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 9, 2024 | CO, ER, HA, Ho, MA, PE, RU, SE
The Haunt of Manly Dreams Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A tingling in his skin with hairs makes nubs Rise up. They pop up from connections to His heart, nerve wires. His left-hand searches,...
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 | May 12, 2023 | Ho, MA, RE
Of Divine Feet Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The truest God would make most horses wear Those manes of gold that stallions and their colts Deserve. These all and phillies—and...
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 | Apr 24, 2022 | BE, HA, Ho, RE, TR, VE
Truer than Truthem Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Great is Beauty’s grace, Truth is yet as fair as she. ~ Thomas Campion High duty comes in...
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 8, 2022 | BR, DE, FO, Ho, RU
Denham and Truth Unveiled, Brown Hair, Sonnet Blue Eyes; the Purple and Black Cap of Rupert’s and Denham’s School House The black and purple fell away. He knocked The cap for fun but also so that he Could see his hair. The light on it so shocked Him that it made a...
by phillipw | Feb 6, 2022 | BR, FL, Ho, MO, TI
A 1950s Florida Day and July 20 and 21, 1969 Winged ants fly From a small house At the foot of Mount Fuji. ~ Buson The clapboard house shines white in afternoon Brevard in sunlight. There in front are green And orange from the flame vine. There’s no moon Above...
by phillipw | Jan 23, 2022 | Ho
Hope Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Stare ahead through the oblivion, Pondering upon the flashes of darkness. And with a hand reach out with compulsion To touch the nothingness. To make out starkness....
by phillipw | Dec 5, 2021 | BE, BR, FL, Ho, OR, TI
Enamel Trees Longing Ago The orange blossoms fill my native place. They fill it every year with white perfume. The scent has piquant yellow at heart’s space, The hearts held out bouquet-like, as a plume On green wing branches where the mockingbird Might...
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 | Sep 29, 2021 | Ho, LU, PL
A witch in Port au Prince or something like Her hints the spell required. This spell defies Both death and time. It operates its spike, Injecting magic botox near the eyes And in the film star’s forehead by P.R. The actor and executives conspire To cast the...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | Ho, LU
A vacuum perceived requires a fix. It may not be a real lacuna but The fear that it might be results in tricks Of golden surgery. The star must strut As if there were no fault. No plastic knife Will do the job. A golden one cuts best. And if an actor chooses the...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | Ho, LU
Replacing Truth with Beauty “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” ~ John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” The trick is making it look effort-free. The style must seem as natural as hair Inside an armpit. If the star is she, Not he, the use of hair-removing Nair Or...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | Ho, LU
Grammar Glamor Aye, leave it to the Scots spell the word A winsome way. The English did not change Orthography of “grammar” to a slurred New form that came to mean a widened range Of scope, of starlets stalking down a long Red carpet, or a slew of...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | Ho, LU
Gods and Goddesses without Free Will The palace of the glamor kings and queens Is guarded at its gate by guys with guns. They will not ever let the silver screens Around the world show us the blemished sons And daughters of semi-divinities. The chosen ones must flash...
by phillipw | Sep 28, 2021 | AP, Ho, LU
Blessèd Are the Beautiful The people built for glamor are built for Worship. Adulation of the crowd Is studio directed so that, more Like worship, it concocts a Venus proud Of her authority or actors veil Themselves like royalty in Oz. We do Not want their...
by phillipw | Sep 28, 2021 | BR, DI, Ho, LU, MA
Angels Are Never Blue Except in Hollywood The Tinsel Town attempt to stop the heart Is far too obvious, just like its screened Stupidities for teenage boys. A tart Poised on a staircase after being preened Shows off her legs like Cyd Charisse. A stool Displays the...
by phillipw | Sep 28, 2021 | GE, Ho, JE, LU
Mazel Toffs It didn’t hurt to be a Gentile on The Silver Screen within the Golden Age. The Jews who ran it walked out on the lawn (The Riv of course). They had to disengage Their cut cock culture from the shiksa one. They played croquet for goodness sake And...
by phillipw | Sep 28, 2021 | EM, Ho, KE, LU
What Movie Stars Can Never Be Enchantment is a slavery to stars Of sweatless screens, the cinema, tv, Or Netflix, or on smartphones. Out on Mars Stars walk around, and though that’s stupid, we Watch on. We know that we are lacking like Some Sad Sack clown. An...
by phillipw | Sep 28, 2021 | BR, EL, GR, Ho, KE, LU, MO, PR
Elizabeth Taylor Never Managed Bangles to Compete with THAT Though class means one thing in Great Britain, class Means something else in Hollywood. It’s glitz There, glitz with gilding. Briefly, it means crass With Cadillacs and white fox fur with tits Concealed,...
by phillipw | Sep 14, 2021 | Ho, LU
What Movie Stars Can Never Be Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Enchantment is a slavery to stars Of sweatless screens, the cinema, tv, Or Netflix, or on smartphones. Out on Mars They walk around, and...
by phillipw | Sep 7, 2021 | DI, GI, GO, Ho, JE, NO, PA, TR
Supreme L-o-n-g-s-h-o-t-(s) The Father reigns supreme in every way. It’s all a bit uncertain if the Son Came later and is lesser (this sounds gay) But still divine. And then the other One Is even more ambiguous. We know This biblically,...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2021 | CH, GO, Ho, JE, TR
Does a Daydream in the Mind of God Become Reality? Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When Jesus has a daydream on his throne, The Holy Spirit and the Father share It since the Trinity has always known...
by phillipw | Aug 18, 2021 | DO, ED, EM, Ho, OL, RA
The Range of American Letters Including e e cummings The English language in the farther west Can be as harsh as sneering Ambrose Bierce Or roaring Robinson Jeffers. The zest Appears in Marquis’s tomcat Bill, fierce Beside Mehitabel and Archie. Calm Was English in...
