by phillipw | Jan 29, 2024 | CH, FO, HE, ME, SA, UN
No, Not Really The Christ will not ascend to heaven while One sinner screams in hell or close His gates. This absolute is known, or, if not, vile That Gospel truth of love since hellfire waits Forever and forever forcing God, Omniscient, to feel the...
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 | May 30, 2022 | AR, HE, HU, PH, PR
Bright Young Men Know Better The sun god sits in golden light upon A golden throne and sends out golden beams. The robe he wears is purple prinked at dawn With rose gold frets, Greek frets. His presence streams From in his palace in the farthest east, An east beyond...
by phillipw | May 4, 2022 | AE, BE, ES, HE, JU, LI, MA, PH
Junge Männer, a Sonnet Sequence on the photographs in Herbert List’s Junge Männer [Each sonnet is about at least one of the sonnets in List’s book. Before the title of each sonnet is the number of the photograph the poem is about, as in (#1). Often (or...
by phillipw | Apr 4, 2022 | DI, HE, OP, PU
The Soprano and the Incarcerated Singing A woman sings soprano and she goes To visit men in prison. She instructs How they should give the bass line and transpose Distress with voices. Her voice conducts Them how to deal with Dido’s sorrow near The pyre and waves...
by phillipw | Mar 25, 2022 | BR, HE, RU, ST
Into Deep Water Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem In front of Brooke’s veranda stood a dock. This wooden altar offered diving height To deep blue water. He could interlock With beauty,...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | BR, GE, HE, OK, RU, SE, ST, Ta
Tropical Heat Meets English Poetry Together Taatamata and taut Brooke Spread open her vanilla orchid flower. While it was tropic pink, not white, it took His darker flesh invasion and its power. Its power spread open her Tahiti flesh And spread it, thrust it fleshy,...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | BR, HE, RU, SE, Uncategorized
There’s Lucky and There’s Lucky Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A girl with eyes involved with awe, and stroll Of goddesses, and heart that angels knew Who sang with Gabriel, would have a soul To...
by phillipw | Mar 9, 2022 | HE, PH, WH
Parthenogenesis Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If I were only Helen’s son, my heart Would be direct, or more direct, as straight As Queen Medea in her hate. Apart From planning, I would be as...
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2022 | HA, HE, TH
Hesitating, Hesitating, Slowly, Slowly A tiny snail, this, One horn long, one much shorter . . . What troubles his heart? ~ Buson Uncertainty is unattractive in A man but in the little creatures it Can be endearing like a lonely grin At twilight where the new...
by phillipw | Feb 4, 2022 | DA, DR, FA, HA, HE, PE, SE, VA
Dreaming of the Coming Spring Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem They blossom, and then We gaze, and then the blooms Scatter, and then… ~ Onitsura The tightness of the winter now is...
by phillipw | Jan 20, 2022 | HE, TO
Hermits for the Holiness of Holidaymakers Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The great estates were greedy for the worst Of gawkers. That’s a fact. The noble lords Hired hermits, fetching coins from...
by phillipw | Nov 30, 2021 | BR, HE, RU, SE, ST, Ta
Brown Beauty and Others Left Behind “more tourist still than soldier” ~ Rupert Brooke America and Canada, their spine Of Rocky Mountains, called across the sea, Their men and women waiting, near supine Already. Rupert left behind debris Of men and women who had seen...
by phillipw | Nov 8, 2021 | CH, DO, FA, HE, IV, PA, PH, WH, WO
There Wasn’t Any Hill in Brevard County, Florida, but There Were Songbirds The oatmeal made with milk and honey . . . and With mother love . . . was eaten with the sound PATTI PAGE – Mockin’ Bird Hill（1951）with lyrics – YouTube Of “Mockingbird Hill”...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2021 | AD, CO, DR, HE, LO, PA
Ingredients That photo of the man, his little son, And summer sunlight on their cuddling skin Has disappeared. It was the only one Jill had and most importantly no sin Could be detected in it. But it’s lost. Jill wonders if Ray...
