by phillipw | Apr 19, 2024 | CH, CR, RE, RO, TH
Gargoyles Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The gargoyles were created to display Some truth and not to ward off evil things. Perhaps grotesques were fashioned to betray The evils of the Church, the...
by phillipw | Apr 8, 2024 | AN, GR, JA, MO, RO
I Canali, un Pranzo, il Arsenale Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Romans, Japanese and Greeks once had A reverence, religious in a calm Way, quiet, for the clockwork things, the sad (The...
by phillipw | Jan 27, 2024 | GA, Ho, KA, LO, LU, MA, NE, RO, UN
Unlike You and Him There seemed a time (if time can merely seem) When we soared parallel, so did not touch, The lack of touching sinful as a dream (Though close the lack of touching hurt too much And so I had to comment face to face With little gifts of...
by phillipw | Dec 22, 2023 | FE, MA, RO
Masculine Self-reliance ~ Know Thyself Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The fact we do not think about when, BANG, The climax happens (male) or comes and comes And comes if in the woman, when nerves clang...
by phillipw | Nov 24, 2023 | LO, RO, YA
Genesis 1:2-3 Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When losses rise, not anything can fill The void excepting you. The paradox Resulting from these losings makes...
by phillipw | Nov 12, 2023 | AB, GA, LO, RO
Alchemy’s Golden Paradox in Heaven’s Streets of Transparent Gold Love, I am full of lead. ~ Antony in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, III.11.76 His heart was made of lead, its poison, weight And darkness till he met the one, that one Who mattered only, only,...
by phillipw | Oct 18, 2023 | DE, RO
Pastel Death The petals, lavender and pink and white, Have fallen, fallen on each other, by Each other, making little heaps here slight And heaps there slighter, as they fell to die Beneath the living bushes and the flowers Alive above these ones. ...
by phillipw | Oct 18, 2023 | RO, TR
Buirdly Pitlochry was the nexus of the soul, Religions’ soul, when Stephenson was young. He might have been a Hindu in his role Of savant. There he spoke with seer’s tongue Upon the village street. He saw a man Mistreating his puir dog and...
by phillipw | Sep 27, 2023 | CO, GA, LO, PI, RO, SA, SI, ST, TE, Uncategorized
Harlequin in Guise of Tuberculosis Hovering When love is played in luscious settings, clowns Are needed. Sad or comic they can be But never tragic, really, dressed in gowns That do not give the game away. We see Them loving like doom’s humans, threatening clown Just...
by phillipw | Sep 24, 2023 | CH, LO, RO, UN, Uncategorized
Wide and Narrow in Their Fate Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Aurora borealis touches dreams Of men and poets as they wander through The realm of loving, hopeful planetary streams Of matter from the...
by phillipw | Aug 4, 2023 | RO
Detonation with Shadows Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When love explodes inside the chest it turns The organs in the ribcage into blast. The heart becomes atomic as it spurns Control. The decent...
by phillipw | Jul 25, 2023 | AB, RO, YA
Rather Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Imagine that I wrote five trillion times In Latin, or in Sanskrit, or in Greek Of Sappho, or in Shakespeare’s sonnet rhymes, In...
by phillipw | Jul 17, 2023 | LO, RO, UN
The Fingers of a Believer Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Disciple Thomas thrust his fingers in The slit. Did he feel blood and warmth, a squish Of slickness, flesh, fulfilment, or just sin Of...
by phillipw | Jul 7, 2023 | RO, SE
There’s Nothing Quite like Love There’s nowt like love. Its sanctimony fills A man as if he never knew a truth As banging as its spurting semen thrills. Its sanctity rings holy and uncouth Like Lucifer when he first understood The shudder of his sin...
by phillipw | Jul 7, 2023 | AB, LO, RO, SA, SE
Sanctity in the Dawn I wake up in the first light, launched to love. I wake up fraught as if the Holy Ghost Filled both my lungs and hovered just above Each vein and artery and bone, engrossed Me everywhere inside my soul. Of course It is not God who rams...
by phillipw | Jun 22, 2023 | LO, RO, UN
Loves Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “My old dreams disappeared when you arrived.” ~ La Bohème Nine thousand million people, even more, Have known those operatic karats in...
by phillipw | May 27, 2023 | LO, RO
Twenty-four Carat Ecstasy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Envisage that you turn his eyebrows gold As Eros’ bow the moment just before He shoots. Another heart is forced to fold In agony of love. ...
