by phillipw | Mar 12, 2024 | GE, MA, QU, Ta
A Twenty-eight Year Old Baker Boy Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem We go to evensong and never think Of Tankerfield, not once. The anthems rise More jasmine-like than incense — not the stink Of...
by phillipw | Oct 5, 2022 | FO, HA, SA, SI, Ta, WO, WW
The Fox Hunter Flushes Out the Fritzies Single-handedly with Bayonet and with the Same Fingers that Wrote His Poetry Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem He loved his poetry and music, such Like things,...
by phillipw | May 6, 2022 | Ta
Laotse and Chuangtse All nature palpitates with life, more true When life has died. Philosophy might try To be as true. Religions have their pew In nature’s temples, roofs a higher sky In thought and feeling. Mind’s mysticisms Fail, though, when man’s...
by phillipw | Mar 29, 2022 | BR, CU, RU, Ta
The Flimsiness of Letters “All the little emptiness of love!” ~ Rupert Brooke What kind of letters? Letters in a clay Configuration, cuneiform shapes gone For thousands of declines in their array In sunsets, twilights and each hopeless dawn Were letters that...
by phillipw | Mar 25, 2022 | BR, RU, Ta
Tahitian Light and Dark They called him “Purpure” because his hair Shone light instead of black like theirs. It shone Of poetry, perhaps, or maybe flair Of charm. Their combination might atone For many sins and signally his spell Translated clearly in their...
by phillipw | Mar 17, 2022 | BR, RU, Ta
There’s Lucky and There’s Lucky A girl with eyes involved with awe, and stroll Of goddesses, and heart that angels knew Who sang with Gabriel, would have a soul To offer to a poet. She might view Him as a blond and blue-eyed rhyming knight Descended from...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | BR, GE, HE, OK, RU, SE, ST, Ta
Tropical Heat Meets English Poetry Together Taatamata and taut Brooke Spread open her vanilla orchid flower. While it was tropic pink, not white, it took His darker flesh invasion and its power. Its power spread open her Tahiti flesh And spread it, thrust it fleshy,...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | BR, DE, RU, SE, Ta
There’s Poetry and Then There’s Poetry “There are three good things in this world. One is to read poetry, another is to write poetry, and the best of all is to live poetry.” ~ Rupert Brooke. The schoolboy grown to be a poet found Intensest poetry inside the holes Of...
by phillipw | Mar 15, 2022 | AM, BI, DE, DO, RU, SE, Ta
Taatamata and Denham Russell-Smith The evidence, it seems, implies that stuff With women caused him greatest grief, except For Taatamata. Mother was enough To force him to desire control. She kept Him on the tightest lead as best she might And love for Ka produced a...
by phillipw | Mar 9, 2022 | DE, RU, Ta
England’s Inoculation and Therapy for the Virus Called War, April 4 and St. George’s Day, 2015 Fate slapped him in his face and carried on With tattooed beauty on its fingers, palm, And skin much longer like a lingering dawn. His sonnet read out loud as if a psalm...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2022 | BR, RU, Ta
Brown Beauty and Others Left Behind “more tourist still than soldier” ~ Rupert Brooke America and Canada, their spine Of Rocky Mountains, called across the sea, Their men and women waiting, near supine Already. Rupert left behind debris Of men and women who had seen...
by phillipw | Mar 7, 2022 | BR, DE, GA, RU, SE, Ta
Boys, Even the Poets, Become Men When boys at school grow up, they go away And do the stupid things that boy-men do. They go do bed with women, or if gay, The boys make love while using cum as glue With other men, and if they’re young enough, These other males,...
by phillipw | Dec 2, 2021 | DE, RU, Ta
England’s Inoculation and Therapy for the Virus Called War, April 4 and St. George’s Day, 2015 Fate slapped him in his face and carried on With tattooed beauty on its fingers, palm, And skin much longer like a lingering dawn. His sonnet read out loud as if a psalm...
by phillipw | Nov 30, 2021 | BR, HE, RU, SE, ST, Ta
Brown Beauty and Others Left Behind “more tourist still than soldier” ~ Rupert Brooke America and Canada, their spine Of Rocky Mountains, called across the sea, Their men and women waiting, near supine Already. Rupert left behind debris Of men and women who had seen...
by phillipw | Sep 23, 2021 | EL, LU, MA, MO, OS, PR, Ta
A Skin-deep Sea in a Fake Heaven The depths of shallowness are what the stars Dive into. Starlit deeps make slickness glow Like Barbarella dressed for sex-grooved Mars, Or Marilyn with one leg raised to show The blue pool has not killed her yet. Like Wilde...
