by phillipw | Dec 15, 2024 | PE
The Salvation of Royal Coffee Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem There’s nothing wrong with coffee that you can’t Improve by changing it completely in Its taste and lusciousness and smell. Decant...
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 | 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 | Aug 24, 2024 | BO, DA, FR, JU, PE, PS, TH, Uncategorized
Three Caskets of Dreams “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.” ~ The Merchant of Venice The mind stores every memory at least Three times. You do not have to speculate. You know exactly why. Collapsed and creased Deep down in brain...
by phillipw | Aug 8, 2024 | BO, CO, CU, DU, MA, ME, PE, PH
Suspended Pistols Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem Most men are made of crudest iron in shapes Like penises instead of thorns. These blunt Iron prickles make their forced, demanding scrapes In victims often in...
by phillipw | Aug 5, 2024 | AR, PE, PR, underarm hair
Prophetic Suppositions Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We have to guess if prophets ever wore perfume. They do not tell us if they did. Just where They dabbed it (if they did), within the plume...
by phillipw | Jul 28, 2024 | LO, MA, PE, RO
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Most pearls are prized because the luster of Their loveliness lies held in shape of spheres — Though never perfect. Given with a love Strung out on strings of strength to...
by phillipw | Jul 17, 2024 | AS, PE, SA
“They began to stretch their necks, extend their wings, open their beaks and gaze at him attentively.” ~ St. Bonaventure Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem To love one special animal, your pet For instance,...
by phillipw | Jul 17, 2024 | CO, LO, PE
Harsh Hypnotism Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem flee the dark wood of improbable forms ~ Lorca, “Ode to Salvador Dalí” (Oda a Salvador Dalí) Who (rather what?) could possibly predict, If...
by phillipw | Jun 22, 2024 | BE, IN, PE, PH
Their Beauty Almost Stings Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The birds and insects get it right. The male Outshines in colors female beauty. Gold, The females seem to be the richest. Hail The...
by phillipw | Jun 20, 2024 | AU, DE, LI, PE, Uncategorized
An After-sunset Avenue in Montpelier, Vermont Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem For Linda Pervier The arc lights in the darkness of the street Create an eeriness in time. The leaves Fall through them...
by phillipw | May 24, 2024 | LO, PE
Man and Woman Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem She tried repeating words he spoke to her About their marriage, marriage dry as love Without the lubricant just past the fur Between her...
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 | Sep 7, 2023 | AM, AN, CL, ID, PE
The Ideal Refuses Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Greeks never showed the Amazon with one Breast chopped away in marble. Beauty’s shape Flowed lacking flaws. Greek teachings all...
by phillipw | Aug 6, 2023 | BL, PE, PH, SO, WI
Bliss’s Obsidian Wand Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Maleness is magic, the potent principle of universal creativity.” ~ Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae, 40 A warlock holds his...
by phillipw | Jul 23, 2023 | ME, OR, PE
The Ghost of Grieg Imagine that you are an instrument Who offers only atmosphere, no flow Of melody, no hint of what you meant In beauty or of brass notes curved to glow Across the universe, beyond the notes That carry concepts that a poet would Convey in...
by phillipw | Jul 12, 2023 | AN, FR, PE, PH, VA, YO
Orange Penetrates so Intense that It Throbs as Purple Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Why bother with bare beauty when deep sex Comes offered in the package? Canyons etched With liquid bearing scree...
by phillipw | May 1, 2023 | CA, DE, PE
We Had a Dog Once We had a dog once whom (?) my brother killed. This little doggie should have lived a long, Long time because she was so small. She filled My mother’s heart with little warmths like song Despite the high-pitched barking, barking...
by phillipw | Apr 10, 2023 | FL, MO, PE, RO
Nursing Nutrition on Your Knees Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When humans scold you, turn to flowers and vines. Combine them. Morning glories are ideal As therapy or zazen. Blooms are mines For...
by phillipw | Jan 23, 2023 | PE
If Adam Had Rejected Eve All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. John 1:3 No finger ring could hold the type of rose Called peony, so rings adorned with gems Are substitutes. These glints are cheapest prose,...