by phillipw | Apr 10, 2023 | FL, MO, PE, RO
Nursing Nutrition on Your Knees Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When humans scold you, turn to flowers and vines. Combine them. Morning glories are ideal As therapy or zazen. Blooms are mines For...
by phillipw | Jan 2, 2023 | DE, PO, RE, RO, SU
Heart Disease Men think to use gold, trivialities, To turn their superstitions, nonsense of Their so-called thought, to firm realities. They pile up symbols of agape love, Like golden crucifixes, golden rings And gilded crosses all around a snap Of...
by phillipw | Sep 4, 2022 | CO, DE, JO, KE, PO, RO, SP, TU
Autumn and the Spanish Steps Though waiting for the wind so long, the leaves Know patience, or at least they know no dread. The autumn wind is patient, too, perceives Their stoicism wearing orange and red, October yellow even, brighter in Their bravery. ...
by phillipw | Jun 14, 2022 | AR, LE, LU, PA, RI, RO, VE
Verlaine, Rimbaud, Lucien Létinois Verlaine’s emotions are too distant, far Removed and cleft from violets of verse He filled French veins with, each line a devoir Of sorrow, since his feelings were as terse As AK-47 rounds. His lines Were written out like blade...
by phillipw | May 11, 2022 | CY, GA, Ho, LO, MA, PH, RO, Uncategorized
Someone Special Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Who has to be a special someone when He knows that he is loved? Perhaps some sun God loves him. Maybe he knows more than men...
by phillipw | Mar 14, 2022 | BE, BR, GA, LA, LO, MA, RO, RU, UN
On the Rubbish Heap of Time . . . The one he loved the most was Charles Lascelles. We have to take Brooke’s word for it that he Was beautiful. As Rugby tower bells Rang out the hours, a passion rhymed with glee Pumped hard inside the future poet, hard...
by phillipw | Feb 24, 2022 | PE, RE, RO, SE
Shunning Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He could have broken off the rose, its pinks And petals. Hands veered past. Perhaps he saw The curvatures as sacred, or the winks...
by phillipw | Jan 27, 2022 | LO, RO, SE
Leaving Sentimentality Behind in a Hurricane Eons from Now in a Parallel Cosmos Joshua 10:12-13 Love isn’t possible but there you are Beside me in the morning, lashes, eyes All closed to me and love. Romance is far Away, like galaxies beyond surprise In some...
by phillipw | Jan 16, 2022 | CH, DE, LO, RO, ST
Laid Asleep “we are laid asleep In body, and become a living soul.” ~ William Wordsworth If laid asleep beside each other, we Might find some rest at last. We never laid In doubled love. Love’s serendipity Was...
by phillipw | Jan 14, 2022 | AD, KE, MA, MO, PE, RO, RU, TH
Archangels in the Moon Garden on Christmas Morn The flowers in whitest rows set forth their white Perfume beside the Great Rift Valley on The day that Christ was born. A rose’s might Is all that they can muster in this dawn Of Kenya. That is strong...
by phillipw | Jan 10, 2022 | BI, PE, RO
The Spirit of the Peony is Spring The spirit of the peony is spring. The summer finds itself inside the rose. In May the petals, red and pink, both sing A colored fugue in fragrant ratios. The garden birds have gathered. Great tits leap As through the grandest...
by phillipw | Dec 12, 2021 | BI, RO, SI
The Last Rose of Summer Not Alone Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Joan Sutherland – “Last Rose of Summer” (1963) – YouTube [Turn down the volume on this old recording or...
by phillipw | Nov 18, 2021 | BR, GA, Ho, JA, LO, RO, RU, ST, UN
A Solitary Fire In bobby socks the teenyboppers used To sigh or scream about a baritone, Or tenor, or falsetto voice. Amused, Their objects of desire jived through a zone Of smugness like a phoenix on its pyre. Before these screeching fans, young...
by phillipw | Nov 12, 2021 | LO, RO
Opera in the Crystal Ball An opera in a crystal ball is what He should have viewed and heard and felt, yet, no, His veins sensed only limerance and hot Rushed serotonin. It produced that glow Like phosphorescent joy, though not as pale Or brief as...
by phillipw | Oct 17, 2021 | LO, OB, RO, UN
Unrequited Love in Men “All the little emptiness of love!” ~ Rupert Brooke Gigantic love alone is one small space Inside the mind and guts of just one guy. It’s like a complicated interface, But tiny, ganglia trapped in a sky Of bruise enormous in its hurt...
