by phillipw | Feb 6, 2024 | GA, Ho, IR, MA
Irises Not Dreaming of Other Irises Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem An iris cannot dream. It cannot dream Of blue, not even nearly purple blue, That wishes it were black. A cherubim, Once it had...
by phillipw | Jan 27, 2024 | GA, Ho, KA, LO, LU, MA, NE, RO, UN
Unlike You and Him There seemed a time (if time can merely seem) When we soared parallel, so did not touch, The lack of touching sinful as a dream (Though close the lack of touching hurt too much And so I had to comment face to face With little gifts of...
by phillipw | Jan 14, 2024 | GA, HA, HE, NO, ST
The Female Pheasant’s Handsome Lover Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Noh fan opens out upon the stage. The female pheasant’s lover is the point. Her attitude to beauty makes her sage: When males are...
by phillipw | Nov 12, 2023 | AB, GA, LO, RO
Alchemy’s Golden Paradox in Heaven’s Streets of Transparent Gold Love, I am full of lead. ~ Antony in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, III.11.76 His heart was made of lead, its poison, weight And darkness till he met the one, that one Who mattered only, only,...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2023 | GA, Ho, LO, MA
Fraught and not Fraught [Today, October 7, 2023, I bought Abhishek’s wedding ring.] Where only black and gold are, gods will lie In wait. The black ones are uncountable, The gold ones only three. The black ones fly Around and in us, unsurmountable The...
by phillipw | Sep 27, 2023 | CO, GA, LO, PI, RO, SA, SI, ST, TE, Uncategorized
Harlequin in Guise of Tuberculosis Hovering When love is played in luscious settings, clowns Are needed. Sad or comic they can be But never tragic, really, dressed in gowns That do not give the game away. We see Them loving like doom’s humans, threatening clown Just...
by phillipw | Jan 31, 2023 | BI, GA
Acrobatic Zest In zest that never fails, though pause it must, The flittering and flapping in between The hedges, shrubs, and roses, swoop adjust Themselves in sunlight, changing to a keen Ballet or modern dance, or more trapeze Performance never...
by phillipw | Sep 4, 2022 | CA, GA, JU
Elio and Oliver During and After How meaningless the road ahead is when It doesn’t lead to him and love. The stretch Is straight, or slightly bent, when two young men, Who stepped outside the hedging, made a sketch Of other love, and parted, then are...
by phillipw | May 11, 2022 | CY, GA, Ho, LO, MA, PH, RO, Uncategorized
Someone Special Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Who has to be a special someone when He knows that he is loved? Perhaps some sun God loves him. Maybe he knows more than men...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | BR, CH, GA, Ho, LA, LO, RU
Wider Still and Wider from the Earth “And in that Heaven of all their wish, there shall be no more land, say fish.” ~ Rupert Brooke The fancies of that young one, Rupert Brooke, Were wider than “just” girls and women. He Liked those—and more. The autumn hair that...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | AN, BR, DE, GA, RU, SE
Stranger and Not Stranger “Youth is stranger than fiction.” ~ Rupert Brooke The two re-met two nights. Young Brooke was known To be opposed to what they were about To do. The other had been nursing overblown Emotions for the poet, years. A stout...
by phillipw | Mar 14, 2022 | BR, CH, GA, LA, LO, RU, UN
Rugby Love Reduced to Black and White in Cambridge Love That love continued into Cambridge days. One Rugby beauty took another in A frame and kept him in his room to gaze At eyes, at stalwart auburn hair, and chin, Not just in daytime, either, but in nights Of...
by phillipw | Mar 14, 2022 | BE, BR, GA, LA, LO, MA, RO, RU, UN
On the Rubbish Heap of Time . . . The one he loved the most was Charles Lascelles. We have to take Brooke’s word for it that he Was beautiful. As Rugby tower bells Rang out the hours, a passion rhymed with glee Pumped hard inside the future poet, hard...
by phillipw | Mar 8, 2022 | BR, DE, GA, LO, RU, SE
Denham and his Thoughts while Being Fucked by the Poet Rupert Brooke–a Threesome of Sonnets Pain While Playing Games We talk at first as though we do not know Why we are there. Of course he knows. I sort Of know and hope, as always. A slow And...
