by phillipw | Nov 5, 2024 | LO, UN
The Featherless Singing Phoenix Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If he were tall and baritone, perhaps Your heart would grow the ears to hear his soul, But as things are he hears your interest...
by phillipw | Nov 4, 2024 | DO, FA, HE, IV, PH, WH
Big Eyes, Bigger Insight Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I dare you all to tell me what you see In eyes the farthest to the photo’s right. Clairvoyants alone might hold the key To fathom out...
by phillipw | Nov 4, 2024 | Uncategorized
Encoded Uncertainty Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The tiny poet sits up on the lap Of Mama, neither clueing what the years Ahead will hold. A family never has a map Of futures, no...
by phillipw | Nov 4, 2024 | DO, FA, HE, IV, PH, WH, WO
The Tidy Family Composition Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We see him in his 1950s suit. Beside him sits the alien he wed; Her hairstyle would turn E.T. dumb and mute. Of course, this...
by phillipw | Oct 30, 2024 | Uncategorized
Advice from the Cavern at Delphi Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Let feathers of God’s silence lift your ears Above the blare, the skirl near you, the sound Of Thursday prose. Await the...
by phillipw | Oct 29, 2024 | BI, CH, CL, DE
Ever Sere Depression: Blank Eyes, Lips, Ears Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The place is dark. Its tenses, all, are stark. Its tense today is black as ebony As God imagined it before His spark...
by phillipw | Oct 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
Fire Inside His Will His eyes have Titan clouds inside them, clouds (Prometheus in color) long before He met the beak. His pupils have white shrouds Like cataracts to hide from him the war Between all gods and men. This means his hope Lacks clarity...
by phillipw | Oct 26, 2024 | MY, PA, SA
Absolute Whole Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Illusion and Enlightenment are one. Illusion and Enlightenment are two. Both dream and firefly fluttering each shun Full grasp, but floating,...
by phillipw | Oct 25, 2024 | FI, IN, MA, OB
Visibly Loud Emotion Recollected in Hostility Your thoughts (on seeing me) expand so proud Inside your skull that I can nearly see Their force despite the bone encasement, loud Enough for irises to file. Your spree Of ploys about me now revealed include A purple...
by phillipw | Oct 25, 2024 | CA, SA
Dam Sluice Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Acts 9: 18 Some people, many maybe, think it hard To cause a poem (or a painting just As much). They think the challenge is a sard Too...
by phillipw | Oct 24, 2024 | IN, RI
Apprehension Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You think that you are seeing him because You see his face and hair. Of course you know That other parts are hidden like the laws Of physics...
by phillipw | Oct 23, 2024 | AN, MA, RO, SE
Antelope Canyon, Valentine Cavern Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The caves of love, romantic love, each old Like stone they carve through, wait inside the chests Of boys and men. Each curving...
by phillipw | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
Adolescent Philosophy Is Wet Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When hair on chest is not quite new or old Long after armpits make announcements, too, Young males are dragged along in being bold In...
by phillipw | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Purpose of Preying Plumes Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Do fledging on your heart and feathers on Your mind. Your eyes might need some feathers, too. The point is flight beyond yourself, a swan...
by phillipw | Oct 21, 2024 | Uncategorized
Whoever Heard of Surging Love in Holland? Can deep romance occur in boring, flat Terrain? Not even in Italian fields With cypress trees, tight shapes, can hearts combat The boredom of a sort that never yields The passion that romance requires. No notes Of music can...
by phillipw | Oct 19, 2024 | BO, BR, CH, FL, GL, IN, TI
A Glass Bubble Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem His childhood, calm, unlike a corrida Entirely, (much more like a mountain lake), Was like lagoon waves lapping Florida Marina shores. The...
by phillipw | Oct 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
Venus by Botticelli, Diadoumenos, Johann Sebastian Bach Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Perfection has its drawbacks. It destroys Descendants in their hopes to make an art That breathes new beauty. ...
by phillipw | Oct 17, 2024 | Uncategorized
Similar Sense Twin Sonnets: Paired Sonnets A Fair Lot with Bucephalus “How fair a lot to fill Is left to each man still.” ~ Matthew Arnold “Sohrab and...
