• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry Beauty

‘The Great Living Hell’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

December 12, 2017
in Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
A A
2
A stack of books and other reading materials relating to the banned Falungong sect are set on fire in Shouguang city, in China's eastern Shandong province, 04 August 1999. Authorities in cities across China held more mass book burnings to rid the country of publications related to the banned mystical sect.   AFP PHOTO

A stack of books and other reading materials relating to the banned Falungong sect are set on fire in Shouguang city, in China's eastern Shandong province, 04 August 1999. Authorities in cities across China held more mass book burnings to rid the country of publications related to the banned mystical sect. AFP PHOTO

The Great Living Hell

On Communism

Under the radar I fly
Thru’ an ever more darkening sky
Thru’ the smoke from the volumes that burned
Thru’ the silence of lessons unlearned
Thru’ the sound of the shattering glass
Thru’ the thoughts of the mindless I pass
Thru’ the dust of the statues that fell
Thru’ the skies of the Great Living Hell

 

The Swamp

From the depths of the hidden swamp
where predators and villains romp
a nation watches in surprise
as they begin to drop like flies

Deplorable hypocrisy
exposed for all the world to see
A festering and fetid brew
until the light of day broke through

But still they scramble to repair
integrity that isn’t there
Pathetic yet without remorse
a swamp that must be drained by force

 

 

 

Joe Tessitore is a retired New York City resident and poet.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here
Next Post
‘I Keep a Different List’ and Other Poetry by Red Hawk

'I Keep a Different List' and Other Poetry by Red Hawk

Concepts on Classical Scalds: William Dunbar, Robert Burns, and More

Concepts on Classical Scalds: William Dunbar, Robert Burns, and More

‘Paperboy, Little Neck, Queens, N.Y. 1954-55’ by Ron Singer

'Paperboy, Little Neck, Queens, N.Y. 1954-55' by Ron Singer

Comments 2

  1. Robert Walton says:
    8 years ago

    Thanks for writing these poems. Your words are a consolation to all of us beneath the “ever darkening sky”.

    Reply
  2. Fr. Richard Libby says:
    8 years ago

    Well done on both! You certainly hit a timely bull’s eye with “The Swamp”.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Earth to Earthlings’ and Other Poetry
    by Susan Jarvis Bryant
    October 26, 2025

    Adam, thank you very much indeed! I'm glad to hear you find the dodo humorous. I think Lewis Carroll may…

  2. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Earth to Earthlings’ and Other Poetry
    by Susan Jarvis Bryant
    October 26, 2025

    Scott, thank you very much for your kind and appreciative comments. I am glad so many of us on this…

  3. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Earth to Earthlings’ and Other Poetry
    by Susan Jarvis Bryant
    October 26, 2025

    Martin, what a generous and inspirational comment. My Muse is dancing with delight and telling me to fetch my pen…

  4. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Earth to Earthlings’ and Other Poetry
    by Susan Jarvis Bryant
    October 26, 2025

    ... and I absolutely love your “memento mori” observation. My personified Earth IS whispering of our own mortality. Perhaps the…

  5. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Earth to Earthlings’ and Other Poetry
    by Susan Jarvis Bryant
    October 26, 2025

    Brian, as ever your comments are perceptive and generous and a pleasure to receive. Your close reading of the form…

Receive Poems in Your Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,619 other subscribers
Facebook Twitter Youtube

Archive

Categories

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Submit Poetry
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.