Delphi

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem 

To die while the dew

Is yet undried, that would have

Meaningless meaning.

~ Kōyō [Englished and twisted by Phillip Whidden;

the more correct translation would be

“To die while the dew/ is yet undried that/ would be meaningful.”

If poetry does not quite make you feel

Uneasy somewhere in between the heart

And guts, there’s something wrong.  The mind should kneel

In reverence to witchcraft in a part

Of some dimension not identified.

A section of your soul should feel a numb

Dispersal of unreason, hollow-eyed,

Transforming rationality as dumb.

Whenever you feel poetry sounds firm,

That ought to make you turn away and search

For feral fogginess.  The lines should squirm

Around inside your throat and make it lurch.

  We’ve known this since the Pythoness would kiss

    Cave walls with riddles from the god’s abyss.

~ Phillip Whidden