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 | Apr 5, 2023 | BU, FL, LO, RE
Incapable Beauty The best thing that the poet pointed out Is that wise roses never know that all Are shriveling, young. The flowers never pout In sympathy with us. They never brawl With gods for us, to spare us from some fate We do not know awaits us. ...
by phillipw | Jan 5, 2023 | BU, FL, PH, RE
Sacred and Profane Buddhas The meaning of the Buddha is in all Things, not just sacred lotuses or trees Saints sit beneath. Secular flies let fall Their droppings on the painted frieze Brushed onto white rice paper on a screen, Or watercolor painted on...
by phillipw | Feb 22, 2022 | BU, HA, UN
The Subatomic and the Infinite A trout swims beneath. Clouds moves upon the surface And above the stream. The perfect haikus, if such things exist, Involve minutiae of life; not just Those, though. Embracing clarity and mist The lines take in the astral, far the...
by phillipw | Feb 18, 2022 | BU, CO, EN, SA
Satori Glory Despite Gray Feathers Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem My childhood home where The face of the little snail Was like the Buddha’s own. ~ Issa My cockatiel named Cocky had a...
by phillipw | Dec 1, 2021 | BU, CO
Green Cove Springs for Bucky Coggins Green stands for living; no, for life, for all That life can offer, far beyond what minds Can dream of. Green is like the cosmic caul Of birthing. Green is more than that. It winds Behind and through the brimming universe. A...
by phillipw | Oct 3, 2021 | BU, FA, LE
Symmetry in Asymmetry The fawn Shakes off the butterfly And sleeps again. ~ Issa A sacred symmetry descends upon The drowsiness of spots, haphazard white, Set out on red brown pelt. The sleeping fawn Is wakened by the...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | BI, BU, RA, RO
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The 1960s weren’t exactly right For stars who touched each other in the way That audiences hated. Lovers might Endeavor to keep journalists at bay, But Robert Benevides...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | BU, DE, HU, JA, MI, SA
If macho stars are doing sex with men, That must be covered up. Mere Vaseline Across the lens won’t do. It’s cock and hen That’s right for Hollywood. Shut down the scene If Marlon Brando kisses Dean and/or The other way around. Rock Hudson’s Day Is just for show. ...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2021 | BU, LE
Rhapsody on Breezes The butterfly when chased goes still along Its way unhurried, winging on in calm As if Nirvana were its space. The wrong May be its foe, but yet without a qualm It flits in peace the Buddha would desire. The evil net is reared up for...
by phillipw | Sep 6, 2021 | BU, DR, HU, RO, SE
The Flowers Dream of Hummingbirds Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When butterflies fan wings while on a stone, They do not dream, or if they do, they fail To dream of us, our sadness when alone Or, more,...
by phillipw | Aug 11, 2021 | BU, ZE
Significance Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Kamakura_Budda_Daibutsu_front_1885.jpg A swallow swoops away. It swoops from out Of Buddha’s nose, the nostril on the left. If...
by phillipw | Aug 9, 2021 | BU, CH, JU, RE, SH
Judas as a Cannibal Interpreting Holiness Korea sends a priestly man, a monk, To worshiping Japan. He preaches that The animism of their bones is drunk, More like a drunken mouse or bat, And will remain so till they realize That silent Shintō gods are reflections Of...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2021 | BU, CH, SA
Never Mind Nirvana An aching earthquake chasm has more weight Than filled perfection ever gains. The death Of Christ impaled is useful to berate The evils in the world much more than breath Of Buddha, mystic in his musings, thought Beneath a Bodhi tree, his...
by phillipw | Jul 11, 2021 | BL, BU, GO, GR, IO, KI, KY
Born from the Genitals of Uranus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The eyes of Aphrodite are more blue, As blue as depths off Kythira, perhaps As pale as blue waves mariners see through Before they find...
by phillipw | Jul 6, 2021 | BU, RE
Messy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The snow has melted On just one metal shoulder Of the Great Buddha. ~ Shiki Not ours the purposes of nature. Not God’s either, not so...