by phillipw | Nov 11, 2022 | PE
The tulip’s petals hold a white so pure Perfection cannot show the dew. Each edge, Ideal within its curve, is like a sure White ojee, or a prophet’s sword-like pledge In Amritsar. The tulip’s petals hold A purity geometry of shapes Can only wish...
by phillipw | Oct 27, 2022 | CA, FE, LO, PE, PR
Fast I lay my hands against his fur. Its black Glows, glossed, on light green of our duvet top, The counterpane. My fingers warm his back And side. They warm me, too. My cat’s gone plop To sleep in black and white and green. This calm...
by phillipw | May 23, 2022 | BE, FA, MA, PE, SI
If men desire to find belief, to sing It out through throats works best to make the soul Embrace it. This will make the sought faith zing Behind their hearts and manliness’s whole. The faith will throb straight through the tenor throats, The baritones and basses’...
by phillipw | Apr 24, 2022 | DE, PE
Peony Darker Pink Speckling Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The mottling that comes before the death Of peonies is beautiful and yet An ugliness, a patent shibboleth Belonging to...
by phillipw | Feb 24, 2022 | PE, RE, RO, SE
Shunning Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He could have broken off the rose, its pinks And petals. Hands veered past. Perhaps he saw The curvatures as sacred, or the winks...
by phillipw | Feb 20, 2022 | CH, FR, PE, QU, RE
Live Aid Because God has Allowed Famine in Ethiopia Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem All things work together for good ~ Romans 8:28 The congregation raises hands and wrists In Christ Church,...
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 | Jan 19, 2022 | PE, PO, RE
The Rebirth of Religion If horses flew with equine, stallion wings Unfallen as archangels’ feathered shapes, And Pegasus drank deeply from the springs And falls of Peirene inspiration, drapes Of godlike water for his throat, then we Might...
by phillipw | Jan 14, 2022 | AD, KE, MA, MO, PE, RO, RU, TH
Archangels in the Moon Garden on Christmas Morn The flowers in whitest rows set forth their white Perfume beside the Great Rift Valley on The day that Christ was born. A rose’s might Is all that they can muster in this dawn Of Kenya. That is strong...
by phillipw | Jan 10, 2022 | BI, PE, RO
The Spirit of the Peony is Spring The spirit of the peony is spring. The summer finds itself inside the rose. In May the petals, red and pink, both sing A colored fugue in fragrant ratios. The garden birds have gathered. Great tits leap As through the grandest...
by phillipw | Aug 16, 2021 | CA, LO, PE, PR
Self-envy I suffer from that rarest illness, called Self-envy. Everyone, it seems, but me Is desperate, as if they each are walled Up in a prison or are like a quay That no ships come to, ever, but my days And nights are full. I have a cat who...
by phillipw | Aug 4, 2021 | LO, MA, PE, SE
“Men coming and going on the earth” ~ Rupert Brooke Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Men come and go in love and death beside The heart and in our beds: the red-haired ones With that strange skin and with...
by phillipw | Aug 2, 2021 | AS, PA, PE, RE, SE
Singing Sacred Ones When things become invisible, they turn To something like the Holy Ghost. They might Come back like torching tongues of fire to burn Above apostles’ hair, or come at night Like floating space ships filled with promise, hope,...
by phillipw | Jul 28, 2021 | CH, JA, OR, PA, PE
Distance is Prophecy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The distance is attached to futures or A future. In the watercolour scene The distance and the future both...
by phillipw | Jul 22, 2021 | CO, ER, FU, PE, SE
Precious Hardness, Precious Black Wood The leopards love the manly flesh of thighs With hair, the humid meat of men. Fangs love The bone of flesh hard maleness sings and size Of satiation that men give. Above These basics, though, the leopards want a feast Of gold...
by phillipw | Jul 20, 2021 | CH, PE
Petals and Paradox If petals fall on Avon water streams, Their pinkness disappears. The river flows Unchanged, unchanging. Changelessness forms dreams In minds of gods and holy men. It grows And yet it does not grow. It cannot grow If it is God. ...
