by phillipw | Jan 15, 2021 | AN, DE, FA, FI, GR, PE
Withered Chances When just a boy, he broke the beauty, broke A peony. Then later, decades on He still remembered how he felt the choke Of anger like the pain a marathon Participant endures when he sustained His father’s wrath. It rankled still beyond...
by phillipw | Jan 15, 2021 | AE, BE, CO, ES, PE
Sotōba’s “bijin” Applied Not to a Perfect Confucian Man Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The peony adorns the bed, a piece Of heaven settled down in earth. The blooms Themselves are heaven. ...
by phillipw | Jan 15, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, PA, PE
Exquisite Conflation Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The peony, extravagant in red Vermilion pigment dug from underground, Is so extreme it is as if it bled, This flower, from hell and...
by phillipw | Jan 14, 2021 | AE, BE, DE, ES, PE, PR
Dual Supplication against Death The flower burns its whitest white but not Alone. Beside it in the window glows A candle in the evening air so taut The flame burns on without a flicker. Those Who know the truth can see that light is light In spirit even when the...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, LO, PE, RA, SE
Virginal In dusk of night the moon begins to rise. Enough of it invades the garden with The light the peony desires. The wise One there succumbs to Oriental myth And spreads white petals even further to Embrace the gift the heavens offer. White Adheres...
by phillipw | Jan 13, 2021 | AE, AR, BE, EN, ES, MO, NA, PE, SA
No Divisions Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Tokonama no Botan no yami ya Hototogisu ~ Shiki The darkness of the alcove Where the peonies are; A hototogisu...
