by phillipw | Apr 11, 2020 | SA
The Most Secret Poetry “Haydn whose decidedly un-musical wife apparently used his manuscripts as hair curlers” Try not to think of all the poems lost In time. Eternity must hold them in Some hidden and immortal bank, not tossed Away completely. Yet for us the twin Of...
by phillipw | Apr 10, 2020 | SA
Sappho of Eressus: Where Poetry Comes From “There is a variety of dialects, and this is one reason it was always considered important to give a poet, almost as a patronymic, his or her town of origin, and why Didymus’ pedantries in seeking the actual birthplaces of...
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...
by phillipw | Mar 9, 2020 | AS, BU, CH, JE, SA
Petaled Salvation An emperor or any man must grope His mumbling way if he would go as pure As Buddha or as Christ. The slightest hope Is offered. Jesus holds out just one sure Path forward into holiness. “Go sell All, all you have and give it to the...
by phillipw | Mar 9, 2020 | AR, PA, RI, SA, VE
“Operating Live on Poetry” —Delahaye in Divagations So. Just another boozing, druggy day. That’s how French poets’ love affairs are spent. They sit with friends in an ivre café, And Rimbaud says, “Try an experiment, Hommes. Put your hands on the table.” ...
by phillipw | Mar 3, 2020 | SA, ST
Chopin, Played in the Oldest Church within the Walls of Ancient Paris How sad to think of those who lived before Romantic music, those who never knew Strained longing, melodies that seem to pour Unendingly, that seem to yearn out through Eternity, stretched out,...
