by phillipw | Jul 7, 2024 | CH, CO, ME, TO
Tranquil Tokonoma One thing a perfect purple rose cannot Accomplish is a type of sadness. Man Is best at that. That is mankind’s special blot. The plants and animals have learned to ban Such uselessness. They settle in their fur Or leaves and just get on...
by phillipw | Dec 24, 2023 | BU, CH, GR, TO
Frankincense Thrones “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying . . .” ~ Luke 2:13 A spoken hymn it was — not sung. They spoke, Those angels, spoke those words, spoke far above Mere music. Right...
by phillipw | Jan 8, 2023 | CH, DE, TO
Communion Under the cherry Blooms there is no one who is An utter stranger. ~ Issa, Englished by Phillip Whidden Some circumstances turn us all to friends Or bring us closer than stray strangers set Apart. The pinkness arching...
by phillipw | Jan 20, 2022 | HE, TO
Hermits for the Holiness of Holidaymakers Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The great estates were greedy for the worst Of gawkers. That’s a fact. The noble lords Hired hermits, fetching coins from...
by phillipw | Sep 26, 2021 | AI, IN, PA, SE, SM, TO
Not “Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres are the first Europeans to observe smoking. It was on Cuba and Jerez becomes a staunch smoker, bringing the habit back with him to Spain. History of Tobacco in...
by phillipw | May 22, 2021 | NA, SI, TO
The Yellowstone Experience and Grand Canyon Experience, etc. Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We see the sinkholes roiling up from stained Ennui. We gawp at geysers spewing scald Of superheated water...
by phillipw | Apr 5, 2021 | CA, CH, GR, Ho, ME, TO
Not as Certain as Dim Marble in the Nave We pause beside those tombs, the ones with white Carved marble hands in praying firmness there On chest and breast. They look to be contrite And will be ever so. The lordly prayer Is undermined since also there beside Him is...
by phillipw | Mar 5, 2021 | CO, EN, RU, TO
Not Far from Dremeford Though painted by the sunset, streams have no Awareness of the western sea. The graves Beneath the castle have no knowledge, though They face towards the dawn. Aflame like naves At Easter, children’s eyes compete with glass In sunward...
by phillipw | Dec 15, 2020 | CA, CE, CO, DE, FU, GR, MO, SM, TI, TO
Artless as L. S. Lowry A Rembrandt darkness falls upon us, they And me. I cannot see them now except As figures draped in richest robes. The prey Of time (called death) they’ve worn brocade and slept In sand beneath the ground, each separate plot Concealing...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2020 | AP, BE, OR, TO, UG
The Tortoise Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Other poems by Apollinaire relate to Orpheus, for example, ‘The Tortoise,’ whose shell—a gift from Apollo—provided the frame of his lyre.” ~...
by phillipw | May 21, 2020 | CA, DO, IR, TO
Delights of Owning Cats The joys of owning cats or being owned By them are many, multifarious. Your house is eau de cologned With tomcat sprayings from the various Invaders through the cat flap, neighbourhood Intruders for widened territory. Humans who love the...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | EF, GR, ME, TO
Across the Breadth and Height Across the breadth and height of England spread Out harshly on their slabs beneath the stained Glass, death, and honor men lie, with a head Of stone or metal, memory sustained Just barely in a chapel or a church, Cathedrals...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | BE, CA, MI, TO, Uncategorized
Milele Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Tranquillity, despite his tiny size, Rests strong in him as if a tiger’s dream Has come to dwell behind his calm blue eyes Because it chose to sleep...
by phillipw | May 3, 2020 | AP, HU, OR, PI, PO, TO
The Tortoise Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Other poems by Apollinaire relate to Orpheus, for example, ‘The Tortoise,’ whose shell—a gift from Apollo—provided the frame of his lyre.” ~...
by phillipw | Jan 26, 2020 | ST, TO
Curly-headed One ………………………………… Saints in Heaven in Torcello How beautiful they are, the robes upon...
by phillipw | Dec 16, 2019 | TO
A Guy I know a man who tells the people in His carpool all about the previous night’s TV, and of the biscuits and the gin He found on special offer, and the fights Between his children after they are sent To bed. Of course, the family’s health comes...
by phillipw | Sep 19, 2019 | CO, TO
A Garden Variety Tory I know a man who tells the people in His carpool all about the previous night’s TV, and of the biscuits and the gin He found on special offer, and the fights Between his children after they are sent To bed. Of course, the...