by phillipw | Sep 7, 2021 | AG, DI, ET, GO, HE, IM, JE, LO
The Immortality of the Trinity’s Adoration of Lost Souls The bliss of all the saints in Heaven is Piss poor when set against the searing pain Of those in Hell. God loves and loves. Gee Whizz, Though, what about the agony, that stain, Eternal filthy stain upon that...
by phillipw | Aug 31, 2021 | HE, MA
“The Declaration of Independence” and “Resistance to Civil Government “Bring Peace and War The mildness of a Ghandi turns to thrust Of violence. The little spinning wheel Becomes a maelstrom. Prejudices combust The whole subcontinent. That...
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 8, 2021 | AN, HE, IS, SE, ST, TR
Iseut of the White Hands Slick She moves her white hands down to find his dark Disgustingness, exactly what her need Is in this darker moment. Long, and stark, And thick it promises disgusting seed If she is brave and desperate enough To take it everywhere...
by phillipw | Aug 6, 2021 | DO, HE, WH
Donald, Woodrow, Helen Reborn in other creatures, souls must haunt Us. How could it be otherwise? He knows It cannot be his brother Donald, gaunt Upon his cancer bed and in the throes Of death, but when owlet’s voice cries out, Cries out, cries out,...
by phillipw | Jul 8, 2021 | AR, HE, HI, MA, SE, SM, TH
An Unsuitable Boy His arms are almost prominent in this Pic taken of him at Baringo. They Are hairy but of course the gorgeous Miss Rejected him. Their bedroom play Revealed his back was even hairier And that was more than she could bear. That hair on shoulders...
by phillipw | Jun 28, 2021 | CA, DU, HE, LO, MA, ST
Cleaving on an Island Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The house on Merritt Island stood alone On sand. No doubt the sand had sandspurs set Among the weeds. Like a ramshackle throne It ruled...
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 8, 2021 | FE, HE, MA, SE, TH, TR
It Takes One Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Henry David Thoreau writes of Chaucer, “We are tempted to say that his genius was feminine, not masculine. It was such feminineness,...
by phillipw | Jun 1, 2021 | CI, CO, HE, TH, VE
“Resistance to Government,” the Tract that Wrested India from Britain and Led Martin Luther King, Jr., to the Lincoln Memorial Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Maine A natural Sabbath brings a...
by phillipw | May 30, 2021 | BR, DE, HE, MA, PR, VI
The Bridegroom Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He wakes up in the bridal bed. The sheets Are white but crumpled. She is slumped beside Him in a different sleep. Her throat pulse...
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 | Apr 25, 2021 | DA, EL, HE, RO, SE, SP, ST
Repeat PerforMANce Repeat PerforMANce Repeat PerforMANce Repeat PerfoMANce…. Robert Sparks They danced in discos. That was not the point. The one was just a usual kind of bloke, Not gorgeous and not plain. He had the joint For humping in...
by phillipw | Apr 21, 2021 | HE, LO, PA, RE
Galumphing Patriotism The worst of patriotic people’s verse Is halting lineage of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” Two lanterns would disperse (Or one) the orders that were set to guide The rider. Lucklessly, no one offered Such guidance to the poet. He...
by phillipw | Mar 24, 2021 | DE, HE, LO, PA, RO, SE
Carving Out the Measure of Devotion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You hardly know the truth of passion till You put it in the context of its doom. It seems as hot as sun spots or the spill Of lava...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2021 | FU, HE, SE, ST
The Novelist at the Supermarket Till Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He looks through men and women and he sees Them not just outwardly but sees inside Them like a CT scan. His heart can tweeze Out...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2021 | AN, CO, DE, DI, FA, FE, FU, HE, KE, PE, SE, SK
Coffin, Bed, Whatever He used to have a black nacrotic ____ But now, because of you, it swells again. It pulses and is desperate to _____ Out words and symphonies so full of pain That laughter is the only option. ____ Is there if you desire it in your throat. If...
