Society of Classical Poets logo
  • About Us
  • Join
  • Donate
  • Poetry
    Random
    • When Poems Are Lyrics and Vice Versa: Reflections by James A. Tweedie

      The Society
      December 1, 2024
      Essays, Poetry, Song Lyrics
      19 Comments
    Recent
    • ‘Lasting Karma’: A Poem by Thomas Beckman

      The Society
      July 13, 2025
    • ‘Three Philosophical Quatrains’ by Ian Allaby

      The Society
      July 13, 2025
      3
    • ‘Poetry as a Pathway to Critical Thinking’: An Essay by Leland James

      The Society
      July 12, 2025
      3
    • Poetry Challenge: Short Response to a Classic Poem

      The Society
      July 12, 2025
      26
    • ‘The Flower’s Refrain’: A Poem by Ulysses Arlen

      The Society
      July 11, 2025
      2
    • ‘Family Affair’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

      The Society
      July 11, 2025
      18
  • Submit
  • Contests
    Random
    • Ekphrastic Contest: Write a Poem on This Photograph

      The Society
      October 8, 2020
      Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry Contests, The Environment
      148 Comments
    Recent
    • The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku Competition

      The Society
      June 21, 2025
      166
    • Winners of Friends of Falun Gong 2025 Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      May 13, 2025
      1
    • 2025 Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Competition

      The Society
      March 31, 2025
    • The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of SCP International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      28
    • Winners of 2024 SCP International High School Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      2
    • The Best Haiku of 2024: Winners of the 2024 SCP Haiku Competition

      The Society
      September 29, 2024
      14
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Members
  • Poetry Contests
  • Donate
  • About Us
  • Submit
  • Poetry

Poetry

Home
Poetry

‘Sepulcher’ by Brian Yapko

The Society
April 15, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. Sepulcher Jerusalem is built of prayer and quarried stone, From yearning, heartache, sacred scrolls and ancient bone--- The shuls, the mosques, the churches, every ancient room. And as a bride prepares with...
poem/annunciation/Christmas

‘Annunciation’ by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
April 14, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
. Annunciation It’s not really an angel but a voice, Less heard than sensed, an urgent undertone That murmurs in the place where I’m alone And all my fears with longing there alloys. It whispers that I...

The Merchant of Venice Student Edition—PDF and Complete Text

The Society
April 13, 2022
Education, Humor, Poetry, Shakespeare
12 Comments
. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare Classical Poets Student Edition Adapted by Evan Mantyk to retain the meaning of each line within the original poetic form, including blank and sometimes rhyming...

‘Rendering Ruins’ by Leland James

The Society
April 12, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
. Rendering Ruins A barn abandoned, left to drift alone, wind torn and breached upon the reef of time; fields, now dust, where summer wheat was sown, the wagons heaped with grain stood long in line to fill...

‘Tomorrow’s Poets’ by Enrique González Martínez, Translated by Cheryl Corey

The Society
April 11, 2022
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
5 Comments
. Tomorrow’s Poets by Enrique González Martínez (1871-1952) translated by Cheryl Corey Tomorrow’s poets will sing beyond all praise In verse that’s out of tune with present day; New stars will bring...

A Reading of ‘The New Colossus’ by Emma Lazarus

The Society
April 10, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video
7 Comments
    . https://youtu.be/PguXX2PRzvI . CREDITS Poetry: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) Voice-Over: Katy Mantyk Photos/Footage: “Unveiling the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” by Edward Moran, 1886...

The Flowers’ Easter Debate: A Translation by Margaret Coats

The Society
April 10, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Translation
28 Comments
. The Flowers' Easter Debate Palm Sunday is the Flowers’ Easter, the day when they honored Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem. As they did not need Good Friday’s bloody atonement for sin, the flowers were...

