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Poetry

‘Reflections on Still Waters’: A Collection of Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 7, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. Reflections on Still Waters . Isaiah 55:12 You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, And a song will break forth from the lands. While the echoes of praise in the hills never cease, And the...

‘Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497’: A Villanelle by Tom Wehtje

The Society
February 7, 2025
Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
20 Comments
. Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497 Savonarola gets up off his knees (much contact with the ground has formed a welt) and lights the bonfire of the vanities. His purpose is to purge the...

‘Lament to the Passing of Paper’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
February 6, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. Lament to the Passing of Paper I learned to write my A-B-Cs and form my shapely 1-2-3s on paper, when I was a lad; but now, since I’ve become a dad, the era of the written word is passing like the dodo...

‘A Summer Hour’ and Other Poems by Sally Cook

The Society
February 6, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
. A Summer Hour A burgeoning bush, some butterflies, Low wooden steps, warped, faded, rise Amid the calm of idle talk— The blur of shadows on the walk. Sometimes a passing, random thought Within winged...

A Poem on USAID, by Warren Bonham

The Society
February 5, 2025
Poetry, Satire
24 Comments
USAID USAID Mission Statement: On behalf of the American people, we promote and demonstrate democratic values abroad, and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. We are funding a world that’s more...

‘Concerning Snow’: A Conversation in Verse by T.M. Moore

The Society
February 5, 2025
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
18 Comments
. Concerning Snow ---a conversation between Beauty and Necessity “Well, there you go again.” “What's that?” “Come now, don't act so innocent. You see that plow out there, defacing what it took all...

‘Classic Case History’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 5, 2025
Beauty, Humor, Poetry, Terza Rima
11 Comments
. Classic Case History Though I was blind, it wasn’t hard to see That blindness was a gift at least as good As any other. People seeing me As someone less insightful than he should Have been were blurry...

Two Poems of Judgment by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 4, 2025
Poetry, Satire
12 Comments
. The Judge Addresses the Defendant "Living in America is like serving in the army; ninety percent of conduct is prescribed by law and the remaining ten percent by the esprit de corps." —Albert Jay Nock Of...

‘Our National Precipice’: A Poem by Kenneth Horne

The Society
February 4, 2025
Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. Our National Precipice The time has come for all good men To recognize our nation’s end. We have been silent much too long, Just caught up in a siren’s song. That song, that beckons our demise, Brought...

‘Sonnet 1’ by Saki

The Society
February 3, 2025
Culture, Humor, Poetry
7 Comments
. . Sonnet 1 I felt like trying something new today, And so I put my pen upon a page To mimic Shakespeare's famous olden way— A style which, I hear, was all the rage. So here I am committing fourteen...

‘The FBI—Then and Now’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
February 3, 2025
Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. The FBI---Then and Now So respected when I was a kid, For the things we all read that they did, It’s substantially altered today--- Now we hardly trust one word they say. . . The Modern Mainstream...

‘Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy’: Poems by Brian Yapko

The Society
February 2, 2025
Culture, Poetry
32 Comments
. Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the...

‘The Grindstone’: A Poem by Michael Pietrack

The Society
February 2, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
18 Comments
. The Grindstone The grindstone spun as fiery sparks were sprayed,for even iron broke against his force,and by his edge the blunt became the bladea king would hold upon his charging horse. The stone was proud...

The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of SCP International Poetry Competition

The Society
February 1, 2025
Best Poems, Poetry, Poetry Contests
28 Comments
. The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of the 13th Annual SCP International Poetry Competition Judges C.B. Anderson, Susan Jarvis Bryant, Margaret Coats,  Evan Mantyk, Reid McGrath, James Sale, Joseph S....

Winners of 2024 SCP International High School Poetry Competition Announced

The Society
February 1, 2025
High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests
2 Comments
. First Place ($200 Prize) "The Shepherd God" Jane Schulert, 11th grade student at Redeemer Classical School in Indiana . Second Place "To Speak Unique" Caroline Chen, 14-year-old in Irvine, California . The...

‘Forecast One to Two Inches’ and Other Poetry by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
January 31, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
12 Comments
. Forecast One to Two Inches Within the snow’s approach I sense a hope Connected more to memory than truth. It fails to fall within the narrow scope Of solid message; seems instead a trope For something...

