemy of inspiration, An unlikely ally that hangs around, With dawn’s rebirth, cause for celebration. Dreams, their rites of passage are at my...

  Wee hours, when crickets tune their eerie cords and hoot the yawning owls at twinkling stars; the night-maid roves seesaw, like a drunken bard, besmeared with stripes of billion...

How Can We Know? A villanelle How can we know where we go when we die; Pondering signs, looking up at the sky, Wondering if Someone's hearing my cry? Which religion is right, which one a lie? Too...

Part 1 Between a teardrop and the heart, We sense our feelings weakened, mourn, For sadness as the tones impart A sound perceived and now forlorn. Opposing songs composed, to ache, Before their...

“The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” ~ Louis L’Amour You are not alone on this wind-rush march, Itinerant ink scribing papyrus Upon demands and deadlines flaming torch; Or over...

War Is Natural To rise above the plane of earth Where war continues since my birth, I find that war is natural, And in this world habitual. It’s human nature, so it seems And nature’s calling in...

  Heroes, Victims, and Poseidon The metre of ancient Greek poetry succeeds in “achieving a length and complexity that are unusual in the heroic verse of other literatures.” ~ Michael Grant, The Rise...

Obituary Late summer, when the bumblebees begin to die, You’ll see them clinging to the petals of a flower For dear life—or at least it seems so to an eye Untrained in entomology. They’ve had their...

Glistening orbs Dance on air Drifting skyward Without a care Iridescent spheres Shimmering bright Reflecting prisms In the sunlight Luminous globes Fragile and frail Constructed of A diaphanous...

Canto 1 is the provisional name for a sequence of 33 Cantos that James Sale is attempting to write in the style - and using the terza rima - of Dante. His aim is to create a contemporary epic of heaven and...