• Submit Poetry
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Support SCP
  • Join
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Art
    • Children’s Poetry
    • Covid-19
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Found Poems
    • Human Rights in China
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • Terrorism
    • The Environment
    • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Poetry Forms
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Pantoum
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondeau
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Sestina
    • Shape Poems
    • Sonnet
    • Terza Rima
    • Triolet
    • Villanelle
  • 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
    • Art
    • Children’s Poetry
    • Covid-19
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Found Poems
    • Human Rights in China
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • Terrorism
    • The Environment
    • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Poetry Forms
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Pantoum
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondeau
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Sestina
    • Shape Poems
    • Sonnet
    • Terza Rima
    • Triolet
    • Villanelle
  • 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

‘Balderdash?’ A Poem on the Supernatural, by Peter Venable

July 16, 2023
in Beauty, Culture, Poetry
A A
10
poem/venable/beauty

.

Balderdash?

What are these hidden, unseen things?
Do angels, demons, float on wings?
Such ghostly shapes the full moon brings!
__Our modern minds dismiss.

Who twists and turns a shooter’s mind?
Who ties the rope a rapist binds?
Who wields the axe so many grind?
__Is it a thing from hell?

Who steered the wheel that saved your soul?
Who pulled your hand from darkest hole?
Who brings back life from what they stole?
__Whose hand caused Death to miss?

They’re creatures feuding everywhere
And in our hearts. Remain aware:
Sham spirits lure with golden snares.
__Save us, Emmanuel.

.

.

Peter Venable has been writing poetry for 50 years. He has been published in Windhover, Third Wednesday, Time of Singing, The Merton Seasonal, American Vendantist, The Anglican Theological Review, and others. He is a member of the Winston Salem Writers. On the whimsical side, he has been published in Bluepepper, Parody, Laughing Dog, The Asses of Parnassus, Lighten Up Online (e. g. # 48) and the Society of Classical Poets.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here
Next Post
poem/stellinga/culture

'It's Dangerously Close to Too Late': A Poem by Mark Stellinga

poem/anderson/satire

'The Park': A Kubla Khan-like Poem by C.B. Anderson

‘Shanghai’s Robo Dogs’ by Maura H. Harrison

'On Silicon Avenue' and Other Poetry by Paul A. Freeman

Comments 10

  1. Joseph S. Salemi says:
    2 years ago

    Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

    I Peter 5:8

    Reply
    • peter Carrington venable says:
      2 years ago

      Yes indeed, Joseph.

      Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson says:
    2 years ago

    Excellent and meaningful poem with rare rhyme scheme that punctuates each verse. This one belies the title, at odds in my opinion with the concluding line, thus providing additional impact for the reader.

    Reply
  3. Margaret Coats says:
    2 years ago

    “Who brings back life from what they stole?” A challenging line, but I think I see the angels and demons feuding here, with the angels bringing back life stolen by the demons. Nice work, Peter, and it’s great to conclude by appealing to “God with us.”

    Reply
  4. Rohini says:
    2 years ago

    Thoroughly enjoyable. I really liked the darkness juxtaposed with the hope, Emmanuel!

    Reply
  5. jd says:
    2 years ago

    Enjoyed this poem more than once. For me, it sings.
    I like the questions, the resolution in the final strophe and the rhyme in the final lines.

    Reply
  6. Cynthia Erlandson says:
    2 years ago

    This is profound and beautiful!

    Reply
  7. peter Carrington venable says:
    2 years ago

    Always appreciate feedback. Key on!

    Reply
  8. David Whippman says:
    2 years ago

    Cleverly written, and it could be taken as enigmatic till the last stanza. (By me, at least.)

    Reply
  9. Sally Cook says:
    2 years ago

    This really is a battle between good and evil, isn’t it, played out on a world stage? Peter, you are both wise and talented.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to jd Cancel reply

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

  1. Paul A. Freeman on ‘Old School’ and Other Poetry by Paul A. FreemanSeptember 25, 2025

    Thanks for reading and commenting, Michael. Although Old School is based on my experiences this past July, with some interpretation,…

  2. Paul A. Freeman on ‘Old School’ and Other Poetry by Paul A. FreemanSeptember 25, 2025

    Thanks for reading and commenting, Michael. I wrote 'Old School' at a top boarding school where I was working over…

  3. Martin Briggs on ‘Modern Blessing’ and Other Poems by Kevin AhernSeptember 25, 2025

    These three succinct little gems made me smile, Kevin. And "Varicosely" is ingenious.

  4. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘The Three Stooges Recognize a Palestinian State’: A Poem by Joseph S. SalemiSeptember 24, 2025

    Thank you, Kip. Palestine and its problems have been a suppurating sore since the close of World War I. In…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘Modern Blessing’ and Other Poems by Kevin AhernSeptember 24, 2025

    Kevin, you have a welcome way with words! I want everything in "Modern Blessing," especially to avoid "good health care."…

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

Daily Poems

Subscribe to receive updates in your email inbox

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Archive

Categories

Quick Links

  • Submit Poetry
  • About Us
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Privacy 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
    • Art
    • Children’s Poetry
    • Covid-19
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Found Poems
    • Human Rights in China
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • Terrorism
    • The Environment
    • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Poetry Forms
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Pantoum
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondeau
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Sestina
    • Shape Poems
    • Sonnet
    • Terza Rima
    • Triolet
    • Villanelle
  • 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.