‘The Untimely Demise of My Dear Uncle Sam’ and Other Poetry by Susan Steele Rives

The Society
January 31, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Satire
6 Comments
. The Untimely Demise of My Dear Uncle Sam I received the somber news __as sun set low today. My beloved Uncle Sam __by death was swept away. It wasn’t on the battlefield that __he met his demise. ‘Twas...

‘Accidents Happen’: A Poem by Shaun C. Duncan

The Society
January 30, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. Accidents Happen We’re told time tends toward catastrophe, And that a butterfly’s ephemeral wings Might quake the sky somewhere across the sea By strange cascades of simple happenings, Arousing thus a...

‘The Discharge of the Woke Brigade’: A Poem by Peter Lillios

The Society
January 30, 2025
Poetry, Satire
6 Comments
. The Discharge of the Woke Brigade ---after Tennyson Half a mil, half a mil, __Half a mil onward, __All from the Treasury ____Filched the encumbered. __‘Forward, the Woke Brigade, __Mooch till the end!’...

‘The Settlers’: A Poem by Martin Rizley

The Society
January 29, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. The Settlers —to my forefathers, and all the intrepid men and womenwho settled the Oklahoma panhandle. Across these barren hills, the cold winds blow,As bitter now as in those days long past,When first...

‘Rather Drown Than Hang’: A Poem by A.R. Pereira

The Society
January 29, 2025
Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
. Rather Drown Than Hang “He who is destined for the gallows will not be drowned.” ---Russian proverb A lethal thing, the writ of man _that soaks this realm like rain, from the code of Hammurabi _to the...

Three Rhyming Riddles by Matthew J. Morris

The Society
January 28, 2025
Poetry, Riddles
10 Comments
. 1. A rainbow diced to tease unhurried brains __With rotating rows of parallel planes. What is it? . 2. With no known cure, this blight Bends down what was upright Makes distant things draw near While close...

‘Wisdom and Sway’: A Poem by Mark F. Stone

The Society
January 28, 2025
Poetry, Satire
18 Comments
. Wisdom and Sway Life was tranquil and calm, not a care, not a qualm, in a town not too near you, but not far away. It was led by a mayor, a powerful player, a grandiose mayor with wisdom and sway. We’d...

‘Snow Sonnet’: A Poem by Susan Norvill

The Society
January 27, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
18 Comments
. Snow Sonnet Where silent flakes of whiteness fill the air And cutting winds of winter come to rule The bitter storm of new year strips all bare With iciness at once perfect and cruel. We drift into an...

‘The Great Rub-off’: A Poem by Martin Elster and Joan Axelrod-Contrada

The Society
January 26, 2025
Humor, Love Poems, Poetry
8 Comments
. The Great Rub-off Norm and Zip, in mismatched chairs, __were sipping tea and talking, when Desi, their loyal hound, said, “Listen, __you’re shedding like me!” (How shocking!) Norm spat out his...

‘Mexican Sestina’ and Other Poetry by Geoffrey Smagacz

The Society
January 26, 2025
Culture, Poetry, Sestina
8 Comments
. Mexican Sestina Perhaps I left because I got too bored, and no one could put sense in my thick head, or talk me out of trekking to the beach by reading newsclips of prolific death by drug cartels or...

‘Tick. Tock. Tick.’: A Poem by Twila Brase

The Society
January 25, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
8 Comments
. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Silently beats an invisible clock. Night turns to day, day turns to night. Following a metronome nowhere in sight. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Sixty seconds make a...

‘Autumn Twilight’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
January 25, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
21 Comments
. Autumn Twilight Full moon. Crickets singing. Scarlet sky.Long past summer solstice; now the sunDescends before the short day’s work is done.Last light and fast-invading violet vieTo shape inconstant...

‘The Introvert’: A Poem by James Bontrager

The Society
January 24, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
13 Comments
. The Introvert Sequestered in an abstract mood,Replete in blissful solitude;Behind the veil of scenes overtYou’ll find the pensive introvert. You may not find him center stage,The Hercules of any age;But...

