Poetry Forms

. Honest to God a rondeau I do not know why Sarah died; I only know her parents cried Such tears as only parents shed When infant children die in bed— A grief they did not try to hide. At birth a tumor deep inside Her brain was found and...

. Circles It seems to me that living comes in circles, That nothing, even this, is ever new, That all that we create is a stale rhyme, A now that cannot cover marks of then. It seems to me that every extant thought Comes back again, as sure as fall...

. Who’s the Villain Now? My poems drip with vitriol and gall,Each stanza driving home a heartfelt curse—A side-effect of drinking alcohol Incessantly.  I lack the wherewithalTo temper my intemperate temper; worse,My poems drip with vitriol and gall Since I’ve become an angry man in thrallTo stiffer drinks and grudges...

. We went to a gender reveal. And we had an exceptional meal. __But the host was forlorn __when she unhusked her corn. It was pink instead of blue-teal. Her emotions were on full display. They should have been tucked far away, __entrenched in her chest __or deep in her...

. Hypnosis Come over here, then, and sit in this chair, Gaze at this candle-flame, empty your mind, No need to worry, no need to beware--- I am so patient, so caring and kind. Gaze at this candle-flame, empty your mind Watch the flame flicker entrancing your soul, I am...

Following the introduction below is a translated version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in PDF made free for download for teachers, students, and interested readers by the Society of Classical Poets. It can be purchased in book form on Amazon here. If you download, please consider making a...

. Last Rites Let not the Rock of Ages ever break Or send apostate magi to the stake; A golden era favoring good men Will likely never come around again. This world, in winter, is a dreary place, Devoid of pleasure or enduring grace, But still we stagger toward that...

. A Pox Upon My House a pantoum I heard the hiss of sickness as my mind cracked. I scoured and bleached and reached new hygiene heights. I locked down, muzzled up and shunned all contact--- Its moans and groans still stole my sleep-kissed nights. I scoured and bleached and reached new hygiene heights. Contagion...

. Alfred the Great Alfred the Great was a shy king Who found it not much to his liking __Making do with cornflakes __‘Cos he’d burned all the cakes While hiding his face from the Viking. __ Sweyn Forkbeard It is said that Sweyn Forkbeard Would frequently walk weird. __His...

. read about Geronimo here Geronimo! That is my name; I’ve garnered international fame because I haven’t got TB, or have I? That’s the quandary which has become a running game. Results of skin tests say the same, both positive, but many claim false-positives apply to me, Geronimo! Protesters round...

. Heartfelt Baptism The morning rain that washes this day clean of yesterday's despair, of last night's sleep, and promises to turn the pastures green by falling gently, penetrating deep, is waking spring in me and in the ground while tapping rhythms on the windowpane that lift my heart to...

. A Pantoum of Wager God said to Satan: Have you seen my servant Job, a man who fears God and shuns evil. Satan replied: You’ve bought him with blessings. Take them away and he’ll spit in your eye. God said to Satan: OK, I’ll take that bet. He’s yours. Have...

. In Love's Counting House by Charles d’Orléans (1394–1465) One day I asked my heart to heed A claim for pay that I commended, And we in secret soon agreed That he would tell, for pains expended In risky service, what descended To me as earnings from Love’s sweets. Most...

. Haiku How long will it last? Butterflies are in decline. Monarch flutters past. . . Nevermore (and Somewhat Less) Beside a little country church, The ravens on the gravestones perch To do, not what you might expect, But are restrained and show respect. All dressed in black, a sober...

. Autumn's Hand I reach across for autumn's hand, When leaves begin to ride the air, To walk amid the changing land. Though I have yet some days unplanned, And winter waits to bring her glare, I reach across for autumn's hand. I pine for spring and summer sand, But...

. Leave Our Kids Alone!  “Fauci: Officials Will Decide on COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendation for Children Aged 5 to 11 Soon” ---Epoch Times Headline 9/20/2021 The mask is off.   Come see the twisted face Of devilry beneath each wily lie. The truth has been erased without a trace To coax the mild and make the wild comply. Potions in perpetual...

. Cancel Madame Butterfly today! Such racist music cannot soothe the soul. Let’s never show another hate-filled play. The King and I must also cause dismay Since white composers can’t know ethnic dole. Cancel Madame Butterfly today! We also need to cancel the ballet. Swan Lake promotes a privileged white...

. Heroes Where are they now---the bold who brave The choke of smoke to ways that pave The path to breath beneath wide skies? Where are the ears that hear the cries Of souls they fight death’s bite to save? Through 9/11’s hellish wave Of terror, angels fought and gave...

Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2021 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . WINNER . Fog enshrouds the nightWoven in the heavy mistA thread of fireflies ---Joe Tessitore . . RUNNERS-UP in seasonal order . Spring in the hedgerowsMagpies...

. The starlit sky is filled with smoke ______and men succumb To dread, while folded hands invoke ______to overcome This awful plight; yet prayers heard ______through fervid faith Are breath for Satan. Death’s preferred ______to blows that scaith And wake the human soul. If eyes ______could only find A route...

. a rondel It's funny how a day can go so slow, and yet a year just simply seems to fly. We blink, and then another one goes by. Those winds of change don't ever cease to blow. Time's raging river has an undertow. So quickly does our hourglass run...