by phillipw | Oct 16, 2024 | AL
Sunrise and Evening Star and Clearest Calls The Virgin Birth, Divinity of Christ, Existence or the non-existence of One God or more, no matter how spliced, sliced Are symbols we should nurture, even love Them if they prove as fruitful as the tree That Jesus cursed was...
by phillipw | Oct 16, 2024 | AC, PA
Joy in Sameness, Difference, Acetyline Smokelessness Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The poetries of life, the poetries In life (if such things do exist) remain Forever, even, much the same. Degrees Of...
by phillipw | Oct 14, 2024 | BU, CH, MY, UN
Absolute Whole Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Illusion and Enlightenment are one. Illusion and Enlightenment are two. Both dream and firefly fluttering each shun Full grasp, but floating...
by phillipw | Oct 14, 2024 | AN, DY, GE, MA, SC
Gold and Copper Living Gaul Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Here armored, gilt and copper, copper breast And gilt of knee with shin guard shaped in gold, He rests with dots upon his hairless chest....
by phillipw | Oct 13, 2024 | PE
~ Phillip Whidden Apotheosis We want incisors on the skull of hate To bite it till it gives up music, art And epic thoughts, yes, all of loving’s freight Desired. We want those teeth to gnaw the heart Until it yields the mathematics of Our highest beauties,...
by phillipw | Oct 13, 2024 | PA
Farther Than an Undetected Star, but . . . Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We know that nothing can be further from Us, further than the past. The past is gone Much farther than orations from the dumb....
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2024 | SQ, TR
Truer than True Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Those things inside our throats are waiting for Their meaning. Music sung begins as notes Which once inside the mouth might want to soar...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | BL, WI
Universalist Units Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If grains of sands hold universes, then The cosmoses are grains of sand. The sense Is clear, the logic locked, and so the...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | IM
God’s in This World, All’s Pyrite in Heaven “God’s in His heaven– All’s right with the world!” ~ Robert Browning When poets enter other people’s brains, Especially the made up ones, the threat Is like paradisal tree that...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | Uncategorized
Over Millennia The autumn, with tall steppings like giraffes, Brings colors taller, taller than the rest Of seasons. Graceful, slim months come like laughs Of palettes, legs and necks in step and blessed Like warmer spots, a million autumn leaves Upon...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | LO, ME, PH
Pinioned Prescriptions: Two Sonnets Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Ornithological Therapy If birds obliged, they might resolve to aid Us in disorders of the heart and mind. The robin might...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | AR, FU, WO
Recessional Marche Triumphale ~ Sigfrid Karg-Elert Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Throughout the chancel and the nave fall flowers In colors edged the space with petals, form And shape. Despite the...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | AR, FU, WO
“while unending ages run”. . . and the Obscure Poet Joshua 10:12-14 The printed program had those words within It from a hymn. An irony was caused. The service was about as long as sin Has ruled the Church. Apparently time paused. The service stretched and...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | BE, FU, GE, JE, LU, PY, SP
Retort to an Unthinking Funeral Ceremony “Daur ye say Mass in my lug? ~ Jenny Geddes Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The priestess said that God loves everything He made. I kept my seat. I did...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | AR, FU, RO, WO
“Nor the moon by night” ~ Psalm 121 Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Please never interfere at night, God. Let The moon strike any time it wants. I need It. Keep the sun away, but, please, God get The...
by phillipw | Oct 6, 2024 | LO
The Interpretation of a Cherry Tree Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If I were like a tree limb, I would sleep As if in blossom like a cherry tree, Not just a branch. My secrets I would keep Inside me...
by phillipw | Oct 2, 2024 | MO
Mockingbird’s Song as Colors Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Northern Mockingbird singing. (yNorthern Mockingbird singing. (youtube.c The mockingbird sings lavishly, and less Like mist of rainbows,...
by phillipw | Oct 2, 2024 | Uncategorized
Loveliest of Trees — an Antidote to Autumn Foliage Imagine drinking saké underneath The cherry blossoms. Saké and the food Are not about our deaths and joys — a wreath Of loss and life. This day is for the brewed Sak-ura-flavored drinks, the pink of blooms, The...
by phillipw | Oct 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
No Matter Where You Bathed Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem No matter where you bathed, the water would Have turned to gold, a liquid gold that gods Would know. Your black dream hair was like a hood,...
