by phillipw | Mar 26, 2020 | AL, AN, SC
Alt Clud A darkness darker than the darkest dark Forbids it to us. We know nothing more Than guesses at its language and its stark Rapine and slaughter. Battles, battles, war, And tiny strips of peace are all that we Can stab at in the...
by phillipw | Mar 26, 2020 | TR
The Lady’s Not for Earning, No, Of Course Not, No “Words, after all,” he said, “are only words And I have heard so many in these days That half my wits are sick.” ~ Lancelot, in Lancelot, by Edwin Arlington Robinson, p. 164 If “Words . . . are only words,”...
by phillipw | Mar 25, 2020 | SU
Croydon Forget undending prairie miles, as wide As oceans in a calm, the planes of sand Outback and in Nevada where no tide Has risen for an eon. Measure strand On strand of breakfast tables set with oats And salt. Remember though the other flats Of...
by phillipw | Mar 22, 2020 | LI
Life The random tints of blue are set beside Some richer colors. Here and there the cold One settles in a patch, like failure cried There. It enhances chord-like yellow, bold, And orange bursts. There’s too much beige and green As usual and not...
by phillipw | Mar 22, 2020 | DE, LI, PO
Éminences Grises The lines go on and on, so distant that They seem much farther from their readership Than Beacon Hill is from Medicine Hat. Such writing comes about through leadership Of theoretic minds as cool as crabs In Arctic zones. A Wallace Stevens,...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2020 | AN, GR
Primal Hymns “Though we are seldom certain that a text is accurate, though we cannot approach its sound, invent its musical accompaniment and ceremonial, join the general audience . . ., or affirm that something that is said is literally true, we do...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2020 | CH, ST
He Actually Had a Beautiful, Twirly Handlebar Moustache The picture printed on his funeral sheet Is almost nothing like the man. He wears A coat and tie. They make him look as neat As some square ’50s guy who never swears And never even smokes tobacco, much Less...
by phillipw | Mar 21, 2020 | DO, LI, TR
A Man Convinced against His Will Will Keep the Same Opinion—Its Worth, Nil I have a friend who wanted Trump to be Elected coz he was more fun than all The other fools on stage with Donald. He Was “far more entertaining.” (Small Considerations like obscenity In...
