by phillipw | Aug 2, 2024 | GH, HA, SP
Arctic Incantations Only in Their Nightmares Since ghosts make sounds of silver freezing, we Do not hear specters. Lost, their metal stains Of tarnish are more silent. Throats might see Them as the smoke from Eskimos. Refrains From howling will not do. The...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2024 | HA, PI, SA, TH
James and Thomas, Ordinary, Homely Names Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem That which travels Clouds itself. ~ Lorca, “Running,” (Corriente) The pilgrimage to Santiago or To Canterbury tries to clear the...
by phillipw | Jul 16, 2024 | AM, AN, DE, HA, PO, PR
Delphi Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem To die while the dew Is yet undried, that would have Meaningless meaning. ~ Kōyō [Englished and twisted by Phillip Whidden; the more correct...
by phillipw | Jan 14, 2024 | GA, HA, HE, NO, ST
The Female Pheasant’s Handsome Lover Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Noh fan opens out upon the stage. The female pheasant’s lover is the point. Her attitude to beauty makes her sage: When males are...
by phillipw | Jan 9, 2024 | CO, ER, HA, Ho, MA, PE, RU, SE
The Haunt of Manly Dreams Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A tingling in his skin with hairs makes nubs Rise up. They pop up from connections to His heart, nerve wires. His left-hand searches,...
by phillipw | Nov 30, 2023 | FL, HA, IS, MA
Palestine Protesters in Perspective Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem In Michigan an X-er in one town Is all upset because an Xmas band Is drowned out by a protest. One cold frown Is sent across The...
by phillipw | May 21, 2023 | AP, AR, GR, HA, SE
How Humans Came to Know Themselves “Know thyself.” ~ the pronaos of Apollo’s temple at Delphi Jeremiah 17:9 By juxtaposing paradoxes of Crabbed contradictions ancient Greeks called gods, Greeks learned to know themselves, thus taught that love And...
by phillipw | Apr 17, 2023 | HA, Uncategorized
Haste Maketh Debased “Brevity is the soul of sh*t.” One thing I really loathe about the way Most people now communicate online With friends and family is that textings say As little as is possible, decline To say enough to make the meaning clear. Be...
by phillipw | Oct 5, 2022 | FO, HA, SA, SI, Ta, WO, WW
The Fox Hunter Flushes Out the Fritzies Single-handedly with Bayonet and with the Same Fingers that Wrote His Poetry Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He loved his poetry and music, such Like things,...
by phillipw | May 9, 2022 | CH, HA, JA, PO
Burden Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem All the cherry blooms I saw today have become A pink load on me. ~ Sobaku [freely and unfreely paraphrased by Whidden] Sobaku’s postscript to his painitng...
by phillipw | Apr 24, 2022 | HA, PR, TR
Gleaned from the Darkly Glowing Web Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The rightwing ravings from a friend of long Ago are like the readings in a mind Inside an ancient prophet with a strong Dementia...
by phillipw | Apr 24, 2022 | DE, HA, UN
Afterlife of Redolence Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The flowers across the fields of asphodels Are white, white, white, according to the myth. These meadows help to cast the drowse-like...
by phillipw | Apr 24, 2022 | BE, HA, Ho, RE, TR, VE
Truer than Truthem Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Great is Beauty’s grace, Truth is yet as fair as she. ~ Thomas Campion High duty comes in...
by phillipw | Mar 8, 2022 | BR, CU, GA, HA, JA, ST, UN
Cool as a Thick-haired Cucumber “I have need to busy my heart with quietude.” ~ Rupert Brooke James suffered like a teenybopper lass In love with manufactured pop star guys. He hovered like an altar boy at mass Outside the poet’s rooms. He hoped his eyes Would...
by phillipw | Feb 22, 2022 | BU, HA, UN
The Subatomic and the Infinite A trout swims beneath. Clouds moves upon the surface And above the stream. The perfect haikus, if such things exist, Involve minutiae of life; not just Those, though. Embracing clarity and mist The lines take in the astral, far the...
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2022 | CI, HA
Dying Cicadas Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem May at least just one Of them live on this night, Autumn cicada. ~ Yayū Much weaker and much weaker comes the sound Cicadas...