‘Lost Song’ by Jack DesBois

The Society
April 9, 2022
Beauty, Music, Poetry, Song Lyrics
10 Comments
. https://youtu.be/LllN9NflfR8 . Lost Song A compass that won’t point the way, And a map of the faraway skies… I once was a child of grace; No matter the country I trod My feet found the path in its...

‘A Clamshell in Concrete’ (and a Short Note) by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
April 8, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Essays, Poetry
24 Comments
. A Clamshell in Concrete  I was a child in kindergarten class. My mother held my hand as we trod on The sidewalk leading to the boulevard. This was 1951. The path Was paved in smooth cement, and at the...

‘Ode to Spring’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
April 8, 2022
Poetry
33 Comments
. Ode to Spring I see you in the rut of butting rams. __I hear you in the chirruping of chicks. I feel you in the frolic of the lambs. __I watch you in the snort and squeal and kicks Of peachy piglets latching...

‘Parallel Man’ by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
April 7, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
20 Comments
. Parallel Man As I was going to the fair, I met a man with silver hair. The more I looked how could it be? He looked an awful lot like me, ‘Cept furrowed brow and walking cane. Perhaps my thoughts were just...

‘Slivered Moon’ by Norma Pain

The Society
April 6, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
25 Comments
. Slivered Moon Slivered moon on slippers slides Across the skies on silver tides, Draping cobwebs over trees And coaxing shadows to their knees. No more this day will swallows sweep, Above the ground where...

‘Love’s Seasons’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
April 5, 2022
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
37 Comments
. Love’s Seasons In the heat of the night, when conditions are right, __Gentle lovers will cuddle and spoon. It’s a wonderful plan, much more marvelous than __Any other found under the moon. When the...
poem/Essmann/Gods existence/problem of good

Three Poems on Thinking, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
April 4, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
36 Comments
. Birdbrains a villanelle   “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry  about his actions.” ---Carter G. Woodson If we just parrot newspeak without blinking And push...

Sibylline Sonnets for Passiontide, by Margaret Coats

The Society
April 3, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
36 Comments
. (See an explanation on what Sibyls are here.) . The Tyburtine Sibyl The Tyburtine sibyl has the iconographic attribute of a hand, indicating her foreknowledge of insults suffered by Jesus. Not from my...

‘Uncle Sam’s Tomb’ by Phil S. Rogers, after Coleridge’s ‘The Knight’s Tomb’

The Society
April 2, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Uncle Sam's Tomb after Samuel Coleridge's "The Knight's Tomb" (see below) Where will the grave of that great figurehead be, That leader of free men and symbol of might, That vision of justice in our country...

‘Woman’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
April 1, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
25 Comments
. Woman For years I’ve known exactly what it means To own the weight and wonder of my sex--- The crimson flow of knowledge in my teens, The curve and swell---my spell---the heady hex That lures love...

‘The Short-Lived Triumph of the Junior School’s Health & Safety Officer’ by Shaun C. Duncan

The Society
April 1, 2022
Culture, Humor, Poetry
22 Comments
. The Short-Lived Triumph of the Junior School's Health & Safety Officer The children wait in line to sanitize Their grubby hands before their morning class. The teacher guards the door, and none may...

‘He Catches When We Fall!’ by Michael Charles Maibach

The Society
March 31, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
. He Catches When We Fall! Of all life’s mysteries, The deepest of them all--- Not how high we've risen But on what day we fall. Pride’s an untrue friend, And hubris does us in. A loss of faith in...

‘Sleep’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
March 30, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
12 Comments
. Sleep Now the hour has come to lay me down Upon the waters of the river Lethe, To float into the maelstrom and to drown In swirling waves above me and beneath me. Who can recount those dark, forgotten...

Russo-Ukrainian War Poetry: Share Yours Here

The Society
March 29, 2022
Culture, Poetry
35 Comments
. Share your poetry on currently unfolding Russo-Ukrainian war in the comments section below.  We received a large response on our first post of poetry on Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and poets...