by phillipw | Oct 1, 2021 | CH, MI, RE, RO
Moving, Moving, Still The pilgrims on their way to Lourdes are just Like entomologists that chase fey things, Except the nets do capture perfect dust In patterned beauty on the wanton wings Symmetrical in color and in shape, Those doomed realities. The...
by phillipw | Sep 29, 2021 | BI, BU, RA, RO
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The 1960s weren’t exactly right For stars who touched each other in the way That audiences hated. Lovers might Endeavor to keep journalists at bay, But Robert Benevides...
by phillipw | Sep 6, 2021 | BU, DR, HU, RO, SE
The Flowers Dream of Hummingbirds Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When butterflies fan wings while on a stone, They do not dream, or if they do, they fail To dream of us, our sadness when alone Or, more,...
by phillipw | Sep 6, 2021 | OB, RO, SU
Manfred Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Byron thing is what unthinking minds Presume is the Romantic core, that rot. The self, whatever that is, veils and blindstt...
by phillipw | Aug 23, 2021 | BR, LO, RO
Forever and Forever What makes a sunlight moment settle in The mind? And does it matter? Turning of An eye makes heartbeats leap and grin Because of Gwen or Lance. But is it love And does it matter? On the beach his arm And shoulder fix themselves,...
by phillipw | Aug 13, 2021 | LO, MI, RO
Granting What sages and the rest must say at last Is only love is high. The evils through The world don’t matter. Yes, those things are vast, But finally the wisest think more true. No, not the love of men and ladies in The novels sold at...
by phillipw | Aug 12, 2021 | EL, RO, SU, WA
Nocturne Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem …………………….. ” Where joy and sadness are forgotten or Have never been, just there...
by phillipw | Aug 5, 2021 | CA, LO, ME, RO
Cats and Men Winn wasted love, romantic life, on men And cats like men. The men walked round as proud As only cats (and men) can be and then They left. Sometimes the men and cats allowed Some stroking of their hairy bodies for A little while and...
by phillipw | Jul 19, 2021 | GA, Ho, RO
No Conscience June storms come lashing down on roses. They Hold up as best they can like soldiers trapped By heavy friendly fire. June rains betray The blossoms. Pinkest petal strength is sapped. The perfect stems and leaves, though under fire As...
by phillipw | Jun 30, 2021 | CH, IN, LO, RO, ST
The One is Always First: Einstein’s Theory of Time Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The man who once was seen and now cannot Be seen is one. He never will be seen Again and yet he still is there. ...
by phillipw | Jun 24, 2021 | AD, AM, BI, BR, GA, LO, RO, RU, SE
An Evensong at Rugby School Chapel Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The service is devoted to Saint John The Baptist. Then when prayer comes, “Lord, now let,” I think of peace and one plain tomb upon...
by phillipw | Jun 21, 2021 | CA, CH, FA, IN, PI, PR, RE, RO, SU
Miraculous Bunkum The minds of pilgrims plod along because They lack the gifts required to see without A relic. Hunkered there inside its gauze Of cloth of gold as if in holy pout, It waits for priests to open up its box Or gate, the reliquary encrusted with ...
by phillipw | Jun 18, 2021 | RO, SA, SH, TI
The Weight of Time is Felt Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Some times are felt as weight. The Sabbath of The Jews or Christians settles on the soul Sabbath Day Lake Like Florida’s humidity...
by phillipw | Jun 15, 2021 | LO, RO, SE
Gone Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A smouldering in the core of ribcage bones Is what his heart is causing. Blood does not Allow an outbreak, flames of red. The zones Of marrow in...
by phillipw | Jun 14, 2021 | LO, RO, SE, UN
Relief The roses come. He does not think of you. Their pinks are far too delicate, their reds Too overwhelming, and their whites too true. He does not think of you and cuts their heads. The peonies arrived. Their petals are Too perfect, fine, and...
by phillipw | Jun 10, 2021 | BI, GA, HE, Ho, LO, RO
Ganymede Has Auroras Glowing in His Captured Air The largest moon of Jupiter is male, Much larger than the female ones. Its weight Is less than Mercury’s but then the scale Of Ganymede is larger. Zeus’s mate Forever clings around his greatest god And spins forever...
by phillipw | Jun 3, 2021 | AD, AM, BI, BR, CH, DE, FI, GA, Ho, LO, MI, PO, RO, RU, SC, WO
Blue Rugby and Blue Gallipoli Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We do not think of Rubert Brooke in blue, When we remember him at all. We think of Brooke Between some pages of a volume, true To...