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2022 | HA, HE, TH
Hesitating, Hesitating, Slowly, Slowly A tiny snail, this, One horn long, one much shorter . . . What troubles his heart? ~ Buson Uncertainty is unattractive in A man but in the little creatures it Can be endearing like a lonely grin At twilight where the new...
by phillipw | Feb 12, 2022 | CI, HA
Either Audible or Visible—You Can’t Have Both Together The cicada is Seen when it stops crying Finally—and flies. ~ Shiki The insect does its dry annoyance Of noise, but, not until it flaps its wings To fly away, the best clairvoyance Will ever find him where he...
by phillipw | Feb 9, 2022 | AU, FA, HA, SI
Silence Beyond Silence Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The quietness; A chestnut leaf sinks Through the still water. ~Shōhaku When all the world is hushed, the quietest sounds...
by phillipw | Feb 4, 2022 | BR, DE, FI, HA, LO, SE
The Secret Life of Things For the space of a foot, The firefly’s light goes out: Loneliness. ~ Hokushi The firefly floats along in darkness, light, Dark, light. The floating is revealed alone By flashing, though the blinking is so slight That only...
by phillipw | Feb 4, 2022 | DA, DR, FA, HA, HE, PE, SE, VA
Dreaming of the Coming Spring Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem They blossom, and then We gaze, and then the blooms Scatter, and then… ~ Onitsura The tightness of the winter now is...
by phillipw | Feb 2, 2022 | BO, CO, FI, HA
Tears of Melancholic Glee The lost child crying, Crying, crying. Even so . . . Catching the fireflies. ~ Ryusui The twilight darkens like a threat. The boy Wipes eyes and suddenly he sees a flash Which floats across the air. It’s like a toy That he has dreamed of,...
by phillipw | Feb 2, 2022 | DE, FI, HA, LO, MA, SE
What Comes After Every Beauty How easily it Glows. How easily it goes Out, the firefly’s green. ~ Chine-jo The green is very faint but still is green. The flash is very brief but still a glint. Then after every blink comes dark, between The promise and the living,...
by phillipw | Feb 1, 2022 | FI, HA, LO, SE
Calmest Sex Electrified The firefly Gives light To its pursuer. ~ Ōemaru Enlightenment it might be, no, not Satori. Certainly this winging bug Is only looking coolly for a hot Encounter with a lady fly, to hug Her briefly, hunchingly, and put slick life Inside...
by phillipw | Jan 30, 2022 | DE, HA, YE
Poisonous Poetry The shell of the cicada; It, scraping, caroled itself Utterly away. ~ Bashō Mourning over its Dead body, over its shell; The cicada’s voice. ~ Yayu When I am just a heavy shell-like thing Awaiting worms and dessication, will...
by phillipw | Jan 28, 2022 | FI, HA, MA, SE
Silent Explosions, Please The firefly Gives light To its pursuer. ~ Ōemaru The firefly gives gleams, Green light to its pursuer. Green again, again. ~ A haiku by Ōemaru westernized by Phillip Whidden Its green is life, permission, yes, and go. The green is...
by phillipw | Jan 28, 2022 | AN, HA, ME, PO
Hesitancy Being chased The firefly Hides in the moon. ~ Ryōta When poetry is analyzed too much, It starts to lose its meaning or its force. A haiku clarified with heavy touch Becomes transparent to the mind, of course, But dies inside the heart. The...
by phillipw | Jan 28, 2022 | HA, LI, LO
Looking for His Love The first firefly! It was off, away,— The wind left in my hand. ~ Issa The firefly lands by chance upon my hand And flashes there, blink, blink in twilight green. In growing darkness little glows expand,...
by phillipw | Dec 6, 2021 | AL, AR, GL, HA, IN, QU, WI
Magnanimity: Mourning Gladstone Finally Offers a Peerage to Tennyson and Finally the Mourning Poet Accepts It Arthur Henry Hallam William Ewart Gladstone Alfred, Lord Tennyson Forget the jealousy between two men in love. Forget what beardless envies that in youth...
by phillipw | Sep 19, 2021 | HA, JE, LU
Stagey Witchiness Why bother with salvation when that “blonde” From bottles does the trick? The Hollywood Of hocus pocus Harlow’s hair has spawned One billion knock offs. Even Bollywood Would try the spell if it could get away With platinum...
by phillipw | Sep 2, 2021 | FR, HA, PO, RA
Japanese and Chinese Poets Imagined Frogs Performing Poems Te wo tsuite uta mōshiaguru kawazu hana Placing his hands on Mud, the frog respectfully Recites his poem. ~ Sōkan Those poets speak of frogs producing lines Of poetry. Such poets of the pond Gulp forth...
by phillipw | Aug 29, 2021 | HA, ME, MU
At Last Explain the rise of scents, those melodic Perfumes that we call music. There were drums And rhythms, but what brought on rhapsodic Cantabile is hidden. Passion thrums Through men and women, mango girls and boys, And one night...
by phillipw | Jun 28, 2021 | BO, EN, EP, HA, IN, RE, SA, UN
They Hold their Hats in Deference in their Hands Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Two men are bowing at the crossroads to Each other. Though already distant they Grow fainter even as they set off...