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 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 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 | Jun 2, 2021 | FA, GR, Ho
Fixative on White Watercolor Your hope is like a cloud—in a picture. While firmer than a cloud, your hope is bright And, yes, is fixed forever. Your stricture Keeps hope in place. A watercolor white Is painted on white paper—to make sure The cloud is white. Your...
by phillipw | May 11, 2021 | AN, CI, GR, Ho, MA, PA
Might Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem In real man Greece the reason for the male Grown up in masculinity to be The one to be allowed to vote and rail Against opponents in a vote was...
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 5, 2021 | CA, CH, GR, Ho, ME, TO
Not as Certain as Dim Marble in the Nave We pause beside those tombs, the ones with white Carved marble hands in praying firmness there On chest and breast. They look to be contrite And will be ever so. The lordly prayer Is undermined since also there beside Him is...
by phillipw | Mar 29, 2021 | AU, FE, GR, Ho, JO, SA, SE, ST
The Four Evils to be Overcome According to Saint John of the Cross: Joy, Hope, Fear, Grief The springtime brings her yellow joy on top Of green stems flaring. Then come pink and white Along the happy trees. We will not stop, They promise, even in...
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 | Jan 21, 2021 | AE, BE, DI, ES, Ho, IL, RE, RO
Gardener, Heal Thyself for the Sake of Devout Worship Recovering from fever, he looks through His window. Roses bloom in glory there But they are powerless to cure. The view Should help at least, perhaps more than a prayer By priests to pagan goddesses of earth. Yet...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, GE, HI, Ho, IS, JU, TR
Vicars of Esthetics Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Triangular like God the flowers are shown Against a boring green of lawn. Arrayed In righteous revelation now full blown Their holiness of...
by phillipw | Jan 2, 2021 | AP, Ho, RE, SP
The Daffodils Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Another year the daffodils will rise, For centuries, millennia again, Perhaps for eons. Yellow trumpets’ cries Though silent...
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 23, 2020 | AC, AN, EP, Ho, IL, ME, MO, PO
Absence Forbidden by Anamnesis Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Pure absence is unknown—as long as mind Retains the memory, absence is denied. An ancient poet, wandering and blind, Can see that fact. ...
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 6, 2020 | AC, DA, GO, Ho, MO, SH, TE, TH, VO
Curly Top and Dimples Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You might want to watch this before reading this sonnet: Shirley Temple – On The Good Ship Lollipop.avi – YouTube I never ...
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 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 | Nov 11, 2020 | CA, CO, DE, DO, Ho, PE, SE
The Cat Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem That cat will lie on what you want or walk Where you would go. He curls round and round As if developing his om to mock Your zen-less...
by phillipw | Nov 4, 2020 | Ho, PR, RE, SA, SE
Who is Healed? “I stand up to see thighs covered in blood and semen and sweat, and I heal. I heal.” ~ Jaime Mathis, It Rises and Falls The sight transfigures. It ennobles. Eyes Become the prophets of a sainthood’s view. A holiness of liquids comes in...
by phillipw | Nov 2, 2020 | CO, CY, GE, Ho, MU, NA, PO, PR, ZY
Zyklon B The darkness hangs so heavy it might make A sound if struck. The darkness is like black So weighty nightmares might begin to shake If they encountered it. Hearts might attack It. Hearts are only hearts, though. They are made Of blood and...
by phillipw | Oct 24, 2020 | AN, EP, Ho, PA
Prime Poet “Again Sarpedon’s bright spear missed, the blade passing over Patroclus’ left shoulder, leaving the man unscathed. But Patroclus hurled his bronze, in turn, and the spear sped from his hand and not in vain, striking Sarpedon where the ribs...
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 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 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 12, 2020 | AN, EN, FR, GO, Ho, LO
Rulers without Culture and Without a Blind Poet “When a Prince lacks a Homer, it means that he is not worthy of having one.” ~ François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon “He knows the application of the book But not who wrote it; shuts it like a shot. Rather than read...
by phillipw | Oct 12, 2020 | AC, AN, Ho, PO, RA
Reeking Champ Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Achilles exists only through Homer.” ~ François-René de Chateaubriand in his preface to Les Natchez, 1826 “Achilles was a heel.” ~ Lapel badge...
