Poetry

. "But Fruits Are Not Concealed in Them" ---Friedrich Schiller, "Breath and Depth" We hear the ancient rule: The fools think they are wise; The wise know they are fools… But who knows their own lies? The lights or shades inside Will clear or smudge the lens. However much we...

. The Hermit Curses Sharp sunrises cut white streaks on the plain, whet edges on black soil, where all at once the spirit clefts from matter, and my gains recoil when I recall your face. Not front or profiled, but the back—like some long cursed outlander on the road you...

. Curb Appeal . I. You really couldn't find a better plotOn which to build a house. The yard is rimmedIn masonry. The hedge is neatly trimmed;Without a doubt, a perfect corner lot.  There's something everywhere you look to pleaseThe eye: the mailbox post; the shrubbery;The blooms; surrounding woods for...

. Druthers I’ve never warmed to the absurd idea That I should lean toward being what I ain’t. I’m more inclined to move to North Korea Than hanker to become a martyred saint. I want to live an unencumbered life And have some say in making my own rules; I’ll...

. Ovechkin Beats Gretzky He’s the greatest at one task, it’s putting biscuits into baskets. He scores goals from awkward angles after making dekes, and dangles. He’s a hockey fan amazer, wearing blades sharp as a razor, that ensure he skates with style on past each stationary pylon. After picking...

. Cantarella Wine Rome. 1501. Lucrezia Borgia hosts Bishop Giovanni Cavalieri of the Republic of Siena. He is visiting Rome as the leader of a faction of priests intent on pressing the Church to address allegations of materialism and clerical inchastity. Cavalieri’s positions are threatening to Pope Alexander VI---Lucrezia’s father...

. Strange Blindness: A Play in Two Acts . Prologue Joseph and Jesus knew that perfect timing---and not plain, unforeshadowed proclamation---would show the deepest truth about life’s drama.Its plot twists often need a drawn-out commafor characters who need some preparationbefore they can perceive the play’s full meaning. . Act I...

. A Ballad of Life ---after Winslow Homer's "Through the Fields" They spoke of life unfolding, A future far from home. No more of country living--- No fields, no farms, no loam. And so, they left for college, But still they kept in touch With letters always ending, "I miss...

. Hannah Duston She looms there, immortalized, in bronze gone blue, a puritan woman with crude hatchet cocked. Her stare is as cold as the New England dew, the blood of her captors still slick on her frock. Kidnapped and beaten, through the snow she was led, the head of...

. The Wife of Bath and Winston Smith Go on a Date ---after Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and George Orwell's 1984 The Wife of Bath was fashionably late,while propagandist, Winston Smith---her date---sat waiting at the Chestnut Tree Café.The buxom, gap-toothed dame walked with a swayof ample hips, an amorous, long-toothed...

. Spring Bloomers ---a triolet A lick of spring has kissed the air Whispering of skimpy knickers--- It’s time to toss thick underwear. A lick of spring has kissed the air. I’ll hurl my hat, let down my hair As chill will thaws and fever flickers. A lick of spring...

. https://youtu.be/bC_JL8Ap8ow . . Andrew Benson Brown‘s epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, chronicles the major events of the American Revolution. He writes history articles for American Essence magazine and resides in Missouri. Watch his Classical Poets Live videos here.

. The Tale of the Moon’s Reign ---an elegy Above the skies where reigns the moon _So bright in hours of gloom Lived those whose hearts no longer feel _Nor suffer and yearn to heal. We mortals hailed this sacred realm, _Where bliss must overwhelm. Their princess once found herself...

. Dirty Dishes The dust is often out of handAnd should I write my name uponThe coffee table and night standIt will be seen when morning dawns. But dishes, oh the dishes mustBe kept up or the sink will beFoul with spoons, forks, plates and cupsAll left to soak too...

. Porphyro and Madeline: The Epilogue By Byron "Let us away, my love, with happy speed; There are no ears to hear, or eyes to see..." —John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes” _A long, hard gallop brought them to the coast; _They bribed a captain bound for northern Crete...

. The Four Seasons . Spring I Amidst the cloudless sky and crimson dawn Comes bursting forth the bluebird’s orange breast, Whose shadow dances o’er the dewy lawn On having found last February’s nest; There he releases from his swollen chest A song to which the jay, the wren, the...

. My Meltdown Over the Meltdown I’ve worked since the summer when I was thirteen. Selling pink lemonade gave me plenty of green. I want to retire, but it won’t be today. I call my investments “my 201K.” Those investments are melting. I’m getting depressed. They’re melting as fast as...

. Apologia "Bring…the books…" ---2 Timothy 4.13 John Calvin, writing on this verse, extolled the benefits that come from reading old and trusted writers. He agreed with Paul that there is wisdom to be gained from all the great minds of the past. And even though his death was nigh,...

. Sit in Silence ---a pantoum It's pure stupidity to sit in silence. It's only idiotic to be idle. Unconscientious deeds should be derided. Decisive daily action's very vital. It's only idiotic to be idle. There's nothing worse than watching death's arrival. Decisive daily action's very vital. The opposite's a...

. Divine Complaint Chant royal by Eustache Deschamps (1346-1406), translated and adapted by Margaret Coats In all the world there is one creature lone Who serves me not, nor fears me, nor obeys. Fire, water, air, and earth revere my throne: Earth at my word his sustenance purveys; Air from...