by phillipw | Mar 8, 2022 | AM, BI, BR, DE, GA, LO, RU, SE, Uncategorized
Denham Alone Since He Alone was Not Alone– A Foursome of Sonnets Outside and Finally In “A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out all the years.” ~Rupert Brooke Each year he finds a new one he can love. The first (and last) was Denham...
by phillipw | Mar 8, 2022 | BR, CU, GA, HA, JA, ST, UN
Cool as a Thick-haired Cucumber “I have need to busy my heart with quietude.” ~ Rupert Brooke James suffered like a teenybopper lass In love with manufactured pop star guys. He hovered like an altar boy at mass Outside the poet’s rooms. He hoped his eyes Would...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2022 | BR, CH, FO, GA, LA
Charles Lascelles Remembered Imagine that an English boy loved you The most of all — and everyone thought he Was gorgeous…even straight men took the view That he was stunning. Reckon that a scree Of years goes tumbling by and both are gone, Both...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2022 | AN, BR, DE, GA, RU
But What is Man’s Nature? The poet’s lofty principle about The buggering of boys’ butts was plain. When physical with guys, his only shout Was, “Follow nature.” Poets should refrain From filling holes not meant for making kids. A woman’s hairy hole was what...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2022 | BR, DE, GA, RU, SE, Ta
Boys, Even the Poets, Become Men When boys at school grow up, they go away And do the stupid things that boy-men do. They go do bed with women, or if gay, The boys make love while using cum as glue With other men, and if they’re young enough, These other males,...
by phillipw | Mar 6, 2022 | BR, DE, GA, RU, SE
Bad Actor in Two Sonnets (Forever Entangled) Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Bad acting doesn’t cut the mustard for An audience; well, not for most. Brooke posed With trumpet (fake) and chiton. ...
by phillipw | Mar 6, 2022 | GA, UN
A Solitary Fire In bobby socks the teenyboppers used To sigh or scream about a baritone, Or tenor, or falsetto voice. Amused, Their objects of desire jived through a zone Of smugness like a phoenix on its pyre. Before these screeching fans,...
by phillipw | Mar 4, 2022 | BR, DE, GA, RU, S
“A Channel Passage” The ugliness of love, that sickness known To him and everyone, deserves to be Discussed and sonnetized. A groan With nausea upon the sickening sea Of hormones, yep, testosterone and such, Has been the poets’ tune forever since...
by phillipw | Nov 22, 2021 | EV, GA, PH, SE
Early Polling of Intentions Who wouldn’t want it if a giant snake Proposed deep mouthfuls that you thought were out Of reach? The woman’s throat began to shake. The woman’s heart fled fast from fussy doubt. She knew she wanted all he offered up. He...
by phillipw | Nov 18, 2021 | BR, GA, Ho, JA, LO, RO, RU, ST, UN
A Solitary Fire In bobby socks the teenyboppers used To sigh or scream about a baritone, Or tenor, or falsetto voice. Amused, Their objects of desire jived through a zone Of smugness like a phoenix on its pyre. Before these screeching fans, young...
by phillipw | Nov 6, 2021 | BO, DU, GA, Ho, MU, PA, PH, SE, SI, ST, WH
Jalousie in Natural Light—Avant la Rêve For Mrs. Pat Silver and Bob Stubbs She chose a piece called “Jalousie” for flute And keyboard that was strange to both the boys, But then the both of them were teens. To suit The ceremony “Jalousie” had poise But sounded...
by phillipw | Oct 20, 2021 | BR, GA, RU, WI, YE, ZE
“Almost Ludicrously Beautiful” “His looks were stunning – it is the only appropriate adjective.” ~ Leonard Woolf “the handsomest young man in England” ~ W. B.Yeats “He [Ganymede] was regarded as the most beautiful human on earth, male or female.” ~...