by phillipw | Sep 5, 2021 | CH, MA, Ta
French Leave Piloting to Sorrow Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Charles Randall Joseph Taulelle BIRTH 15 Sep 1934 DEATH 17 Nov 1959 (aged 25) BURIAL Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Arlington...
by phillipw | Mar 26, 2021 | EL, Ta
A Prophetess’s Eyes For Charles Randall Stanfield Her eyes were deep clairvoyant blue but streaked With selfishness, a kind of hate, that stabbed The hearts around her. They were like the beaked Face eagles have when talons have just grabbed Their victims. ...
by phillipw | Dec 23, 2020 | AN, JA, ME, SA, ST, Ta
Fabulous Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The ancient Japanese sword-makers bent Bent, coaxed their steel, more thousands of plies, than Rehearsing swordsmen slashed their blades. ...
by phillipw | Sep 16, 2020 | AN, CO, Ho, IL, PO, Ta, TR
Taironan Troy See “Mucho más que libros,” Semana, 4 June 2001, Bogatá “At the time of the conquest, the Tairona had different cultural practices than Modern Native American populations. Ethnographic sources highlight freedom to...
by phillipw | May 31, 2020 | CH, Ta
Young Talleyrand ……………… Now I ask you, who could judge, just looking At ce gosse of sixteen, what kind of trick- [ce gosse=this kid] ster he’d become? Front of Jove, no hooking Nose, a lawn cravat (only its white...
by phillipw | May 31, 2020 | CH, Ta
Victor “and he limped like the devil himself”— Victor Hugo This spitefulness arises in a man When meeting someone larger than himself, When he encounters someone greater than His own capacities; makes him an elf— Or Quasimodo—in comparison,...
by phillipw | May 31, 2020 | BR, CH, CO, DE, Ta
Trinkets The atheistic Charles de Talleyrand Had all the little perquisites a man Could hope for (with the exception of brawn In leg). Whatever his luck didn’t span, The women in his life took action to Correct. The Countess de Brionne...
by phillipw | May 31, 2020 | CH, FR, GE, PA, Ta
Talleyrand by François Gérard: a Crippled Sonnet ……………~ commonswikimedia.org He isn’t looking quite askance at us From oils and frame. The gilt surrounding trim, The mouldings, desk, rectangle-rimmed canvas) Are as close as...
by phillipw | May 29, 2020 | AD, CH, FL, GO, HE, MO, PR, RO, SE, ST, Ta
Talleyrand & Gouveneur Morris Crippled Twinning “Your character is such that you destroy Unhappiness much faster than can fate Create its sadnesses,” said Monstesquiou To Adelaïde, who had the lovely trait Of being charming Countess de Flahaut— Which meant that...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | BY, CH, DU, GE, LO, Ta
[The following sonnet may offend some readers. Do not read it if you think you may be offended.] Talleyrand and duc di Biron These two engaged in a competition With long dead Baron Byron–the French lords T and Duc de Biron . The ambition Was for them to strike...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | AN, CH, SE, Ta
[The following sonnet may offend some readers. Do not read it if you think you may be offended.] Preincarnation: Rear Regard Action* Talleyrand said, “Love is a reality in the domain of the imagination.” “Celui qui n’a pas vécu au dix-huitième si...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, SE, Ta
[The following sonnet may offend some readers. Do not read it if you think you may be offended.] Message to Minister Talleyrand What must it be like, this having no friends? I guess it would be pretty much all right If ladies’ offerings, their bottom ends,...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, DI, GA, LO, MA, Ta
July 14, 1790 The rain slopped on le Champ de Mars so hard It was as if the air had disappeared. For this great morn the bishop gave up card- And dicing-table addiction. Revered By no one as a priest, lame Talleyrand Approached the Mass in front of...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | CH, FR, MA, MI, Ta
French Cuisine There’s nowt like sour grapes to put men’s teeth On bitchy edge and that would do a lot To clear up why Talleyrand was beneath The others in the heap. He was warm snot– Or worse—to those he bested, if it’s right To use a word...
by phillipw | May 28, 2020 | AR, BI, CA, CH, DU, FR, MA, RA, Ta
Feline Thoughts on Pedigree The English, as usual not nonplussed By foreign aristocracy, impressed No, not at all by noble, upper crust, Unbishoped Talleyrand, were not hard pressed To sneer at Duc de Biron. After all, Detesting frog and wog, Brits would snigger At...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | BE, Ta, VI
Arctictis binturong Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem By TassiloRau, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=207524 Confusingly Arctictis binturong Is called a bear and also called...