by phillipw | Mar 17, 2021 | AL, BE, BI, CO, DU, HE, PO, RH, TH
Binfield’s Baddest Bantam Boy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When Pope devised heroic couplets, they Were like the weapons of the day men walked With by their thighs. Their rapiers’ display Was...
by phillipw | Mar 16, 2021 | EA, ER, HA, HE, HI, LO, MA, ME, SE, ST
Recollections Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Dawn comes and wakens up inside my core The reminiscences that sleep inside The past, that sleep there, stowed subconscious lore That...
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 | Feb 17, 2021 | HE, JO, SN, TH, WH
“A universe of sky and snow!” Philosophy can’t clip an angel’s wings. At most it might pluck out one pinion white As purity in Jesus. Thoreau sings, Denies that he and God were in a fight— I didn’t know we’d ever quarrelled— speaks The dying man. He loved a...
by phillipw | Jan 20, 2021 | HE, HU, IS, MA, MI, RO, SE, ST, TR
Iseut of the White Hands “[…] then he was such that all who saw him said that if he was not a brave knight he really must hate his fine body. And indeed he was so handsome that Iseut herself, who was called Iseut of the White Hands, fell madly in love with...
by phillipw | Jan 3, 2021 | CL, HE, LO, OR, SE, ST
What Matters Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Orgasm by ahermin on DeviantArt He said he loved. (At least that’s what she thought.) So much was going on inside her head That maybe...
by phillipw | Dec 31, 2020 | HE, JE, LO, RO, ST
Walking with Another Man in a Street of Athens Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He bought her earrings, rings in rings in rings Around a sphere, the whole arrangement made Of tempered steel. Well...
by phillipw | Dec 29, 2020 | HE, PR, SE, ST
The Trappings of Romance He’d clamped his lips together both to halt His making shouts—and calling out that name. He knew that theirs had been a wild assault Against his nature. It had been his shame. The yellow hair that clung about the head Was stylish in the...
by phillipw | Dec 28, 2020 | DE, HE, IM, OD, TE, UL
His Beautiful Son Does Not Have the Brains Odysseus decides he will not die. This glares as clear to him as April light On Ithaca. He knows this is awry So he will have to trick the gods. Some sleight Of mental hand will come to him in time. He guesses he will have...
by phillipw | Nov 29, 2020 | AL, AN, DE, EP, GR, HE, IS, LU, MA, PH, PL, SE
Healthy Hedonism; and, Holy Hedonism, Paired Sonnets Healthy Hedonism Tattoo upon yourself this perfect law— The sacredness of pleasure is above The other, puny principles. The awe That it deserves, like God in love, Confirms that thrills, inviolate and...
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 | Oct 29, 2020 | AN, FE, HE, JO, LA, PA, PR, TH, WH, WI, WO
Presence Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The past is never past, is more than ghost Or Undead creature. Passed away the past Is not. It lives within. Its whispered boast Inhabits mental...
by phillipw | Oct 22, 2020 | AN, CH, DA, GR, HE, IS, JU, PH, RE
Darwin and Heraclitus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Homer should be turned out of the canon and whipped. He was wrong in saying : ‘Would that strife might perish from among gods and men!’ ...
by phillipw | Oct 21, 2020 | AN, EP, HE, Ho, IL, LO, PO, RO
He Lost, was Slaughtered, but Only He and She had Triumphed Prince Paris was the winner. Every day For years he woke up to his perfect love. He knew where perfect love and beauty lay Because she lay beside him. Far above All other beauty and above the race Of women,...
by phillipw | Oct 16, 2020 | HE, MU, PE, PO, SE, SI, SO, VA
The Point of Poetry and Song Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A poem or a song can be as fierce As knife points. They are neutral, though, about The hole they make. They care not whom they pierce...