On Climate Change: ‘The End Is Near’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
March 29, 2022
Culture, Humor, Poetry, The Environment
49 Comments
. The Simplest Way to Save the Earth The simplest way for us to save the earth Would be for women to stop giving birth. For when there are no longer any mothers We’ll solve the problem of too many...

Three Poems on Language by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
March 28, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. The Hypodermic For a poet, the pen is merely part Of the apparatus of addiction. He emulates the frozen fly in amber Watching eons come, roll by, and pass. As motionless as veined quartz in a stone, He seeks...

‘Quarantined’ by Gregory Ross

The Society
March 27, 2022
Beauty, Covid-19, Poetry, Rondeau
2 Comments
. Quarantined Against the wind, our candles out, The smoke will rise, we have no doubt, Yet in the dark with all our kin, We’ll strike a match and crack a grin, And once alight, our joy will sprout. All...

‘Where Wonders Remain’ by Peggy Everett

The Society
March 26, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
5 Comments
. Where Wonders Remain Snow crowns violet mountains that reign over trees, __Whose forests stand verdant and old; It ends where rich valleys roll down to the seas, __To welcome blue waters with gold. From...

A Poem on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Inability to Define a Woman, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
March 25, 2022
Culture, Humor, Poetry
147 Comments
. https://rumble.com/embed/vvm2wt/?pub=4 . Identity Crisis I used to think my body was all woman, My fruitful womb refused to be dismissed. But now I’m not so sure I’m even human--- I’m not a fully...

Respected Irish Poetry Journal Publishes Ridiculously Faked Woke Poetry

The Society
March 25, 2022
Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry
9 Comments
. From The Burkean: Icarus magazine currently holds the reputation of being Trinity College’s — if not Ireland’s — premier poetry journal… with contributions from Seamus Heaney and John...

Two Poems on Cosmetics, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
March 25, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. Sold I. Summer Honey Crush  Soft, silken lips shone from her screen last night. She saw them, plump and ripe, as smooth and lush As velvet peaches kissed by Sol’s delight. If her smile blushed in Summer...

Henry Olunga Reads Susan Jarvis Bryant’s Poem on Toxic Masculinity

The Society
March 24, 2022
Culture, Poetry, Readings
20 Comments
. https://youtu.be/LRxFaGgdazE Our Worthy Sons dedicated to Samuel by Susan Jarvis Bryant Our worthy sons should never be ashamedOf who they are and who they’re meant to be.For far too long men’s gender...

A Poem in Honor of Bishop Athanasius Schneider, by Karen Darantière

The Society
March 24, 2022
Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
. Ode to Salmon, the Episcopal Fish a poem in honor of Bishop Athanasius Schneider No birdsong greets the chilly damp of dawn In dreary gray autumnal cloud-filled skies, As rosy salmon swim upstream to...

Rhyme Two Random Words Poetry Challenge

The Society
March 23, 2022
Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
46 Comments
. Your poem can be serious, silly, or something in-between. List the “random words” you chose as your poem’s title and feel free to use whatever poetic form you’d like. Then post the poem in the...
poetry/homeschooling/teachers guide

‘Dispiration’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
March 22, 2022
Culture, Humor, Poetry
19 Comments
. Dispiration I have nothing to say, Not a thought in my head. If I needed to pray There would be nothing said. Just a large empty space And no functioning brain, With the mouth on my face Filled with nothing...

‘Not What He Thinks’ by Russel Winick

The Society
March 21, 2022
Humor, Poetry
19 Comments
. Not What He Thinks All my success An old friend said Has clearly gone Straight to the head. I’ll grant that, but Judged by chagrin It’s his head my Success is in. . . Rachel Dolezal Poor Rachel had a...

‘The Street Cop’s Choice’ and Other Poetry on the Police, by Brian Yapko

The Society
March 20, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Triolet
32 Comments
. The Street Cop's Choice Thanks for coming home to help me choose. I know my kids will always have my back. Today was rough. By now you’ve seen the News--- Such blatant lies! They’ve tied me to the...

