by phillipw | Aug 6, 2022 | EL, FE, JO, SM, WH
Godly Stones Crying Out “to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness” Leviticus 16:10 The prophet’s tongue is loose. It waggles, this Direction, that. It solemnizes truth, Then censures it. It gives Jehovah’s kiss But then his condemnation. God...
by phillipw | Sep 26, 2021 | AI, IN, PA, SE, SM, TO
Not “Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres are the first Europeans to observe smoking. It was on Cuba and Jerez becomes a staunch smoker, bringing the habit back with him to Spain. History of Tobacco in...
by phillipw | Jul 8, 2021 | AR, HE, HI, MA, SE, SM, TH
An Unsuitable Boy His arms are almost prominent in this Pic taken of him at Baringo. They Are hairy but of course the gorgeous Miss Rejected him. Their bedroom play Revealed his back was even hairier And that was more than she could bear. That hair on shoulders...
by phillipw | Mar 10, 2021 | AL, CR, DE, ED, FA, GA, GR, Ho, SC, SM
Wandering in Warriston Cemetery “Smith contracted diphtheria in November 1866 and, although he seemed to have recovered by Christmas, was then struck down by typhus. He died at home on 5 January 1867 at the very beginning of his thirty-seventh year, and was buried in...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2021 | HI, SM, VI
Our -thorps and -hams and -fords Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The oldest towns and hamlets have their time Imagined on an unseen silent dial. It almost has a moss growth. In their prime (Which...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2021 | AM, BO, BR, CH, EN, FL, MA, PL, RU, SM
International Geographic The tawny boys run through the woods and streets Wherever they are raised, in rural realms Of citrus Florida, where sunshine meets Them under orange grove trees or under elms In England—everywhere. They build their dykes Or dams, their...
by phillipw | Dec 15, 2020 | CA, CE, CO, DE, FU, GR, MO, SM, TI, TO
Artless as L. S. Lowry A Rembrandt darkness falls upon us, they And me. I cannot see them now except As figures draped in richest robes. The prey Of time (called death) they’ve worn brocade and slept In sand beneath the ground, each separate plot Concealing...
by phillipw | Dec 5, 2020 | BO, BR, KU, PL, RA, SM, TI
Titusville Spelled KKK “There’s no place like home.” If I were given Judy Garland’s shoes, I wouldn’t click their ruby heels to go To childhood Titusville. I wouldn’t choose The 1950s there where time was slow As Playalinda tides that inched up on The palest...
by phillipw | Mar 19, 2020 | GO, SM, TH
The Larger Picture At Oxford Artie took a First, then went To teach in Kenya. There he sat out on His little porch and taught us what is meant By dedication. His unruly lawn Was near the Great Rift Valley as he stretched Young minds in mathematics. One to...
by phillipw | May 20, 2019 | SM
Poets and Monarchs as Would-be Lovers What happens when a poet and a king Both fall in love and desperately desire The same young woman or young man. They bring Their hearts to him, the color of Greek fire, Or to the girl. We have examples of This. Polycrates,...