. The Secret Garden Beyond these ivied walls grows naught but heather Gorse and broom, the moors engulfed by blows Of bitter, wuthering wind and gloomy weather. This haunted land is barren, bleak and old. But here---within the gate---my garden grows Warmed by sunlight bright as marigold! Enchantment! Every mum,...

. Albert Pierrrepoint (1905-1992) served as one of GreatBritain’s chief executioners from 1931 to 1956, duringwhich time he hanged over 500 persons. All the namesand events mentioned here are real. My father and my uncle had the job.I learned from both of them those little thingsThat one should know in...

. Hagi at My Study Window hagi or bush clover, a symbol of poetry, blooms as summer turns to autumn. Paper shapes the future’s surface, Paperweights the present state. Inkstones hold a scholar’s treasure: Ink, the past in pine-soot sticks. Water droppers moisten motion Brushes pensively perform, Taken from a...

. Rondeau The rondeau echoes its refrain in a subtle way, just as rain at times will fall, not in torrents, but in a fine mist, the wood fence, weathered gray, resisting the stain of water. So, the reader’s brain, lulled, may not at first sustain the expectation and suspense...

. Winners announced here. Write a haiku and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify and may be deleted if it does not. See traditional haiku requirements here. Note that a haiku is like a a painting of...

. The Lion Who Thought She Was a Zebra a fable East Africa is where this lion’s tale Takes place---a land of rugged plains of grass, Acacia trees with thorns as sharp as nail, And wild beasts of every shape and class: Giraffes and warthogs, elephants, baboons! Egrets and flamingos...

. Heliotrope Phaeton, son of the god Helios, attempted to drive his father’s celestial chariot. His inexperience caused him to burn up part of the earth and the heavens, so he was killed by a thunderbolt from Zeus. The frightened gods all breathed in deep relief (Thunderer, thanks! You’ve saved...

. O Say Can It Be? "How long you been suckin’ up oxygen, friend? For seventy years? Well now that’s gonna end! And moochin’ off Social Security too? The Great People’s Zoo is the next stop for you! You’ll be in their keep, but not for very long, Till they...

. Brimstone I sniff a whiff of brimstone in the tone Of smooth effusions oozing from his tongue. A lick of sulfur clings like stale cologne To slickest syntax eloquently strung Like lustrous pearls to wrap around the throat That swallows every sickening cliché. The polished bleating from a cheating goat Is honed to lead the sweetest sheep astray. I hear his cloven hoof tap to the beat Of hapless hearts all fed the plumpest pledge--- That putrid fruit the...

. Choose a famous poem and write it in limerick form, putting the title of the original poem at the top. Please fit your chosen poem into one limerick (five lines) only. See "How to Write a Limerick." Post your limerick in the comments section below. See examples: . Nothing...

Reviewed Book: Light In the Darkness—The Poetry of Peter Hartley, Dunecrest Press, 2021. by James A. Tweedie Peter Hartley writes poems. Good poems. Poems that sing, dance, and soar with the rhyme and rhythm of formal, classical verse. Poems that open our eyes to see the world in new and...

. Ferdinand the Freestyler Angela Jackson is the Poet Laureate of Illinois and Jacqueline Jackson is a poet frequently published by Illinois Times. As I sit here chillin' and relaxin',There's some questions I need to be askin':Is the world upside down? Do I smile when I frown?Are those "poems"  by Angela Jackson?...

. The Carnelian Ring: A Still-Life Footfalls echo in the memoryDown the passage which we did not takeTowards the door we never openedInto the rose-garden. —T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton I think of a walled garden, graced with trees:Magnolia, fig, and cherry, while grapevines(Just pruned enough to be under control)Intertwine with...

. Edgar Allan Poe was known for strange and mysterious tales, in poetry and prose. Perhaps fittingly, the circumstances surrounding his premature death at the age of 40 were also strange and mysterious. (Read about the circumstances here and here.) Thus, with the help of poet Phil S. Rogers, the...

. Grimm   The days of steering princesses from danger With sweet salvation’s life-sustaining kiss From shining-armored knight or regal stranger Are now considered horribly remiss. Young damsels in distress with golden tresses (Rapunzels with a Rumpelstiltskin fear) Will wince at any prince whose kisser blesses Them with a peck as peril's footsteps near. The same applies to victims of the spindle, All...

. When the statues were felled the crass multitude cheered. Historians wept while the rioters yelled. Society crumbled. Debate disappeared. Where fraud gorged on Truth only anarchy dwelled. The protests unprincipled radicals held Preached self-loathing dogma to which they adhered With threats we must join them, by choice or compelled....

. Our Father loves us, one and all. He lifts us when our spirits fall. He knows the song of heart and mind; He hears the fears of humankind In every earnest, earthly call. He guides us through the grind and gall Of guilt and guile; the devil’s thrall From where...

. It was only a two stone cat, Now what do you think about that? If it sat on your lap, Both your femurs would snap. It was twenty-eight pounds of pure fat. Its owners would feed it on fish, Which they placed every day in its dish. Where it...

. Limerick I have lived my whole life about me And at last I can finally see That my choice only smothers, Life is all about others And the truth really does set you free. . . Senryu I was born to dance. Alas, I sat on my ass When given...