by phillipw | Oct 13, 2020 | AU, CO, DA, EM, FA, HE, Ho, MA, NE, RA, TH, TR
Mystics of Concord Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem New England thinkers mixed autumnal views With leaves from Homer, also Dante’s leaves. That blinded poet managed to suffuse The thoughts...
by phillipw | Oct 10, 2020 | FO, HE, ME, SI, ST
Frozen Heaven and Hot Hues Hell Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When I am dead, my secrets will be turned To frost up on a pane, up in the New Jerusalem, or maybe will be burned In stained glass down...
by phillipw | Oct 10, 2020 | AN, BO, DE, HE, IS, OX, PO, SA
Dead Sea Scrolls and Caves Discovered Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The words remain on pages and on scrolls Through centuries and millennia. On dark Cave walls the long lost paintings left by...
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 | Sep 17, 2020 | AN, AS, GR, HE, JE, PY, TR
Infant Mild and Astyanax, the Son of Hector, Hidden in Hector’s Tomb Our western world begins its dating with The birth of one warm glowing baby. Glow And gilding in the paintings are like myth. They make truth truer. Little foot and toe On manger straw are our...
by phillipw | Sep 16, 2020 | HE, JE, JU
Veiled Olympus and the Heavenly Sanctuary, with His Camouflaging Masculine Vestments God pours from jars of bounty in his halls, The jars of pleasure and of sorrow. Both. We men and women make our chorused calls From earth below. We call in prayers for growth Of...
by phillipw | Aug 23, 2020 | FE, HE, ME, SE, ST, WO
How Men Feel about Women Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We feel that they are hostesses. That’s best. That’s how they are at best. They have long hair (At best) but short will do. We like the...
by phillipw | Aug 23, 2020 | HA, HE, LO, MA
Coronary Complications Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem First call up bigness, heft, and volume of A manly fist which grasps as much of dirt As it can hold and does not want a shove From God to make...
by phillipw | Jul 28, 2020 | AT, DE, HE, MO, PE, PO, VE
Their Painted Desert Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem They wait. They wait beneath. They wait below Us, we who live. Some wait in mud like Peat Men sacrificed for long lost reasons. Woe Is far...
by phillipw | Jul 28, 2020 | HE, TR
It’s All We Have The landscape that we know touchingly we Refer to as the present. It is what We map and that is all. We cannot see The facts of other times or see the strut Of future or of past. “The noo,” as Scots Pronounce it, is our limit. We pretend...
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 20, 2020 | AC, AN, HE, PA, TR
Two Men in Love in Death Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Hector dies, and when at last in Book XXIV his corpse is recovered, it is laid out and Andromache holds Hector’s head in her lap,...
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 | AR, HE, Ho, NA, PH, PL, PO, XE
The Truth about Ancient History, Plato, and Poetry “Socrates says in the Republic that he and Plato’s brothers might have to inform poetry about the ancient quarrel between it and philosophy. Glenn Most (“What Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry?”) argues...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2020 | AC, AL, HE, PA
The Silliness of Men “He ran naked to the supposed site of Achilles’ tomb at Troy, while his male lover, Hephaestion, crowned the tomb of Achilles’ beloved Patroclus.” ~ Robin Lane Fox, The Classical World: an Epic History from Homer to Hadrian Forget about the...
by phillipw | Jul 18, 2020 | EP, HE, MY, TR
The Poetic Kind of True Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “The stories begin in kinds of truth. As events recede in time, they grow not smaller but larger in language. The ancestor who fought...
by phillipw | Jul 16, 2020 | CO, EU, FL, HA, HE, OR, PL, RO
That Supreme Nazi, Plato, Sounded Off about Orpheus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He takes the poison of his courage and His love. He does not try to dazzle death With poetry: Romeo is not bland...
by phillipw | Jul 13, 2020 | BE, FL, HE, WH, WO
Deer-tongue The smell of deer-tongue came to me today From decades past. I mean the fragrance of The dried out leaves, as dried out as the splay Of decades since my father taught us love, His sons, beneath the Florida sun, leaves That called up beauty...