by phillipw | Jun 4, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, CH, MA, PH, RE, ST
No Hypocrisy or Self-deceiving in Esthetics Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When Jesus speaks, the monasteries chant And convents count their beads. On Georgia’s roads His words are...
by phillipw | Apr 4, 2021 | BU, CH, IM, RE, RO
He Wore his Royal Robes to Lead Out in Matins and Vespers Some lines of verse by Robert King of France Sing, simply pious, from one thousand years Gone by. We analyze them, though, askance Because his holiness had fatal fears Like flaming coals inside it. He was so...
by phillipw | Mar 14, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, CO, ES, MO, SO, TR
The Sonnet in Its Little Room The sonnet, much too like a tight cocoon, Encased inside its silk-like threads is far Too tiny and too strict but not immune To mystic grandeur. It is not a czar Upon a dais seat raised up and vast Of gold, but more a derringer...
by phillipw | Mar 11, 2021 | BU, NI, RE
Paradox of Paranirvana lotusculpture.com My desire Is that I may die Beneath the cherry blossoms, In spring, On the fifteenth night Of the second month. ~ Saigyô Religion is the most elastic thing, Much more elastic than a rubber band Or even more elastic steel. We...
by phillipw | Feb 27, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, PH, PL, SW
Solemnity The swan reflects the water. Water’s light Shines off the grace. It moves like moon-drawn flow Up rivers. Streaming feathers claim the white Of foam on ocean waves. The feathers go Where God would go if he were mortal in A world devoid...
by phillipw | Feb 24, 2021 | BU, RE, TR
Día de los Muertos and Egyptian Pyramids Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons The lotuses in...
by phillipw | Jan 29, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, PE, RE, RO
Peony Piety Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A proper reverence for petals should Be kept, especially for pink and white Ones, peonies. Perhaps a veil-like hood Should be required for viewing...
by phillipw | Jan 24, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, EN, ES, PE, SA
Circumstantially Separated from Satori Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The blossoms hidden by the hedge in dark Of mid-May twilight still are seen from where I sit. Their perfect pink is light,...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, GE, HI, Ho, IS, JU, TR
Vicars of Esthetics Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Triangular like God the flowers are shown Against a boring green of lawn. Arrayed In righteous revelation now full blown Their holiness of...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, PI, TE
Peace that Passeth Understanding Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem So no kuraki yo woshizuka naru botan kana The garden is dark In the night, and quiet The peony. ~ Shirao The garden, dark with...
by phillipw | Jan 11, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, EN, ES, PE, SA
Circumstantially Separated from Satori Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The blossoms hidden by the hedge in dark Of mid-May twilight still are seen from where I sit. Their perfect pink is light,...
by phillipw | Jan 8, 2021 | BU, GI, SA, WI
The Ancient Evergreen Did Not Become a Buddha Hotoke to mo Narade uka uka Oi no matsu. The ancient pine-tree Not yet being wise Buddha Is idly dreaming. ~Issa An ancient redwood lived its slowest youth So long ago that nothing else recalls It. Redwood mindlessness...
by phillipw | Jan 5, 2021 | AU, BU, EP, KO, MO, MY, PA, RE, SA
“Autumn Revelations”; “Monistic Meditation”; and, “Comprehension”: a Trio of Sonnets Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Samaras wirble down. One hits the pond. The silence and the ripples...
by phillipw | Nov 2, 2020 | BU, TR
The X4 Route to Bracknell The cityscapes we wander through at night Are foreign from the sights we see in days, More alien. We pass a neon site That we have never noticed in the maze Of roads that aren’t a maze in morning hours. Streets loom as Hallowe’en-like in the...
by phillipw | Oct 24, 2020 | BO, BU, EN, ME, MY
The Harvest of a Quiet Eye “The harvest of a quiet eye” ~ John Richard Vernon Ignore the razzmatazz, and sex, and stuff. Just look around you in the dawn and see A crack in God’s eternity, enough To show the mystical, mystery In twilight. Take an old, old book...