by phillipw | Jun 3, 2021 | MU, PE, PY, SY, TC
Outside the Painted Cave Before men thought of poetry, they fell In love with paintings on a petal’s tongue. It started ringing in its silent bell So utter they could almost hear it. Swung From it came colors so much like a song They almost gave men melody, at...
by phillipw | May 13, 2021 | ME, NO, PE
Difference and Sameness Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Each rose is slightly different yet the same As all her sisters (or her brothers) on The stems. Perhaps it might be quite a shame If all...
by phillipw | May 9, 2021 | DE, FL, PE
Flowers and Flamingos Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem It suffers violence but it does not know What violence is. Is blossom pink less real Because it does not know a cruel blow Might be delivered to...
by phillipw | Apr 18, 2021 | BE, ID, LO, PE, PU, SI
The Two Domes on the Gurdwara Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The dome of gold is higher than the white One. Both are perfect. “Innocence,” says one, “Is perfect, flawless, like a rigid rite.” Yet...
by phillipw | Apr 1, 2021 | CO, FU, PE, SE
Heavenly Bodies Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The sunlight on the moon is sunlight, not Sad moonlight. Get that straight. If I want you, I want you having me inside you, hot, More...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2021 | AN, CO, DE, DI, FA, FE, FU, HE, KE, PE, SE, SK
Coffin, Bed, Whatever He used to have a black nacrotic ____ But now, because of you, it swells again. It pulses and is desperate to _____ Out words and symphonies so full of pain That laughter is the only option. ____ Is there if you desire it in your throat. If...
by phillipw | Mar 19, 2021 | CL, CO, CU, FU, IN, OR, PE, SE
Priming Your Pump at the Well Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Just one slight push and he slips into you. Unspoken is this love, for who needs love In words when there is love to spew? You want a...
by phillipw | Feb 11, 2021 | FR, OR, PE
Mystic Incense Deployments Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The esoteric scent of peonies Belongs to aliens, to Czars’ domains, To empires now forgotten, Viennese Commanders with silk helmets on...
by phillipw | Feb 11, 2021 | BO, MO, ON, PE, SA
“Zen” * and Ichinyo (如) Aikiya The brief and long are similar — the same, Says Buddha. Bonsai in its little dish And Peony in vase have both one aim. This goal is much, much more than just a wish. Both items are the same, Gautama says. He knows the blossom has been...
by phillipw | Feb 1, 2021 | CI, MA, OV, PE
Oxymoron The mystery of a circle makes not quite A mystery. Circles are a perfect shape And with ideals, so like the Phoenix’ flight, Renewals endlessly, the mind must gape. Since circles are, each one, a flawless line, The only way that they can be the nth...
by phillipw | Jan 31, 2021 | PE
“All Too Short a Date”: A Sonnet Sequence about Peonies Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem 1 Peonies, Agamemnon, and the Iliad The peonies hold on in night-time dark. They fade and slacken...
by phillipw | Jan 29, 2021 | LO, PE, SO
One Peony One peony has blossomed late. To hold Her globe of fragrance up in bravery Is what she wants. Those petals would enfold The smiles of other pinks and there would be The others’ laughter, if she had her way. Alone she meets the sunshine,...
by phillipw | Jan 29, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, PE, RE, RO
Peony Piety Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A proper reverence for petals should Be kept, especially for pink and white Ones, peonies. Perhaps a veil-like hood Should be required for viewing...
by phillipw | Jan 24, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, EN, ES, PE, SA
Circumstantially Separated from Satori Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The blossoms hidden by the hedge in dark Of mid-May twilight still are seen from where I sit. Their perfect pink is light,...
by phillipw | Jan 19, 2021 | ED, LO, PE, RO, SC
Embracing Dooms for His Regret The peonies’ white petals fallen on The garden ground instruct these two To part. The period for their love has gone. Just one of them attempts a passage through The muted condemnation of the flowers. The other turns his face away and...
by phillipw | Jan 19, 2021 | AE, AN, BE, ES, JE, MO, PE
Red Peony Petals Fallen on a White Windowsill The fallen red lies still as it is weak And strong. The petals lie as still as prayer By Buddha in serenity. A Greek Simplicity is called to mind. An air Of Classicism rules the scene, restrained. Yet scarlet does not...