. Challenge: Take a well-known figure from history or literature and insert him or her into a modern-day situation. Choose any form. Choose any mood. I hope you enjoy my example below. I hope you have as much fun creating your poem as I had composing mine. ---Susan Jarvis Bryant...

. A Ceiling Fan's Life (Is Like a Man's) On wintry days, it rarely spins Except when mopped floors need to dry. Its mission, once December's in, Is just to idly hang on high And watch us squabble, cackle, cry In earthy dramas' peace and strife. This is the childhood...

. The Wedding Dress The dress, first cleaned and vacuum-packed, _Was safely stored back then, Remaining perfectly intact _And never seen again. . . The Prestigious Publication’s Poetry The words seem arbitrarily selected, And randomly presented on the page. With any meaning in them undetected, And I’m as smart as...

. Spring’s Unfolding View ---after Dylan Thomas’ “The force that through the green fuse drives flower” The force that through the green fuse drives the flower drives me new,that blasts the roots of trees, likewise is my destroyer too;and I am dumb to tell the crooked rose this, as are...

. Spring Snow Tyrant Winter reaches Beyond its frozen tomb, Dares cast its icy mantle On bud and crocus-bloom. Long it reigned unchallenged In dark and cold and ice; Thwarted now, it hurls back Last volleys as it flies. Spent, it fails to muster Its once-destroying blast; Failing snows fall...

. Canyon I’m traveling on a road down which I’m cast, a road that I am fitted for, no doubt, since I can see in arid skies white buffaloes, and humpbacks breaching from basaltic dirt. And too I can imagine I’m a fossil, straining my scapulas to almost breaking to...

. Happy Like Winnie the Pooh If I could be happy like Winnie the Pooh, Just thinking of good things in all that I do. I’d just want some honey—a big honey pot— I’d pay all my money, give all that I’ve got. With love for my friends and with...

. Spot the Fool! ---for April Fools’ Day, 2025 . I.  Today’s the day to fox and fool. Today’s the day to flick some fuel On laughter with a cuckoo joke, A wicked lark, a wacko poke So sick Old Nick will think it cool. Today’s the day to warp...

. The Contest Know nothing or next to nothing about Falun Gong? Perfect! This poetry competition is for you! The Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Competition was founded to give people an opportunity to learn about just the Chinese Communist Party's horrendous treatment of peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. This is...

. Worth the Wait? At last! The long-awaited, much belated Recreated digital creations Of ten thousands JFK-related CIA et alia citations. Allegations of assassinations, Congos, Argentinas, (Panamas?) Delete Allende and Lumumba, intimations; Fraudulent elections, coup d’etats. Forgotten, hidden names revealed at last; Subversions now spread out for all to see....

. Ink A lot of people nowadays adorn The spotless skin they had when they were born. While many think it’s smart to gild a lily, Dissenters deem this practice downright silly. As beauty’s in the vision of the gazer, Mistakes can be corrected with a laser. Now, when it...

. The Polish Martyrs Forever faithful to his flock, Good Father Rapacz would not flee. Steadfast he heard the soldiers knock. Devout, the priest was made to bleed. “For God I’ll suffer every loss, For I shall not renounce the Cross.” The Soviets with foul intent Did eye the nuns...

. The Restoration ---for SJB Words sometimes fail. How best explainThat life can seem eternal rain?That though friends care they cannot seeOr grasp this wilderness of pain? Is this in truth how life must be?This drowning in a silent sea?This rack and screw, this raw negationWhich threatens hope and sanity?...

. Be Careful What Ya’ Wish For Well, all o’ ya’ knows when ol’ Paddy McFarland’s _been drinkin’ ‘e’ll spin up a tale Oooozin’ with bits what is ‘ard to believe— _fer dem who ain’t pickled with ale. But last Friday evenin’ ‘e threw out a whopper _dat brung ‘im...

. Burning the Pieta Thoughts After Viewing Public Cremations at the Pashupatinath Temple Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal ---for Alok With tears wash fallen feet which once had stood To face a fated life with wonder and desire. Inhale the smoke and ash of flesh and wood; Breathe in the acrid...

. Dim & Blinding Lights The lights that shine from streets and cities block out all the stars at night. The dim lights of our partial science block out everything that's wise. These lights don't triumph by their brightness, but through sheer proximity. We don't prefer them for their beauty,...

. Blood Moon Eclipse (14 March 2025) The Moon’s blood red this morning as it floats within Earth’s shadow, bathing it in light refracted round our atmosphere, which coats the lunar dust in rust—a wonderous sight! Meantime, on climate change we chew the cud, the Middle East and Europe are...

. In line with its mission to preserve humankind’s artistic traditions, the Society of Classical Poets is featuring the best of artwork submitted recently by high school students. This artwork uses a relatively more traditional aesthetic in an effective way. Note that none of the below featured works utilized artificial...

. What the Wind May Do The wind’s come out to exercise today. It tests itself: how long can it exhale? With steady breath it makes the trees obey: they bend while waiting for the rush to fail. It tires of that pursuit; the steady pace becomes a series of...

. Bohème Opera in a bare and frigid room As winter winds were sweeping, like a broom, Raised an enthusiasm, understood As contrast to the landscape. Every plume Of horizontal snow blew toward the wood, Lifting fine sparkling sprays across each flume. Rodolfo, Mimi still awaited doom, Different for each....