by phillipw | May 21, 2021 | CH, FR, LO, MA, RE, RO, SP, ST, UN
Tightly Closed in Open April during the Cherry Blossom Time Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Remembering sapphire air, I think of you. We shared a cut gem spring which lasted long And long because the...
by phillipw | May 14, 2021 | FU, LO, RO, SE
Midas Touch He wants to make his lovers glow like gold, Except that gold is tame. He wants to make them Glow, gold eternity, that makes them scold The lesser beauties. He will lift the hem Of death since it is only thin gold rags And find beyond it...
by phillipw | May 12, 2021 | RO, SE
Inner Space Exploration Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A lover has a comet for each hand; Five comets, finger comets with each touch. Each finger gives a hint more like a brand Waved near a part of...
by phillipw | May 4, 2021 | LO, RO, SE
Black Regrets–Sénanque Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He holds a postcard in his hand. The view Is of an abbey high in chalky hills (Provençe). The abbey there of...
by phillipw | Apr 25, 2021 | DA, EL, HE, RO, SE, SP, ST
Repeat PerforMANce Repeat PerforMANce Repeat PerforMANce Repeat PerfoMANce…. Robert Sparks They danced in discos. That was not the point. The one was just a usual kind of bloke, Not gorgeous and not plain. He had the joint For humping in...
by phillipw | Apr 25, 2021 | CH, LO, RO, ST
What the Pharaohs Commanded in Looking Glasses Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He lives inside the past. Back then he filled A tiny room, but now it glows. The walls Are echoed glass. My spinal...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | LO, RO, UN
Love in England I even sent you stupid things like pics Of guards in London backed with notes about The mayflower being in bloom. The tricks I pulled were quite pathetic. Rave and shout Was just about the only method left Untried. The sonnets, longer...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | LO, RO
No New Place for Love From Stratford-Upon-Avon I sent: “This is” Shakespeare noted,”the monstrosity Of love, . . . that the will is infinite,” bliss Is huge, but though its existence is free, The “execution” is...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | LO, RO, Uncategorized
Both Sad and Calm On the back of a post card I quoted from The Queen of the Damned: “The morning would come and he would be sad but calm.” Both sad and calm cathedral beauties are. The picture on the card of Salisbury glows With stillness. It was taken from...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | AU, FA, LO, ME, NO, RO
The Month of Dying Beauty The month of dying beauty made of leaves That bleed with scarlet, crimson, and the flash Of orange, hurtful yellows and bright sheaves Of golden, sickled hay revealed a gash. A wound in present time was opened by My finding of a cache of...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | LO, ME, RO, SO
Recovered? Recovered? Covered once with scars, before That with the Mylar we call love, my heart Deals gingerly with this collection. More Reflective sonnet talents in the art Of poetry and love have run ahead Of my discovery of little gifts Forgotten in...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | LO, RO, WH
Promises and Lies I send a card with animals–a mare And foal, a badger, and a fox and fawn– Facetiously upbraiding you. “Unfair!” I claim. It seems that you were sick and wan, Had promised you’d “bounce back” by...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2021 | LO, RO, UN
Petaled Appeal Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I send you all of me that bows, both built To last and doomed to fade, endure and fail, As flowers that have colors which will wilt, As...
by phillipw | Apr 14, 2021 | LO, RO
Crossing Out Bars Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Our love had never settled into notes Or melded into melodies. The heat Grew high enough, but flaming seas burn boats Instead of making...
by phillipw | Apr 13, 2021 | CH, LO, RO, ST
As Thermonuclear as Sodom Miraculously clouds of that hot sort That swirled around us, you and me, embraced Us. Arms like these do not allow retort. They hug as hot as those Elijah’s raced To heaven suffered. Yet then unlike those Our clouds held us together all...
by phillipw | Apr 10, 2021 | FE, MA, RO
Romanticism The truth is that romance is not romantic In being Polynesian, scented with Chanel, Hermès, Yves . . . not necromantic, Not in the least unusual. That myth That it’s romantic is stupendous in Its chutzpah. What romantic really is Is more a...
by phillipw | Apr 9, 2021 | EG, GO, LO, RO, SE
Golden Tongue Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Ancient mummies with golden tongues unearthed in Egypt – BBC News If I were buried with a tongue of gold, Would I still be a poet, or,...
by phillipw | Apr 4, 2021 | BU, CH, IM, RE, RO
He Wore his Royal Robes to Lead Out in Matins and Vespers Some lines of verse by Robert King of France Sing, simply pious, from one thousand years Gone by. We analyze them, though, askance Because his holiness had fatal fears Like flaming coals inside it. He was so...
