• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Friday, September 4, 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

‘S O S’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant

October 21, 2024
in Beauty, Culture, Poetry
A A
49
"Saint George Defeating the Dragon" by Johann König

"Saint George Defeating the Dragon" by Johann König

.

S O S

Keep the fleecy wolves from bleating.
Hold the pack of jackals back.
Seize the greedy grubbers eating
Scraps from bowls of those who lack.
Bar the charlatans from cheating.
Quell the yak of quack and hack.
Snare the fat cats trick-or-treating—
Stealing sweets and doling flack.
Spare the chilled from overheating.
Steer the hotheads back on track.
Stop the parrots from repeating
Facts that make the stoic crack.
__Hear our words and heed our wishes.
__Feed the famished bread and fishes.
__Show the cheerless where the bliss is.
__Save__Our__Souls

Leash the war dogs. Splash some splendor
On this sphere of spleen and spite.
Force the shady to surrender
To the dazzle of the light.
Puncture every puffed pretender
With the marvel of your might.
Slay the dragon. Save the tender-
Hearted from the tyrant’s bite.
Fatten hopes (however slender)—
Nourish dreams through famine’s blight.
Warn the fork-tongued, horned offender—
Now’s the time to flee in fright.
__Soothe our pain and smooth our sorrow.
__There is no more time to borrow.
__Bless us with a bright tomorrow.
__Save__Our__Souls

.

.

Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here

RandomPoems

‘Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer’ by Cees Wilerd Bui
Culture

On Oxford University’s Classics Department Proposing to Drop Homer and Virgil, by Ted Hayes

May 4, 2020

  Oxford "University"? Its preference now: diversity. The Homers, Ovids, Virgils--- Now peanuts for the squirrels! This "school" now gives...

A Dizi Gui Translation: Chinese Children’s Poetry
Beauty

A Dizi Gui Translation: Chinese Children’s Poetry

June 4, 2020

  The Dizi Gui (弟子规) is an ancient Chinese text for children that was written in the Qing Dynasty during...

Next Post
‘The Good Life’: A Poem by Rusty Rabon

'The Good Life': A Poem by Rusty Rabon

‘Freakish Tattooing’ by Joseph S. Salemi

'Contemporary Logic' and Other Poems by Russel Winick

‘Homage to Morton of Merrymount’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

'Homage to Morton of Merrymount': A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

Comments 49

  1. Susan Jarvis Bryant says:
    2 years ago

    Adam, thank you very much for this encouraging comment. I’m thrilled you enjoyed the poem and I’m especially glad you enjoyed my quack-and-hack line. I love the aural delights of poetry and try to create poetry that’s fun to read aloud, so I’m particularly pleased that you have homed in on that aspect.

    Reply
  2. Susan Jarvis Bryant says:
    2 years ago

    C.B., I am glowing with pleasure – a comment like this from you is a like a sip of amber nectar in a bitter world.

    Reply
  3. Susan Jarvis Bryant says:
    2 years ago

    For some reason, my replies are not showing up beneath the relevant comments. I think there’s a glitch in the system, and only hope those who are affected by this look lower down the page. I wouldn’t like anyone to think they’re being ignored.

    Reply
Next

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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


  1. BDW on ‘A Prayer of Aristotle’: A Poem by Margaret CoatsSeptember 4, 2026

    Eternal Laws by Esiad L Werecub “The Sun proceeds unmoved…” —Emily Dickinson This figure is not a creator, this self-thinking…

  2. Jeff Eardley on ‘The Estuary’: A Poem by Jeff EardleySeptember 4, 2026

    Margaret, thank you for taking the time to comment. Your work and your analytic contributions are a huge part of…

  3. Jeff Eardley on ‘The Estuary’: A Poem by Jeff EardleySeptember 4, 2026

    Norma, so did I. I recall heading for the sea in an amphibious vehicle called a DUKW. Happy .days indeed.

  4. Margaret Coats on ‘A Prayer of Aristotle’: A Poem by Margaret CoatsSeptember 4, 2026

    Thanks, Bruce, you offer luxurious appreciation of valuable prose which is mostly Greek to us, even when we've learned to…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘Humdrum and Harum-Scarum’: A Lecture on Free Verse, by Robert Bridges (1922)September 4, 2026

    Thank you, Phillip Whidden, for recommending this essay. It's worthwhile comprehending the issues as an intelligent poet and critic understood…

Subscribe to Daily Poems

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

Join 1,634 other subscribers

Recent Poems

  • ‘The Cristero Centennial’: A Poem by Margaret Coats
  • ‘A Potpourri of Aphoristic Verses’ by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘The Estuary’: A Poem by Jeff Eardley
  • ‘A World Without the Wednesday Child’: A Poem by Kimberly Fore
  • The 2026 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition
  • The 2026 SCP International High School Poetry Competition
  • ‘Realistic Reflections’ and Other Poetry by Anna J. Arredondo
  • ‘China Made’: A Poem by Theresa Werba
  • ‘The Savage Moon’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko
  • Poetry Book Review: Love Found, Yearned For, and Lost by James A. Tweedie
  • ‘When Opportunity Knocks’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson
  • ‘Legend of the Griffin’: A Poem by Iryna Hall
  • ‘Government Issue’ and Other Poems by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘Chaucer Announces His Desire to Retire’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman
  • ‘Advantages of Restaurants’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick
  • ‘Bone China’: A Poem by Mary Gardner
  • ‘On the Death of One Too Young to Die’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann
  • ‘This Too Shall Pass’ and Other Poetry by Justin Dasher
  • ‘Humdrum and Harum-Scarum’: A Lecture on Free Verse, by Robert Bridges (1922)
  • ‘Unrest On the Floodplain’: A Poem by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano
  • ‘Latitude and Loss’: A Poem by Martin Briggs
  • ‘Act III’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘God’s Funeral’: A Poem by James Sale
  • ‘Star Festival’: A Poem by Margaret Coats
  • ‘Song of the Frog Princess’: A Poem by Scharlie Meeuws
  • ‘The Odyssey: Nolan and Solot Compared’: An Essay by Michael Curtis
  • ‘Solitude’ and Other Poems by Mary Jane Myers
  • ‘The River Not Taken’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko
  • ‘Totentanz’: A Poem by James A. Tweedie
  • ‘In God Is Our Trust’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

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.