by phillipw | Jun 28, 2021 | AM, CL, EI, HA, JA, KO, PA, VA
Haiku Paradox The Korean boat does Not pause. Sails cause it to pass, But where in this haze? ~ Buson Forking into mist A stream on the moor is vague And clear, both, at once. ~ Shirao An odd boat, foreign in its shape, slips past, Korean in its shape and...
by phillipw | Mar 16, 2021 | EA, ER, HA, HE, HI, LO, MA, ME, SE, ST
Recollections Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Dawn comes and wakens up inside my core The reminiscences that sleep inside The past, that sleep there, stowed subconscious lore That...
by phillipw | Jan 30, 2021 | HA
Fathoms of Purple Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The master poet Comes out from the deep purple, The evening glory. ~ Chora The depth of purple comes in many modes. It comes in purple plush for...
by phillipw | Jan 17, 2021 | AE, BE, DE, ES, HA, JO, PE
Sheer Vanity Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem It isn’t just a little happy face, This flower, though fat and happy this one is. Because of gorgeousness and grinning grace, It glories in...
by phillipw | Dec 29, 2020 | HA, LI, LO, Mc, ME
Linda He falls apart. He picks it up and goes To pieces. Snapshots there had lain inside The closet darkness decades. In the throes Of stirred up memories, he learned they misguide. Blank absence makes us think that we’re like ones Who don’t believe...
by phillipw | Dec 14, 2020 | GH, HA
Nudging You to Accept Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The reason ghosts exist beyond our sight Is so that they can do their sucking lick Unnoticed as a breath on lips when night Has coddled us. ...
by phillipw | Dec 13, 2020 | GH, HA
It’s Useless to Cover Your Nose and Throat Ghosts never come to us, but if they do It may just be to try to smooth us into death. They will not want to grab and pull us through To their invisibility. Our breath Is far too warm and wet. It would disgust Their...
by phillipw | Dec 2, 2020 | AN, BA, EU, HA, JA, LY, ME, MU, MY, OR
Lyrical Light and Annihilation The harp is not of heaven alone. Its strings Have been to Hades on the saddest trip. A gilded harp may seem to have the wings Of Hermes. It may ride an Argo ship Which has one eye to see its way to fleece And gold, to beauty’s...
by phillipw | Oct 26, 2020 | CH, CO, DE, FI, GO, HA, JE, PO, VI
Cormorants Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Morning twilight; in Their basket the cormorants Asleep, exhausted. ~ Shiki The poet notices the tiny things,...
by phillipw | Oct 15, 2020 | AN, GA, HA, Ho, LO, PR, SA
Innocent Intentions in Love Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He chose a love perpetual those years Ago. His kind of love has been around Since men began to fall in love with tears. He knew, but did...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2020 | BR, CH, FA, GA, HA, HE, Ho, JO, KE, LO, RO, ST
A Quieter Love Knot like Keats’ and Fanny’s Hair Woven in Cameos A quieter thread of memory wrapped and clung To images, those shins I leaned against As jazz laughed over us, or we’d sung While standing side by side; our shoulders sensed Each other even though they...
by phillipw | Oct 5, 2020 | BI, HA, IG, LO, ME, MO, PE, ST
Madness of Musical Men Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “The work is characterized by the so-called Petrushka chord (consisting of C major and F♯ major triads played together), a bitonality device...
by phillipw | Aug 23, 2020 | HA, HE, LO, MA
Coronary Complications Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem First call up bigness, heft, and volume of A manly fist which grasps as much of dirt As it can hold and does not want a shove From God to make...
by phillipw | Aug 10, 2020 | DE, DI, GH, GO, HA, JE, SO, TR, YE
Knowing Men Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. ~ Ezekiel 16:49 Both Sodom and Gomorrah, salt-lick...
by phillipw | Jul 20, 2020 | AC, BO, BR, CA, CR, GA, HA, HE, KA, MA, NE, PA, PR, SA
Troy in New Orleans, Manhattan, or London Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem So I found “Helen” sitting in a streetcar; the Dionysian revels of her court were transferred to a Metropolitan roof garden...
by phillipw | Jul 16, 2020 | CO, EU, FL, HA, HE, OR, PL, RO
That Supreme Nazi, Plato, Sounded Off about Orpheus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He takes the poison of his courage and His love. He does not try to dazzle death With poetry: Romeo is not bland...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | AN, CE, EU, HA, IX, MY
Poetry Makes a Different Exploration of the Realm of Death No poet thinks about the path the wife Of Orpheus took down to Hades. Not One poet ever writes about how harshly rife That journey was. The poisoned bride’s death lot Was just the same as anyone’s. The path...
by phillipw | Jul 6, 2020 | EU, HA, OR, PL, RO
That Supreme Nazi, Plato, Sounded Off about Orpheus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse He takes the poison of his courage and His love. He does not try to dazzle death With poetry: Romeo is not bland Like that. He gulps down. ...