by phillipw | Sep 30, 2021 | DI, GA, JO, LU
As If Mingled Throughout our Air Yet Distant, Distant, Distant Elusive as pale pulsing ghosts that hide In Galliano robes, stars’ glamour shifts From seeming to enchantment. Like a bride Suspended in a galaxy, glow lifts And levitates. The stars and starlets...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2021 | GA, GR, LU, MA, MO
Feeling Like Eternity and Not Just the Golden Era That halo light from Hollywood shines down Across the decades. Garbo’s eyes still glow And Marilyn enwrapped in glitter gown, The sequins spangled, neckline cut so low The breast bone almost passed between those...
by phillipw | Sep 14, 2021 | AM, BI, BR, GA, RU, SE
Taatamata and Denham Russell-Smith The evidence, it seems, implies that stuff With women caused him greatest grief, except For Taatamata. Mother was enough To force him to desire control. She kept Him on the tightest lead, as best she might, And love for Ka produced...
by phillipw | Sep 13, 2021 | BR, CH, GA, LA, RU
Rugby Love Reduced to Black and White in Cambridge Love The love continued into Cambridge days. One Rugby beauty took another in A frame and kept him in his room to gaze At eyes, at stalwart auburn hair, and chin, Not just in daytime, either, but in nights Of...
by phillipw | Sep 12, 2021 | BR, CH, GA, LA, LO, RU
Auburn Love Maleness Maleness Maleness The way a twilight in the autumn turns To unsung colors, so the chapel light Inside the service changes from the burns Of orange to a brown with red so slight It slinks away as suns go down. The red Is almost memory, not real,...
by phillipw | Sep 9, 2021 | BR, GA, RU
“Apollo is here, divinely cruel, and Dionysus, who maddens by his presence” Abandoning Olympus when One God Arose from death, the Greek gods fled To English public schools. A football squad In Rugby had new deities; so said The poet Rupert Brooke. They walked across...
by phillipw | Sep 9, 2021 | GA, SA
Slickest Electronic Ignorance There is no sin but ignorance. ~ Christopher Marlowe He said that he was interested in things Of Japanese tradition. Having doubts, I asked him, “So…like cherry-blossom springs?” Well, no. He was thinking Samurai clouts In...
by phillipw | Aug 26, 2021 | GA, JA, MA, WE
Wesley Marley Had the Third Largest Private Collection of Jazz Recordings in the World and Played Them on a Huge Stereophonic Sound System He knew a charismatic peace inside His mother’s living room and in between The ganging giant speakers there beside His shoulders...
by phillipw | Aug 9, 2021 | GA, GU, HE, IS, JU, LA, PA, TR, ZE
Pitifully Bulging with Restraint The ancient myths refrain from giving hot Exactness to sex swollen loves. The gate Of Troy is breached, but Homer leaves out taut Male flesh in ram and slam of lust in spate Between Queen Helen’s legs. When Zeus rapes up Inside...
by phillipw | Aug 6, 2021 | AD, EV, GA
The Reptilian Part of the Female Brain Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Because the birds are dinosaurs reduced (No, not evolved), the pheasant’s head is like A serpent’s, though more jewelled, as if...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2021 | GA, Ho, RO
No Conscience June storms come lashing down on roses. They Hold up as best they can like soldiers trapped By heavy friendly fire. June rains betray The blossoms. Pinkest petal strength is sapped. The perfect stems and leaves, though under fire As...
by phillipw | Jun 24, 2021 | AD, AM, BI, BR, GA, LO, RO, RU, SE
An Evensong at Rugby School Chapel Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The service is devoted to Saint John The Baptist. Then when prayer comes, “Lord, now let,” I think of peace and one plain tomb upon...
by phillipw | Jun 10, 2021 | BI, GA, HE, Ho, LO, RO
Ganymede Has Auroras Glowing in His Captured Air The largest moon of Jupiter is male, Much larger than the female ones. Its weight Is less than Mercury’s but then the scale Of Ganymede is larger. Zeus’s mate Forever clings around his greatest god And spins forever...
by phillipw | Jun 9, 2021 | GA, JU, LE, SW, ZE
The Age of the Gods Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The age of gods remains the same, a still Forever. As they were, they ever are, And ever will be, in a changeless, chill, Transparent medium. ...
