by phillipw | Nov 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
A Wombless Vacuum Lacuna Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem It seems I yell out nothings, nothings, not One thing the universe desires. My clouds Are chocked with ambiguities, more clot Than what most...
by phillipw | Nov 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
Cat Lustre How long does glow upon a black cat’s fur Last once his steps are gone? He disappears In night without a moon. Does gloss turn blur, Or worse? If fur goes where there are no spheres, Does it then sublimate to nothing through...
by phillipw | Nov 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
All-embracing Ideas that come from wombs which give them ears Because these thoughts have listened well before They speak, these hear the screaming in your tears Before you feel them. If ideas have more Than auricle and cartilage, the nerves...
by phillipw | Nov 11, 2024 | Uncategorized
Claire Austin Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Some snow is sifting down, white snow, not quite As white as winter snow, an orangey pink Where snowflakes joined their stems. The...
by phillipw | Nov 11, 2024 | Uncategorized
Haumaea, Hawai’ian Goddess of Fertility Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem File:Haumea Rotation.gif – Wikimedia Commons If you were making worlds, the spheroid ones, Those almost perfect spheres like...
by phillipw | Nov 4, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 30, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 21, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 17, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 7, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 2, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Oct 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
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,...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
“Ready to be anything, in the ecstasy of being forever” ~ Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia If we exist forever, well past time, Mere time, our lives will be much fuller than Our slim imaginations. We will climb Past Alpine heights, more star-like, than a man On...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
“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...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Garden of Moksha, Fragrant Orchids and Night-blooming Cereus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The petals of eternity will bloom, Or never will, because of you and me. The good that we create will...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 21, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 20, 2024 | Uncategorized
“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...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Mind is Not Just Watercolors Washed by Misty Breezes in an Oriental Picture Frame Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Our consciousness, that thing we call our mind When it is walking wide-eyed in the...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, a Painting Paid for by Her Baronet, She Loved by More than Just the Viewer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem By John Singer Sargent – Own work by Ad Meskens., Public Domain,...
by phillipw | Sep 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 14, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Sep 3, 2024 | DE, Uncategorized
Gravity Bends Galaxies’ Light Even on Curly Black Hair Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Because you slipped forever into death, A sleep forever darker than mere sleep, An ebony more black than stone, no...
by phillipw | Aug 28, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Aug 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
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...
by phillipw | Aug 26, 2024 | PA, Uncategorized
Paradox of Coleridge’s Liberty “the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.” ~Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” “Art submits itself to law in order that freedom may be brought out by contrast.” ~...
by phillipw | Aug 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
Henry David Thoreau as an American Philosopher on Poetry Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “As naturally as an oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, the man bears a poem, spoken or done.” ~...
by phillipw | Aug 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
Henry David Thoreau as an American Philosopher on Poetry Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “As naturally as an oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, the man bears a poem, spoken or done.” ~...
by phillipw | Aug 25, 2024 | AE, ES, Uncategorized
Poetry Competition and Demolition Derby Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The only competition in the world Of poetry that matters is the fight Between the heart and mind. If they are...
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 23, 2024 | CH, RO, ST, Uncategorized
Mass Loaded Vinyl Cage Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He sings, a member in the burning rungs Of seraphim stacked high around the throne Of passion. Fizzing, flaming,...
by phillipw | Aug 21, 2024 | AE, ES, Uncategorized
Amaranthine Beauty Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Eternal skin does not exist. That’s wrong. Eternal beauty begs to be rehearsed, Again, again. Eternal beauty, strong As death, as wide as...
by phillipw | Aug 20, 2024 | ME, TI, Uncategorized
Anterior Cingulate Cortex as Superior to a Graff Diamonds Hallucination Watch Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Scientists uncover a fundamental aspect of time perception (msn.com) Graff Diamonds...
by phillipw | Aug 19, 2024 | AP, AR, DI, PO, Uncategorized
For TikTok, Instagram and Not . . . Eternity Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A buried sundial, buried in the ash Of Pompeii’s death, saw time not marked by sun For nearly two millennia. As trash In...
by phillipw | Aug 18, 2024 | CH, ST, Uncategorized
The Force of Dreams I dreamed of you last night. I dreamed and dreamed, Yet more, as if there never had been dreams In me till then. Reality it seemed Had never been reality. Green dreams Of Eden never could have been like you There in this night of...
by phillipw | Aug 17, 2024 | MO, Uncategorized
Reflected Down on Africa Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He built a white, moon garden on the edge, That cliff down towards the Great Rift Valley’s floor. White roses bloomed in curvings toward...
