‘Autumn in Pennsylvania in 2023’: A Poem by Jeff Kemper The Society October 13, 2023 Poetry, Satire 12 Comments . Autumn in Pennsylvania in 2023 In response to Susan Jarvis Bryant’s poem on "Autumn in Texas" If Autumn is a bummer down in Texas, Up north it casts forth some contrasting hexes. Fall has befallen us in...
‘Two Bugologues’ and Other Poetry by Donald Mace Williams The Society October 13, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Two Bugologues . Moth Onto a wall in chilly gloom I fold myself, all silk and dust, and then, from half across the room, the candle flickers: Come. You must. I am well past my crawling days when, wingless,...
‘Homage to the Cultural Contributions of Native Americans’ by Joseph S. Salemi The Society October 12, 2023 Poetry, Satire 38 Comments . Homage to the Cultural Contributions of Native Americans Columbus bumped into this wondrous land— Out of his ships came a little band To offer up thanks on the golden sand. Chris found three things that...
‘Uninvited Guest’: A Poem on Immigration, by Warren Bonham The Society October 12, 2023 Poetry, Satire 33 Comments . Uninvited Guest A man came by my house one day. I smiled and said he couldn’t stay. He smiled right back and said “OK,” but then he didn’t go away. Instead, he walked right through my door and put...
‘The Number 235: The Fall’: A Bus Poem by Paul Martin Freeman The Society October 11, 2023 Poetry, Satire 11 Comments . The Number 235: The Fall Sludge in extremis ‘Twas on the 235 at Feltham Station, It happened in the very recent past, That Sludge began to think about salvation And how he really ought to find it...
A Psalm of Lament for Israel, by James A. Tweedie The Society October 10, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 13 Comments . A Psalm of Lament So says the Lord: A voice is heard on high, lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, she refuses to be comforted for her children for they are not. ---Jeramiah 31 In...
A Poem on Great Sacandaga Lake, in New York, by Brian Cook The Society October 10, 2023 Beauty, Poetry . Sacandaga I go, I go to the lake so blue, Tree-lined shore in autumn hue. This place, my heart, my Shangri-la-da— The deep blue lake of Sacandaga. The morning dawns upon the scene; Its peace replaces...
The Man from Porlock Poetry Challenge The Society October 10, 2023 Poetry, Poetry Contests 41 Comments . One of England’s best-known poems, “Kubla Khan,” was written by Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). Waking from an Opium-induced dream, he was 55 lines into this epic when he was...
‘Ode to the Cello’ and Other Poems on Music by Joshua C. Frank The Society October 10, 2023 Beauty, Music, Poetry 27 Comments . Ode to the Cello Fingered strings upon the cello Vibrate by the moving bow. Autumn tones in red and yellow Echo from the to and fro Through the eight-shaped box’s hollow, Out the narrow, curving...
‘For Israel Under Siege’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society October 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 84 Comments . For Israel Under Siege Imagine that you live in fear of violent Acts of terror daily---bombs may kill Your friends and family---all you love grows silent As hatred of the Jews makes more blood...
‘The Man in 2C’: A True Story in Poetry, by Jeffrey Essmann The Society October 9, 2023 Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . The Man in 2C I’m trying not to make too much of this, But someone in 2C (the floor below) Has walled himself within an edifice Of waste, a rank malodorous abyss In which he sits as insects skitter...
Two Poems in the Style of Robert Frost, by Dusty Grein The Society October 9, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 15 Comments . Morning Witness To greet the dawn, I crossed a meadow green, still blanketed in jewels of morning dew. I sat upon a rock, still and serene, and watched the sky transform from black to blue. Even before the...
A Poem on Alexa’s 2020 Election Fraud Analysis, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society October 8, 2023 Culture, Pantoum, Poetry, Satire 65 Comments . Not Alexa's President a pantoum on the news story here “The real risk with AI isn't malice but competence.” —Stephen Hawking Alexa says election fraud took place. She says the 2020 vote was...
