• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Thursday, October 22, 2026
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

‘Irrelevant’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

October 2, 2019
in Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
A A
10
poems 'Irrelevant' and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

 

Irrelevant

If the room
is the tomb
then the elephant
is irrelevant.

 

Haiku

From my heart was shown
how very much I loved her—
could she not have known?

 

I have found my voice.
I do not rejoice—I fear
I have lost your ear.

 

Haiku remind me
of tasty little morsels—
popcorn poetry.

 

 

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

RandomPoems

Two Translations from German by Charles Eager
Beauty

Two Translations from German by Charles Eager

March 17, 2019

Anonymous (12th Century), 'Du bist mein' ('You are mine') I am yours and you, mine are; Of this ought you be...

‘The Wisemen and the Shepherds’: A Christmas Poem by Jeremiah Johnson
Beauty

‘The Wisemen and the Shepherds’: A Christmas Poem by Jeremiah Johnson

December 24, 2023

. The Wisemen and the Shepherds after Eileen Duggan The camels’ footfalls over and around Baked dunes, through pebbled streams,...

Next Post
A Cento from the Political Poetry of Presidents Lincoln, Taylor, and Taft by Beverly Stock

A Cento from the Political Poetry of Presidents Lincoln, Taylor, and Taft by Beverly Stock

A Translation from Goethe’s Roman Elegies V

A Translation from Goethe’s Roman Elegies V

‘The Human Skylight’ by Satyananda Sarangi

'The Human Skylight' by Satyananda Sarangi

Comments 10

  1. Joe Tessitore says:
    7 years ago

    We fight this cold, uncivil war.
    Whatever for? Whatever for?

    An elephant has indeed entered the room since I submitted these, and to talk about anything else but impeachment seems to me to be truly foolish.

    I wonder if any of you are as angry and as heartbroken about it as I am, and if any of you believe that there’s light at the end of this tunnel we now find ourselves in?

    Reply
  2. Anna J. Arredondo says:
    7 years ago

    Joe,

    This is the light-hearted (I hope not entirely foolish) response to your post that popped into my head before reading your own very sober comment.
    Regarding “Irrelevant”: true indeed. But —

    If the setting
    Were a wedding,
    The pachyderm
    Might make you squirm.

    Reply
    • Joe Tessitore says:
      7 years ago

      Nothing wrong with a good laugh!

      Reply
  3. David Paul Behrens says:
    7 years ago

    The elephant calls out:
    Here I am! I matter!
    As he goes balls out
    In eloquent chatter.

    Reply
    • C.B. Anderson says:
      7 years ago

      David, do you mean “bawls” out?

      Reply
      • Joe Tessitore says:
        7 years ago

        Interesting both ways – good that you asked!

        Reply
      • David Paul Behrens says:
        7 years ago

        “Going balls out” is a slang term with much the same meaning as “going all out” or “to the fullest extent.” I was referring to the sound an elephant makes.

        Reply
      • David Paul Behrens says:
        7 years ago

        Example: The jockey went balls out going down the home stretch. He gave it everything he had.

        Reply
  4. C.B. Anderson says:
    7 years ago

    Joe, you owe a debt to Ogden Nash. He wrote a bit of light verse in which he rhymed “elephant” with “irrelevant.” If I’m not mistaken, in that same poem he rhymed “rhinoceros” with “preposterous.””

    Reply
    • Joe Tessitore says:
      7 years ago

      I wish I would’ve thought of that last one.
      I once thought I came up with “Can butter fly?” and a fourteen-year-old told me “Not so much.”

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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


  1. Joshua Thomas on ‘Foam’: A Poem by Josh MitteldorfOctober 22, 2026

    Interesting imagery. Thank you for sharing.

  2. K.J. Salzmann on ‘Again Autumnal’: A Poem by K.J. SalzmannOctober 22, 2026

    Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

  3. Paul Freeman on ‘Again Autumnal’: A Poem by K.J. SalzmannOctober 22, 2026

    A succinct picture of autumn, with just enough words to paint a clear picture of seasonal foreboding. Thanks for the…

  4. K.J. Salzmann on ‘Again Autumnal’: A Poem by K.J. SalzmannOctober 22, 2026

    Thank you, very kind, Cynthia. While autumn is my favorite season and the season of my birth, there is a…

  5. K.J. Salzmann on ‘Again Autumnal’: A Poem by K.J. SalzmannOctober 22, 2026

    Thank you!

Subscribe to Daily Poems

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

Join 1,661 other subscribers
No Result
View All Result

Resources

       1. A Guide to Writing Poetry

      2. The Best Poems of 2020      

      3. Poetry and Writing Contests

      4. Journals Accepting Formal Verse

Recent Poems

  • ‘Life Lessons from Aunt Ingeborg’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko
  • ‘Foam’: A Poem by Josh Mitteldorf
  • ‘Again Autumnal’: A Poem by K.J. Salzmann
  • ‘Life Is Conflictual’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson
  • ‘The Siege on Castle Hill’: A Poem by Apollo Clark Co
  • ‘Every New Pantheon’: A Poem by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘Biblical? Emblematic?’: A Poem by Stephen DiLauro
  • ‘The Valley’: A Poem by Briana Reavis
  • The Blobfish—‘Mr Blobby’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman
  • ‘Nature’s Family’: A Poem by Margaret Coats
  • ‘The River & The Sea’: A Poem by Rohini Sunderam
  • Poems by Derzhavin, Akhmatova, and Tyutchev, Translated by Kevin Rainbow
  • ‘After-Action Report’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘The Walking Wounded’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann
  • ‘Their Words, My Fault’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick
  • ‘Lazarus I’: A Poem by Jason Hunt
  • Poetry Challenge: Dictionary Delights
  • ‘In Defense of Rhyme’: An Essay by Euphrates Moss
  • ‘Gun Control’: A Poem by Kevin Ahern
  • ‘Power of a Pen’: A Poem by Janice Stanley
  • The Best Haiku of 2026
  • ‘One Night in Bangkok’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko
  • ‘Invocation’: A Poem by D.R. Rainbolt
  • ‘Enjoy the Peace, Prepare for War’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson
  • Faust Part Two, Act One: ‘A Pleasant Landscape’ by Goethe, Translated by Josh Olson
  • A Song Inspired by Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’, by Gunny Markefka
  • ‘Reappraisals of Mortality’: A Poem by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘What Is the Measure of My Days?’: A Poem by Peter Venable
  • ‘Polar Coordinates’: A Poem by Adam Sedia
  • ‘It Never Lies!’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Educational
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
    • Interviews with Poets
    • Poetry Reviews
  • Featured
  • From the Society
  • Great Poets
    • Dante Alighieri
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Homer
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Robert Frost
    • William Blake
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
  • Human Rights in China
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
    • Beauty
    • Children's Poems
    • Culture
    • Ekphrastic
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Humor
    • Riddles
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
    • Curtal Sonnet
    • Haiku
  • Poetry Readings
  • Rhupunt
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Sonnet
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

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.