by phillipw | Oct 1, 2024 | CH, RO, ST, WE
All Muddled Up as if a Nightmare, Us Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem In dreamland you returned to me from death. Because our dreams are strange, strange, strange without Compassion, colorless as Arctic...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Things Fall Apart When We Fail to See Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Some poets aren’t the prophets of the world. At times these poets come too small. When Yeats Pronounced a dissolution deeply swirled...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The purity escapes, is hard to grasp Unless you do it with your handless soul. The purity escapes. No latch or hasp Can hold it since you know the unseen whole Is...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Silence is Only Silence Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The moon has never made a pond grow dark Or deep, or punched a hole in it, nor made A poem underneath the wet, or shark To lunge. If...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Out of Joint with Petty Time Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If you are filled with contradictions, you Have hope and not despair alone. You may Not be a Hamlet with a prince’s view Of kings and...
by phillipw | Sep 27, 2024 | CE, DE, LA, MA
November Calm Forgets Them Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We want to sleep as pears and apples lined Up in the autumn thinking not of graves. Our cemeteries are too much refined. New England’s basements...
by phillipw | Sep 26, 2024 | BL, CR, SA
Cosmic Regurgitation Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Black holes are darker than the darkest spheres Of planets. You might fear them if you saw Them. Even more the darkest holes cause smears...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
“Ready to be anything, in the ecstasy of being forever” ~ Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia If we exist forever, well past time, Mere time, our lives will be much fuller than Our slim imaginations. We will climb Past Alpine heights, more star-like, than a man On...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
Ghost Sharks Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Ghost sharks are sharks and not. These sharks, these fish Pre-dated sharks and rays for eons. Ghosts In their appearance they look...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | DE
Brevity as Gasps Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Too seldom women feel themselves like dew And men less seldom even. Life cut short Like lightning is a thought we seldom view Though close...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
“And Man Became a Living Soul” Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem ~ Genesis 2:7 Consider what your soul wants most of all, The bhumisparsha not required. The palm Holds fingers pointing out to...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2024 | RE
Back Garden Universal Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The dew upon the petal of the rose Remains undyed, a purity of red, A purity of crimson drops transpose To brightness held up in a flowerbed Like...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
Heaven and Earth “Eternity is in love with the productions of time.” ~ William Blake When gods get bored, they leave eternity And step through gauze-like curtains into time. While being trapped in their supernity, They yearn for thrills on earth and...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
My Hermitage Where I Sit in Isolation Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Perhaps I’ll build a hut just off a trail In Appalachian mountains far away From everyone and everything, derail The rush, block out...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Garden of Moksha, Fragrant Orchids and Night-blooming Cereus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The petals of eternity will bloom, Or never will, because of you and me. The good that we create will...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
Words Do Not Have to be Gilded on Ivory Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The tatters down below the lines he writes Take on a meaning. There the smudgy stains Incurred inside his shopping bag are...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
Transcendent Escape from Silliness Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Why are people called Buddhas After they die? Because they don’t grumble anymore, Because they don’t make a nuisance Of themselves...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Western Pure Land Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Amida made a vow to save us all, All creatures in their incarnations. Love And mercy lift us. Other saviors fall Far short of such...
by phillipw | Sep 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
Leaden Jewels “When the half-gods go, The gods arrive.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Abandon the religion you were taught. It seemed like diamonds set in white gold rings, But now you see the truth. Some truths are not Religion if they lack...
by phillipw | Sep 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
Like Us and Not Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The moon becomes its crescent shape, then full, Then phases back to crescent. In the day It disappears. The ocean feels its pull. The...
by phillipw | Sep 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Women Trapped in a Convex Volcanic Mirror Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Obsidian, a lump of ancient black, Is held against a woman’s palm. She grips Its roughness in her hand, its flesh quite...
by phillipw | Sep 21, 2024 | Uncategorized
Adoration Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I want the night to lose its blindness, take Its blindfold off for angels’ searing sight. I want a fissure caused by earth’s crust’s quake To...
by phillipw | Sep 21, 2024 | CH, ST, UN
Unconcern Separated by the Thickness of Hot Skin Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Your blood was always free of light for me. You kept your secrets utter in between The women. Bleeding like a maple tree...