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 12, 2020 | AE, AN, BE, ES, HE, PO
No Room for Unholiness not Cleansed “ ‘What would a man not give,’declares Plato in the Apology, ‘to engage in conversation with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer?’ Can we do something of the sort? If not to engage in conversation, then at least to glimpse...
by phillipw | Jul 12, 2020 | HE, MI, OR, PL, ST
Misogyny (μισογυνία) is a Greek Word Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “What would a man not give to engage in conversation with Orpheus?” ~ Plato That marble minded Plato thinks of men, Not women,...
by phillipw | Jul 8, 2020 | HE, JO, OR, PL, TH
Invisible Ivory Music Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. ~ John Keats Herus Pamphilius claimed that Orpheus’s drifting soul, destined to be incarnated anew in some other physical form after he had died, elected to be born a swan so that he...
by phillipw | Jul 7, 2020 | ET, HE, OR, ST
Etymology of Orpheus If “of the river bank” is what the name Of Orpheus might mean,* then that might flow From jet slick River Hades and the shame Of failing to recover, to the glow Of life and sunlight, his lost love. Again It might refer to two of his five deaths...
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 | AN, AT, BO, CA, CL, CO, CY, HE, IS, PI, SA
Treasures from the Wreck of the Unrecoverable Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse “Athenaeus quotes more than ten thousand lines of verse in it, many not preserved or attested elsewhere.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets Ten...
by phillipw | Jul 5, 2020 | AN, HE, Ho, IM, PO
Aurora Actuality “We can confirm almost nothing about Homer and Hesiod, yet we have no problem, even when we should, believing in them.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 22 Who doubts that Homer, Hesiod, the old And oldest poets ever lived? Why should We? ...
by phillipw | Jun 13, 2020 | AN, HE, Ho
Aurora Actuality “We can confirm almost nothing about Homer and Hesiod, yet we have no problem, even when we should, believing in them.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 22 Who doubts that Homer, Hesiod, the old And oldest poets ever lived? Why should...
by phillipw | Jun 5, 2020 | AR, BL, CH, EA, HA, HE, Ho, MA, WA, WH
Backside Gas in that Jar Called Yale One Harold Bloom says modern verse began In 1890—or about then. That Is what one venerating friend claims. Can That be? Only an academic prat Could be so arrogant and blinkered. I Say modern verse began at least as far Back...
by phillipw | May 29, 2020 | AD, CH, FL, GO, HE, MO, PR, RO, SE, ST, Ta
Talleyrand & Gouveneur Morris Crippled Twinning “Your character is such that you destroy Unhappiness much faster than can fate Create its sadnesses,” said Monstesquiou To Adelaïde, who had the lovely trait Of being charming Countess de Flahaut— Which meant that...
by phillipw | May 24, 2020 | AR, FO, HE, LO, PH, PR, QU
Arcachon, Summer, 1923, White-Blond Hair “quite too adorable for words, a perfect pet, so grown up & speaks quite a lot & uses grand phrases. He is the sturdiest little boy I have ever seen & I can’t say he is spoilt.’ ~ Louise, Queen of Sweden,...
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 | DE, HE
Why Fuck with Myths and Legends? Why fuck with myths and legends? Why not let Them be? Why try to modernize the Flood Or Cain’;s red fratricide, Pandora’s threat? The likelihood is that we’ll get more mud Than blood, attenuated menace, and Some...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | HE, LO, MU, RO
Beyoncé, Beethoven and Bach Job 38:7 The woman sings her peppermint-ish thing. The Germans do their heavy stomach stuff, A fugue, a symphony and Wagner’s Ring Mit Heldentenors set against her fluff. Bob Dylan and Bob Marley offer wells With rhythm and guitar and...
by phillipw | May 19, 2020 | AB, HE, PI
Abelard and Heloïse Illuminated When Abelard was my age, he was dead. I think he would have lived eternally If he had known he’d be stiff as French bread Flutes, as sticks of it dressed infernally, When painted in the Roman de la Rose In red and orange...
by phillipw | May 15, 2020 | AN, HA, HE, RE
The Upper World of God’s Own Heaven is Far Superior to the Ancients’ Underworld In Homer’s day, deep pagan ancient times, The infamous and rich and mighty class Of men felt agonies in Hades. Crimes By them alone, and only the most crass Ones, caused immortal...
