Poetry

  To Whom It May Concern Who writes letters anymore, and in verse? I don't care whether you like it...

O, Where Is Love? by James A. Tweedie O, where is love? You’ll find it in the pain _That binds...

  I thought and thought of pride and pride began to grow and over-ride my common sense until I thought...

by Michael Curtis | excerpted from Occasional Poetry Tradition grows from wisdom, from the accumulated experience of millennia; in poetic...

  a rubaiyat Step gently O' my boy, this 's your first day... light-footed sweet and slow... on sinking clay....

  a villanelle The mortal eyes in time shall wilt away, as fast as breath retreats its kiss from glass,...

. Uncle Joe's Last Stand “Lying, dog-faced pony soldier!” Blurts out Biden, as he scolds her. Eyes unfocused, can’t walk...

  Bongo, bongo, bongo, I don’t wanna leave the Congo, Oh no, no, no, no, no! Bingle, bangle, bungle, I’m...

  The Absolute and Relative Argue with repartee: Ultimate One or Ground or Truth, Or relativity? Through the Hubble’s stupendous...

  The Park Northern pintails brushing blue, the crescendo of their wings, weaving windsong into words some say that, “Up...

  Ilaria Del Carretto was the second wife of Paolo Guinigi of Lucca. Her sepulchre lies in Lucca’s Duomo San...

  The Problem with Socialism Upon Reading Charles Murray's Coming Apart Some sit on clouds and moonburn as they dream,...

Li Wenliang (1985 - 2020) by Dr. Weslie Ubeca Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist, worked in Wuhan; and when he saw...

  Part 1 I wished I’d had a shotgun as I looked out of me window To level at the...

A Child’s Winter Inventory Winter ‘87-’88 Twittering birds; Chattering teeth; Snow coats the trees In an icy sheath. Glittering snow,...

  While walking through the Grand Bazaar In Istanbul, I came upon A man whose name was Al-Jafar. His friendly...

  Two Mistakes is a drama-length poem in metered verse for which I won second place in the Tom Howard...

Bring On the Leeches A condition called aspergillosis, And a touch of marasmus as well, Was the surgeon’s succinct diagnosis....

The Best Poems of 2019: Winners of 8th Annual International SCP Poetry Competition Thank you to everyone who participated! It...

Thank you to every one who participated! The quality of the high school poems submitted this year was stunning.   ...

Thank you to everyone who participated! The quality of submitted translations continues to rise.   First Place ($100 Prize): Margaret...

Sonnet for a Homecoming Best way of all to be welcomed back at last, Returning home from months of life...

  The autumn sun warming keeps rose bushes forming well into the days of December, but frost without warning one...

Proverbs for Engraving onto Imperial Monuments War is the price of freedom. Depths bewilder. The blow aimed at the beast...

  Within the shadow of the fortress wall, I stand agape; such gross, exquisite scale. My bulging eyes attempt to...

An English Ode That famous field where nodding poppies sway In sunlit grass, where souls of all the good Spend...

  Song of the Rose The rose awakens, ere the sky Has wakened to the sun; And we, my one...

Victus a response to William Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus,” from which the first two lines of the final stanza are...

  A Letter to Sir Grammar Dear Sir Grammar: With all kindness and courtesy, may I request, A new package...

  Years ago—I still remember: final Thursday in November, I was in my kitchen cooking food to rival feasts of...

  translation by Anna Leader I do not know what it might bode That I should be so sad, A...

Praise for Fall You float in on a late September breeze with still-warm days and mild, cool nights in tow....

Thank You Sonnet This thanking you in sonnet form might seem Somewhat unusual, but I think it best, Simply to...

  Forgotten The grass has overgrown the weathered stone Since they first placed his body in the ground, And visitors...

Mama My mama took two drinks a year; A shot glass down the gullet— Yet hated bars and abhorred beer....

  Et In Arcadia Ego Oh, that's it, Keko. Pass through. Go ahead. Just walk across my books without a...

  What song shall I sing for a nation divided By politics, race, economics, and power? By what sweet refrain...

The above photographs were taken and submitted by New York City poet Joe Tessitore. We invite readers to pick one...

Translator's note: The following consists of three poems by Jehan (or Jean) Froissart (c.1335–c.1410), translated not very literally but as...

Song at Sunset The sun sets ‘neath the mountain top: __A golden orb that blinks And just for seconds lights...