by phillipw | Jul 6, 2020 | MA, OR, SI
Direction If you were on a ship and needed song To urge you, would you want the Sirens or The voice of Orpheus to make you long? If you were on an ancient ship, what shore Would you desire, a cove with killer rocks Prepared by gorgeous women prodding...
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 6, 2020 | AN, IN, MA, MI, MU
Daedalus and Icarus Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “The natural rhythms of Greek [poetry] tend ‘downward,’ falling” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 14 How strange it is to think that ancient...
by phillipw | Jun 30, 2020 | MA, OM, RI, SE
Constitutional Slaughter: Connecticut, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Texas Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse “Stronger than lover’s love is lover’s hate.” ~ Medea, Euripides The women don’t do this, except that queen. It’s mostly males who...
by phillipw | Jun 21, 2020 | MA, PE
Peacock Feather You might just say it’s only maleness ramped Up fret-like, gold and turquoise blue, each fret Of thousands, iridescent maleness, vamped Up frilliness, masculinity jet Propelled in delicacy. Don’t ignore That other color in the eyes, that...
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...