by phillipw | Jul 13, 2020 | BE, FL, HE, WH, WO
Deer-tongue The smell of deer-tongue came to me today From decades past. I mean the fragrance of The dried out leaves, as dried out as the splay Of decades since my father taught us love, His sons, beneath the Florida sun, leaves That called up beauty...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | DI, FO, TW, WO
Twinned They dig to make foundations for a steel And tall glass building, but then come upon Rock hardened claw prints and a dragon heel Bone. Eons held in darkness of the dawn Of death (which we call life) rear up in stone- Made stillness. We encounter...
by phillipw | May 18, 2020 | AR, DO, IV, PH, WH, WO
Under the Florida Son On Wilson’s first Inaugural Day A “man” was born. His father always called Him “Man.” For instance, Archibald might say, “Go do your hunting, Man.” Archie’d been galled To have so many females in his life, Was thrilled to have...
by phillipw | May 17, 2020 | DA, ME, RE, WH, WO
Antechambers My father’s residence was memories As if a chambered nautilus turned back To find in older shapes a lustrous ease As snug in paradox, as neat in tack As any yacht that sails against the wind. He found his comfort in a smaller place When he, an...
by phillipw | May 10, 2020 | CH, EN, PO, WI, WO
Sweetness on the Desert Air Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If you retreated to provincial Kent, Were banished there from London’s buzz to rot Among the hops and bees where things are meant To be...
by phillipw | Apr 1, 2020 | WH, WO
Woodrow Wilson Whidden, Senior My father did not smell of manly sweat. He smelled of loyalty. He smelled of faith And dedication. His idea of debt Was what he owed to family, wife, love, faith, And sons. An elder in a tiny church, He sat behind the pastor; did not...