by phillipw | Oct 9, 2020 | AN, BU, GE, PH, RE
Our Choice of Ancestors What we think, we become. Buddha Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are...
by phillipw | Oct 5, 2020 | BU, DE, FU, Ho, IL, MA, NE
In Every Culture, that Golden Vanity “I am the cup of Nestor, a joy to drink from” A twelve year old in Magna Graecia lay Inside his tomb. Beside him was a cup Of gold interred there. Wanting to convey Sad hope, his family wanted him to sup From it in afterlife...
by phillipw | Aug 10, 2020 | BU, DA, IN, MI
Danaus plexippus Flocks Remember a Prehistoric Everest The butterflies recall an ancient slope. The Monarchs flew for eons past a peak Too high for them. Those insects had no hope Of scaling it, this black and orange clique, So huge and gorgeous that the angel cloud...
by phillipw | Jul 20, 2020 | AN, BU, FA, IL, LI, OB, SA
Where Cleanest Vaulting Beauty Flies Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Youths and maidens all blythe and full of glee, carried the luscious fruit in plaited baskets; and with them there went a boy who...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2020 | AT, BU, CO, EL, LA, LO, NI, OL, SA, SO, SP, TH, VI
They Loved Sovereignty and Liberty Most “And the Lacedæmonians offer sacrifices to Love before they go to battle, thinking that safety and victory depend on the friendship and those who stand side by side in the battle array. And the Cretans, in their line of battle,...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2020 | BU, EL, LO, MO, RE
The Voice Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem 1 Kings 19:11-12 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | BO, BU, CE, SA
Sappho Wrote about Twelve Thousand Lines of Poetry Twelve thousands lines of poetry were torched By time and Christians. Piety increased The ravages, all this because she scorched With love for girls. Bishops made a feast Of male disgust that Sappho caused by fire...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | BU, CA, KI
The Eye Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The lines of kitten loveliness themselves Are beautiful as she is, almost, there, But not. A rapt, assessing gaze that delves The vision sleeping on the...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | BU, CH, HI, Uncategorized
Exilium Vita Est—Life is Exile Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Christians have it that our lives are ways Of pilgrimage to take us on to where Souls yearn to be. We stumble through a maze Art of JR...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | BU, EN, SA
Solomon in All His Glory, Ignored “What is worse, every day, and many times in the day, we are enlightened, we are Buddha, a poet,–but do not know it, and remain an ordinary man.” ~ R. H. Blyth, Preface, Haiku, Summer-Autumn, Volume 3, p. 644. A moment opens...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | BU, EN, IC, SA
Ichneumon Religion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “All things around us are asking for our apprehension, working for our enlightenment.” ~ R. H. Blyth, Preface, Haiku, Summer-Autumn, Volume 3 of...
by phillipw | May 17, 2020 | BU, CA, KI
Ocean Fish Reverie Two cats are sleeping near me, one stretched long Across the velvet easy chair. Her nose Lies pressing pinkly there. A lilting song Of tiny snoring, muffled by the pose, Is nearly all absorbed in plush gold pile— A fitting, soft recipient...
by phillipw | May 17, 2020 | BU, DU, GE, PA, US
Amputee on Inauguration Day: A Sonnet Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Wrapped up in strictest red and white and blue The tight Marine snaps out a straight salute. His brute, square jaw imprisoning, and...
by phillipw | May 14, 2020 | BU, GA, HI, ME, MY, PA
Siddhartha “and things stable by unceasing mutations” ~ Thomas Taylor, 1792 The glacier is ever changing, still And not still, frozen, flowing, fixed and not, Yes, like Jehovah’s unperplexing will, And whitened like a purpose not forgot. Crevasses...
by phillipw | May 14, 2020 | AL, BU, MA
Physiognomy as Prophecy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem https://moco-choco.com/2015/01/29/the-discovery-of-the-tombs-of-alexander-the-greats-father-and-son-in-vergina/ The fact that Alexander’s nose...