by phillipw | Sep 20, 2024 | Uncategorized
“A Man of Original Inactivity” ~ Ikkyū A nothingness is where we come from, writes A poet, and we go to nothing, then Insists we’re like a bird, in that, in mead flights Through Viking halls goes out the window, men Not noticing. It flies from night to night, From...
by phillipw | Sep 19, 2024 | BU, HI, MO, RE
Not Just Nirvana The meaning of the Passion does not quite Fit in with Buddha’s or the Hindus’ way So near enough one fifth thinks Passion’s blight. The point is in escaping it, its sway. Samsara is at best a dirtiness That reels out incarnations,...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | LA, SI
Outside the Realm of Words Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Words after all,” he said, “are only words ; And I have heard so many in these few days ...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Mind is Not Just Watercolors Washed by Misty Breezes in an Oriental Picture Frame Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Our consciousness, that thing we call our mind When it is walking wide-eyed in the...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
A Disappearing Fact All sins in every place and every time Are sins, not matter what. The sins long past Are hard for us to realize. Each crime That we have not committed like the vast Ones, Buchenwald and Auschwitz, we can not Quite deal with, never...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | IN
Red Letter Day and South American Spice Today I spooled out sonnets, sonnets, ten Of them, extruding all like plastic knives, Or forks, or spoons. They spilled again, again, Again as boring as Solomon’s wives Became to him, perhaps, each plaything thin As plastic...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
Matthew Parris Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Perhaps you have a favorite columnist Who writes with wit and cleverness about The news. I do. For years he hasn’t missed The most important...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
A Little Child Shall Impede Them Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The mind, says Buddha, waits as blank and mild Before its birth as crystals made of snow. The mind waits flawless, waiting for a child...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
Just Being Yourself, According to Your Nature Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I’m sorry, Henry David. Pleasure for You differs from the pleasures of the rest, But . . . pleasure’s pleasure. At your...
by phillipw | Sep 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, a Painting Paid for by Her Baronet, She Loved by More than Just the Viewer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem By John Singer Sargent – Own work by Ad Meskens., Public Domain,...
by phillipw | Sep 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
Cmp siti n Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Not Christmas Eve, not Easter Evensong, But just a Tuesday near cathedral bells Come snows as melodies, produce a throng Of beauties, whisper in their sacred...
by phillipw | Sep 14, 2024 | Uncategorized
Know Thyself Inside Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Most men and women feel that utter Truth Lies somewhere far outside them like a star Beyond another galaxy. A sleuth More like a saint or...
by phillipw | Sep 14, 2024 | AE, BE, ES, IR
All Ways Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The figure of the Real Man Standing there, Just a glimpse of him,– And we are in love. ~ Ikkyū Two Years...
by phillipw | Sep 14, 2024 | BO, PE
For Bonnie Petroschuk Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A different kind of reader hovers here And there. Her realm of readers does not need To understand the mystic meanings’ sphere Of lines. She does...
by phillipw | Sep 13, 2024 | AU, DE, FA, MO
Autumn Reincarnation or Moksha Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When autumn comes, comes wisdom made of fierce Transcendence, beauty of the hues of fire And death, the beauties, harshness, force to...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | AU, LA, PR, RE
Goodnesss, Truth and Beauty, All A torch with smoke and gods unknown despatched The darkness, making more than art, much more. The spirit kingdoms, kin to men’s, were snatched Occult from realms unpainted, made to soar From mere reality and sent above To walls...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
Pre-Vatican II In Lascaux caverns far inside the dark Where flambeaux flared the only light, a hand Stroked holiness along the stone. The stark Necessity for human minds to brand Eternity with what they worship found Fulfillment. Nearly physical...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | CH, JE, SP
Questing Everywhere Except Inside Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Too many try to live by trifles taught Them by a fast-filled Buddha or a saint, Pastel in spirit by the time they sought His insights...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | IN, PO
The Greek Word “Muein” Says “Do Not Utter” Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You keep your mouth shut till the moment comes That mysticism enters you. That light Floods in until your inspiration...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | AD, PO
The Computer Room Replaces the Bedroom Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Men used to disappear in mistress ways, Their mistresses agreeing that a wife Was worth disdain. While in the bedroom blaze Of lust...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
Tree Surgeon, You Did Not Heal Thyself Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If you had been a tree, the problem would Have been your roots. Your height reached up as high As Absalom suspended. Fatherhood...