by phillipw | Apr 2, 2021 | CH, LO, RO, ST
24-carat Dreamscape Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When dining off gold plates, I think of you, Yes, not of Greek ambassadors around The tables of the Persian court. Peru Might spring to mind where...
by phillipw | Apr 1, 2021 | CH, LO, RO, ST
Prophecy from the Future Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You flew, the prophecy the future sent To me. You levitated up above My present and my past. My space/time bent Around you. This is...
by phillipw | Mar 24, 2021 | DE, HE, LO, PA, RO, SE
Carving Out the Measure of Devotion Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You hardly know the truth of passion till You put it in the context of its doom. It seems as hot as sun spots or the spill Of lava...
by phillipw | Mar 1, 2021 | AP, GA, Ho, RO, SE
Heterodox Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When first he kissed, his name and family dis appeared, his father and his brothers van ished, and his mother and his aunties mis conceived...
by phillipw | Feb 27, 2021 | GU, LO, PA, RO
Le crème The mouth would speak. The poem disappears. The heart desires to love. Sweat fades away, Though. Passion lasts for moments, not for years. He sits alone, Parisian café Amour around him where he used to sit With more than newsprint words. ...
by phillipw | Feb 27, 2021 | LO, RO, SE
Leave it Unnamed It never is created by mere speech And silence cannot penetrate it. Deep It always is. It has a wounded reach Too often with a name, sometimes, in sleep But in the waking hours the names that come To it are shallow, like a shallow pond. No...
by phillipw | Feb 24, 2021 | CH, LO, RO, ST
A True Love Will you be tracing the scars on the fair Skin? (Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme…) Will You rub limbs (herbals to cure)? Black curls, hair, And strongness of nostrils—now you must spill Like blood the therapies. Resurrection...
by phillipw | Feb 19, 2021 | LO, RO, UN
Vacuum Love Because I cannot reach and touch you with My hand or lips, my love remains the gray Of ashes and of cancelled god-filled myth. Divinity is elsewhere like the spray Of neutered tomcats, visible only To queen cat noses. It is that perfume That...
by phillipw | Feb 18, 2021 | LO, RO
Marquise Memory Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A perfect diamond moment firm and bright In memory of the past shines glinting, brief, But faceted with purity. A night, A single night...
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2021 | AE, BE, CL, ES, RO
But Perhaps Keats Understood It at His Best Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “The Pure Present which so often aroused Goethe’s admiration in every product of the classical life and in sculpture...
by phillipw | Feb 16, 2021 | LO, RO, UN
Evening Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Your life is time. This evening floats past time And lingers in eternity. The light Of dusk means more. It borders the sublime Because...
by phillipw | Feb 11, 2021 | CA, LO, MO, RO
Love’s Lunge at Long Last The moon in near remoteness, when compared With sun, and stars, and planets, makes its slow Fast way above us after being snared By gravity like weighty love below It, heft of earth’s devotion countless years Ago, four billion years ago...
by phillipw | Jan 29, 2021 | AE, BE, BU, ES, PE, RE, RO
Peony Piety Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A proper reverence for petals should Be kept, especially for pink and white Ones, peonies. Perhaps a veil-like hood Should be required for viewing...
by phillipw | Jan 24, 2021 | MO, O, RO, UN
The Creed of Unitarian Roses and Unitarian Wind Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The roses move, though in their nature they Are stillness all, except in growth and death. They vary in their colors. ...
by phillipw | Jan 21, 2021 | AE, BE, DI, ES, Ho, IL, RE, RO
Gardener, Heal Thyself for the Sake of Devout Worship Recovering from fever, he looks through His window. Roses bloom in glory there But they are powerless to cure. The view Should help at least, perhaps more than a prayer By priests to pagan goddesses of earth. Yet...
by phillipw | Jan 20, 2021 | HE, HU, IS, MA, MI, RO, SE, ST, TR
Iseut of the White Hands “[…] then he was such that all who saw him said that if he was not a brave knight he really must hate his fine body. And indeed he was so handsome that Iseut herself, who was called Iseut of the White Hands, fell madly in love with...
by phillipw | Jan 19, 2021 | ED, LO, PE, RO, SC
Embracing Dooms for His Regret The peonies’ white petals fallen on The garden ground instruct these two To part. The period for their love has gone. Just one of them attempts a passage through The muted condemnation of the flowers. The other turns his face away and...
