by phillipw | Oct 10, 2026 | Sonnet
As Much an Idiot as Aristotle, Cicero, Ovid, Spenser and Shakespeare I will knock at your Gate in the darkness where white Petals disappear. ~ Kyorai [Englished by Phillip Whidden] By Ragesoss – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,...
by phillipw | Oct 10, 2026 | GE, JA, JE, MA, SA
For Jen and Maiko Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I wore a fake tiara once for both Of them, for students from my past. It was as if I then fulfilled my oath (Unspoken oath). One’s father was aghast...
by phillipw | Oct 9, 2026 | AN, MO, WH
The Reverend Slope “In the gloom of the temples there are lights here and there.” ~R. H. Blyth, Haiku, Summer-Autumn, vol. 3, 279 For Donald who became a Roman Catholic Across millennia the temples span Our darkness. They are best when they are grim. Caves...
by phillipw | Oct 9, 2026 | AU, CA, SI, WH, WI
Glorious Cape Canaveral Soprano Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He finds himself unable to construe The dead gardenia plant among the stone Grave markers any other meaning’s true Construction than a...
by phillipw | Oct 9, 2026 | BU, DE, RE
Kyoto Shrines Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Inside the temples there beneath the trees Love’s lights remain aglow. Beside the eaves Of holy places as if under seas Religion offers solace as from leaves...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2026 | JA, RE
Sacred Sects and Shinto Shrine Because of Grief and Woe Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Imagine living where a street is lined With temples and with weeping willows, range Of willows and of temples, life...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2026 | CH, ST
“almost mad with ecstasy” ~ Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditation A man of limbs, a man of limbs and limbs Who cut through limbs and cut through life, appeared As if theophany, he requiring hymns. Not quite theophany he disappeared In lightning’s flash, slashed in...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2026 | CH, MY, ST
Saint Teresa of Avila Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem His thoughts were as a mystic dreams alone And maybe, thus, a pure validity. His loves were like a many legged, high throne That rules a cosmos of...