by phillipw | Jan 18, 2021 | GR, MO, ON, PE, PR, UN
Monism Teaches Oneness 一如 (Ichinyo) Shirobotan aru no tsuki ni kuzurekeri The white peony; At the moon, one evening, It crumbled and fell. ~Shiki Translations are quite tricky things. They ask For huge commitment from the ones who try To make them. Those...
by phillipw | Jan 18, 2021 | AE, AN, BE, GR, MO, PE, SA
Rectitude and Beauty Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Matthew 6:28 The ant, a Puritan in black, moves right Across the petal’s purity. The black One works, works,...
by phillipw | Jan 17, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, MI, PE, RO
Ten Nine Eight Seven Six Five Four Three Two One Ignition Blast Up Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The cushion launch pads of the leaves and stems Of bushes’ light up buds...
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 | Jan 16, 2021 | AE, BE, DA, EN, ES, MI, PE, SA
Unfathomable in Meditation Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The peony made Him measure it with his fan, The daimyo’s fan. ~ Issa [A haiku expanded by Phillip Whidden] Some things are large. Some things...
by phillipw | Jan 16, 2021 | EN, EP, PE, SA, TR
Insights The pint-sized Jamie held his arms out wide To show how big the peony had spread Those petals. “Big like this!” he smiled. He tried Hyperbole the first time. He had shed Mere factuality for larger truth. Young Yank, he aimed for...
by phillipw | Jan 16, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, EV, IN, PE, PU, SU
White Petals and Yellow Pollen Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem This, then, the open face we wish that we Could see throughout the universe, the pure, The innocence are utter. We would see These...
by phillipw | Jan 15, 2021 | AN, DE, FA, FI, GR, PE
Withered Chances When just a boy, he broke the beauty, broke A peony. Then later, decades on He still remembered how he felt the choke Of anger like the pain a marathon Participant endures when he sustained His father’s wrath. It rankled still beyond...
by phillipw | Jan 15, 2021 | AE, BE, CO, ES, PE
Sotōba’s “bijin” Applied Not to a Perfect Confucian Man Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The peony adorns the bed, a piece Of heaven settled down in earth. The blooms Themselves are heaven. ...
by phillipw | Jan 15, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, PA, PE
Exquisite Conflation Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The peony, extravagant in red Vermilion pigment dug from underground, Is so extreme it is as if it bled, This flower, from hell and...
by phillipw | Jan 14, 2021 | AE, BE, DE, ES, PE, PR
Dual Supplication against Death The flower burns its whitest white but not Alone. Beside it in the window glows A candle in the evening air so taut The flame burns on without a flicker. Those Who know the truth can see that light is light In spirit even when the...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, LO, PE, RA, SE
Virginal In dusk of night the moon begins to rise. Enough of it invades the garden with The light the peony desires. The wise One there succumbs to Oriental myth And spreads white petals even further to Embrace the gift the heavens offer. White Adheres...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, AR, BE, EN, ES, MO, NA, PE, SA
No Divisions Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Tokonama no Botan no yami ya Hototogisu ~ Shiki The darkness of the alcove Where the peonies are; A hototogisu...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, AN, BE, ES, PE
A Calm Antarctic in May Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The stillness matters. Quietude prevails The way a frozen king upon a frost Throne reigns across a frozen ocean, sails Of icebergs also in his...
by phillipw | Jan 12, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, PE
Royalty and Commoners as One When peony perfection is upon Us, strong protection pulses out from them. Their petals send out messages. The dawn Of something quite so beautiful as hem, And skirt, and petticoats of flowers such As these is matched by spirit signals...
by phillipw | Jan 12, 2021 | AE, AT, BE, ES, PE, PO
Tulip Eclipse Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When peonies erupt, they look like bombs Of lava made of petals, pinks and whites, Hurled up in mid-May air, or more like psalms Performed...
by phillipw | Jan 12, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, PE, RE, RO
Peony Piety Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A proper reverence for petals should Be kept, especially for pink and white Ones, peonies. Perhaps a veil-like hood Should be required for viewing...
by phillipw | Jan 12, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, PE, SA
Bright Pastel Beatitude Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem As darkness deepens in between the hedge And me, the peonies grow dim but do Not disappear. They hang just by the edge Of nothingness. ...