by phillipw | Sep 9, 2024 | CH, OL
Colossal Crimes Called Civilization Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Heroic heads of hammered stone lay vast Beneath the steaming soil for centuries, held In secret hiding from us all a past...
by phillipw | Sep 8, 2024 | LO
Perfect Chinese Calligraphy Brushed on Rice Paper Rolled with Pain like Disappearing Ink Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I wrote you ivory letters, alphabets Of love, more beautiful than hieroglyphs Of...
by phillipw | Sep 7, 2024 | AR, BE, RE
Rimbaud Lived at 165 Kings Road in Reading, Berkshire, from August to December, 1874 Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Two times today he passed the mansion where A tamed down Arthur Rimbaud stayed up in...
by phillipw | Sep 6, 2024 | KA, LI, ST
Nō Theatre in Slow and Slower Sadomasochism Motion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “eternity shows itself in love with the productions of time” ~ R. H. Blyth, Zen and Zen Classics, vol. 5, p.125 Eternity...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
White, White, White “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh” He wore a diadem of frost, a ring Of snowstorm. Both of them protected from The little thing called love. They meant he’d cling To more important things. To overcome The little trash of love a...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2024 | UN
No Pool of Siloam Here The eyes of hurricanes he sharpens with When turning looks to one who loves him. Storm Occurs inside this heart which yearns. A pith Of blankness made of iron not very warm Is what he offers. Whirlwinds maybe, more Like spawned...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2024 | UN
Unignited Love “The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and for ever” Ghazals have been around as long as fire Has filled the hearts, the arteries and veins Of men with fragrances of male desire, The smoke of torment rising from their pains In...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2024 | MU, SY
Perfume as Music in Christ’s Ears Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If you could play a sky-time orb, which one Would you pick up? The moon as tambourine Might fill your night-time, or the midnight sun...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2024 | ME
As Crazy as Allen Ginsberg Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Imagination is a bit too small Inside my brain. I can’t imagine why An Indian chef would ruin food, appal It with green peas, or...
by phillipw | Sep 3, 2024 | HE, RE, SA
Avila Cathedral Interior by Heinrich Hermanns Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal” Imagine turning richness into haze Of mystic light and...
by phillipw | Sep 3, 2024 | DE, Uncategorized
Gravity Bends Galaxies’ Light Even on Curly Black Hair Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Because you slipped forever into death, A sleep forever darker than mere sleep, An ebony more black than stone, no...
by phillipw | Sep 3, 2024 | DR
Midnight Madness and Daybreak Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Our dreams swell up inside our outer brains, The upper, mantle layers. Then we see Vanilla visions in our beds. Sight stains Enough...
by phillipw | Sep 3, 2024 | AM, CO
Gored Matadors and Stabbed Bulls Have Ancestors Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Old oceans too have deaths. Seas wither, dry And turn to stone, compacted with their shells And fossils made without an...
by phillipw | Sep 1, 2024 | SP
Dwindling to Battery-operated Glimmer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy found their highest bliss in gazing together at a glow-worm ‘laid safely by itself...
by phillipw | Sep 1, 2024 | AR, Ho, LI, MO, PR, VO
The Lion-Man — 35,000 to 41,000 Years Ago Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When craft, religion, mind first made a part Non-human man, part lion in a cave’s Space, Ice Age times ago, this early art...
by phillipw | Aug 28, 2024 | CA, GR
Kabibi Love and Flowers and Other Things Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Kabibi came to me the first day of My teaching in that Great Rift Valley school. At first I did not know how much my...
by phillipw | Aug 28, 2024 | Uncategorized
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The tears from cavern ice spears slide down, more Like snow, that brief. The entrance where they drip As saltless weeping is like melting hoar Frost caused by...
by phillipw | Aug 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
Like Laocoön and his Offspring Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He sculpts a statue where the brow of stone Is filled with something more than words or lines, Much more than marble poetry, more groan Than...
by phillipw | Aug 27, 2024 | BI, CH, CL, DE, ME
Melancholia Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The dreams reach out as branches from the trunk And try to scratch the brain from far inside. More bark-clamped than a deep-celled troubled...