by phillipw | Jun 6, 2021 | FI, GA
Dark Pink Nipples in the 1950s Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The 1950s held its clean-cut sorts, Its crew-cut men, but they were not the whole Array. Some others filled the gorgeous courts...
by phillipw | Jun 5, 2021 | CH, FI, GA, OW, WI, WO
Boy Soldiers, not Toy Soldiers Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Wilfred Owen He’s cuter than the photo that they show So often, more a smiling kid and not A solemn soldier or a poet, no...
by phillipw | Jun 3, 2021 | AD, AM, BI, BR, CH, DE, FI, GA, Ho, LO, MI, PO, RO, RU, SC, WO
Blue Rugby and Blue Gallipoli Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We do not think of Rubert Brooke in blue, When we remember him at all. We think of Brooke Between some pages of a volume, true To...
by phillipw | May 10, 2021 | GA, HE, Ho
Primitive Prurient Prejudice Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Excised from Jason’s crew, the greatest man Among them disappeared to zero scale. They sailed away without him. In this ban They saved...
by phillipw | May 3, 2021 | AM, AN, BI, GA, GR, ME, RA, SE, ZE
iOvid Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem What Ovid did two thousand years ago, The World Wide Web has lately caught up with. He did it many, many times. The slow Web has, at last,...
by phillipw | Mar 31, 2021 | CH, GA, ST, TH, WO
The Brief Gate into Ecstasy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He raised his hands and wrists to Christ and all The world was changed. The evening worship paused As if no God existed. I, like...
by phillipw | Mar 26, 2021 | AR, GA, MO, PA, RI, VE
Irradiated Irises Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem His eyes were deep clairvoyant blue, and blue Of lighter kind, both present in his face At once for Paul to fall in love with. True To...
by phillipw | Mar 19, 2021 | BL, BO, GA, ST, Uncategorized
Bob Stubbs Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He wallowed in his first epiphany. He could not bring himself to leave the thrill Of it behind. The first polyphony When it appeared in music...
by phillipw | Mar 16, 2021 | GA, GE, ME, PO, SI, SK
The Lark Ascending “But wider over many heads The starry voice ascending spreads, Awakening . . . As he to silence nearer soars” “The Lark Ascending” ~ George Meredith He hopes to raise such images, and thoughts, And beauties in his poems as the...
by phillipw | Mar 10, 2021 | AL, CR, DE, ED, FA, GA, GR, Ho, SC, SM
Wandering in Warriston Cemetery “Smith contracted diphtheria in November 1866 and, although he seemed to have recovered by Christmas, was then struck down by typhus. He died at home on 5 January 1867 at the very beginning of his thirty-seventh year, and was buried in...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2021 | AD, GA, HE, Ho, LO, ST
It’s May! It’s May! The Month of “Yes, You May” Traditions here are moss grown, very green And healthy. Ordered ways have not gone down. The white dressed cricket teams can still be seen Though players’ skins may well be black or brown As maybe distant centuries...
by phillipw | Mar 1, 2021 | AP, GA, Ho, RO, SE
Heterodox Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When first he kissed, his name and family dis appeared, his father and his brothers van ished, and his mother and his aunties mis conceived...
by phillipw | Feb 11, 2021 | CR, GA, Ho, PU, SE
Edinburgh Eden The day lily blooms, But bluebells long ago, how, How to forget them? ~ Phillip Whidden Day lilies bloom, but bluebells long ago Are what the man relives. The lilies die The same day that they open. Petals grow Their orangeness, their...
by phillipw | Dec 27, 2020 | CH, DI, FR, GA, Ho, LO, MA, SP, WA
When Washington Created Lasting Love on M Street, Georgetown Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You sum up everything I lost, An April made unending since we shared The cherry blossoms as in Pentecost,...
by phillipw | Dec 19, 2020 | AN, DA, GA, HI, Ho
Viral Sentiment like Off-white Satin His glinting seed attempts to scatter in His partner. It is poison like a snake’s Injection, not like love, for it is sin. It spreads as far as semen can. It stakes Out manly claims inside the victim. Gold Is what it prospects...
