by phillipw | Apr 15, 2020 | AN, LO
The Sacred Fire The Thespians of Greece in ancient times Upheld the god of love devout as saints Have ever been. Deep lovers’ paradigms Are never quite as true as perfect paints: Vermeer’s silk velvet spaces spring to mind. The purity those Thespians conceived...
by phillipw | Apr 15, 2020 | AN, PO
Myths of Poetry The early words of poetry arose From darkness in the depths of throat and lungs In caves and mixed with burning air. The bows And arrows in the shadows gave the tongues That sang the blood and flesh which chanting needs. Or else out on a...
by phillipw | Apr 14, 2020 | AN, GR, MA
The Truth The ancient Greeks are there. They do not hide The truth about themselves like holy priests Of papal Rome. The Greeks adored male pride And loathed it. They were not pure logic’s beasts: They gloried in their contradictions, found Them, not...
by phillipw | Apr 14, 2020 | AN
Were I to Believe in Angels’ Songs If angels, each one, had a message they Would sing to us, would each charge be the same, A Kyrie, an Adoramus te, Or Gloria? No, that would be too tame. I'm thinking everyone would be unique, Each text and melody enough to...
by phillipw | Apr 14, 2020 | AN, IL, ME
Ancient Greek, Then Church Latin, Symposium, Scriptorium “Readers of Greek poetry constituted an élite, as in the Middle Ages readers of Latin did.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 13 “The symposiasts drank rather too much-watered wine, wore crowns, perfumes and...
by phillipw | Apr 11, 2020 | AN, RA, VI
Nude in the Gymnasium, Dressed in Modesty at Home “For the ancients, poetry socialized people; for the moderns, it reflects or promotes alienation.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 10 The ancient poets, epic poets, taught Their boys to find the maleness meant for...