by phillipw | May 10, 2020 | BU, DI, EM, EZ, JO, KE, KH, OM, OR, PE, PO, RA, RO, SA
The Bones of Orpheus, the Hair of Keats Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If we collected poets’ body parts And put them in glass cases, would the world Adore them there like saints? Pickled hearts Of...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2020 | BU, EN, SA
How to be a Buddha Just walk along and pay attention to The brutal facts around you. Notice them. Enlightenment is waiting in the stew Of life. If Jesus passes, touch his hem. If not, take note of ordinary things And see if they will cure you. They just might. A...
by phillipw | Apr 8, 2020 | BU, EN
Blankness for Sale as Enlightenment The Buddha stands in golden skirts with sight Of toenails underneath. Above his waist Black’s lacquer torso brings the dynamite Of revelation. He has been erased Not just by gold and lacquer darkness: he Is broken. There below...
by phillipw | Mar 9, 2020 | AS, BU, CH, JE, SA
Petaled Salvation An emperor or any man must grope His mumbling way if he would go as pure As Buddha or as Christ. The slightest hope Is offered. Jesus holds out just one sure Path forward into holiness. “Go sell All, all you have and give it to the...
by phillipw | Jan 31, 2020 | BU, CA, KI
The New Purrusalem My kitten steps across my flooring tiles And even though they are the blandest bland, A space of beige like wedding chapel aisles, Tiles turn transparent gold, become the strand Of Heaven leading to the throne of Him Who made her beauty with a...
by phillipw | Dec 13, 2019 | BU
Serenity As if a sacred nothing were a kind Of gift, Gautama left his palace, went To wander in the world’s ways and to find Enlightenment adrift on water—sent His speculations, hidden in a stream Of meditation flowing like the change That...
by phillipw | Nov 28, 2019 | AL, BU, LO, SE
Phenomenal .A kiss is more than lips, spit, tongues and teeth .Luxuriating in a bedroom’s heat, .Exploring to blue veins and nerves beneath .Conventions recognized by skin. The beat — .Against the ribcage in each chest — of hearts...
by phillipw | Nov 27, 2019 | BU, LO, RO
Anatomy of Love: To a Nurse Dawn comes to where your solid throat and jaw Lie cupped in fingers not distracted by This wedding ring, and where your liquid eye (Behind its frail, fringed lid) twitches in awe Of nightmare threats both powerful...
by phillipw | Nov 22, 2019 | BU, CH, HI, IN
Xuanzang: Observations on Assam, Bihar, Kasmir, the Peninsular and Punjab We meet dismay when pondering histories Far foreign from our time. Many amassed Cross-pollinated facts become mysteries, As when a Chinese traveler in the past So distant that we have no...
by phillipw | Oct 16, 2019 | BU, Uncategorized
Helen Miller’s Little Brother The bullies all around him must have seemed Like combine harvesters to someone wee Like autumn blossoms when the bastards teamed Up. Gary, like a sweet weed in the scree Beneath a bing, somehow survived and found His way to my protection...
by phillipw | Oct 14, 2019 | BU, LO
We Met at the Caledonian Hotel in the West End The Royal Mile is John Knox’s creed, Yet strict stone Edinburgh has the pinks, The lavenders, and blues which lovers need When springtime Presbyterian day winks To twilight. Grayness overawes the eyes Until the sun is...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2019 | BU
Highs and Lows 0 What if the Buddha got it wrong and deaths Don’t take us to Nirvana but instead Produce a consciousness too much like meths, Or LSD? Or if that final bed, The one for each immortal soul, is full Of nightmares (weedy paranoia), Because...
by phillipw | Aug 25, 2019 | AE, AL, BU, FL, IN, LO, ME, NO
Erde und Himmel: a Sonnet The picture on the page (this photo in the ad) was not of you. It looked like you, though. Can it be that something quite so thin and boring as casually leafing through an in-flight magazine might bring this...
by phillipw | Jul 2, 2019 | BU
Buso No miracles are needed when kittens Abound. Their stripes and spots and blotches say Enough. Mine has all of these and mittens Of white as pure as Baby Jesu’s soul away On ox’s straw, as white as light from eyes Of ass and angels looking lost...