by phillipw | Aug 17, 2024 | BR, FA, JO, KE, LI, Uncategorized, WI
Mrs. Lindon and Beyond the Veil Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Fanny Brawne, later Mrs. Lindon Avoiding ghost temptations to go through The curtain made of voile of silk between The living and the...
by phillipw | Aug 15, 2024 | LO, LU, RO, Uncategorized
Screwtape Messaging “Never let a fool kiss you and never let a kiss fool you.” The oldest voice, the voice of open thighs, Is part of whispering, shouting. urging need. Ears hear it, almost, it’s so loud. The eyes May Braille it if they want to. Written...
by phillipw | Aug 14, 2024 | BU, RO, SA, Uncategorized
Petrified Voices in the Verses Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The older voices call in me. The smell Of marble mined for sculptures, dust of stone Is in the words. White bearded throats compel...
by phillipw | Aug 12, 2024 | SE, Uncategorized
Moon Garden in Kenya The half-moon had a nightmare. Lovebirds bashed Around inside their cage set up beside The Great Rift Valley. Thorns of roses slashed The air despite their pure white blooms. A bride (That dark-haired spider) ate her husband fresh From...
by phillipw | Aug 11, 2024 | Uncategorized
Patriotism for Putin Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The soldiers have hard skulls, each made of steel. Unfortunately, though, for them they lack The power to cry. Because they do not...
by phillipw | Aug 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Slither In a Station of the Metro The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough. ~ Ezra Pound Two Years Later The eyes of shock remain Electric sockets burnt out in the skull. The beauty of man never disappears But drives a blue car...
by phillipw | Aug 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Students on Social Media Use Vast Satellite Networks to Message “Hi,” “Kool,” Smiley Faces and “Wassup?” The epic paintings of the past have shrunk. Their bloated size in Paris, and Madrid Or Rome contains for most of folk just junk. Their subject matter is...
by phillipw | Aug 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Epic Schmepic To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. ~ William Blake The scales of sonnets and of haiku tempt Some readers to reject the smaller forms As less...
by phillipw | Aug 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
Coursing Length With nerves of gold prepared by pent up heat He waits, with nerves of gold beneath that skin That lengthens most, he feels the heart-pulsed beat. With highest purity of carat sin He waits, has waited far too long. The wait...
by phillipw | Aug 7, 2024 | Uncategorized
The New Jerusalem Comes Down to Earth Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Despite a vampire novel trying to Describe what Paradise is like, despite The sacred texts and sacred visions through...
by phillipw | Aug 6, 2024 | Uncategorized
Bastet Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Cats do not need to look at us with eyes Like hieroglyphs, with sideways glance. We know Cats’ stance already. Cats have astral skies Inside...
by phillipw | Aug 5, 2024 | GU, Uncategorized
A Religion for Bergamot, Lemon, Iris, Jasmine, Rose, Patchouli, Vetiver, Opopanax, Tonka Bean, Frankincense, Sandalwood, Musk, Civet, Ambergris, Leather, and Vanilla Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If...
by phillipw | Aug 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
My sun is made of vellum. They accuse It. But what if this is so? It sends out flares That scare away eclipses since their Muse Is garbled freedom. I prefer the stairs Of Jacob to defamers’ ladders for Wild salmon and the loosest leaps for spawn. My moon is made...
by phillipw | Aug 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Narcissus was the lucky one, escaped The dirtiness of others in him, round Him with their sweat. Their mouths gawped and he raped Them never touching. Facing...
by phillipw | Jul 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
Internal Truth Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Time stops. It touches all the space between The planets, comets, stars and galaxies. Time spreads Yet stops, eternity like this, unseen But...
by phillipw | Jul 22, 2024 | CH, HE, ST, UN, Uncategorized
Internal Medicine Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem And you will say: ‘Love! Love! without your wound being closed. ~ Lorca, “Towards” (Hacia) You strip the skin and flesh first. Then you...
by phillipw | Jul 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
Almost Timbral Moonlight as in a Theremin Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Sliced moons shine up in space and far below On things that now forget the sunlight, warm They might be though, still. Air...
by phillipw | Jul 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Don’t let the silent moment pass. Reach out And grab it, with the fist your mind can make. Reach deep and seize time. Hold it. Make it shout Its sermon or its...
by phillipw | Jun 29, 2024 | AM, Uncategorized
Lacrimae Rerum Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Lacrimae rerum” (“tears of things”) ~ Virgil, The Aeneid, Book I, line 462 “Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity”; and “The main...
by phillipw | Jun 28, 2024 | Uncategorized
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ~ Jeremiah 17: 9 If all our poetry could face the stars, Would that cause roots of...