by phillipw | Jan 11, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, EN, ES, PE, SA
Circumstantially Separated from Satori Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The blossoms hidden by the hedge in dark Of mid-May twilight still are seen from where I sit. Their perfect pink is light,...
by phillipw | Dec 21, 2020 | AU, BL, CL, FA, PE, PU, SI
Physics and Metaphysics Clean Water and Black Hole Scars Shizukasa wa kuri no ha shizumu shimizu kana The quietness; A chestnut leaf sinks Through the clear water. ~Shōhaku The simple, clear, transparent, and the pure Are summed up in the...
by phillipw | Dec 9, 2020 | CO, DE, DI, GH, MA, OR, PE, RE, SO, SP
Reincarnation The spirit wishes it could look back to Its body, not the rotted one, and see The firm young form with hair and holy blue Of Mary’s robe in clear young eyes still free Of intimations of their death. The hair, The blond head...
by phillipw | Nov 24, 2020 | A, CL, ED, EN, MU, NO, PE, PH, PI
“Orpheus with his lute made trees” Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem For Philippe Entremont What use is music lacking fingers, strings, And tremolo, the purity of voice Of flute in Grieg’s concerto,...
by phillipw | Nov 11, 2020 | CA, CO, DE, DO, Ho, PE, SE
The Cat Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem That cat will lie on what you want or walk Where you would go. He curls round and round As if developing his om to mock Your zen-less...
by phillipw | Oct 16, 2020 | HE, MU, PE, PO, SE, SI, SO, VA
The Point of Poetry and Song Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A poem or a song can be as fierce As knife points. They are neutral, though, about The hole they make. They care not whom they pierce...
by phillipw | Oct 15, 2020 | CA, GO, PE
Psalm 139:12 “for darkness is as light to You” Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A moment comes when coal becomes a piece Of heaven, pure and diamond in strength. A moment comes when wooden matters cease...
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 | Jul 28, 2020 | AT, DE, HE, MO, PE, PO, VE
Their Painted Desert Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem They wait. They wait beneath. They wait below Us, we who live. Some wait in mud like Peat Men sacrificed for long lost reasons. Woe Is far...
by phillipw | Jul 23, 2020 | BI, CA, DO, EA, FL, MI, OS, PE, PO, WH
The Cape Consider what the cape desires. It wants to see The clouds of birds that used to fly above It in their immemorial paths, sea And sea and sea beneath their search for love And nestlings. Cape Canaveral wants the white And white and white...
by phillipw | Jul 16, 2020 | CO, GO, JA, ME, OD, PE, SA, SO, WI
The Big Exceptions The women move in caged in places both In life and plays. In poetry they are Curtailed to Sappho and Corinna. Troth Constricts Penelope. It hems. No spar To take her seas away, she sits at loom, Is trapped at night unpicking her trapped work,...
by phillipw | Jun 21, 2020 | MA, PE
Peacock Feather You might just say it’s only maleness ramped Up fret-like, gold and turquoise blue, each fret Of thousands, iridescent maleness, vamped Up frilliness, masculinity jet Propelled in delicacy. Don’t ignore That other color in the eyes, that...
by phillipw | Jun 17, 2020 | AR, IT, OD, PE, TE
Ithaca ( Ἰθάκη), the Dull Town Your wife is there, your two-balled heir, and hound Still true (like bone to brawn) behind his eyes Destroyed with cataracts—but his snout’s bound To ravel your armpit; he’s the surprise That isn’t surprising when you return Among the...
by phillipw | May 26, 2020 | CH, ET, Ho, HU, MU, PA, PE
The Pergola of Composition “There is also a setting of Horace’s Ode ‘Persicos odi puer apparatus,’ for A.T.B.B. ‘written in school [Eton College] , February 22, 1865’ ”. ~ Emily Daymond, 77 As strange as ancient Persia might have seemed To sixteen-year-old Parry...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | BL, EN, GR, PE, PO, SC, SH, TE, WI
Poets Are the Legislators of the Scientific World In 2011 I was reading a biography of John Keats. In the introduction Lord Byron is quoted as saying that Keats "belonged to that second-hand school of poetry" because he got his inspiration from...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | AL, AN, BO, CO, DO, GI, OS, PE, RO, WI
The Ultimate Chamber of Silent Adoration Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “When Robbie Ross died, […] he triumphed over both Bosie and Constance, by having his ashes interred in Oscar’s tomb.” ~...