A Poem on Biden Backing the Border Wall, by James A. Tweedie The Society October 8, 2023 Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . It’s All for Show The Big Guy’s going to build a wall. He’s going to build it strong and tall "Because," he says, "we cannot leave Our border leaking like a sieve." He used to say, “It isn’t...
‘The Cabin’: A Poem by Nathaniel Todd McKee The Society October 8, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 1 Comment . The Cabin _Atop the plateau’s rise, __I’m homeward bound, When sights familiar strike my eyes. Come with me---see the scenes I've found. _Turn right off highway 8, __Mount Pleasant Church, Then left,...
A Poem on Writers’ Block and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society October 7, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 19 Comments . Blocked Though honeyed breezes warm the marble halls on Mount Parnassus, vainly do I search for writing on my January walls— molasses clogs my veins. A different church, perhaps a fresh sodality of...
The Lowest Heaven: Canto III of Paradise, Translated by Stephen Binns The Society October 7, 2023 Beauty, Dante, Poetry, Translation 10 Comments . The Lowest Heaven: Canto III of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns The sun which with first love had warmed my breast ____Beatrice __now showed, in her reproving, proving...
Two Poems Inspired by Donner Lake, California, by James A. Tweedie The Society October 6, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 23 Comments . Winter Storm in May A High Sierra snowstorm passes through, Injecting winter into springtime May; As frozen fluffs of ermine drift into A world remade in black and white and gray. The once-blue sky anneals...
‘Village Home’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society October 6, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 26 Comments . Village Home after George Enescu's Orchestral Suite no. 3, “Villageoise” Along the tree-lined lane he walks at dusk; What brought him here, he cannot now remember. The chilling breeze, the scent of pine...
‘Hybrid and Wild’ and Other Poems by Sally Cook The Society October 5, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . Hybrid and Wild All of her life had a meaning, Each section in its compartment. Tenants went through a close screening— Somehow, I got the apartment. She was a prickly old lady— I, a rambling young...
‘With a Smile of the Heart’ (Circa 1200), Translated by Margaret Coats The Society October 5, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation 18 Comments . Introduction This long lyric of short lines has pairs of stanzas linked in rhyme. It is a sequence honoring Gilbert of Sempringham (1083–1189, canonized 1202), founder of the Catholic Church’s only...
‘Late Changes’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society October 4, 2023 Poetry, Satire 28 Comments . Late Changes Though older people may proclaim __That they intend to change, One should by no means find it strange __If they remain the same. . . Reunion Conversations with dear, old friends sharing Key...
‘The Song of the Woman Who Bled’: A Poem by Philip Rosenbaum The Society October 4, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . The Song of the Woman Who Bled Mark 5:25-34 When you have no more money you can spend, Then men will tell you, “You cannot be cured.” Though Jesus makes it better in the end, First tribulation has to be...
Two Autumn Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society October 3, 2023 Humor, Poetry 28 Comments . Season of Gall and Sticky Listlessness Autumn is upon us here in Texas. Her shy arrival’s destined to perplex us. Just like the voiceless aria of Spring, Fall’s muted presence doesn’t change a...
‘Massacre of the Innocents’: An Ekphrastic Poem by V. Paige Parker The Society October 3, 2023 Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry, Readings 7 Comments . . Massacre of the Innocents Matt. 2:18, 10:28, 18:10; Psalm 116:15; 2 Mac. 7:29 Why are the fish and fruit stands closed today— Too many soldiers, stationed all around. My God, they’re pulling out...
A Poem for Susan Jarvis Bryant: ‘The Fairy Godmother’ by Satyananda Sarangi The Society October 2, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 12 Comments . The Fairy Godmother for Susan Jarvis Bryant The fairy sings so far away and lifts My spirit, day by day through fading light; With every word well measured, clear inspite Of distance, space and time. The...
