Poetry

. A Poet First: The Poetry of Thomas Hardy by Adam Sedia Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is known today primarily as one of the great novelists of late Victorian England---and one of the greatest novelists in English. Among his best-known novels are Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of...

. Michael Michael, heaven’s handsomest, most decorated strategist and highest-ranking officer, having vanquished Lucifer was faced with long-term unemployment. Seeking worthwhile redeployment, this veteran of celestial strife settled for civilian life: as mainstay of the Heavenly City, he now directs the Doom Committee. Hence, before the judgement seat in his...

. In the Name of Whose God “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through...

. La Vie en Rose  I came across that daft old ditty “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”And wondered why its lyrics didn’t rhyme “tulips” with “true lips.”I’ve learned, you see, that botany brings great linguistic power---Like formulating works which vaunt the lilac and sunflower!Now, had that song been mine I would...

. The Vile Monkey and the Patient Buffalo ---adapted from a Jataka tale of India A powerful old buffalo Once ranged the Indian countryside. Over the rolling hills, in cool Dark caves and tangled woods, he plied. One day, he found a tree where he could rest And for a...

. Predawn High Sierra Hike The new-moon, star-lit darkness does not hide The beauty that surrounds me on the trail, As silhouettes of trees and mountains guide My feet into the wilderness like braille. For darkness has a beauty of its own, With whispered wind and brook-song beyond sight, As...

. A Ballad of Fortune "Be brave now, my darlin', We're migrating West! Let's pack up our wagon And then take a rest. Tomorrow we're starting--- At sunrise, is best." "But, Jimmy, I'm frightened," His young wife, she said. "The perils are many; We might end up dead. I won't...

. An American Explains (to a Curious Brit) On politics here---well, it twists and it bends, Confusing beginnings with stranger dead-ends. I’m mostly apolitical, shrugging, you see, I listen to all---or to none---let me be. The media swirls like a tempest gone wild, Each outlet insists it has truth undefiled....

. To Truth ---in memory of Charlie Kirk (1993 – 2025) You fly above the flap and fray,Beyond the stir of earthy air.On dauntless tongue, you find the way__To spread your care. Your song is bright and bold and plain,Sung with fire in the faceOf hatred (wracked with raw disdain)__In...

. Blood, Sea ---after Italo Calvino Beyond the blight of urban sprawl, About six hundred yards from shore, A pod of fishing vessels trawl The coastal waters. Sea gulls soar And dip above the crack and spall Of massive piers in search of gore And kitchen scraps. Crustaceans crawl Along...

. The poem "The Loons of Colby Lake" by Michael Pietrack read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/4hQEBDIPrn4 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. On Charlie Kirk and His Assassins Make people think. Engage them in debate. Allow them to articulate with reason The things they think. Defuse their unearned hate And gently guide them back from wrath and treason. Show Christian love and yet an iron hand. Be patient with them, they...

. Four Slogans of Qi Hong In Chongqing, China, August 29th, on high-rise walls, a bold display of anticommunist ideas sprawled. With two sets of projectors and surveillance cameras, Qi Hong sent out into the city these large messages: “It’s only with no communists that China can be new; And...

. A Victorian Dad Advises on Parenthood When children eat their daily gruel, _They must not be heard. Seen, they may be. As for talk, _Not a dickie bird. Slurping’s out, the sniffles too _And if your kids thus vent, Whip them with a birch tree branch _Severely, don’t relent....

. Pamela’s Garden You’ll find her in the garden every day,Her comfort and her confidence so bright.Among the dahlias purple stemmed bouquetHer radiance reflects an inner light. She doesn’t care for those who just pretendto cultivate a feeling for the soil.With loving touch so gentle does she tendher trellis roses...

. Another North The Megalopolis just north of here Rumbles and heaves and slumbers not at all, Though I at evening am not so near To be afflicted by its charmless call. Cicadas’ speech spreads over me this night When I step out from house to darkening grass To find...

. Why She Broke Up with Him Not long before their college graduation, His bright and beautiful four-year girlfriend, With no more than a sudden conversation, Brought their long-happy romance to an end. The guy was devastated, and shut down. He absolutely could not fathom why, Though he’d be leaving...

. Thy Servant Elizabeth _“Well-done, unswerving servant,” _All the church bells rang _On all the roads of England, _While all the angels sang _Above the long procession _That formed her funeral; _The car conveyed her body _As her Christ assumed her soul. _In clashing grief and triumph, _The strong-voiced, iron-tongued...

. To the Venezuelan Drug Runners Sleeping in the Sea To Tren de Aragua—congratulations on your new life as Caribbean flotsam. Hello there, fellows—great to see you there. I guess you never thought you’d be like fish. One minute in a boat, and then a flare Of hot exploding metal....

. Hope By no means has my hope turned to despair. I’ve not the wakeful nights, the woeful gaze Up at the ceiling as I chew the day’s Disasters and a world beyond repair. I’ve not that inner desolation where Your every thought is but a paraphrase Of emptiness and...

