by phillipw | Jan 3, 2020 | DE
True Democracy Young “men” erupt in riots in the streets Of England, set some cars on fire, loot shop Displays, and injure police dogs, break sheets Of window glass, steal undershirts from Top Shop—generally have a lot of fun. They do this out of civic duty...
by phillipw | Dec 30, 2019 | DE, JO, PR
Josquin des Prez Polyphony of beauty and of voice Without obscuring instrumental sound Made churches of the Renaissance rejoice And made Josquin des Prez’s chansons bound From palaces to houses of the whores. But where is Josquin now? He carved his name...
by phillipw | Dec 29, 2019 | DE
Written during Choral Evensong, St. George’s Chapel, in the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Europe. The Dead Lie Stretched Out .. The dead lie stretched out under stony lids, Some marble, others basalt, all set, carved To keep these bodies trapped. Each...
by phillipw | Dec 26, 2019 | AE, BE, DE, ES, PE
Easter Peonies Pink peonies are dying. Only those Most hidden in the shades from one near bush Hold on to sturdy hope, to lingering rose Determination not to wilt. These push With frilled resistance, blowse-like guimpes, against That insubstantial...
by phillipw | Dec 15, 2019 | BA, DE
Rimbaud Wrote, “We are in the months of love” No. Poets are the mouths of love. That kid Was wrong from early on. He sent that line To Théodore, who early saw the skid This lice-filled fiend would slide down. Evil swine, Archangel eyed, his lips snagged only one...
by phillipw | Dec 15, 2019 | AR, BA, DE, RI
The Months of Love On May 24, 1870, Rimbaud wrote a letter from Charleville to Théodore de Banville, leader of a group of poets in Paris. Maybe each intense blueness is eternal, even if only for the season of love. “Dear Master, We are in the months of love And...
