Poetry Readings

  The Sparrow It started in the dark and early hours. Kyiv—asleep, enjoying blissful dreams. Then missiles streaked. Explosions. Debris showers. Smashing walls and windows. Sirens. Screams. Ivan recalled this, walking Podil’s streets. No patrons enjoying coffee and cigarettes. Abandoned stores were still. Some rubble heaps. He wept to see...

  La Uva I packed a bag of grapes into her lunch. My hands resembled his, though not as worn; they brought me back to what he told me once, just days before my little girl was born. … “Ay, mijo, come outside,” my grandpa said. He swung the screen...

  Beautiful She cracked a throaty Marlboro laugh that piped her spicy liquored breath into my face. Her blouse hung half unbuttoned—spilling, braless breasts. I lay my forehead and my chin where greedy groping hands had been, and all but tasted salty skin cologned by smoke and random men. The...

  https://youtu.be/G9FpJcfCcGw     Back or Bottom? “Your back or bottom?” Dowdy grabbed the switch, a riding whip, from off its rusty hitch that hung upon the wooden schoolhouse wall— a dangling deterrent for them all. “Macree, up front!” the teacher said with joy. Then, inching forward, crept a red-haired...

    The Bridge by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) translated from French by Joy Nevin Axelson Shadows before me. An abyss without light, without shores or summits, with no end in sight. So mournful, immense, so vast, without movement. I was lost in its infinite depths so silent. Deep down, through...

    A Wedding Song (Away the Winter) In May shall be her wedding day, When hawthorn blooms do scent the air, And she will dance in fine array, With fragrant flowers pinned in her hair. Away the winter, come the spring, She waits to wear her lover's ring. Away...

    The Villa in Durrës The villa lies in shambles, a woman ravaged, spent, stripped of beauty, usefulness, abandoned to lament. Her pink veneer is peeling, her tiles cracked and scratched. Her floors by waters damaged, her pergolas unthatched. Her curves are caving in now, her arches dipping down....

Poet Mark F. Stone delivers a speech on reading poetry live on the radio. His remarks were given at the Society of Classical Poets’ in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025:   https://youtu.be/hV4wYXu2lE4 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.     Transcript of the YouTube video of...

  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NtGOhHBi2G0?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g3TADmtqtLc?feature=share     Andrew Benson Brown‘s epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, chronicles the major events of the American Revolution. He writes history articles for American Essence magazine and resides in Missouri. Watch his Classical Poets Live videos here.

    Fireflies Driving down a country road one sultry summer evening, with headlights sweeping through the little clouds of dust ahead, Caused by cars that led the way or met me in the night, I scanned the ditches, left and right, for signs to find a bed. I’d always...

Poet and painter Paul Erlandson reads his work at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025: https://youtu.be/BzMxUMKXKyE Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

    https://youtu.be/lt_M2Lf99mE The book is available on Amazon here.     Leslie Lippincott Hidley is retired from the safety business and lives in a small town in southern California. She has published poetry in Sparks of Calliope and other writing in the Ojai Quarterly and Ojai Monthly. She has...

Poet Adam Sedia reads his work at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025: https://youtu.be/xlJsc5jKN_g Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

The classical Chinese original has been versified in English by poet Evan Mantyk and is read by him at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025. The translation and original Chinese can be read here: https://www.classicalpoets.org/preface-to-the-poems-composed-at-the-orchid-pavilion-a-rhyming-poetry-translation/  https://youtu.be/AT7K7Fe813o Video created by Andrew Benson...

Mark F. Stone reads his poetry at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025: https://youtu.be/9t2Dp0pEI-Y   Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

The poem read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025: https://youtu.be/-CFICL42ZMw Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

Musical Version by Lex McKee     Cetus and Jonah’s Lament "And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered." ---Jonah 4.5 When I think now of you, great Cetus---Whale--- And me...