by phillipw | Dec 16, 2020 | AL, BA, GA, Ho, LO, PA, RO
The Prophet Addresses Bagoas Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Your heart will be volcano-like with force And lava. You will be the lightning bolt That he has always wanted, you the horse And he your...
by phillipw | Dec 7, 2020 | AN, AR, CA, DR, FA, GA, LU, PR
Gabriel or Lucifer? My cat is like an angel when he dreams, An angel from the furry realms of God. It is as if he more than merely seems To be archangel-like, a cat who’s awed By holy visions twitching in his paws, And lies angelic in his twitching calm. His...
by phillipw | Nov 27, 2020 | AR, GA, HE, Ho, LO, MA, PA, RI, ST, UN, VE
Wedded Love vs. Armpit Stench Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Romances sans Paroles (by Verlaine) has a “consistently high standard … and reflects his troubled emotional state over the rupture...
by phillipw | Nov 23, 2020 | AR, GA, Ho, PA, RI, SA, SE, VE
LONG YEARS Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “You can be free only with me, and I swear to you I will behave in the future. I am sorry for my part in the wrong. My mind is clear at last. ...
by phillipw | Nov 22, 2020 | AD, GA, MA
Scriptural Interpretation of Adam + Steve Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem ……. The mud of being just a man is where We start from (mainly dust). God breathes his wet Breath into holes. ...
by phillipw | Nov 15, 2020 | AR, GA, Ho, LO, PA, RI, RO, SE, SN, VE
Éclats de Neige Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “éclats de neige”~ Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminations Paul often thought a boy has splinters in His eyes, his irises, his pupils, light...
by phillipw | Oct 15, 2020 | AN, GA, HA, Ho, LO, PR, SA
Innocent Intentions in Love Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He chose a love perpetual those years Ago. His kind of love has been around Since men began to fall in love with tears. He knew, but did...
by phillipw | Oct 15, 2020 | AU, CO, GA, Ho, TR
To the Right The sign instructed, “to the right.” It said, “Go right.” The right had sapphire eyes and wrote With clarity for fate. A blond male head Conceived the sign. Pale whiskered meanings bloat Beneath the notice for the damned. They walk...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2020 | DE, GA, Ho, LO
Deciphering Life Some try to write their lives askew. Some write In code. A boy who knows that he is gay May struggle to be straight. This causes blight Along the inner walls of hearts. Slight gray Streaks build inside the ventricles of love, His love...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2020 | BL, BR, DE, GA, Ho, HU, JE, LE, MO, UN
The Song for the Statue of Liberty Sing out your foreign song. Sing out your truth. Sing out the way that you are different from The rest. Chant out from in your Succoth booth Or from your monastery. Let songs come From pink brown Harlem lips. Involve the...
by phillipw | Oct 8, 2020 | BR, CH, FA, GA, HA, HE, Ho, JO, KE, LO, RO, ST
A Quieter Love Knot like Keats’ and Fanny’s Hair Woven in Cameos A quieter thread of memory wrapped and clung To images, those shins I leaned against As jazz laughed over us, or we’d sung While standing side by side; our shoulders sensed Each other even though they...
by phillipw | Aug 23, 2020 | GA, Ho, MA
Tom He has a crippled collar bone. By self Report he’s had a crippled soul. Tom looks Like blondness from the realm of manly elf And sturdy wizards. But he’s had the hooks Of beautiful young men that pierce his chest, The one beneath that...
by phillipw | Aug 2, 2020 | AN, GA, Ho, IN, KE, PR, RE
Some readers may find this piece offensive. If you think you might be offended, please do not read it. Conversion at the Cliff Edge of the Great Rift Valley Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Beyond...
by phillipw | Jul 23, 2020 | AN, CH, FR, GA, Ho, LO, MA, ST
Antarctic Odds The man I love . . . I carry weight along Horizons for his heart. The burdens are Not heavy and they are. A book with song, And song, and song I clutch to me as far As strides will go. The songs and book stretch out As if through snow,...