by phillipw | May 16, 2020 | PE, TR
There’s Perfection Three Times Perfection “All other loves are lost in only thine” ~ Alexander Pope translating Ovid writing in the voice of Sappho An ocean is a puny thing compared To outer space, more like a quark to strengths Of galaxies. Just as the Big Bang...
by phillipw | May 16, 2020 | IN, MA, PE
6, 28, 496, 8128 . . . Perfection is a state devoutly sought, Evinced alone in mathematics, though. Reach out for it in other realms, there’s naught For seekers of this purest state. There’s no Escaping it: the sciences and art Collaborate against perfection,...
by phillipw | May 13, 2020 | AN, GA, HE, LO, MO, PE, RO, ST
The Hardened Dog with a Raisin Bun in its Mouth in PompeiiModern poetry modern verse Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem se modern poem contemporary The saddest little things come down to us From ancient...
by phillipw | May 12, 2020 | ID, PE
More Lucid than the Real or the Surreal Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You close your eyes and then you see. You view The truth more clearly. Seemingly your lids Have Gnostic painted pupils on them...
by phillipw | May 11, 2020 | PE, ST
Holiness Deep as a Bollywood musical score But only as broad as a hopscotch grid, Pete’s mind prepared him for nothing much more Than beating his wife and hitting his kid. Then he met Jesus one night in a tent Where people got sweaty and spoke in...
by phillipw | May 10, 2020 | BU, DI, EM, EZ, JO, KE, KH, OM, OR, PE, PO, RA, RO, SA
The Bones of Orpheus, the Hair of Keats Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If we collected poets’ body parts And put them in glass cases, would the world Adore them there like saints? Pickled hearts Of...
by phillipw | May 7, 2020 | CO, GE, PE
Big Time Censorship Perhaps you’ve noticed how the statues leave Out any sight of god Apollo’s junk. The artists think that we are too naïve To know the god, presented as a hunk, Had no enraged erection in the scene. They always put a piece of fabric or His...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | CO, DA, GE, LE, MA, OR, PE, VI
The Heart is Never Central Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The heart is never central. It is to The left and far too far above the base. The heart is not positioned for the true. It loves too much the...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | AL, PA, PE, PR, RO, SE
Zip, Zap, Slap Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem That oops-ish, Oh My Gosh-ish feeling comes https://www.bwpawards.org/winners2017#&gid=1&pid=1 Sometimes, yes even to an amphipod It seems. The...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | AM, ME, PE, VA
Shalimar by Guerlain Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Nothing is ever quite lost, even though its sense might be.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The Story of Poetry, 11 When time has taken long enough to...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | MU, PE
Morning Stars Sang Together “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion” The music of the perfect spheres was heard By no one. Melodies or chords they made Stretched out like silence. They became absurd. Copernicus and Galileo swayed Them into nothingness. ...
by phillipw | May 2, 2020 | BE, CH, HE, PA, PE, SE
Stud Poker Philosophers…they don’t know any more About The Truth than Greek pig farmers do. The rest of us not part of these two poor Groups (salesmen, poets, priests…) don’t have a clue. A prophet and a Plato come along. They have...
by phillipw | May 1, 2020 | AE, BE, ES, PE
The Clearest, Flawless Sonnet A sonnet made of silence set in lines Of comet-white intensity I want, The music of the spheres as heard in shrines Of Taj Mahal shaped characters, a font Of purest marble alphabets that shine Inside because of soundless Klieg light...
by phillipw | Apr 26, 2020 | AE, ES, ID, PE, PO
The Triune Potency According to Penelope Murray, “Socrates . . . . says, ‘any story or poem . . . narrates things past, present or future’ ”. ~ Plato on Poetry, 4 We want a poem that is full of now, And past, and future, full. We want intense Severity of...