Poetry

Quids Pro Quo Does beauty matter?  You, of all, know why: it skirts the edge of my and your decay. It brings at once both smile and knowing sigh. Yes, beauty—ever—has its own cachet. In beauty’s lap, perfection likely seems— redeems lost Eden, sheds the rose’s thorns, lets us believe...

On Cancer, Guns, and Hit 'n Runs The chemo sessions wore him down, He so despised the sterile smells, The chatter, beeps, and flimsy gown, And then those plain disgusting gels. But no more thoughts of days gone by, Of chances lost, of things begun, And multitud'nous reasons why Some...

  "every where the trace of men"                         —William Cullen Bryant In Thomas Cole's The Catskills and Lake George, that set on scenic Catskill Creek, New York, in 1845, trees are orange, dark and light green, and reddish brown; they form a core with large, gray rocks around the calm,...

Dogfight Sonnet Demon snarl curdles into a roar doubled with the counter-howl of defense. Darkened winter street was quiet before that tired walker’s leash-beast lost its sense. The guard dog growls, holds his ground upon sight; quivering mutt against great yellow Lab. The hoarse barking claws at a hard black...

All Such Poets Emit Great Delight. All such poets emit great delight. In such darkness they radiate light. Though despite the demise, They continue to rise. All such poets continue to write!   In Soul Sleeps Love, in Newborn Slumber Bay In soul sleeps love, in newborn, slumber bay. Thou...

Alabaster (The Statue) I see the fineness And sense divineness From smoothest feet to marble brow A curve of lip A tilt of hip As gentle as a tempest would allow A stolen glance A lover’s trance Time holds the flowers in your hair A shy unease The world to...

A meeting round a social platter Seduced me in a human game. I sensed the moral tone go flatter But did not put this in the frame. We are here and witness change. If firm, we help to rearrange The running sequences that matter, Make goods beyond the surface range....

Apprenticeship The poem will prove a stern and daunting master to those who pussyfoot around the truth and, weaving daisy chains from each disaster, still fixate on their gold and glittering youth. If you strive to disguise your fears and faults, pretend that you are not long in the tooth,...

I hear you in the silence of the trees The Wilderness, they called it once, found in many places. Walking now, my heart sees the past, time before this darkened ground rang with battle, ran with blood. Monuments now mark what happened then. At sunset figures walk these fields anew....

I. It's not an easy thing to die, it's not An easy thing to make believe I cling To hope when every day my doctors bring Me proof how sick my body is.  Yet what Can doctors do, but sigh?  There's not a lot Of time till winter reigns, for...

English poetry has been in existence for at least 1,400 years. This tradition continues alive and well at The Society of Classical Poets like nowhere else. Today, poetry is everywhere. It is in the songs on the radio, in our national anthems, and in the fight songs of our favorite...

The Dream I dreamed a dream of two parades so different, yet the same, And I could not place the meaning of the first parade that came. Along a road lined with many leafless and grey, dying trees A black parade moved slowly forward trailing grief and unease. Soft silence...

Feathers of Disenchantment Pastors preached of birds as models of love, so sweet, so proper. Then parbleu, we heard sad news about the cheating of the dove, promiscuity of the humming-bird, scandalous divorce among flamingos, sparrows’ shacking in ménages à trois. For swingers on the wing any fling goes, the...

Review By Christopher Nield / Image by Liza Voronin/The Epoch Times The Riddles of Merlin As I was walking Alone by the sea, “What is that whisper?” Said Merlin to me. “Only,” I answered, “The sigh of the wave”— “Oh, no,” replied Merlin, “’Tis the grass on your grave.” As...

In Praise of Formal Poetry Whether it’s ridiculous or sublime, we need the reassurance of meter, the familiar recurrence of rhyme. We yearn for verse that’s fixed in place and time, lines that march to a regular beat, or words, whether ridiculous or sublime, that echo each other like bells...

The roses clamored wildly. I confessed it, smiled mildly. Profusely rambling everywhere, The crimson blooms were sweetness rare. Entwined with random opulence Around the old white picket fence, 'Twas glorious disobedience, Quite like the charm of innocence. While I walked the path one day, Two passers-by did stop and say:...

Bless with Children Sent, Amen! to fill the world with wonder they come in trust, brim-full of possibility, a soul (or spark from God, once split asunder) harbored in each.  Our responsibility: to do our best, to cherish and provide at least the abc’s that foster health for every body,...

To the Skeptic Who Denies God You want me to prove to you my God exists. “The burden of proof is on you,” you insist; But when my lips open, you only resist. You try to use logic to tear me apart; You pull out your jargon to get a...

There is no battle like the break of light And yet the world still sleeps, still unaware, And day has yet to break the silent air While lamplight dimly wrestles with the night. The cold still lurks and clings to dampened grass The leaves still shiver where the night winds...

Birth Yes, I recall that January night when, ushered from your room into the hall, and restless for the nurse’s slightest call, I reread dated news by night-dimmed light, and listened for your voice into the night, and traced the jagged lines that marred the wall, and knew for once...