by phillipw | Jan 17, 2021 | AE, BE, CA, CH, ES, MI, OR, RO
Milele in His Temple Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Beijing cat, a silvery chevron on His head, between his ears, in fur as white As whitest peony, the chevron drawn As Chinese artists with...
by phillipw | Jan 17, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, MI, PE, RO
Ten Nine Eight Seven Six Five Four Three Two One Ignition Blast Up Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The cushion launch pads of the leaves and stems Of bushes’ light up buds...
by phillipw | Jan 12, 2021 | AE, BE, ES, PE, RE, RO
Peony Piety Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem A proper reverence for petals should Be kept, especially for pink and white Ones, peonies. Perhaps a veil-like hood Should be required for viewing...
by phillipw | Dec 31, 2020 | HE, JE, LO, RO, ST
Walking with Another Man in a Street of Athens Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He bought her earrings, rings in rings in rings Around a sphere, the whole arrangement made Of tempered steel. Well...
by phillipw | Dec 24, 2020 | CH, FU, JU, MA, MO, RO, RU
Death Sneers Silently at Services We sing to dead ones. That is how we pray. We sing the hymns and requiems. We chant The kaddish and the words of fate. We sway In robes the living wear. The pious rant Which sounds more beautiful than death, unless The timbre is of...
by phillipw | Dec 20, 2020 | AR, BE, CO, IM, LU, RO
Hearing Deafly Romantics are like oceans, deep, disturbed, And wide. Unfathomed parts of them require Attention for this art. Their depths, perturbed Like Christ’s Bethesda or by coal mines’ fire, Impact the darkness and are meant to treat Our...
by phillipw | Dec 16, 2020 | LO, ME, RO
Unworthy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem My hands would pluck you stars and let you place These red hots, stellar candies, on your tongue To cool them. Then my arms would sweep...
by phillipw | Dec 16, 2020 | AT, FU, LO, RO, SP
That Hot Embrace Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He cannot ever run or swim without Romance the power in his sinews, sweat, And dreams. He does not let the sunshine doubt His future,...
by phillipw | Dec 16, 2020 | AL, BA, GA, Ho, LO, PA, RO
The Prophet Addresses Bagoas Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Your heart will be volcano-like with force And lava. You will be the lightning bolt That he has always wanted, you the horse And he your...
by phillipw | Dec 15, 2020 | CH, EP, FL, FR, JO, OT, PH, RO, SP
Epiphany not Abruptness A mamba crosses paths with you. A shark Fin heaves to view in nearby waves. A plague Ramps out across the world. A winging lark Explodes from cover at your feet. No vague, Uncertain certainty like fate explains The threat, the...
by phillipw | Dec 14, 2020 | LO, PA, RO, SE, SY
The Specifications of a Dream You know the list. It specifies the smell Of hope and fragrance of your long lost love, The scent of it in bed and thrusting swell Of pillowed lust. The list contains the shove Of fleshy colored passion and the taste, The scarlet taste,...
by phillipw | Dec 8, 2020 | AS, FR, GI, GR, ME, RO, SK
Frilly Pleats and Blokes When Greek men dance in unison, their shoes Don’t dance like chorus girls’. Men’s feet, Too large for pretty grace, are like drunk crews Of slack-foot sailors. Men ignore the neat And opt for strength. Approximate stomping Will do. ...
by phillipw | Dec 4, 2020 | LO, RO, SE, Uncategorized, WR
Obliterations A world can disappear. If it is one That you created on the purity Of pages white as Jesus’ diamond sun, This world can shrink to an obscurity Wiped out by fact. Another world you built Upon the shock of beauty from blue eyes A woman...
by phillipw | Nov 15, 2020 | AR, GA, Ho, LO, PA, RI, RO, SE, SN, VE
Éclats de Neige Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “éclats de neige”~ Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminations Paul often thought a boy has splinters in His eyes, his irises, his pupils, light...
by phillipw | Oct 28, 2020 | BR, CO, JA, PO, RO
MENSA I have a lack of knowledge that is quite Encyclopedic when it comes to “pop” (Pop culture stuff). I like more erudite And highbrow matters. Tracks like “Lollipop, Oh Lollipop, Oh Lollie! Lollie!” can’t Appear on radar screens for me. Some lines From...
by phillipw | Oct 21, 2020 | AN, EP, HE, Ho, IL, LO, PO, RO
He Lost, was Slaughtered, but Only He and She had Triumphed Prince Paris was the winner. Every day For years he woke up to his perfect love. He knew where perfect love and beauty lay Because she lay beside him. Far above All other beauty and above the race Of women,...