Winners
Conformists of a feather
flock together.
Michael R. Burch, Nashville, Tennessee
The u of solitude allays the y of lonely.
The i in if precedes the o in only.
Michael Harmon, Scottsdale, Arizona
Runners Up
I sympathize truly my dear,
But as you see, I have a beer.
Robert Walton, King City, California
It’s always the common folk who must pay
When their leaders go looking for dragons to slay.
David Martin, Chantilly, Virginia
Honorable Mentions
Knowledge, bestow thy light upon the mind,
Lest pleasures waste and lucent trifles blind.
Joseph McKenzie, New Mexico
Face drenched with tears I wipe my eyes
with hope God hears my fervent cries
Jan Hersh
I want the facts that will inform my views.
I don’t need entertainment from my news.
James Ph. Kotsybar, Lompoc, California
Mid the forest, Dryad stood; hidden, oaken, silent wood,
Mid the glade, the Sun he splayed; folk content, they never strayed.
Neal Dachstadter, Knoxville, Tennessee
Participating Judges
Michael Curtis, Washington, DC
Joshua Philipp, Queens, New York
Damian Robin, Sheffield, United Kingdom
William Ruleman, Athens, Tennessee
James Sale, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Bruce Dale Wise, Naselle, Washington
Judge Michael Curtis poetically noted:
If I could improve it
I didn’t choose it.
I looked for wit, precision too,
Heart-felt feelings wouldn’t do.
__________________________________________________________________
RULES: To celebrate National Poetry Month, write a two-line poem (couplet) that rhymes. It’s nice to have some meter or the same number of syllables per line, but not required. Paste your poem into the comment section with your name, city, and state (no need to list your last name or email address if you don’t want to). No submission fee.
DEADLINE: April 30 midnight (***Deadline extended to May 1, midnight EST). Winner announced May 10.
PRIZE: Free Society of Classical Poets 2016 Journal due out later this spring.
JUDGE: Classical poets staff and advisory board will judge (which means they can’t compete, sorry)
Featured Image: “Candidates for Girton College” by Frederick Brown, 1884.
in the midst of fog and haze
a light will always steer the way
Mommy don’t be mad if I shout scream stomp and loudly vent
When I master my most obnoxious behavior I’ll run for President
Knowledge, bestow thy light upon the mind,
Lest pleasures waste and lucent trifles blind.
Fleeting away with each passing moment,
Only fools spend all time in atonement.
Susan
Brooklyn, NY
Suchitra G. Das
Temporal bodies of endless desire; bustle to create, hustle to acquire,
Seeking immortality in Hades’ lair; we succumb to lures beyond repair.
After Practice
I am really thirsty and tired.
Too bad the milk’s expired.
Carly McGrath
Fifteen
Pawling, New York
I sympathize truly, my dear,
But, as you see, I have a beer.
Beer and old men she doesn’t see.
She has an older brother: Me…
I bid you adieu and out the door –
Much better the night than on the floor.
Real love comes not with Cupid’s arrows
But with shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows.
Earth is a sphere of poverty and wealth;
Its two sides nurture and betray its health.
From age to age treat all as equal.
Then at life’s end you’ll love the sequel.
very good/succinct
Thank you. I hope this couplet will earn me a copy of the Annual anthology.
I can’t afford to buy it. I’m just a poor pensioner in South Africa!
I lived as best I could, and then I died:
be careful where you step; the grave is wide.
“Epitaph for a Child of the Holocaust,” Michael R. Burch, Nashville, TN
What comfort, by such fairest vision made,
Gives heart unto the fondness of parade–
What is word and sight, this poetry?
If not a bird and flight and soul to free
Jesse Laine, Toronto, Canada
Fear not, in the crisis, you are not to blame
Weep not, Goddess Isis, it’s just a name
Fear not, in the crisis, you are not to blame
Weep not, Goddess Isis, it’s just a name
Gayani Siriwardena
Colombo
Sri Lanka
George may have kissed a girl and made her cry,
But now they’re married and she bakes him pie!
In the skies a flying white dove,
gets lost in the endless sea of love.
In the skies a flying white dove,
gets lost in the endless sea of love.
I spent all night chasing the white rabbit
but I never could grab it
Muncie,IN
People calls her a whore
But she lives behind that door.
Silently witnessing the madness of the world,
The pine tree stands, arms upstretched towards God.
A hundred birds on still seas sleep,
As one sinks soundless towards the deep.
A.R. Harmon
New Orleans, LA
Die stances! What’s accord-conversation?
Instances of discord-conservation.
Change
Glancing over my shoulder, but the horizon calls again
Another place is waiting for me to attend
It’s happening inside, the change of mine
Long fingers are shooting out like new vines
Bubbled up expectations are squashed together
Gone is the emptiness of despondency with whatever
Beautiful in the distance of its own kind
Leaving the way open for new possibilities to find
The first steps might be uncertain and daunting
Fuelled by an eagerness to bring relief in a world that’s haughty
Uncomfortable at first, hope, faith and love covers the rough edges
Push and pull slowly, holding steady the growth of relationships
A map has been laid out, even before our time
Roads, directions and signs are there to choose, yours and mine
In our hearts and hands the ability has been given to do
Walking our paths of life in who we are and following through
Transition to something different or new is never easy
Moving from one place to another doesn’t happen immediately
What a journey and adventure it could be?
Exploring the unknown with people and things to see
Change is all around us and can’t be stopped
Life is in our hands and what is the cost?
By Lizelle Cloete
In China where the great wall stands, live sadly shackled human hands.
I want the facts that will inform my views.
I don’t need entertainment from my news.