Poetry

. Never Time to Spare ---a villanelle My daughter, I am watching you with love for I’ve been there, When dishes overflow the sink and books are everywhere, When everyday seems just the same with never time...

. Bodie The whistled whispers of a desert wind Drift through the dusty streets and haunted halls Where faded lives of those who loved and sinned Now flicker-flit like shadows on the walls. Unhinged, once...

. Independence Day, 2025 It’s so much more than red and white and blue And stars that spangle banners flying high. It’s something strong and stark and deep and true. It burns with answers to the question...

. IRL —after G.K. Chesterton’s "A Ballad of Theatricals" (reprinted below) Though all the emails I receive—surprisingly politely read—Although the students can deceive,Although the work is fast...

. The Playland Once in a playland caked with fresh-born mud, I saw a league of book-freed children smile collectively like petals of a bud in varied forms, yet similar all the while. Palms latched, they...

. Request for Expression of Interest SCP Poet Russel Winick has graciously agreed to host an in-person SCP Symposium at his large residence in Naperville, Illinois. The tentative dates are from the evening of...

. Summer Family Cookout Criss-cross, hamburger toss, _Flip that sizzlin’ patty! Pretty please, and top with cheese! _You’re the Great Grill Master, Daddy! Three-two-one, slide it on a bun! _With ketchup,...

. Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A “Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, who miraculously walked away from the Ahmedabad disaster, in which more than 240 people were killed” ---The Daily Telegraph on Air India...

. Gorge Millennia before the Bass Pro tours, Sonar fish finders and electric reels, Some unsung pioneer dreamed baits and lures, Felt in his blood how landing lunkers feels. The knuckle dragger took a piece...

. On the Existence of Two Genders Note: This poem is written in response to the trans-driven push to promulgate the idea that gender is either non-binary or does not exist at all---a nonsensical notion which...

. Therapy ---After "Help! I Can’t Stop Speaking in Iambic!" by Cynthia Erlandson Help! I can’t stop writing psychobabble!No matter what I pen, it comes out gabble. I scribble nonsense verses all the...

. Every Square Inch Her every square inch, her breath, and her voice, In all this and more my soul can rejoice. The beat from her heart, the wink from her eye, The times she is bold, and then she is shy. The...

. Cardinals The cardinal is my favorite bird.They mate for life, or so I’ve heard.You hear them sing antiphonally—it’s like a game they play, you see,because they like to keep in touch.But be apart?...

. Report on Results of the SCP Survey of Poets by Roy E. Peterson and Evan Mantyk The survey had 60 respondents, about 1/3rd of them were SCP Members. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of basic...

. The SCP Poetry Competition Winners’ Symposium Join the Symposium here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4772266878?pwd=V0lGeUFuSGFkeExOaTM4NlZ6NWRlUT09   You're Invited!  Who: Everyone is invited to attend,...

. Rolling the Dice “Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.” ---Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design At the start of creation, before...

. A Whale is a Whale ---after Ogden Nash While laughing aloud at Ogden's smart rhymes, I was struck by a way to interpret his lines. Though Nash's reputation was not as a Buddhist, An ode to signlessness might...

. Hope ---in homage to Langston Hughes Hold steadfastly to hopeFor if hope should subsideLife’s a slippery slopeWhere dreams only collide. . . Equal Wisdom I dreamed of the ability_To say things that were...

. Dad and I Our sessions last an hour or two at most, for we get through them just as fast as can be managed, trying not to stir the ghost of hurts supposed to help me be a man. When Dad was young, he knew...

. Rodrigo’s Lament The legendary knight El Cid duels with his fiancé’s father. His rasping knavish voice profanes my good name. It grates my ears, now content I am no more To let insult to me like this...

. New York, New York “Give up Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island too…” (with apologies to Rodgers & Hart) How many songs about New York are in my repertoire?I don’t think I can sing them now....

. A Sonnet for My One True Love Forever let the night go on and on, My body to your softness gently pressed, Nor let the touch of shameful, blushing dawn, Wake me, part us, and end a lover’s rest. How I...

. Gruesome Grinning Gavin smooths his tie, Makes sure he’s framed against blue sky. He pats his hair—one’s out of place; He frowns to note there’s still a trace Of imperfection in his mien, But knows...

. Doctor Subtilis ---Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265--1308) A proud and canny Scot from Duns am I, an infant when Franciscans reached our coast. These friars gave me tools to weigh the why of doctrines puzzling...

. Another Species Each time you felt some shame you could confess The sins you had committed, but instead You whispered a revision, something less In someone’s ear in yet another bed. That is to say, you...

. Six Bitter were the crimson seeds, Beautiful they were to me, Sparkling like ruby beads, In his palm of ivory. Dark they were to look upon, Rivers rushing down to mix: Phlegethon and Acheron, Lethe, Cocytus,...

. Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) translated from German by Josh Olson We cannot know that enigmatic head in which his eyes once ripened. Even so, his torso bears a candelabra...

. The Prayer Blanket ---as related to me by my friend Tim Cassar, who recently survived a brain cancer operation by Brian Yapko The paramedics came. They took my friend To where there was no earthly pain or...

. WHO Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate (SCP Membership not required). Among members of the Society of Classical Poets, everyone including Advisory Board members may participate,...

. Together The windows of our dawning day_Let light in through the dew,But outdoors ambling in cool air,_I knew that I’d find you. Close comfort, venturing apart,_We played our separate games,Dreaming the...

. I Would Say Yes ---a villanelle for Larry on our 36th Anniversary We were young and rather stupid then, But still I see that we were meant to be. I would say yes a thousand times again. From the first...

. The Comings and Goings of Heaven and Earth Clouds’ movement in the sky, the sight of birds, phenomena that draw an upward glance, may sometimes leave us at a loss for words, uncertain if we’ll get...

. Clueless ---a villanelle How can I tell what is and isn’t true In daffy days that stupefy the wise? I’m sifting through the chaos for a clue. As brain cells dwindle to a fruitless few All down to AI’s...

. . . Steve Cooper is a retired professional career counselor. He lives near Salem, Oregon. He has one traditionally published picture book on Amazon, Don’t Eat Your Seed Corn, and several of his pieces...

. Periwinkle Don't know that I was on the spectrum, no, But I was weird. I read too much and played Pretend too much. My mind too often strayed To places so interior they’d glow With something strange and...

. A Winter's Tale There’re many strange and spooky tales, That come from England’s hills and dales. When Winter tightens up its grip, As feet and fingers start to slip. For on a cold December day, I...

. Get Along, Little DOGE-ie Should come a day my fortunes be increased, It’s guaranteed such bounty will be fleeced. For government, like vacuum cleaners, sucks, And takes one-sixth of all my hard-earned...

. Salmon Skin _Laid temptingly Upon a china dish, _Poached perfectly, A long, pink flank of fish. _Its scents amaze. Fork poised to dig right in, _I stop and gaze, Fixated on its skin: _Smooth gradient From...

. What Is a Man? “Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child?” ---Jeremiah 30: 6 The prophet’s statement clearly is sarcastic; That men cannot birth children is well-known. But now...

. The Weight of a Father . I. The Smell of Sawdust On bawling-brother, busy-mother days, The saint who slew the dragons in her dream Whisked her through the fuss-and-fluster maze To realms where fathers shine...