Poetry

By Conan Milner | The Epoch Times For centuries, the plays of William Shakespeare have been celebrated for their larger-than-life storytelling and rhythmic language. Now the Bard’s work is being studied as a way to help children overcome challenges associated with autism. Kelly Hunter, an actress with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre...

  Intimations of a Dream When the wind rustles through the open pine, And the leaves murmur and shudder off dew; When the sun, like an undeciphered sign, Through the imperial vault of swimming blue, Creeps through the mist to light the vague outline Of lovers in the park unknown...

by Dusty Grein Hailing from 15th and 16th century French and Italian roots, the villanelle is arguably one of the strongest repeating refrain forms in classical poetry. Related How to Write a Sonnet How to Write a Haiku How to Write a Limerick How to Write Rondeau Its use of...

  For Elizabeth If charm were a country, then you would be Its capital of many domes and spires Gilded and gleaming off a crystal sea, And graced with every art that love inspires. If beauty a nation, then you, its queen, Would wield the scepter of love’s dazzling power...

  A Bear in My Living Room While playing some computer games One day, I heard a noise out in The living room. I frowned, but paused And went to see. To my chagrin A bear was squatting on the floor And doing what he had to do. And I...

By Evan Mantyk Michael Curtis A classical architect, sculptor, painter, and poet, Michael Curtis is, in no uncertain terms, a Renaissance man. He has taught and lectured at universities, colleges, and museums, including the Institute of Classical Architecture and the National Gallery of Art. His pictures and statues are housed...

Growing Up So lucky they used to say, and it was when it was rare. But now there’s way too much gray in the thinning crop of hair. And why must you now choose here of all the places to grow? Count it all a little queer to trim an...

In the grey-streaked dawn I can barely glean A deck of petals expertly dealt out in a ring A clingy little flower, prest into the railing Of the dew-drugged garden already the queen O rose with your luscious crimson promise Woolly chrysanthemum, the garden's adonis Sweet blooming dahlia with your...

There was a king who sought to enter Law, for as he noshed a cone of Rocky Road, the Emperor of Ice-Cream froze his jaws & caused the Queen to love pie á la mode. The Court’s legates cold Caesar’s claim endowed when, like sorbet in August heat, they fixed...

  The Price (a pantoum in iambic pentameter) The sea and sky, once beautiful and clean, They’ve paid the price for man’s hubris and greed. The jungle canopies were brilliant green as nature shared her bounty, fruit and seed; They’ve paid the price for man’s hubris and greed. Depleting resources...

Related How to Write a Sonnet How to Write a Haiku How to Write a Limerick How to Write a Villanelle How to Write a Poem Like the Raven by E. V. Wyler Created by French troubadours during the Middle Ages, the rondeau is valued for its lovely lyrical qualities. ...

A Rhyme Crime An old man once curtly said, "I wouldn't give a dime for poetry that has rhyme." A rhyme nut killed him dead. Now his widow mourns past times as she hears the rhyme nut's rhymes. "My love, you're too pretty not to live in the city. "Come with...

  Paean to “ODE TO JOY”* I heard the “Ode to Joy” today, ten thousand times at least. I could not hold my heart at bay, engorging on a feast of melody, of majesty, of rhythmic palpitations, while soaring in full harmony with Heaven’s exaltations. The clustered chords embraced my...

By Conrad Geller Poets demonstrably know nothing about death since it is, in Hamlet’s phrase, “the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.” Yet from the Egyptian Book of the Dead some 4,500 years ago to the latest agony in the current issue of your favorite literary journal, bards...

My Mirror Grinned (Rondeau) My mirror grinned at my first grey. With rearing youth, it’s my first fray. Disturbed, with care I plucked that bane, next day to find one more, again! I cried and sighed and went astray! That’s how began my darkest day with whitest hair and day...

  There is a tale of seven sisters whose father help up the sky pursued by Orion, carried to the heavens by Zeus. Farming season began when their star cluster appeared high— their position in the fall marked change in seafaring use. Pursued by Orion, carried to the heavens by...

  Today I may dream of stubbled fields shriveled     foretelling of future prospects grim. If tomorrow’s dreams are green, is it a given     I’ll have silos filled to the brim? Whether fields are bearing or fallow     each day’s work brings forth its yield, success evolving securely tomorrow     by the greater...

By Carol Smallwood The pantoum is a poetry form that originated in 15th century Malaysia and drifted West in the 19th century with French writer Victor Hugo, among others. While it never quite took off like the Haiku, it never fully went away either and has been steadily blossoming among...

  Gathering like large and lazy vultures they asked me, on my travels, where I’m from — my origins, religion and my culture the place from which I came, so forth, and on. But how to answer them? For I existed before spermatozoa met an egg. I come from letters,...

. Unexpiring Ekphrastic on the above photo Unexpiring constant Sun, Earth untired responding spun, Surging fire, maternal birth, Urgent sire of vernal mirth. Père Sol, of ruth and blaze, Mère Earth of falling gaze. Ruth: Hebrew for mercy Père: French for father Mère: French for mother . . Longhorn Swath...

