If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, "Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."
quote by Martin Luther King
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
The Mirror
Look into the mirror and make a change,
For Michelangelo painted and Beethoven composed;
But keep your mind up to do the right thing and,
Be very great in all that you do in this world.
Shakespeare wrote and Mozart composed,
And you are young and very attractive!
But ith a theologian emeritus without a view;
For behold! I have set before you an open door.
You do have a little strength to carry on this mission,
For the truth does not change like the order of an agape!
But the mirror on the wall is all that you need for a change.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Streetsweeper
goes by at 1:00 a.m. two nights of the week. I can
hear the feather whoosh of his machine and see
one red light.
I believe that the streetsweeper lives alone,
sleeping
through the cold days, waking clear-eyed and deft
as the sun goes down.
I believe that he works steadily without a portable
radio or a reading light or a nap. When he pauses
it is to stare placidly into
the potent night.
For reasons too numerous to mention, I think
about the
streetsweeper often and about the singular,
provident
cadence of his life.
poem by Ronald Koertge
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Shakespeare Wrote A Poetry
SHAKESPEARE WROTE A POETRY
Once upon a time
Long before I read
Shakespeare wrote a poetry
No one shall see
The like of again.
We small soundmaking fools
Utter our deepest utterances
As if they were the stars-
But the stars the true stars
What Shakespeare wrote and knew
We cannot touch
Or come near
Not even in our greatest words unseen.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Pick Up That Broom and Sweep, Boy
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
If you wanna eat.
You gotta get sweepin'
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
If you wanna eat.
You gotta get sweepin
And if you don't sweep,
You ain't going to sleep.
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
If you wanna eat.
You gotta get sweepin'
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
Nobody's peepin' on the way you sweep.
And if you don't sweep,
You ain't going to sleep.
And you wont sleep,
If you don't eat.
So I suggest get off your seat...
Grab that broom and commence to sweepin'
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
If you wanna eat.
You gotta get sweepin'
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
Nobody's peepin' on the way you sweep.
And if you don't sweep,
You ain't going to sleep.
And you wont sleep,
If you don't eat.
So I suggest get off your seat...
Grab that broom and commence to sweepin'
Pick up that broom and sweep, boy.
If you wanna eat.
You gotta get sweepin
And if you don't sweep,
You ain't going to sleep.
So don't try sneakin' tippy toe on your feet,
Across this floor because it creaks.
And when that happens...
My dog Pete,
Will do his best to sink his teeth.
Right into your funky meat.
And you'll go screamin down the street.
And I'll report you to the police.
Who will bring you back here...
Once again until you sweep.
And it you don't do it,
You'll join those who've been deleted!
'You better pick up that broom,
And sweep, boy! '
~I gotcha 'boy' ol'man! ~
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dancing In The Streets
Wow!
Ah yeah!
Calling out around the world,are you ready for a brand new beat.
Summers here and the time is right,for dancing in the streets,
Theyre dancing in chicago ( theyll be dancing )
Down in new oreleans ( dancing in the streets )
Up in new york city ( dancing in the streets )
All we need is music ( sweet sweet ) sweet music (sweet sweet music )
Therell be music everywhere.
Therell be swinging,swaying,records playing,dancing in the streets,oh!
It doesnt matter what hat you wear,just as long as you are there,
So come on
Grab a guy,grab a girl,everywhere around the world.
Therell be dancing,dancing in the streets.
( oh )its just an invitation,across the nation,a chance for folks to meet.
Therell be laughing and singing,music swinging,dancing in the streets
All we need is music ( sweet sweet ) sweet music (sweet sweet music )
Therell be music everywhere.
Therell be swinging,swaying,records playing,dancing in the streets,oh!
It doesnt matter what hat you wear,just as long as you are there,
So come on
Grab a guy,grab a girl,everywhere around the world.
Dancing,dancing in the streets,
Way down in la,everyday,dancing in the streets ( dancing in the streets )
San francisco way, ( dancing in the streets ), they do it everyday now,
( dancing in the streets )
song performed by by Van Halen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Ash-Boughs
a.
Not of all my eyes see, wandering on the world,
Is anything a milk to the mind so, so sighs deep
Poetry to it, as a tree whose boughs break in the sky.
Say it is ashboughs: whether on a December day and furled
Fast ór they in clammyish lashtender combs creep
Apart wide and new-nestle at heaven most high.
They touch heaven, tabour on it; how their talons sweep
The smouldering enormous winter welkin! May
Mells blue and snowwhite through them, a fringe and fray
Of greenery: it is old earth’s groping towards the steep
Heaven whom she childs us by.