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 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 | DO, GE, HE, NI, RI, TR, WA
What Really Matters Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Heroic happenings in legends bear A factuality more sacred than Plain data. The cutting of Samson’s hair Is consequential to his threatened clan...
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 12, 2020 | AN, AR, CH, HE, LO, PA, SE
Lucifer and the Other Multi-winged Ones, Seraphim and Cherubim “The deep lunges, forehead pressed to forehead, witnesses to rise and fall of chest and ever expanding wings.” ~ Jaime Mathis, “Blood Blister,” It Rises and Falls Those angels making love before the fall,...
by phillipw | May 10, 2020 | HE, MO, ST
Unknown Words Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I have a stash of postcards that I got For sending to my mother. She had had A gruesome stroke and so had lost the lot Of all her language. Well, not...
by phillipw | May 9, 2020 | AD, AN, AP, AR, HE, IN, MA, MY, SE, VE, VU
Primitive Sophisticated Truth Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem ….…… When Greeks believed that nature’s aspects moved As gods and goddesses, as wind and fire, Then Bóreas came...
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 | May 6, 2020 | HE
The Fighter Calls His Thing His Beast in the First Conquering Scene A hero in the series pissed, turned just Enough to keep the camera from a view Of hanging meat. An audience nonplussed By warrior Thing would not want him to screw In careful focus either, so, when...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | AN, BO, HE, IN, LO, MU, RO, ST
Never Land Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Ordinarily, romantic love is a popular theme in ancient India’s epics as well as in numerous plays that revolve around the romances of...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | CH, ET, FR, HE, Ho, LO, MA, ST
More Like Lightning He argued that her face was full of faults But perfect beauty was their startling end. Those imperfections listed were the vaults To her immaculate and lovely blend Contending with a theoretical Ideal. My lover, though, was more than that. His...
by phillipw | May 3, 2020 | HE, PH, PL, PO, SO
What We Drink Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Who wants thick wisdom first in poems? It Is ours for chewing in the pleasures of The scrolls of Plato, thinkers who permit The thought that pleasure...
by phillipw | May 2, 2020 | BE, CH, HE, PA, PE, SE
Stud Poker Philosophers…they don’t know any more About The Truth than Greek pig farmers do. The rest of us not part of these two poor Groups (salesmen, poets, priests…) don’t have a clue. A prophet and a Plato come along. They have...
by phillipw | Apr 22, 2020 | HE, LO, ST
Poets, Poetry, and Women For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold, Thy face hath not the power to make love groan ~ Sonnet 131 …….. Who thinks of blank...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2020 | AC, AL, AN, DA, HE, JO
David and Jonathan, Achilles and Patroclus, Alexander and Hephaestion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Hephaestion, lover of Alexander the Great We heroize male anger, all the way From David’s...
by phillipw | Apr 14, 2020 | DA, HE, WH
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 squares placed on the spines, each Restrained and heavy volume, glossy...
by phillipw | Apr 8, 2020 | FR, GR, HE
Qumran Caves versus the Academy, Character by Character “Greek scribes could be inaccurate, unlike the meticulous transcribers of Hebrew scripture whose work was judged, character by character, by God himself.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets The...
by phillipw | Mar 10, 2020 | AN, HE, LE, MU
Whistling in Koranic Wind “We will meet in the Paradise of free souls to which you will never have access.” ~ Antoine Leiris addressing the islamists who murdered his wife, Helène Muyal Helène Muyal A sentiment so lovely must be true. At least the part of us some...