Sunset Daylight shines with the glow of the first morn Glittering rays of laughter soft and warm There's no end to this heaven you've known Until the day you find shadows have grown You're forced to face the facts and realize That even the sun sets in paradise Daylight trembles,...

Ars Poetica for Shaky Times       (Apologies to Auden and Horace) This little poem is in sonnet form; a poet will need support from the past: the best way to find it will be at last to compose within a poetic norm – limited available words will swarm to...

Structured Verse Is structured verse so surely dead? Has it nothing left to say? Have the rhyme and rhythm petered out Somewhere along the way? Have feet marched off to glory's end? Have the syllables this day Been recounted for the one last time And then been packed away? The...

Up in the inky, velvet sky on this cold winter night the sky is lit with diamond chips that glow with spirit light. Not far away from twinkling stars a full moon brightly shines sending down its silvery rays that light up snowy pines. Sleeping trees wear ermine robes provided...

. Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti        Morning and eveningMaids heard the goblins cry:'Come buy our orchard fruits,Come buy, come buy:Apples and quinces,Lemons and oranges,Plump unpecked cherries,Melons and raspberries,Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries,Crab-apples, dewberries,Pine-apples, blackberries,Apricots, strawberries;—All ripe togetherIn summer weather,—Morns that pass by,Fair eves that fly;Come buy, come buy:Our grapes fresh from...

This poem shows three Achaean perspectives on three characters from Homer's Iliad, each from an individual point of view.  That individuality is one of most important bequests of classical Greece.   I. Achilles in the Tent I am just so infuriated that I cannot stand it. Such ineptitude. Old Agamemnon's...

Burn the want out of every moment, Live the life of every chorus line, Run the race of countless ancient athletes, In them, fortitude breeds counter decline. Stream the smoke throughout every fire, Glide beyond every deterrence, Sew binding thoughts as reasons to aspire, Years of struggle shed light on...

To the Caged Barn Owl, II I had thought you clean and blameless, Blindly cast you as the shameless Victim of baseless derision, Gaped at in your iron prison, Left unromantic and nameless. I assumed your capture aimless. Cruelly kept, they watched you regress, Innocence made heavy laden, I had...

Oh Beautiful glorious day, Let your sunlight shine on me! Let your many clouds of gray Fade above the lovely sea. Let the mountains in the distance Shine such vibrant purple glows. Let all beauty show existence, While your streams give steady flows. Let the trees stand proud and tall...

  I This is the month, and this the happy morn, Wherein the Son of Heaven’s eternal King, Of wedded maid and Virgin Mother born, Our great redemption from above did bring; For so the holy sages once did sing, That he our deadly forfeit should release, And with his...

The seasons go a'marching by In all their different ways. I never do appreciate The way they change my days. The Spring goes dancing by this year With life and beauty grand. But off she goes away from me To other spacious lands. The Summer came with pomp this year...

The plaintive wail of a child through the night Is a beastly howl, proclaiming its plight. The song of the wind through fractured grasses Echoes my tread on edge of disasters. This may be one fine way of singing it Life, death, love is the blood of the poet. We...

Rituals of Shade Drowsy hang the blooms of light, descending slowly to a night That wanders in and out of me, the shadowed truths of what will be Forever painted in its shade, each velvet promise that was made Beneath cobalt and crimson skies, without regrets or compromise When arms...

This poem is meant to raise awareness about the atrocity of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China today. Please click here to sign a petition to the White House. (Featured image above is "Organ Crimes" by Xiqiang Dong, 2007) I. A new form of evil unknown to man...

Current Events 2012   I.  The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado A silhouette is forming in the door. From reel to real, the armor comes alive! As bullets rain, we cower on the floor. How can we hide from this attack?  Survive? Staccato gunshots punctuate our air. The desperate screams...

To Be a Bird To foil the grab of gravity, To sail across the spaces Engendered by the cavity Between the mountain faces. To laugh at man’s ineptitude, His crawling, earthbound gait. To wing in silent solitude And at the summit wait While human snail ascends in pain. To flee...

Adrift I spy your pain vast as the briny blue. I smell the creosote that seals your hold, but don’t let enmity be what you rue in logging a life’s voyage when you’re old. S.S. Resentment is a mutinous ship of blaggards bent on vengeance, lust and greed since first...

My Grandfather-mining it made him blind and mystery of music almost gave him sight he would play by candle light and demand rapture as eloquent as an owl in flight from himself and the flame survives the wick lighting up a reverie as he dreams about his fruit tree and...

Learning to Flourish for Dan DeNicola Are we humans half empty or half full? A race of oxymorons, we’re wise fools Or doltish sages, subject to the pull Of appetite and passion, flouting rules Of reason and decorum on a whim, The urgings of perverse or selfish drives That make...

Imagine a childhood as tragic premiere. Unwashed, bruised, soiled clothing, still she’s a star. The cops and the guy passed out in the chair, minor roles; mom’s off-stage, but won’t be far. The stage: her home, the scene dirty and dark; with props like beer cans and needles, please look...