by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | AN, CE, EU, HA, IX, MY
Poetry Makes a Different Exploration of the Realm of Death No poet thinks about the path the wife Of Orpheus took down to Hades. Not One poet ever writes about how harshly rife That journey was. The poisoned bride’s death lot Was just the same as anyone’s. The path...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | AN, GR, PO
Poetry, Crime, and Government “Poets are the legislators of the world.” ~ Shelley The ancient Greeks still live. They are not dead. Their poetry from then speaks still upon Some pages on our shelves. The scholar’s head Refuses to let go that singing dawn. These...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | OR, PL, PO
Poetry and Hateful Plato Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Alone among male populations of The ancient world (and modern) Plato held The poet Orpheus in hatred. Love Of poets and of music had not...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | AM, BI, GA, LE, LO, LU, RO, SE
The next sonnet may offend some readers. If you think you may be offended, please do not read it. Plato Hated Poetry, Poor Thing First Sappho catalogued the symptoms of Tsunami wave emotions. Sickness like This malady has been treated as love By writers ever since. ...
by phillipw | Jul 14, 2020 | AM, PO, TR
Plato and Powerful Enigmas Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem When best, it hums ambiguous like tunes From dead archangels, or like rubbed out lines On palimpsests, or like the muffled runes From mouths...
by phillipw | Jul 13, 2020 | NU, OR, ST, WI
Pigs Would Fly if Their Sties Were Noble Poor Socrates. He thought that if the young Were wrapped in images of beauty, they Would take good in and then could climb each rung Of rightness. Lovelinesses would convey Them up and straight to healthiness of soul. Their...
by phillipw | Jul 13, 2020 | AR, IN, MU, NO, PA, PO, TI, TS
Piéria Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “the Muses’ ancient home between the roots of Olympus and the sea; to where ‘Pēneus rolls his fountains Against the morning star’.” ~ F. L....
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...