. Black Holes Some say the universe is full of holes That suck in all that is. At warp-speed, gone. One wonders where was space-time goes. Like souls, perhaps, through portals to some wide-eyed dawn. Or through a trap door dumped below death’s hell No speck escapes, no world, no...

. Last Minute Change Fowl, tragic days, Hen-house ablaze; Chickens took flight. Tofu tonight? . . A Man Eating Chicken A comma, a pause, Defines the thought, And whether a chicken Eats me or not. . . Musical Chairs And the music stops. No chair for me, I walk away,...

. Prefab Tabernacle They placed their prefab tabernacle there Between the supermarket and the gym And come each Sunday, clad in activewear, From force of habit, happenstance, or whim. But there’s no place for saints nor seraphim Within Eternity’s wan waiting room, So distant from that disconcerting tomb; Just folding...

. Poetic Justice Poetic justice: a literary device whereby virtue is ultimately rewarded and misdeeds punished, but only after an ironic twist of fate. "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them." ---Proverbs 26:27 Our justice system often fails...

. Ned's Bad Day The gear that he intended was reverse,But to his detriment, he put the carIn drive. At least he didn't get too far;And all in all, it could've been much worse. The only other "victim" was a tree,A pine that Ned had scraped along the side.He'd peeled...

. The poem "Libra" by Patricia Rogers Crozier read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/iW1wSaUGp_s Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. Meddling A pair of cardinals build a Maytime nest outside my home, deep in a boxwood tree. My window bids me peek, watch them progress: their secret ways we can so rarely see. Three one-inch eggs, so bluish, speckled-quaint. The female broods, orange-beaked beatitude. Now two have hatched, begin...

. Sunflower Field _A boundless, isle-less sea of green Bestrewn with yellow starbursts gently swaying--- The heavens mirrored, dazzlingly displayed _Upon a rolling sea of jade Where swells and ripples ceaselessly are playing _Upon the fixed supernal scene. A choir of yellow haloes blazing bright With light drawn whence they...

. Hypnos Wraiths of twilight-conjured mist: At last, a prospect of release. Come child, keep our nightly tryst. To you, the wakeful weariest, _I bring unconscious peace. Steal softly past your unlaid ghosts, Ignore the creaking of your stair, Embrace the nightmares you dread most; Your time has come to...

. First Prize: $2,000. Publication on the Society's website and Journal. . Submission Fee: $20 (The fee comes with a free subscription to our monthly e-Newsletter.) . Submit: One to three poems on any topic. Altogether, the poems should total 108 lines or less. First click here to pay the...

. First Prize: $200. Publication in the Society's website and The Society of Classical Poets Journal. . Submission Fee: $5 (The fee comes with a free subscription to our monthly e-Newsletter.) . Submit: One poem on any topic after you pay the $5 submission fee. The poem should be no...

. Surviving the Cultural Revolution Why should this tourist want to take my picture? I’m just a woman who is very old--- He photographs me as I sweep the streets And gather trash to justify my rice. What could I tell this foolish, shallow man Whose camera records but cannot...

. At Brown University, 14 August 2025 It is a fitting name, at least, For every building that I see Is carved from this old color, like Some wise and sprawling, kindly tree. It’s island academia, Amidst a bustling Providence; I sit upon the quad, in thought Of hues that...

. Spacewalk Around earth’s blue-white marble sphere the black is ancient, soundless, near; starry webs burn in dawnlike glare. A rhythm, the unending drone of the star-work being done beats in my brain. I am alone. Sun rounds the planet. Heatless light absolute cold cannot ignite coats my suit’s skin...

. Band of Brothers A picture of two soldiers in their prime. A scribbled note in cursive on the back. “My Dearest Son, if ever comes a time When I am gone, whatever you may lack Or need, just phone this number. When you do, Just tell the man who...

. Coming Attractions (1994) Black is white, white is black, two and two is three. Put your common sense away, all you need is me. I’m the soothing voice, the calming face on your TV. Let me settle all your fears, all you need is me. I’ll raise you up...

. Listen Britannia! Listen Britannia! All ye who would never be slaves. Hear the word of the Lord, He who rescues and saves, _For they who won't hark will dwell in the dark, __And will slump under rule of the knaves. Listen Britannia! Shed all your shackles and chains. All...

. The Best Haiku of 2025 The Winner and Runners-Up of the Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku Competition Judged by J. Thomas Rimer and Margaret Coats (see their remarks below) See all entries here . COMPETITION WINNER Pine shadow stretchesA spine on the grassy fieldUnobtrusively —Rifka Kaplan-Peck . .s HIGH DISTINCTION . aloha print...

. A Reason for Hope __The sky so bright, __The morning mist, __The inbound flight Back to the items on our list __Are all a part __Of one big scene __That makes the heart A diachronic smithereen __Which gropes ahead __To find its place __And make its bed In the...

. Lyrics by Philodemus of Gadara (circa 1st century BC) translated from Greek by Joseph S. Salemi . V.13 Charito is past sixty, and yet still Her lustrous black hair falls in thick cascades; Still those ungirdled breasts stand firm and white As marble cones upon her naked chest; Still...