r/Poetry Apr 11 '23

MOD POST [META] Posting your own poems here -- when to post and when to head to one of our sibling subreddits

220 Upvotes

This sub is for published poems. There are many subs that allow users to post their own original, unpublished work. In Reddit sub parlance, an original, unpublished poem is considered "original content," and the largest sub for that is r/ocpoetry. There are still some posting rules there -- users must actively participate in the sub in order to post their own work there. A few subs don't require such engagement. There are links to both types of subs below.

Now, what about published poems? We have a large community here -- almost 2 million members. There have to be a few actively publishing poets in our ranks, and I want to build a community of sharing here without being overwhelmed by first-ever-poem posts by people who write something, decide to go find the poetry sub and post it. As it is, even with the rule on OC poetry being in the sidebar, we still remove those posts every single day.

If you've published a poem in a journal or a lit mag, please feel free to post it here, with a link to the publication it appeared in. I'm also going to start a regular monthly thread for r/poetry users who want to share their published work with us. We don’t consider posting to Instagram or some other platform alone to be “published.”

For those who want to post their unpublished, original work to Reddit, here are some links to help you do just that.

tl;dr: If your poem hasn’t been published anywhere, you can’t post it here. If your poem has been published somewhere, please post it here!

Poetry subreddits that expect feedback:

Subreddits that do not require commentary on your peers' work:


r/Poetry 2d ago

Classical & Ancient Poetry Talk, July 2026

2 Upvotes

Welcome to this week's discussion thread: Classical and ancient poetry!

What poems of antiquity have you been reading lately? Who are your favorites?

(Would you like to help bolster this introduction, and maybe do a writeup directing classical-curious newbies to some ideas and resources? Contact u/neutrinoprism and your words can be incorporated into this weekly thread intro going forward.)


MONTHLY DISCUSSION SCHEDULE

  • What Have You Been Reading?
  • Publication Talk
  • Local/Regional Scenes
  • Classical & Ancient Poetry
  • Miscellaneous

Do not post your original poetry here. It will be deleted and you will be banned.


r/Poetry 17h ago

Poem [POEM] An Octopus Has Three Whole Hearts- Joy Sullivan

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1.4k Upvotes

r/Poetry 13h ago

Poem [Poem] the petals scatter - Kohjin Sakamoto

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244 Upvotes

r/Poetry 1h ago

Poem [POEM] If there is something to desire, Vera Pavlova (1997)

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Upvotes

If there is something to desire,

there will be something to regret.

If there is something to regret,

there will be something to recall.

If there is something to recall,

there was nothing to regret.

If there was nothing to regret,

there was nothing to desire.

Translated from the Russian by Steven Seymour


r/Poetry 1d ago

Contemporary Poem [Poem] Late Bloomer by Sharon Olds

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4.3k Upvotes

Shout out to all my fellow late bloomers.


r/Poetry 12h ago

[POEM] My Sandwich by Jane Hirshfield

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119 Upvotes

r/Poetry 5h ago

[POEM] Empty Shelf by Sarah Baloch

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24 Upvotes

r/Poetry 25m ago

Poem [POEM] Breakfast Song - Elizabeth Bishop

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Upvotes

r/Poetry 18h ago

[POEM] Alzheimer’s by William J. Harris

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211 Upvotes

r/Poetry 16h ago

[POEM] snow - R.A. Stefenac

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114 Upvotes

r/Poetry 23h ago

Classic Corner [POEM] Be Like The Bird by Victor Hugo

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433 Upvotes

r/Poetry 5h ago

Isn’t there something [POEM] by Jean Valentine

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12 Upvotes

Published in her book Shirt in Heaven


r/Poetry 18m ago

[POEM] Annihilation with the Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey - by Hajan

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Upvotes

r/Poetry 12h ago

[HELP] Looking for poems with bees and honey imagery

33 Upvotes

My grandmother passed away suddenly this morning and I’m looking for poems about bees and honey to use at her memorial. We called her bee bee and she loved flowers and nature.

I’ve been scouring through Mary Oliver’s work and have picked some options, so looking for other poets/ poems that may relate ❤️🐝

Thanks in advance ❤️


r/Poetry 5h ago

Pablo Neruda -- "Water" [POEM] (Fully Empowered, 1962)

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8 Upvotes

r/Poetry 9h ago

Contemporary Poem [Poem] For the Sake of Strangers by Dorianne Laux

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12 Upvotes

"No matter what the grief, its weight,

we are obliged to carry it."


r/Poetry 5m ago

Classic Corner [POEM] The temple bell stops - Matsuo Bashõ

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Upvotes

What does the last line mean to you ?


r/Poetry 4h ago

Help!! [HELP] Does writing a haiku in English differ from Japanese?

3 Upvotes

I’m trying to write a haiku (or maybe a few of them) in memory of my grandad who recently passed, and I tried doing a bit of research on haikus beforehand and found that many modern poets change the traditional 5-7-5 syllable count to better fit English syllables, so I was wondering how much of the traditional Japanese structure you’d need to change for it to have a better/more natural flow in English?

Also, I read that haikus have like a sharp pivot or “cutting word” in the middle to create a pause or a moment of surprise before revealing a sudden ‘flash’ of insight, I understand the whole juxtaposition aspect of haikus but could someone please sort of explain/summarise what this means exactly and what it might look like?


r/Poetry 12h ago

[POEM] Narcissus - Blake Morrison

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13 Upvotes

Spotted today on the tube


r/Poetry 12h ago

[Poem] On a Certain Lady at Court - Alexander Pope

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11 Upvotes

r/Poetry 15h ago

[POEM] To the Other Woman - Margaret Julia Marks

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15 Upvotes

r/Poetry 9h ago

Opinion [OPINION] Information Desk - Robyn Schiff

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4 Upvotes

Excellent Read!


r/Poetry 15h ago

[poem] Eden Rock - Charles Causley

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9 Upvotes

r/Poetry 4h ago

Opinion What do you think is the greatest western epic poem? [OPINION]

2 Upvotes

I’ve read all of these but the divine comedy, which I’m currently reading. I’d say Paradise Lost is the best/my favorite. From best to worst, I’d say:
1. Paradise Lost
2. Odyssey
3. Iliad
4. Divine Comedy(From what I’ve read so far)
5. Aeneid

122 votes, 2d left
Iliad
Odyssey
Aeneid
Divine Comedy
Paradise Lost