by phillipw | Jun 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Ultimate Dome-like Ceiling Called Mendelssohn’s Melody Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in E Minor, II. Andante (youtube.com) The apogee of music came when two Men...
by phillipw | Jun 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
A Rejection of Stigmata Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The peony in April sun feels light Upon its petals. That is shining weight Unfelt. The pink embraces springtime, slight As...
by phillipw | Jun 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
Cut Out My Shadow; Cut Out My Shadow Revisited — Two sonnets paired “Cut out my shadow.” ~ Lorca, “Song of the Barren Orange Tree” (“Canción del Naranjo seco”) Some readers want each sonnet to omit The truth. They want a shadowless report On life. They do not...
by phillipw | Jun 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Cratered Moons are Truer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary p BBC News – Solstice Strawberry Moon: June full Moon rises behind Greece’s Temple of Poseidon – BBC News...
by phillipw | Jun 21, 2024 | BU, IN, Uncategorized
To Hold Infinity in the Eyelids Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The carved Buddha lies, His eyelids in a straight line To infinities. ~ Seiho [Englished by Phillip Whidden] Do straight lines lead to...
by phillipw | Jun 21, 2024 | Uncategorized
Like the Matron Not Even Noticed at the Wedding Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem There’s nothing sentimental in these blooms. Chrysanthemums are only that, not filled With red romance like roses. ...
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 | Jun 18, 2024 | AL, Uncategorized
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We live and move with beings who have not Revealed their hidden histories to us, These humans hiding narratives whose plot We never guess unless we try succuss...
by phillipw | Jun 17, 2024 | DI, IN, Uncategorized
Kimberley Pickaxing Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Two younger readers of the poet ask Him how he wangles quite so many lines, So many sonnets, villanelles. That task Is not so great. He just...
by phillipw | Jun 15, 2024 | ME, Uncategorized
Malformed Offspring Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Camille says Greek and Roman sculpture thrived On in medieval armor, very male Forms but of course. Such slickness has survived In metal...
by phillipw | Jun 14, 2024 | AN, BE, BR, FL, GR, OL, Uncategorized
Temples, Temple Oranges Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Take the orange petals, Take the olive leaves” ~ Lorca, “Baladilla de los tres ríos” Some poet somewhere ought to write about The orange...
by phillipw | Jun 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
Free Verse as Nightmare Surrealism Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “I thirst for new songs without moons or irises, and without loves that have died.” ~ Lorca, New Songs (Cantos Nuevos) Who doesn’t? ...
by phillipw | Jun 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Artiest Religion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Christianity . . . became the most art-laden, art-dominated religion in the world. Imagination always remedies the defects of religion.”...
by phillipw | Jun 11, 2024 | Uncategorized
Love Sharpened and Cheapened Two Sonnets Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A woman’s looseness is a leak. This leaks Her meaning down in something like beach sand And spills of her are lost. This...
by phillipw | Jun 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Poet of the Sacred Heart Falls in Love with a Nonentity — Who Turns Out Even Worse: Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca and Emilio Aladrén Perojo Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem ...
by phillipw | May 31, 2024 | Uncategorized
A Mosquito Sucking Nutrients from a Copperhead Moccasin Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If only life were quite as clear, precise And simplified as Henri Rousseau’s views, The jungle edges sharp and...
by phillipw | May 30, 2024 | Uncategorized
Aunt Wilma’s and Aunt Ruth’s Mother not Even Worth a Yawn Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Forgotten ones are lost in and stare out From sepia. They do not matter, not At all. The photo albums almost...
by phillipw | May 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Paradox Through Divinity Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The mountain range as strict as only rock Would be is mirrored by the shadow splayed By peaks. More like a ragged tomahawk Of flint the...
by phillipw | May 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
Blackness Inside the Killer Whale’s Stomach Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem All day no word, no Speaking, the butterflies cast Their unseen shadows. ~ Hōsai (Englished by Phillip Whidden No matter quite...
by phillipw | May 26, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Truest Things Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The truest things stop mind or heart in mid Thought, beat. They halt the eyes. An April tree Is like the prophet saints who all forbid...
by phillipw | May 26, 2024 | Uncategorized
Earthly Passions Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A summer shower washed My face. Earthly passions fell, Gallons dropped away. ~ Kōyō [Englished by Phillip Whidden] What “earthly passions”...
by phillipw | May 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Last Rose of December The last rose open looks up towards the sky. The sky does not look down but only spreads Itself. The flower unspeaking asks for dry December breezes. Fallen, other heads Speak silently from death and ground to say The coolness...