by phillipw | Jul 6, 2020 | DE, DI, EU, HA, LO, OR
Did We Really Think that They Would Give Her Body to Him? Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse Eurydice was dead. Come on. Just soul Is all she was by then. So why would he Expect some wonder from the deepest hole Of anywhere, that...
by phillipw | Jun 12, 2020 | BY, GE, GO, HA, Ho, IS, JO, KE, PO, WA
Crippled Poets Among the earliest of lines to spring And linger utterly till now are long Ones drawn from blinded eyes. The verses sing Like prophets’ spirits which must see. A song Of guts, the gods, and marrow-spills came out From manly depths behind the...
by phillipw | Jun 5, 2020 | AR, BL, CH, EA, HA, HE, Ho, MA, WA, WH
Backside Gas in that Jar Called Yale One Harold Bloom says modern verse began In 1890—or about then. That Is what one venerating friend claims. Can That be? Only an academic prat Could be so arrogant and blinkered. I Say modern verse began at least as far Back...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | HA
He’s Only Young He wears a wedge of kinky hair on top, Created by the barber when he cuts The sides and back. This ridge is like a crop Of blackened Brillo pad. Where it abuts The forehead, razor scraping has refined The topiary shrub. A hedge of box Could...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | AE, BE, EM, ES, FE, FR, HA, LO, PO, RA, Uncategorized
Haydn Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A poem does not need to be about Emotions, yours or anyone’s. Instead A sonnet may avoid a tear or shout. Indeed the lines could be about your...
by phillipw | May 16, 2020 | AN, HA
Pearly White for Femininity, Dark Red for Masculine Loveliness She tried to look her best and those who cared About her paid a painter for her tomb. Her favorite jewels, pearls that were paired With deep red stones, now decorate the room The tiny room, her...
by phillipw | May 15, 2020 | AN, HA, HE, RE
The Upper World of God’s Own Heaven is Far Superior to the Ancients’ Underworld In Homer’s day, deep pagan ancient times, The infamous and rich and mighty class Of men felt agonies in Hades. Crimes By them alone, and only the most crass Ones, caused immortal...
by phillipw | May 14, 2020 | AN, HA, RO
People Have Always Been Pathetic Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem On altars made of turf there lies at rest The aster amellus * in rings. The fall Photo by Franz Xaver In fullness of its fruits and...
by phillipw | May 7, 2020 | AR, BO, HA, UN
Hairy Happiness The woman watches him. He’s at the sink Inside their hotel room. She notes his arms And shoulders most. She thinks of manly stink In black-haired armpits, glossy in the harms They do to heart and guts as she succumbs. He’s washing them with water...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | BA, HA, LO, VI
Synthesis Examine for yourself the claim that love Is noblest and the mightiest of all. Is it far better than the truth, above An iron-like honesty? Is love more tall Than mountained decency? And is not hate Sometimes required to make things work? ...
by phillipw | Feb 26, 2020 | AB, AN, HA, RO, YE
…..Suffocated Devotions ……….“the fame of his lost love” Who cares about the love of Yazid choked Forever in that clogging of the throat, About Antinous, whose death is cloaked In rumors and suspicions as they float Above the marble whiteness of...
by phillipw | Feb 21, 2020 | HA, LO, MA, PA
Hawaii Teaches Us the Truth The thought of love as a manicured lawn Is more a maniac’s idea than real. This explicates why marriage rules are drawn Up mincingly by gods and men who feel That actualities must be ignored. These legislators manicure the turf And tamp...
by phillipw | Feb 21, 2020 | FA, HA
Dignity in Ritual Petticoats The rose is like a courtly dance in New Orleans two centuries ago. In shape The blossom has formality as true As layered dresses launched in crêpe De chine across the ballroom floor. The scheme Of petals in their strata, patterns, and...
by phillipw | Dec 25, 2019 | GR, HA
Arthur Hallam Arthur Henry Hallam Alfred, Lord Tennyson Deep grief refuses warping. You can fold It, put it in a safe-deposit box Protected by a speechless cipher, cold Steel doors with sleepless guards, and keyless locks, But grief still...
by phillipw | Sep 21, 2019 | GR, HA, TE, Uncategorized
Arthur Hallam 0 …………………..Arthur Henry Hallum Deep grief refuses warping. You can fold It, put it in a safe-deposit box Protected by a speechless cipher, cold Steel doors with sleepless guards, and keyless locks, But grief...
by phillipw | Aug 22, 2019 | HA
I Have a Fiend I have a fiend who sneaks around my brain. At times he flickers like a ghost who burned In hell a while but now is just a stain, A vile aurora borealis turned To haunting in dark upper Arctic airs. More usually unfurlings of his black Light...