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.
this is not the last chance to win the contest,
but this is a good chance to try my best.
sun will rise and sun will set,
ever thought why little rabi in the window,is so upset?
you can’t always win,you may have failure,
but you are learning the proper things,make it sure
asansol,west bengal,india,
i am a high school student
Love is born in your soul through soft, tender sighs
Then flies out of control as it Personifies.
A Drive I Used to Know
Road of pink blossoms to Majestic Woods.
Once was Phillies Bridge, now Nostalgic Way.
Newburgh, New York
So lonely, creeping each his way
Go only predator and prey.
Brisbane, Aus
All faithful, down the caterpillar highway
Go others – I insist it isn’t my way.
Brisbane, Aus
There is no fire, how wild soever it rage
To beat the printed word upon the page.
Brisbane, Aus
Still, torture’s not designed to kill
Till all has failed to move the WILL.
Brisbane, Aus
To see with eyes of love is but
To see the dough and not the nut.
Brisbane, Aus
Unless my life should mortal be
It renders not eternity.
Brisbane, Aus
For though to some death is a bitter end
It is to others mercy, and a friend.
Brisbane, Aus
Without my life should draw unto its end
Forsooth I must go clean around the bend!
Brisbane, Aus
Who Can Awaken
Divinely Inspired Poetry, is
my Heart
To Revere the divine, is the origin of Art
note: my own project is called
Divinely Inspired Poetry
What did the icy temperature forbode?
We saw the rocket lift off, climb, explode.
A Rhyme for the Times
It’s always the common folk who must pay
When their leaders go looking for dragons to slay.
David
Chantilly, Virginia
Choice is the eternal doctor of fate
Medicating the Millennium’s great
Old hawks or new demagogues, to the right or left bent,
Weighs not, where drones their gift, to its next young recipient.
My room
My room to speak is closing in
As walls of talk around me spin.
A witness harassed by government goons
And protesters are called Vince Foster loons.
Move over sweetly fathomless, there’s a new stranger in our bed.
I asked him only for a little warmth. well, he pissed on me instead.
andy, colorado springs, colorado
Spring Tulips
The searing wind sighs and folds into morn,
soothing pink budded mouths like a newborn.
Poppy Crazy with no relief kiss
Poppy Crazy opium bliss
Experience and innocence join hands,
enabling us to thrive through life’s demands.
In the midst of this summer,
Blooms the seasons of life’s desires.