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, DA, HE, IC, PH, TH, WH, WO
With Straight Gold Bars I sat beside my mother as the sale Was made, the purchase of The World Book Encyclopedia. I loved the pale Cream, knobbled leatherette, the noble look Of deep maroon square placed on spine of each Restrained and heavy volume, glossy...
by phillipw | Jul 6, 2020 | AC, DA, GA, HE, Ho, MA
David and Jonathan, Achilles and Patroclus, Alexander and Hephaestion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse Hephaestion, lover of Alexander the Great We heroize male anger, all the way From David’s chopped Goliath to the...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | CH, DA, JA, NI
Heaven’s Gate That moment when my uncle fell beneath The rearing horse, was crushed beneath its weight, Destroyed Thanksgiving and the Christmas wreath— That wrecked. Cracked bone horrors can dislocate Time, times, and the dividing of time, swell Time...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | AM, BI, DA, GA, SH, TH
Sonnets Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem ……. A friend of Constable said Virgil’s sense He gained from culture drove him to presume That prime boys were “the...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | AL, DA, IN, PA, PU
A Gay Ole Time in Daisy-Circle Hell “Why does your vision linger there below Among those lost and mutilated shades?” He asked. I stared at him. Was he so slow? “It’s obvious. None living in the glades Of heaven or in Purgatory now Is nearly so...