by phillipw | Jul 20, 2020 | AC, GA, Ho, MA, PA
Beside the Thousand Ships There once were times when men could hold large pride In having sons who had as lovers men That gods could hate and love — and take their side In gut-strewn battle. Fathers nodded when Their sons retired to tents and to the love Of those...
by phillipw | Jul 20, 2020 | AC, BO, BR, CA, CR, GA, HA, HE, KA, MA, NE, PA, PR, SA
Troy in New Orleans, Manhattan, or London Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem So I found “Helen” sitting in a streetcar; the Dionysian revels of her court were transferred to a Metropolitan roof garden...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2020 | GA, LE, PO, SO
The Triune Potency According to Penelope Murray, “Socrates . . . . says, ‘any story or poem . . . narrates things past, present or future’ ”. ~ Plato on Poetry, 4 We want a poem that is full of now, And past, and future, full. We want intense Severity of...
by phillipw | Jul 17, 2020 | BR, CO, GA, Ho, LO, SP, TH
The Night before Thermopylae— “The Hot Gates” “Phaedrus’s praise for erôs (love) as a precondition for courage employs poetic quotations from poems that in fact state that wisdom is the true precondition, and that erotic passion without thoughtfulness leads to...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | AM, BI, GA, LE, LO, LU, RO, SE
The next sonnet may offend some readers. If you think you may be offended, please do not read it. Plato Hated Poetry, Poor Thing First Sappho catalogued the symptoms of Tsunami wave emotions. Sickness like This malady has been treated as love By writers ever since. ...
by phillipw | Jul 13, 2020 | BI, BO, GA, HE, JE, JU, LO, MA, RA, ZE
The next two sonnets may offend some readers. If you think you may be offended, please do not read them. Painless Pleasure: Two contradictory versions of the myth of Ganymede “to be very eager in the pursuit of pleasure is to go hunting for pain…. ...
by phillipw | Jul 6, 2020 | BO, ER, GA, ZE
Some readers may find this next sonnet offensive. If you might be offended, do not read it. Divine = Human Equation Human = Divine Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse “The matchless Ganymede, divinely fair, Whom Heaven, enamour’d...
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 | Jul 5, 2020 | AL, BA, GA, Ho, LO, PO
Bagoas Won Two Prizes, the Great One First and then the Minor One Bagoas, given as a present to The King of Asia, was so stunning in His beauty that he caused a noble, true Benevolence in Alexander. Skin As lovely the younger man’s was more Than equal to the royal...
by phillipw | Jun 24, 2020 | AL, GA, HI, IS
Sacred Incenses The fragrance of the orange groves comes down From paradise, whatever God you know. A Christ, Ganesha—or an Allah frown . . . Yes, even that—must carry with it glow Of perfect redolence from heaven. White Perfection flows out from the...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, DI, GA, LO, MA, Ta
July 14, 1790 The rain slopped on le Champ de Mars so hard It was as if the air had disappeared. For this great morn the bishop gave up card- And dicing-table addiction. Revered By no one as a priest, lame Talleyrand Approached the Mass in front of...
by phillipw | May 27, 2020 | BO, CH, EA, EN, FI, GA, HU, LI, PA, RO
Earl Grey in Old Imari Porcelain He could have stayed behind his desk. He could Have signed stock-trading bonds. He could have stayed Not writing symphonies. Each night he would Have travelled home to comfort. Hubert strayed. He could have travelled home each...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | AR, GA, HE, Ho, HY, JA, JO, LE, ST
Herakles, the Greatest Greek Hero, Outshone His Junior, Jason (a Bright Star), in All Majestic Ways John Keats perverts the “bright star” image. First An ancient poet wrote that Jason shone, “A bright star,” such as one that brides would thirst For, brides-to-be,...
