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

221 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 There are many subs that allow users to post their own original, unpublished work. In Reddit sub parlance, an original, unpublished poem is considered "original content," and the largest sub for that is r/ocpoetry.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For those who want to post their unpublished, original work to Reddit, here are some links to help you do just that.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 20h 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 2h ago

Contemporary Poem [Poem] Late Bloomer by Sharon Olds

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937 Upvotes

Shout out to all my fellow late bloomers.


r/Poetry 7h ago

Poem [POEM] In the Battle by Abu l-Hasan ibn al-Qabturnuh

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154 Upvotes

r/Poetry 7h ago

For a Coming Extinction [POEM] by W. S. Merwin

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81 Upvotes

This poem haunts me and I’m grateful for it.

“Tell him / that it is we who are important” rings in my mind all the time


r/Poetry 8h ago

Poem [POEM] Yehuda Amichai - A Man In His Life

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61 Upvotes

r/Poetry 8h ago

Poem [POEM] third deployment - Steve Hodge

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47 Upvotes

r/Poetry 5h ago

Poem [POEM] starry night— – Yu Chang

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21 Upvotes

r/Poetry 19h ago

Poem [POEM] Song of the Anti-Sisyphus by Chen Chen

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273 Upvotes

r/Poetry 19m ago

[poem] The Purple Cow by Gelett Burgess

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Upvotes

Originally published in 1895 in the Lark magazine.

Citation here from the library steps & picture from original format

1895 pic & bio from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Cow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelett_Burgess


r/Poetry 20h ago

[POEM] l(a - E. E. Cummings

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169 Upvotes

r/Poetry 5h ago

[POEM] The Wages by Rae Armantrout

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12 Upvotes

Published in Seneca Review (https://senecareview.hws.edu)


r/Poetry 3h ago

[POEM] In Muted Tone By Paul Verlaine

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7 Upvotes

r/Poetry 15h ago

[POEM] "I Too Am Part Of The Wonder", by Stav Atlan

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56 Upvotes

(see comment for a short explanation!)


r/Poetry 12h ago

Poem Body Remember-C P Cavafy [POEM]

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36 Upvotes

r/Poetry 3h ago

[POEM] Ars Poetica By Paul Verlaine

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5 Upvotes

r/Poetry 8h ago

[POEM] To Some I Have Talked With By The Fire by W. B. Yeats

12 Upvotes

While I wrought out these fitful Danaan rhymes,
My heart would brim with dreams about the times
When we bent down above the fading coals
And talked of the dark folk who live in souls
Of passionate men, like bats in the dead trees;
And of the wayward twilight companies
Who sigh with mingled sorrow and content,
Because their blossoming dreams have never bent
Under the fruit of evil and of good:
And of the embattled flaming multitude
Who rise, wing above wing, flame above flame,
And, like a storm, cry the Ineffable Name,
And with the clashing of their sword-blades make
A rapturous music, till the morning break
And the white hush end all but the loud beat
Of their long wings, the flash of their white feet.


r/Poetry 5h ago

[POEM] "The Other Life" by Raymond Carver

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6 Upvotes

r/Poetry 33m ago

[POEM] Captains in Captivity By Seth Abramson

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Upvotes

r/Poetry 3h ago

Poem [POEM] “Ode to Elliot Smith, Ending in the First Snowfall of 2003” The Crown Ain’t Worth Much by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib

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3 Upvotes

r/Poetry 1d ago

Poem [POEM] Mercy - Joy Sullivan

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2.0k Upvotes

r/Poetry 3h ago

Help!! Does anything rhyme with this [HELP]

3 Upvotes

I’m writing a sonnet for my bf. I’m struggling to find things that rhyme with the word “cherub”. For reference, I have a south English accent.


r/Poetry 23h ago

After a Month of Rain - Linda Pastan [POEM]

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76 Upvotes

r/Poetry 50m ago

Help!! [HELP] What poem says that love and death are the same theme?

Upvotes

It was a poem I read on here a while ago. Perhaps a female author but I'm not sure.

The only bit I remember is that it was talking about themes in poetry, and counted them as three (A B and C - love death and something else), then said that B and C are the same, then arrived at the conclusion that love and death are the same theme too so it's really just one.

I could be wrong, that's just the hazy memory i got left with months after. Does anybody know?


r/Poetry 1d ago

In The Hospital [POEM] by Chen Chen

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122 Upvotes

This poem made me feel. And I admire the winding structure, how when I finish I immediately want to start it again