The Lion-Man — 35,000 to 41,000 Years Ago
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
When craft, religion, mind first made a part
Non-human man, part lion in a cave’s
Space, Ice Age times ago, this early art
Pronounced carved faith as if cathedral naves
Were prophesied. Religion made of tusk
Is mained religion, still, and still remains.
Much darker than an Ice Age dawn or dusk,
The element of shamanism stains
The doctrines in our arteries. Their blood
Contains the shaped creation of a brain
For hewing intuition as if thud
Of total art brings one long human chain.
The mammoth ivory and sculpting hands
Fulfill our worship longings, their demands.
———-
and
Horse Figurine One Inch by One Point Nine Inch, 32,000 to 35,000 Thousand Years Before Giacometti
A hallowed tiny horse, but missing legs,
Comes down to us impossibly, or near
In its impossibility. No dregs
Of artistry such items are. They jeer
At us for thinking we are at the top
Of art. Picasso could have learned a thing
Or three from this one sculpture. More a flop
Our Modernism is. This stallion’s sting
Kills off our arrogance. Made more than three
Millennia ago it almost neighs
Perfection Dalí would have envied. See
Ourselves as others see us this one nearly brays.
Just look at it and try to hold your gasp
Back. Modern arrogance is hard to grasp.
~ Phillip Whidden
This sonnet has also been published in The Society of Classical Poets, Journal XIII, May, 2025