by phillipw | May 17, 2020 | AD, DE, Ta
Beautiful Beyond Your Lips Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem An apple high above, up on a limb Where dawn can see it earlier than you Will ever know, awaits. The tree may brim With other fruit but still...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | IG, MI, SP, Ta
Pathetic Skin, Flesh, “Brain” Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Today already, twice, I’ve seen two pics Of tattoos with dickhead spelling mistakes. One says . . . “Musle Healing.” The dopy dicks Who...
by phillipw | May 6, 2020 | EL, JU, MA, MO, Ta
Cleopatras Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, won The love of Roman rulers. Mythic in Her force to ravish first the older one And then seduce the younger man,...
by phillipw | Jan 8, 2020 | Ta
Madame de la Châtre, Ally of the Duc d’Orleans “Her virtue wasn’t of the sort that men Found depressing.” In the oil portrait by Vigée Le Brun no hint of Magdalene The sinner smears the oils. No winking, sly Insinuation that madame was like The bishop of Autun,...
by phillipw | Dec 27, 2019 | Ta, VU
Chenille On trips to Georgia mother bought chenille. Swirling counterpanes, curves of peacock tails, Are what come back to me. The ground was “real Bright blue.” She meant enough like neon, trails Of darker cotton fur for spread-tail sweeps...
by phillipw | Dec 16, 2019 | Ta
Victor “and he limped like the devil himself” ~ Victor Hugo This spitefulness arises in a man When meeting someone larger than himself, When he encounters someone greater than His own capacities; makes him an elf— Or Quasimodo—in comparison, But...
by phillipw | Sep 28, 2019 | LO, Ta
Ephemeral Tattoo “Monsieur Dechartre,” asked Prince Albertinelli, “how do you think a mauve waist studded with silver flowers would become Miss Bell?” “I think,” said Choulette, “so little of a terrestrial future,...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2019 | Ta
“I Shall Surround You” 0 Mirabeau, Wikipedia “I shall surround you with a vicious ring The likes of which you’ve never seen,” his friend, Mirabeau, yelled at Talleyrand. The sting Was bent and turned around, though, in the...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2019 | Ta
Talleyrand & Gouverneur Morris 0 “Your character is such that you undo Unhappiness much faster than can fate Create its sadnesses,” said Monstesquiou To Adelaïde, who had the lovely trait Of being charming Countess de Flahaut— Which meant that she...
by phillipw | Sep 18, 2019 | BY, Ta
Talleyrand and de Biron Lord Byron 0 These two engaged in a competition With long dead Baron Byron—those French lords T. and Duc de Biron . The ambition Was for them to strike more holes with their swords Than George did; these later playboys between Them would heat...
by phillipw | Sep 16, 2019 | Ta
December 10, 1788, Talleyrand’s Elevation to the Bishopric of Autun; His Consecration, January 16, 1789 If one were looking for a throne tres bon, The bishopric of Autun could be worse. It came with titles (old) , Baron Tuillon, Baron...
by phillipw | Sep 16, 2019 | Ta
To Represent Autun in the Estates-General of 1789 The disappointed prelate whipped up wine Selections and the best cuisine to set Before the people of Autun to dine On at the bishop’s table. Out to get The power he wanted, he put suavest cloths...
by phillipw | Sep 16, 2019 | Ta
The Convening of the Etats Généraux on May 4, 1789 ….. ……………………………………..Wikipedia “The torrent formed by ignorance became A passion violent enough to be Impossible...
by phillipw | Sep 13, 2019 | Ta
July 14, 1790 The rain slopped on le Champ de Mars so hard It was as if the air had disappeared. For this great morn the bishop gave up card- And dicing-table addiction. Revered By no one as a priest, lame Talleyrand Approached the Mass in front of King and Queen....
by phillipw | Aug 22, 2019 | Ta
Feline Thoughts on Pedigree The English, as usual not nonplussed By foreign aristocracy, impressed No, not at all by noble, upper crust, Unbishoped Talleyrand, were not hard pressed To sneer at Duc de Biron. After all, Destesting frog and wog, Brits would snigger At...
by phillipw | Feb 2, 2019 | Ta
Tanagra The Lady in Blue As stiff as any well-dressed Barbie doll This sculpture from the time before the age Of Alexander’s conquering, the small Blue figurine is not so much a gauge Of ancient worship as it is a piece Of beauty, either for a little girl To...