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 | AR, DE, GA, Ho, PA, PH, PO, RI, SA, VE
Verlaine Agonistes “for me Rimbaud is an ever-living reality, a sun aflame within me, a sun that will not suffer eclipse” ~ Paul Verlaine long after Arthur’s death The Philistines bored out the strongman’s eyes With iron-cold...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | BA, CO, FO, GA, JE, LU, MU
Foucault Addresses Barraqué After his Death Invisible inside sapphiric blue, Pale beauty was the hidden man. Your need To hide–conceal yourself, seek to subdue All revelation of your soul, impede Not only others but your mouth and hand From searching out your...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | BA, FO, GA, Ho, JE, LO, MI
Barraqué Breaks Off Their Love The breaking off of love is not a small Affair. It’s not like breaking off a limb That’s hanging from a tree. It’s not at all Like breaking off the singing of a hymn Because the practice isn’t going right. It’s more like sacrilege,...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | BA, FO, GA, Ho, JE, LO, MI
Julian the Apostate Proclaimed Emperor Near Notre Dame Cathedral Mais où sont les neiges d’antan! ~ François Villon In 1952 Jean wrote his first Great opus. Barraqué of Notre Dame Became the lover with a champagne thirst For Foucault. After that,...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | AS, GA, ST
Light Killing Light The Milky Way is one prolonged hot sigh Of birth and life and dying. Whites and blues And yellows, splayed across an iron sky, Explode, implode, imbibe each other, fuse Their destinies together, cannibals Of cousins who mistakenly drift near,...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | AN, GA, Ho, PO, SE, SY
Ancient Attic Porcelain; 80,000 Vases Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Those pieces made by potters of the Greeks In Attica alone in ancient times Give more than eighty thousand gorgeous peeks For us...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | GA, Ho, LO, RO
Men Simply Loving Men We sit together on a cloth like gold, My couch in Africa, and eat plain stew He made. We drink our bottled water cold, Ice formed inside, because we take the view That drinks in harmattan should spend much time Inside my freezer. Only after...
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, BA, BI, GA, HE, RO, ST
Barsine, Roxane, Hephaestion, Bagoas and So On and So On Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Prince Alexander’s face looks melted, hard But melted slightly. Hardness lives in stone. The melting comes from...
by phillipw | May 14, 2020 | AN, GA, Ho, LO, SE
Sarmentus Deliciae, Augustus, and Falernian Intoxication A few of us (and I am one) are known By name when centuries have passed. Just one Peculiar quality defines us. Grown Men cannot do without us for their fun. Our beauty is intoxicating from The first sip that...
by phillipw | May 13, 2020 | AN, BO, DI, GA, GO, GR, HE
Inner Sanctums of Hole-iness Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The gods loomed more than superstars do now. The gods were more like legendary fire Behind a gilded curtain. They would plough A lad or...
by phillipw | May 13, 2020 | GA, Ho
Invasion Trying to Trounce Testosterone Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem My skeleton hums like an antenna Receiving ultraviolet and black Light rays, and infrared. A glow, henna In sense, helps marrow...
by phillipw | May 13, 2020 | AN, GA, HE, LO, MO, PE, RO, ST
The Hardened Dog with a Raisin Bun in its Mouth in PompeiiModern poetry modern verse Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem se modern poem contemporary The saddest little things come down to us From ancient...
by phillipw | May 10, 2020 | FR, GA, LO, MA, RO
Screens and Boundaries If trees sprout cinnabar and seas are gold, If lotus blossoms grow in gold and blue, If cranes strike poses by shrill suns as bold In red as rubies boiled in taboo, If cats strut round behind a smaller screen Of deeper crimson, older gold...
by phillipw | May 7, 2020 | BO, CY, GA, Ho, JE, LO, SY
How the Cypress Came to Be Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Sylvanus loved the boy and gave a gift To Cyparissus, gave the boy a doe. He doted on it. Then the truest shift Occurred. Sylvanus killed it...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | GA, HE, JE, SE
Wife Beating: Gore and Poetry The Greeks came up with a quite a novel cause For beating wives. The men of Thrace attacked Their wives because they whacked a poet. Claws (Well, jealous fingernails) tore up and hacked To death the world’s greatest singer. They Were...
by phillipw | Dec 19, 2019 | GA, Ho, LO, RI, VE
Letter to his Wife They suffered from a passion like their loins Ripped open, full of pain, and gushing life Out like the plastic chips, the bastard coins (More costly than the infant Paul or wife) From this combined Las Vegas slot-machine Affair. The older...