by phillipw | Apr 9, 2020 | PO
A Purpose of Poetry “For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d” The hands of poets are encircled by A ring of gold—or rings of gold and life. Such hands know much of wrinkled clouds and sky, Of thorns, and of the after rains of strife. The...
by phillipw | Apr 8, 2020 | AN, BE, PO
Upon the Face of Agamemnon “and also he [King Priam of Troy] admires Agamemnon for his beauty” ~ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, XIII, 906 Forget that Helen for a moment. Think Of gorgeous men. The King of Troy could not Resist men’s beauty. Helen caused a stink That...
by phillipw | Apr 8, 2020 | GR, PO
Primal ………. “As early as 500 BC, if we credit the images on Greek pottery, Homer and other poets were being read, not merely performed, by individuals.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets,7 When poetry existed in the mind And air and...
by phillipw | Mar 22, 2020 | DE, LI, PO
Éminences Grises The lines go on and on, so distant that They seem much farther from their readership Than Beacon Hill is from Medicine Hat. Such writing comes about through leadership Of theoretic minds as cool as crabs In Arctic zones. A Wallace Stevens,...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2020 | MU, PO
Cacti and Porcupines “fixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles” ~ Wallace Stevens in “The Idea of Order at Key West” If I composed in music, I would fix Its tones like amber set on fire and launch The rhythms into space. The notes would mix With flames at...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2020 | AN, GR, PO, SA
Seance from Vellum “When we listen to the verse phrases and whole poems that have made that hard journey through time, space and language, … we are enthralled as much by what we cannot know as by what we hear.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets We read...
