Piddling Emperors and Trunkless Legs*

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem

God changes not, Eternal lack of feet,

Not iron and clay, just iron without a toe,

He waits beyond immortal, throne as seat,

Unmoving in a see-through marble’s glow.

God does not need a home because of course

He lurks in every thing, in everywhere.

Besides, the Three of Them, of Him are force

Omnipotent and so they fill the air

And airlessness of Outer Space, so space

Is not their problem.  Toeless foot is

Not a problem either.  Love as tenor, bass,

As alto and soprano forms their knot.

  The knot is endless.  Alexander’s sword

    Is useless.  This is why Jehovah’s Lord.

*One of Phillip Whidden’s sonnets, “Vermont,” has been published by Cambridge University Press and was paired with Shelley’s “Ozymandias.”