A Tribute to Leonard Dabydeen (1948 – 2022), by Satyananda Sarangi

The Society
March 19, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
22 Comments
. Tribute to a Poet for Leonard Dabydeen, an SCP poet who passed away on March 16, 2022. Read Leonard Dabydeen's poetry here. I gaze for long at star-filled skies __To feel the crumbling fears; I see the world...

‘Love Letter to a Spoon’ by Leland James

The Society
March 19, 2022
Humor, Poetry
5 Comments
. Love Letter to a Spoon How fine thou art my silver spoon. Your neck as graceful as a swan. Your hips full as the harvest moon. Thy manner gentle as a fawn. Bright curls of finespun filigree Like rays of sun...

‘Dueling Violins’ by Tamara Beryl Latham

The Society
March 18, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry
11 Comments
. Dueling Violins Yanni, Karen Briggs and Shardad Rohani live at the Acropolis in 1993 Anticipating each half-note he brings to life, her fingers stretch to find the grooves. Perfection springs, as sound is...

A Poem for Saint Patrick’s Day: ‘Slàinte!’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
March 17, 2022
Culture, Humor, Poetry
26 Comments
. Slàinte! Today we’ll lift the Lenten limitations And don our Gaelic garb of kelly green. Bonhomie and glee and lush libations Will flow at dawn and dusk and in between. We’ll pluck a harp and pick a...

Share Your St. Patrick’s Day Poetry (with Music by Jeff Eardley)

The Society
March 17, 2022
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry
15 Comments
. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Share your St. Patrick's Day Poetry in the comments section below. While writing and posting, enjoy an Irish medley of songs, “Chief O Neil’s” followed by “The Red-Haired...

‘Heights of Passion’ by David Watt

The Society
March 16, 2022
Beauty, Poetry
22 Comments
. Heights of Passion Passion flowers white and purple Bloom where tendrils curl and cling To the overhanging myrtle Sheltering my garden swing. Scents befitting distant tropics Catch the senses...
  1. 57
  2. 58
  3. 59
  4. 60
  5. 61
  6. 62
  7. 63
  1. Michael Vanyukov on ‘Simply Chilling’: A Tetraptych of Poems by Susan Jarvis BryantJuly 13, 2025

    I had to have a martini, or it would be the effect akin to reading too much Chekhov. . Real…

  2. Shofiqure Rahman on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 13, 2025

    stillness in the pond a dragonfly splits the light without making sound first frost on the grass the morning sun…

  3. Adrian Fillion on ‘Three Philosophical Quatrains’ by Ian AllabyJuly 13, 2025

    Clever, enjoyable and memorable. Thank you, Ian.

  4. Adrian Fillion on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 13, 2025

    the gray tabby cat curls up under the sunlight — a perfect circle

  5. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Simply Chilling’: A Tetraptych of Poems by Susan Jarvis BryantJuly 13, 2025

    Martin, thank you very much indeed - the introduction to the US of the species "pillocus britannicus" has me laughing…

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Daily Poems

Subscribe to receive updates in your email inbox

poetry/benson brown/reading

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Beauty
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Chaucer
  • Children's
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Culture
  • Dante
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Education
  • Ekphrastic
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
  • Featured
  • Found Poem
  • From the Society
  • Haiku and Senryu
  • High School Submissions
  • Homer
  • Human Rights in China
  • Humor
  • Interviews
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
  • Popular Poetry Archives
  • Readings
  • Reviews
  • Rhupunt
  • Riddles
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shakespeare
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • The Raven
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

Poetry Archive

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • Poetry Resources
  • Poetry Readings
  • High School Poetry
  • Translation
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
  • From the Society
  • Poetry Archive
  • Education
  • Humor
  • Reviews
  • About Us
  • The Raven
  • Riddles
  • Journal
  • Members
  • Terms of Use
  • The Society of Classical Poets © 2024