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...