by phillipw | May 13, 2020 | BE, CH, PU, ST
Charles Randall Stanfield from a Bergamot Tree Today I thought of him. I poured a cup Of English tea and, as I poured, my mind Did that strange thing that brains will do — filled up With something unexpected. Life aligned With beauty not related to the tea, Its...
by phillipw | Apr 15, 2020 | FU, PU
The Luna Moth, the Poet, and Philosopher “Carlotta Capuccino [in her article], ‘Plato’s Ion and the Ethics of Praise,’ takes the . . . view that poetry deploys ‘groundless praise’ and ‘promotes a dogmatic and passive style of life and thought,’ and so is ‘essentially...
by phillipw | Feb 21, 2020 | CA, PU
Dido and Aeneas The Queen of Carthage sings that “he is gone” In white-smoke pain. Purcell gives smoke-white tongue To those who lose their men. She acts as pawn; He swells her aching throat and tortured lung With passions of the flames that fill her,...
by phillipw | Aug 13, 2019 | PI, PU
Near Enough He’s almost beautiful, his shoulders big Enough, but not remarkable, his nose A handsome size, his hair thick as a wig Some balding man might buy, and in repose His face is solemn, not some pretty thing. The upper eyelids are as dark in tone As if...