  The eyes emerge from slumber’s lake of lead, Awakened by the zephyr flying past, In wonderment to witness, overhead, An otherworldly sky expanding fast. Revolving stars in efflorescence bright Spread emerald auroras all around; Afar, huge clouds of marble, overnight, Together into mountains have been bound. Their lofty peaks...

On the shores of Lake Erie, most weak & most weary, a soldier sat sunning, returned from the wars,     And though it were bleary, he still could see clearly when a bonny lass found him— her beauty shone pure:     “Though Darlin’, I’m dying, your vision is blinding, and I can’t...

We Shall Never Forget Let the world always remember, That fateful day in September, And the ones who answered duty's call, Should be remembered by us all. Who left the comfort of their home, To face perils as yet unknown, An embodiment of goodness on a day, When men's hearts...

  Terror has infected the world today; And this disease is spreading day by day. Fanatics who lack spirituality And religions without morality— In the name of faith in their holy book These people behave like some cunning crooks. When they kill the innocent so cruelly And take wealth, land...

By Anonymous Sometimes I sit alone for a while, Watching life go by, Sitting high on a mountain top, Wondering just why Those ant-sized lives don’t pause and wonder “What’s this busyness for?” They never look at ground and ask “Why go on one day more?” Is life itself a...

Will Power When God asked Solomon one day     What his heart did most desire, The man said if he had his way     Unmatched wisdom he’d acquire. Now some might quibble with that choice     (I’d certainly not demur), But what would make me most rejoice     Is moderate will power. Helpful it...

"Games of Gridlock," people proclaim, "court our congress in shifts of shame!" If pay-to-play campaigns unlash a people-to-the-poles backlash, it's our Republic we'll reclaim! On "others" bureaucrats base blame, but their blunders remain the same; with bloated blather they rehash Games of Gridlock! ... Frothy filibusters inflame loathings our lawmakers...

  And then we remembered that cruelest spring, when we awoke to find ourselves hollow. Where once we mocked, “O Death where is thy sting?” now we lie in the mire and wallow. In the sting of April’s rain piercing my skin when we divined that there was no truth....

Submission Instructions Submit three to five poems, each of which does not exceed 50 lines. Email as a word file or in the email body to [email protected]. Put “Poetry Competition Submission” in the subject line of the email. There is no submission fee or age requirement. Include a brief bio...

  The Poet’s Purpose A poet praises all of nature’s treasures, He seeks to find the pathway to her core, To laud the rarest beauty in spring’s pleasures And marvel at the waves that kiss the shore. He sees a butterfly amid some roses, An adder hid within a leafy...

Such Was My Prayer Such was my prayer. And she, so far away, Or so it seemed, looked down at me and smiled; Then to Eternal Light she turned once more. -Paradiso 31.91-93, Dante Such was my prayer – she so far away - And yet so near – as...

  Phantom skaters in the park turn, and glide, and never fall, faces clouded, figures dark. They are phantoms, after all. Turn and glide with awful grace, leave no measure, make no sound, out of moment, out of place all the earthly year around. Phantom skaters on the lake, known...

  Ice I open my golden flowing fins,     I dance beneath the ice, I dip and twirl and pose and spin:     Tell me, don’t I look nice? Look at me! a glistening fish     flowing fancy and free: I know if you could have a wish     you’d be pretty as me....

The Garden Guest Gaia has entered my garden today, She moves with a rustling of leaves. I can see her pass where the branches sway, I can feel her breath on the breeze. She laughs in the splashing of water, And she sings in the hawk’s plaintive cry, And as...

  Capturing all that isn’t blue, The sky, extending out of view, Pitches over the gathered green, Its grassy sheen Draped, reflected, along the hills, While quietly its wideness spills Wider, as if its breadth defined The limit of the viewer’s mind, As if it flew In chase of its...

Blaschka Glass By Beau Ecs Wilder So beautiful they are, the lovely Blaschka glass displays, exquisite floral blossoms and marine invertibrates; such fragile, magical designs, and educational, as if their curving artifice were purely natural. Work after work reveals subtle tease and frilly gills, as if they captured, in a...

  A Hero These are the weathered shoes worn by the Jew, So cracked from all the miles walked since he fled. These are the slave’s strong legs like trunks that grew And worked so hard until he’s beaten dead. This is the heart of Christians who’re hemmed in By...

  If I were to have been conceived Beneath a greater star, My sorrows would have been reprieved By powers great and far. Were I to have been born as strong As storm and fire and sea, Your royal heart would never belong To any man but me. Yet surely...

Inside the desire for revenge is a painful vulnerability, a reminder of damage that won’t leave, and you wish for satisfaction, or just acknowledgment of the wrong. Instead, frustration grows with denial, and suffering returns in intensity, as if time had scarcely elapsed. Better not to ask for what won’t...