The poem read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025: https://youtu.be/FzqtmavvpJ8   Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

The poem read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets' in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025: https://youtu.be/-9aSevsHMFo   Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "Ode to the Dogs" by Shari Jo Lekane read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/XRGO27J1_28 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "May Memorial" by Cynthia Erlandson read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/JnVBPyqTeD0 . The poem "Three Cascading Endings on Fallen Civilizations" by Cynthia Erlandson read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical...

. The poem "Tick. Tock. Tick." by Twila Brase read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/YrWUIm-rrbI Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "Mexican Sestina" by Geoffrey Smagacz read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/tk0n16HWvmE Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

    Belief and Righteousness Based on Genesis 15:1-18, this poem can be sung to the tune "The God of Abraham Praise" (a traditional Hebrew melody) Belief and righteousness are hallmarks of a man Who walks with God, choosing to follow God’s command. For Abram, trusting God brought great uncertainty....

. The poem "None for All" by Peter Lillios read by the poet Michael Pietrack at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/nHicN7J94Vg Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "Wisdom and Sway" by Mark F. Stone read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/to8ML6fJq18 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

.   Bleed, Saxon Blood "Þær wæs sang || and sweg samod ætgædere, fore Healfdenes || hildewisan; gomenwudu || græted, giomaenes spell, cwæð þonne se scop, || sumeres þegn" “Then there was song and music together, before Hrothgar’s battle-leader; the harp sounded, the joy-wood’s voice, when the scop sang afterwards.”---Beowulf...

. The poem "The Gentler Art" by Maureen Browne read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/DY628snCu4M Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "The Loons of Colby Lake" by Michael Pietrack read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/4hQEBDIPrn4 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "Libra" by Patricia Rogers Crozier read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/iW1wSaUGp_s Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "Extinction" by Mary Jane Myers read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/g1xxB022Cic Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The poem "The Settlers" by Martin Rizley read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/BfSIHKl0aOk Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. Readings of original poems by the poets from the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_bcm-EFb5iQ?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sv1LmOFTYM4?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFdJ60VnZ8A?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LVGPcZDR-tE?feature=share Videos created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. Request for Expression of Interest SCP Poet Russel Winick has graciously agreed to host an in-person SCP Symposium at his large residence in Naperville, Illinois. The tentative dates are from the evening of Friday, Sept. 5 to the evening of Saturday Sept. 6. It would include poetry readings, discussions,...

. The SCP Poetry Competition Winners’ Symposium Join the Symposium here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4772266878?pwd=V0lGeUFuSGFkeExOaTM4NlZ6NWRlUT09   You're Invited!  Who: Everyone is invited to attend, Members and non-members alike Date: Saturday, June 28 Time: 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) Location: Live on Zoom. Link will be provided on the day on the SCP website. Host:...

. . Lament for Clairac by Théophile de Viau (1590-1626) translated from French by A.Z. Foreman Sun-hallowed walls where I once loved Phillis, Sweet places where my soul knew charm and wonder, Today, beneath our wrecked roofs, just a piece Of a high-handed army's bloody plunder. Altar cloth vaporized, great...

. . Der Knecht An einem Teich in einem Tal, am Felsenfuß entlang, Da steht ein Mädchen ohne Schal, als Decke nur der Hang. Vorbei bin ich schon hundertmal, mit Gaben und Gesang. Mein Singen ist ihr ganz egal, als wär’ es Vogelklang. Erhellt sie nur der Sonnenschein, zum Weinen...

. . None for All Backbones wilt and waistlines grow; Brightness dims as diodes glow. It’s history’s course, a simple fact, Declared with pride—or else with tact. Vigor falters, wits regress; The perspicacious acquiesce. It’s civilized, it’s preordained, This kingdom of the addlebrained. Rhyme is dead—and reason too: They’re obsolete,...

. https://youtu.be/LRxp0nZS2hM . video by Andrew Benson Brownpoem by Evan Mantyk . The Reincarnations of Donald J. Trump . I. 218 B.C. Above the mellow grass, cliff faces soarLike walls to house a huge primeval god.The pass into the valley is his doorThrough which a hundred thousand soldiers plod.Their war...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zId3BCl6M . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American Revolution if he lives to complete it. Though he writes history articles for American Essence magazine, he lists his primary occupation...