Big Eyes, Bigger Insight

Big Eyes, Bigger Insight

     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...

Encoded Uncertainty

               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...

The Tidy Family Composition

              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...

Advice from the Cavern at Delphi

 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...

Ever Sere Depression:  Blank Eyes, Lips, Ears

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...

Fire Inside His Will

                 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...

Absolute Whole

          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,...

Visibly Loud Emotion Recollected in Hostility

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...

Dam Sluice

                       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...

Apprehension

               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...

Antelope Canyon, Valentine Cavern

     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...

Adolescent Philosophy Is Wet

     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...

The Purpose of Preying Plumes

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...

Whoever Heard of Surging Love in Holland?

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...

A Glass Bubble

               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...

Similar Sense Twin Sonnets: Paired Poems

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...

Sunrise and Evening Star and Clearest Calls

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...

Joy in Sameness, Difference, Acetyline Smokelessness

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...

Absolute Whole

             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...

Gold and Copper Living Gaul

   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....

Apotheosis

~ 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,...

Farther Than an Undetected Star, but . . .

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....

Truer than True

                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...

Universalist Units

                          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...

God’s in This World, All’s Pyrite in Heaven

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...

Over Millennia

                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...

Pinioned Prescriptions:  Two Sonnets

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...

Recessional Marche Triumphale ~ Sigfrid Karg-Elert

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...

“while unending ages run”. . . and the Obscure Poet

“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...

Retort to an Unthinking Funeral Ceremony

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...

“Nor the moon by night” ~ Psalm 121

“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...

The Interpretation of a Cherry Tree

  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...

Mockingbird’s Song as Colors

   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,...

Loveliest of Trees — an Antidote to Autumn Foliage

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...

No Matter Where You Bathed

   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,...

All Muddled Up as if a Nightmare, Us

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...

Things Fall Apart When We Fail to See

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...

God

  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...

Silence is Only Silence

              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...

Out of Joint with Petty Time

     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...

November Calm Forgets Them

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...

Cosmic Regurgitation

            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...

Ghost Sharks

                         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...

Brevity as Gasps

             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...

“And Man Became a Living Soul”

 “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...

Back Garden Universal

 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...

Heaven and Earth

      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...

My Hermitage Where I Sit in Isolation

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...

Words Do Not Have to be Gilded on Ivory

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...

Transcendent Escape from Silliness

     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...

The Western Pure Land

      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...

Leaden Jewels

         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...

Like Us and Not

                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...

The Women Trapped in a Convex Volcanic Mirror

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...

Adoration

                    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...

Unconcern Separated by the Thickness of Hot Skin

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...

“A Man of Original Inactivity” ~ Ikkyū

“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...

Not Just Nirvana

              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,...

Outside the Realm of Words

    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          ...

A Disappearing Fact

             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...

Red Letter Day and South American Spice

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...

Matthew Parris

              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...

A Little Child Shall Impede Them

  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...

Just Being Yourself, According to Your Nature

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...

Composition

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...

Know Thyself Inside

            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...

All Ways

                      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...

For Bonnie Petroschuk

  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...

Autumn Reincarnation or Moksha

     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...

Goodnesss, Truth and Beauty, All

       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...

Pre-Vatican II

                    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...

Questing Everywhere Except Inside

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...

The Greek Word “Muein” Says “Do Not Utter”

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...

The Computer Room Replaces the Bedroom

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...

Tree Surgeon, You Did Not Heal Thyself

   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...

Colossal Crimes Called Civilization

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...

Nō Theatre in Slow and Slower Sadomasochism Motion

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...

White, White, White

      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...

No Pool of Siloam Here

       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...

Unignited Love

             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...

Perfume as Music in Christ’s Ears

   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...

As Crazy as Allen Ginsberg

          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...

Avila Cathedral Interior by Heinrich Hermanns

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...

Midnight Madness and Daybreak

   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...

Gored Matadors and Stabbed Bulls Have Ancestors

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...

Dwindling to Battery-operated Glimmer

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...

Kabibi Love and Flowers and Other Things

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...

Icicles

            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...

Like Laocoön and his Offspring

 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...

Melancholia

                   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...

Beyond the Veil

             Beyond the Veil Avoiding ghost temptations to go through The curtain made of voile of silk between The living and the other side, to you Where you are, she pretends that heaven’s sheen Surrounds you now.  This helps her camouflage The truth about the man...