by phillipw | Sep 26, 2021 | AE, DE, EM, PR, RA, WA, WH
Barbaric Yawp His “poetry” is not so much a thing Of barbarism as it is bad Greek Or Roman oratory. In its ring It has the sound of bombast. No, not sleek, But more like overstated prose tricked out As verse on pages. Rhetoric high-flown Quite...
by phillipw | Sep 2, 2021 | FR, HA, PO, RA
Japanese and Chinese Poets Imagined Frogs Performing Poems Te wo tsuite uta mōshiaguru kawazu hana Placing his hands on Mud, the frog respectfully Recites his poem. ~ Sōkan Those poets speak of frogs producing lines Of poetry. Such poets of the pond Gulp forth...
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 | Aug 1, 2021 | BI, MU, RA, SK
Invisible Music Made Opaque The rain falls down as if in chords, as if A symphony in quietness, playing on The quietest of instruments as stiff As thin percussion ones with brushes drawn Across them, metal brushes on a drum. The only notes we hear as notes...
by phillipw | Jul 30, 2021 | AN, GR, NU, OL, RA, RU
Wearing Only Sunlight and Beauty, the Racer on the Track at Ancient Olympia Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Dressed only in the sunshine and his skin He steps as strongly as a stallion to The line. He...
by phillipw | May 3, 2021 | AM, AN, BI, GA, GR, ME, RA, SE, ZE
iOvid Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem What Ovid did two thousand years ago, The World Wide Web has lately caught up with. He did it many, many times. The slow Web has, at last,...
