by phillipw | May 9, 2020 | DE, GO, RE, TH
Dangerous Theophany When Gods appear, we dare not look at them. We turn our heads and eyes. We stare at ground Or lower gaze and dare not touch a hem As robes go swirling by. A holy sound Comes haunting, muffled even. It brings awe. If Gods have curly hair, it...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | TH
Lordosis The gods “‘do not appear in all their fullness [enargeîs],’ Calasso writes.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 19 Jehovah shows his backside to the eye Of Moses in the fire and smoke and cloud. We wonder if that eye was sideways, sly,...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2020 | MY, TH
When Gods were Real We used to meet divinity inside Our guts. Gods wrenched the bowels, or heart, or lungs With flushing presence, left our sternum dyed With holiness, and filled with praise numbed tongues. Direct, they haunted us in fire and smoke We breathed...
by phillipw | Apr 19, 2020 | MY, RE, TH
Moses, Saint Francis, Saint Teresa ….. Gods used to come. We felt a sudden gust. A moment came, somewhere, somehow, at dawn Or in the twilight. Daybreak caused a thrust Of deepest recognition, then withdrawn. A twilight apparition might remain A fraction longer...
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 | Jan 23, 2020 | TH, Uncategorized
The God of Gods The god of gods appeared on earth today. He settled on a springtime tree—a crown Of whitest pink and petals came straight down From heaven. There they murmured silent whims Of glories that no mortal eye has seen. They chanted without sound...