‘The Idealist Who Became an Ideologue’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society October 2, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé 42 Comments . The Idealist Who Became an Ideologue a rondeau redoublé To heal the world he treasured this ideal: Unite the many into one great whole. He preached the view that truth is what you feel, Convinced he played...
‘Writers of the Purple Sage’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson The Society October 1, 2023 Culture, Music, Poetry 35 Comments . Writers of the Purple Sage What happened to the music? The writers of the West? The legends of the cowboys? The songs I loved the best? The outlaws and the posse? Please tell me where they went? The ones who...
‘Autumn Summons’: A Poem by Talbot Hook The Society October 1, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 28 Comments . Autumn Summons The wind carries the leaves, And leaves the colors bear; The field prepares the sheaves That hold the sun ensnared. The leaves the colors bear; The colors hold the song That cooler grows the...
‘Victimhood & Narcissism’: Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society September 30, 2023 Poetry, Satire 48 Comments . Victimhood & Narcissism . I. The Joy of Grief “To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life” ---Alan Coren I bleat and beef with no relief. The joy of grief has served me well. I’m...
‘Wood’: A Poem by Mary Kipps The Society September 30, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Pantoum, Poetry 21 Comments . Wood a pantoum It’s only furniture. But that’s both truth and lie. To find Mom’s treasured things a loving new address is near impossible, no matter what I try. Her home’s impending sale exacerbates...
‘Ode to the Strings of My Guitar’: A Poem by Daniel Howard The Society September 29, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 25 Comments . Ode to the Strings of My Guitar I How still you sleep, oh strings of my guitar, As if you did not feel the faint caress Of my soft finger, shaped to form a bar; I wish to wake you with a gentle press, So as...
The 23 Best Haiku of 2023 The Society September 29, 2023 Best Poems, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 52 Comments . The 23 Best Haiku of 2023 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2023 Haiku Competition Judged by J. Thomas Rimer and Margaret Coats (see their remarks below) See all...
A Poem on Two Dragon Statues in Vietnam, by G.M.H. Thompson The Society September 28, 2023 Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry 8 Comments . Two Dragon Statues Tây Hồ, Hà Nội, Việt Nam, Constructed 2012 They stand on waves just off West Lake’s west bank— two dragon statues—jade ceramic gods commemorating when the Emperor beheld a...
‘Sea Breeze’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton The Society September 28, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 4 Comments . Sea Breeze Negative ions aloft, Wafting aloft in the breeze. That mystical, maritime breeze Bestowing a comfort and ease. Beautiful, bountiful breeze, Offering more than it seems--- A lift to the spirit and...
‘Labyrinthine Bag’ and Other Poetry by Wael Almahdi The Society September 27, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 18 Comments . Labyrinthine Bag My wife, bless her heart, went and bought me a bag with tons of compartments, and pouches, and pockets. But searching for stuff is a chore and a drag it takes me forever to locate my...
‘Abortion Notes’: A Poem by Phil Flott The Society September 27, 2023 Culture, Poetry 27 Comments . Abortion Notes Please bury babies ripped to parts, Especially their tiny hearts. They’re slain in hiding from our sight. And even scheduled in the night. We never hear the babies’ cries. We cannot see...
A Poem Inspired by Kimberly Hartke and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank The Society September 26, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Epigrams and Proverbs, Poetry 19 Comments . In Eve’s Footsteps based on “Genesis 2: Teaching its Truth to Women” by Kimberly Hartke “And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself. ... And...
‘Ponderings on the Porch’: A Poem by Peter Venable The Society September 26, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 7 Comments . Ponderings on the Porch The chutes of light this autumn day __Beam down between the leaves. Sun’s equinox has long since passed— __Dew drips from grass and eaves. This sacred porch! Secure and...
A Poem on ‘Summer’s End’ by Jeffrey Essmann The Society September 25, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 10 Comments . In the Park ___It showed up in the green ___Today: that velveteen _Exhaustion that betokens summer’s end, ___Its richness but a sigh ___That warns the passerby _There’s nothing he can do now to...