Poetry

by Joseph S. Salemi The poetic effusions of some people are so incompetent that they cross the line into unexpected humor, and thereby become valuable. Such is the case with the work of William Topaz...

a villanelle We came together with an open mind No crass intolerance or blinkered view Is it too much to ask us to be kind? The streets in which we children played were lined With generosity, and we all...

Winner and Runners-up of The Society of Classical Poets 2020 Haiku Competition Judged by Mike Bryant and Susan Jarvis Bryant See all entrants here.   Thunder-bellied clouds Move slow over heathered...

  A Ditty What happened to the human race? It vanished, friend, without a trace. And what, pray tell, of humankind? You may well seek, but will not find. And finally, humanity? It slipped into...

  dedicated to all those braving injustice in Hong Kong with nobility of spirit Muffled voices, anguished cries, Trampled freedom, published lies, Flouted treaties, threatened fates, Outlawed...

  Hero of Her Heart On February 9, 2007 Sgt. James J. Regan of the 3rd Battalion 75th U.S. Ranger Regiment was killed on active service in Iraq. Some time after the funeral, Sgt. Regan's fiancee Mary...

  Due to a recent government edict, approximately 5 million Australians must wear masks whenever they leave the house. We wear a mask because we’re told That COVID has us in its hold, And if outside...

  Cotton candy is, yes, is angel hair spun out while merry-go-rounds whirl full-speed with satisfaction fully guaranteed in the local splendor of Blake’s Prairie Fair. Surely the most...

All poems by Bruce Dale Wise The Prisoners in Manacles by Lu “Reed ABCs” Wei The prisoners in manacles in western China were just on a day out, stated the Chinese ambassador. The picture shows the people...

  Oh, When I Think Back Oh, when I think back to those halcyon days, When I believed the possibility That truest love would manifest to me And highest hopes would set the heart ablaze, I looked...

  Taj Mahal Built to commemorate a love that died Four hundred years ago, how sad to say She never saw what we can see today. Serenely does its massive bulk preside Above a seeming swamp on every...

  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, by Joseph Lange (1783? / 1789?); as viewed by a Philistine Consider Lange’s well-known portrait Of his in-law, a composer: It’s good, we see, but it requires A scrutiny...

  Full Lives, Empty Souls after Ecclesiastes 6 There is an evil I have seen in those who live beneath the sun: A man to whom God gives both wealth and riches, and who knows respect among his...

by James A. Tweedie On my most recent visit to England in 2017, I paused to record a number of prominent grave monuments that included poetic tributes to the deceased. Here are the four I found most...

  Laocoön To prophesy is not a gift to those So gifted, who can see in subtle signs What is to pass; they bear the double woes Of speaking truth to unbelieving minds And knowing none can thwart the...

translated by Alan Steinle. Introduction and translation copyright ©2020 by Alan Steinle. Skip Introduction and go to poem.   Introduction Poetry is that which is worth translating. The poem dies...

  Rueing Tattoos When young she was drawn to that skin-art taboo of embellishing flesh with a tattoo or two. Now time’s marching on and gravity’s struck, her sweet chickadee is akin to a...

  On Consecrated Ground Moses on the Mount; Exodus 3-4 Moshe, a Hebrew truant from His resident Egyptian land Committed crimes with this outcome: His life was now in Pharaoh’s hand. Absconding...

  Tomoko When the Enola Gay dropped ‘Little Boy’, Tomoko---just a little girl herself--- Was robbed of any hope of earthly joy And sentenced to a life upon the shelf, Until, that is, she and...

"During the war, the Indian Army evicted Pakistani intruders and succeeded in recapturing Tiger Hill and other posts as a part of ‘Operation Vijay’. Indian soldiers had secured this victory after a...

Golden Gloves My father fought in Golden Gloves. Back then The ring was where you slugged your way to hopes. It was no place for fey, aesthetic men— There’s no nuance on canvas, or the ropes. I...

  A Proposal---July 28, 2020 Upon this date in 1794, The French Revolution concluded in gore, As Robespierre’s head hit the blood-stained floor Of Paris’s Place de la Concorde, Leaving poor...

All of the below poems were read on May 31, 2020 at The Society of Classical Poets Symposium, which was held online due to the pandemic. Below are poems from Session II....

  How Monkeys Came to Be adapted from a Palestinian folktale Monkeys and people once were one. For monkeys had from Adam come. As Adam's sons in every way, Those monkeys looked like us today. Yet...

  The Gardener at War Throughout our lives we hustle and we slave __To turn our gardens into magic places __Where beauty at its pinnacle erases Our darkest intimations of the grave; But what mundane...

"One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship." ---George Orwell We are the fearsome force for good who’ll overthrow...

  Vera A fine and sunny Summer’s day And now our Vera’s slipped away. Auf Wiedersehen, we’ll meet again; We don’t know where, we don’t know when. A proper looker in the day, A smile to...

  Alike a trusted hand that comes to rest On harried shoulders to relieve the stress, This allemande fulfills its basic quest: Bestowing thorough genial redress. When just too much encumbrance...

  No Epitaph The lies lie heavy on his chest, Striped red, striped white, now tattered vest And soon to draw his final breath--- Who’ll mourn this Son of Freedom’s death? I look around,...

  How wild become the eyes! How fine it is to learn! That the beauty in the sky's Cold torch of perfect pearl, Or in the trunk of the laburnum With those swaying yellow leaves That catch the...

  You had to act, because you heard the voices Within your head. Saint Michael came to you, Saints Catherine and Margaret. But what choices Did you have? You knew them to be true, Not demons or...

  With Sorrow Do I Leave It is with sadness that I write to tell you that I am resigning from The New York Times. ---Bari Weiss, opinion writer, 13 July 2020 With sorrow do I leave The New York...

  Enrobed in blue—enthroned and crowned—her Son, __With proffered blessing, safely in her hands— __The Queen of Heaven reigns on high as one __Who holds in love all those whom she...

on the 21st anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's launching the persecution of the peaceful practice of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999   Hidden in a Flyer by Daniel Magdalen Slowing down my clockwork...

  There’s beauty in the ordinary things like challenges and joys each season brings, the world of work and school, and kids at play between sunrise and sunset every day. There’s awe-inspiring...

  I Make My Way by Joe Tessitore These times, indeed, have tried my soul. With lightening speed, I’ve lost control Of all that mattered in the past--- It drifts, now scattered, in a...

  It's easier to not exist And yet existence does persist. Although I cannot fathom why, I cannot rest unless I try. To wonder why or how or when, Such is the way it's always been. As we orbit...

  An old friend called on me today, past indiscretions to relive. Long decades passed since we had spoke; he hoped ill feelings I'd forgive. We had once been the best of friends but problems...

  Coming Home “Thank you for letting me come home,” she said To me the night she died, and I, tongue-tied, I could not answer her. I should have tried, I know, for tacitly her thoughts I...

  Lockdown Leisure with apologies to W.H. Davies In lockdown life, should I but dare To take more time to stand and stare?--- More time to stand six feet away And gaze upon our world...