‘Rattler’: A Poem on Wyeth’s ‘Master Bedroom’, by Carl Kinsky

The Society
January 24, 2025
Ekphrastic, Poetry
14 Comments
. Rattler ---inspired by Master Bedroom, Andrew Wyeth, 1965 The walls and windows unadorned, the bedkept neatly made, the blanket smooth as cream,two feather pillows, perfect for his headto rest against, eyes...
poem/sale/epic

‘Libra’ and Other Poetry by Patricia Rogers Crozier

The Society
January 23, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry
15 Comments
. Libra There in my hand I held a crystal vial Of distillation potent, red, and sweet, By which my broken heart was put on trial, And golden apples scattered at my feet. Ask not the name of him who gave to...

‘On Bill Mahrt’s Retirement as Choirmaster of the St. Ann Choir’: A Poem by Julian Woodruff

The Society
January 23, 2025
Acrostic, Beauty, Music, Poetry
18 Comments
. On Bill Mahrt’s Retirement as Choirmaster of the St. Ann Choir (June, 2024) W e all should thank our God for William Mahrt, I nto whose hands He placed a sacred trust, L eaving to him to keep the aural...

‘I Will Awaken the Dawn’: A Poem by Rachel Meyer

The Society
January 22, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
15 Comments
. I Will Awaken the Dawn The birds have yet to echo Their songs across the trees, The sun has yet to whistle Its foggy rays in streams, The dark still holds the world, Creation slumbers on; But now the time...

‘True Love’: A Poem by Roger Crane

The Society
January 22, 2025
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
12 Comments
. True Love On a hill far away, a true love waits, In a place of weathered, broken gates. And though the gates are falling down, One place on the hill is hallowed ground. Nothing moves on that faraway...

‘Another Crossroads’: A Poem by Peter Venable

The Society
January 21, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
. Another Crossroads I have a rendezvous with destiny.It’s at the crossroads of Straight Street and Main.With cardboard sign, that man rules his domain.(Cops do not bother with such vagrancy.)Some iced tea...

‘To Her Ghost: a Sequence from Orpheus Looks Back’: Poetry by David J. Rothman

The Society
January 21, 2025
Love Poems, Poetry
4 Comments
. To Her Ghost: a Sequence from Orpheus Looks Back ---in memoriam Emily Desire Gaynor Rothman, 1964-2020 . 1. Breaking Open A sonnet tells the lover’s tale becauseIt is the lover’s sonnet. Lovers loveTo...

‘The Magic Trick’ and Other Poetry by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
January 20, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. The Magic Trick Another dove spawns from the wizard's hat. A youngster, goggle-eyed, forgets to clap, enchanted by the spell. With every flap this spongy creature makes, he wonders at the skill required to...

‘Cloth of Destiny’: An MLK Day Poem by Kevin Farnham

The Society
January 20, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. Cloth of Destiny From his jail cell, he preached civility— despite the agony centuries had brought. Proud Rosa occupied a seat; though fraught with risk, that act preserved her dignity. We dreamed of equal...

An Inaugural Poem: ‘Anticipating President Trump’s Golden Age’ by Mark F. Stone

The Society
January 19, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. Anticipating President Trump’s Golden Age Unburdened from that which has recently been. An era of progress about to begin. Mending the messes afflicting our nation. Ending the slow...

A Poem for the 2025 U.S. Presidential Inauguration: ‘Free People’ by Daniel Rancio

The Society
January 19, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
Free People In some sense, free people have no needOf poets to give their speech a better voice.But freedom wanes without great art and heedOf powers that will enslave us with rejoiceIf only given a chance....
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  1. Warren Bonham on ‘Don’t Call Me Shirley’ and Other Poetry by Brian YapkoJuly 20, 2025

    This was a great way to start the day! Airplane was one of the greatest movies of all time. I…

  2. Dan C. Iulian on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 20, 2025

    starry night silence - in this cosmic indulgence just a cricket's song after summer rain my kiddy explores the sky…

  3. Maria Panayi on ‘Living Dead’: A Poem by James A. TweedieJuly 20, 2025

    Thank you for the explanation. Especially explaining iambic pentameter and its historical and linguistic significance. You must be tired of…

  4. Ngo Binh Anh Khoa on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 19, 2025

    life in perspectives the golden hour flashing in a mayfly's eyes still turning toward the light beyond the darkness sunflowers…

  5. Kahren Morris-Denby on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 19, 2025

    Kahren Morris-Denby mud squelches through toes houses swirl through rising flood tears flow forever cumulus clouds float across snowy mountain…

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