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 | Oct 5, 2020 | BU, DE, FU, Ho, IL, MA, NE
In Every Culture, that Golden Vanity “I am the cup of Nestor, a joy to drink from” A twelve year old in Magna Graecia lay Inside his tomb. Beside him was a cup Of gold interred there. Wanting to convey Sad hope, his family wanted him to sup From it in afterlife...
by phillipw | Oct 5, 2020 | AE, ES, Ho, ID, PH, PL
Plato Alludes to and Quotes from Homer 331 Times Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A thinker who can’t think attempts to be Philosophy’s Big Name. He blames those who Write poetry since they lead...
by phillipw | Sep 16, 2020 | AN, CO, Ho, IL, PO, Ta, TR
Taironan Troy See “Mucho más que libros,” Semana, 4 June 2001, Bogatá “At the time of the conquest, the Tairona had different cultural practices than Modern Native American populations. Ethnographic sources highlight freedom to...
by phillipw | Aug 25, 2020 | BE, Ho, PO
In a Florida Beeyard Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The lightest, powered gold is carried by The bees. They do not think of it as gold. They do not think of it as light. They fly Through beauty’s...
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 | AD, AN, FE, GL, HI, Ho, KY, ME
Were I to Believe in Angels’ Songs If angels, each one, had a message they Would sing to us, would each charge be the same, A Kyrie, an Adoramus te, Or Gloria? No, that would be too tame. I’m thinking every one would be unique, Each text and melody enough to...
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 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 15, 2020 | AN, BO, Ho
Scholarly Blindness “Since before 450 BC there was no prose literature, our only windows on the ancient world are the poems.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 8 It only goes to show that scholars love To focus narrowly. He looked so hard At Greeks that he is...
by phillipw | Jul 7, 2020 | AN, Ho, IL, VI
Homeric Similes “These similes serve to take the reader away from the battlefield for a brief while, into the world of pre-war peace and plenty. Often, they occur at a moment of high action or emotion, especially during a battle. In the words of Peter Jones,...
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 | Ho, ZE
A Second-Century B.C. Homer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?param=66578q00.jpg&vpar=1911&zpg=78255&fld=https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins2/ Modern...
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 | 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 30, 2020 | AL, BY, GE, Ho, IS, JO, KE, LO, WA
Crippled Poets Among the earliest of lines to spring And linger utterly till now are long Ones drawn from blinded eyes. The verses sing Like prophets’ spirits which must see. A song Of guts, the gods, and marrow-spills came out From manly depths behind the...
by phillipw | Jun 19, 2020 | AN, EP, Ho, IL
Homeric Similes “These similes serve to take the reader away from the battlefield for a brief while, into the world of pre-war peace and plenty. Often, they occur at a moment of high action or emotion, especially during a battle. In the words of Peter Jones,...
by phillipw | Jun 19, 2020 | AL, AN, Ho, MA, SC
Imperfection as Perfection Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The eyes are white and wide. They look as spare As Orpheus’s when he lost his wife. Yet Alexander never knew such bare And sand-dune...
by phillipw | Jun 16, 2020 | AN, CO, Ho
A Second-Century B.C. Homer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem...
by phillipw | Jun 15, 2020 | Ho
Ancient Greek, Then Church Latin, Symposium, Scriptorium “Readers of Greek poetry constituted an élite, as in the Middle Ages readers of Latin did.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 13 “The symposiasts drank rather too much watered wine, wore crowns,...
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 12, 2020 | GU, Ho, SE
Constitutional Slaughter: Connecticut, Nevada, Florida, Texas Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Stronger than lover’s love is lover’s hate.” ~ Medea, Euripides The women don’t do this, except...
by phillipw | Jun 12, 2020 | BY, GE, GO, HA, Ho, IS, JO, KE, PO, WA
Crippled Poets Among the earliest of lines to spring And linger utterly till now are long Ones drawn from blinded eyes. The verses sing Like prophets’ spirits which must see. A song Of guts, the gods, and marrow-spills came out From manly depths behind the...
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 26, 2020 | BR, CH, ED, HI, Ho, HU, MU, PA
Holy Innocence We wonder if the organist who spelled Out basic counterpoint and how to write Down harmony knew that this later swelled To eight-part glory in a music bright As heaven’s capital with streets of gold And gem foundations. Highnam’s Edward...
by phillipw | May 26, 2020 | CH, ET, Ho, HU, MU, PA, PE
The Pergola of Composition “There is also a setting of Horace’s Ode ‘Persicos odi puer apparatus,’ for A.T.B.B. ‘written in school [Eton College] , February 22, 1865’ ”. ~ Emily Daymond, 77 As strange as ancient Persia might have seemed To sixteen-year-old Parry...
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 21, 2020 | Ho, MA, RE, RO, SU
A Whacko Sonnet: There’s Nothing like Religion Made of Crass [Based on two items from yesterday’s news.] There’s nothing like religion made of crass Stupidity and ignorance, unless You add some mental illness to surpass The superstitious, ordinary...
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, 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 | 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 | Ho, MY, RA, SA, SE, ST, TE
Ad Augusta per Angusta— to Elevated Goals through Narrow Paths Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A vision of the narrow path to high Perfection, highest pitch of tenor goals, With something like a throat...
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...