(Variant from line 7.) b.
They touch, they tabour on it, hover on it[; here, there hurled],
With talons sweep
The smouldering enormous winter welkin. [Eye,
But more cheer is when] May
Mells blue with snowwhite through their fringe and fray
Of greenery and old earth gropes for, grasps at steep
Heaven with it whom she childs things by.
poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Walk These Streets Alone
I walk these streets alone why U ask, because that's all i know and the reason i'm so ignorant is because him always on the go
I walk these streets alone meeting customer after customer getting in and out of random cars
I walk these streets alone as if the streets are empty as i go on my devilish duty.
I walk these streets alone clueless to the danger surrounding me, as if him invisible to any danger.
I walk the streets alone as if every person i meet sees me as a stranger.
I walk these streets alone, as sad as it may seem i prefer my own company but at times i still get lonely.
I walk these streets alone but don't feel sorry for me, for i know what i'm getting myself into. and i know the consequences if i get caught
I walk these streets alone regardless of what I've been taught...
poem by Leon Scott
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Oh I
Even if I have to sweep the streets...
I wanna be the one,
To do that for you.
Even if I don't appear that neat...
I wanna be the one,
You rush to speak to.
I oh I...
Gotta be the one you need.
And I oh I...
Gotta be the one you see,
Could share with you eternity!
Even if I can not sleep a wink...
I wanna be the one,
You wake from sleep to.
Even if that leaves me feeling weak...
I'd rather stay that way,
To show my heart is true.
I oh I...
Gotta be the one you need.
And I oh I...
Gotta be the one you see,
Could share with you eternity!
Oh I,
Know why...
Only you do this to me.
And I oh I...
Wanna share with you my destiny,
Forever eternally.
Oh I oh I...
Gotta be the one you need.
And I oh I...
Gotta be the one you see,
Could share with you eternity!
No 'maybe' it's gonna be!
Even if I have to sweep the streets...
I wanna be the one,
To do that for you.
Even if I don't appear that neat...
I wanna be the one,
You rush to speak to.
Oh I oh I...
Gotta be the one you need.
And I oh I...
Gotta be the one you see,
Could share with you eternity!
Forever just you and me!
In a world we make,
For us complete.
Even If I have to stay...
Awake!
Each day.
Whatever it takes I'm willing to go,
That way.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Minister for Exams
When I was a child I sat an exam.
This test was so simple
There was no way i could fail.
Q1. Describe the taste of the Moon.
It tastes like Creation I wrote,
it has the flavour of starlight.
Q2. What colour is Love?
Love is the colour of the water a man
lost in the desert finds, I wrote.
Q3. Why do snowflakes melt?
I wrote, they melt because they fall
on to the warm tongue of God.
There were other questions.
They were as simple.
I described the grief of Adam
when he was expelled from Eden.
I wrote down the exact weight of
an elephant's dream
Yet today, many years later,
For my living I sweep the streets
or clean out the toilets of the fat
hotels.
Why? Because constantly I failed
my exams.
Why? Well, let me set a test.
Q1. How large is a child's
imagination?
Q2. How shallow is the soul of the
Minister for exams?
poem by Brian Patten
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it.
quote by Andrew Denton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Where The Streets Have No Name/cant Take My Eyes Off You
(hewson/evan/mullen/clayton/gaudio/crewe)
-----------------------------------------
(burning down love)
(burning down love)
I want to run, I want to hide
I want to break down the walls that hold me inside
I want to reach out, and touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
Ah-ha-ah
I want to feel the sun on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Ah-ha-ah
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Were still building, then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
Where the streets have no name
Cant take my eyes off of you
I love you, baby, and if its quite alright
I need you, baby, to warm a lonely night
So let me love you, baby
Let me love you
The citys aflood, our love turns to rust
Were beaten and blown by the wind, trampled in dust
Ill show you a place, high on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name
Ah-ha-ah
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Were still building, then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
Its all I can do
Where the streets have no name
I cant take my eyes off of you
(ooh aah)
Love you, baby, let me love you
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Out of sight? What of that?
703
Out of sight? What of that?
See the Bird—reach it!
Curve by Curve—Sweep by Sweep—
Round the Steep Air—
Danger! What is that to Her?
Better 'tis to fail—there—
Than debate—here—
Blue is Blue—the World through—
Amber—Amber—Dew&mda sh;Dew—
Seek—Friend—and see—
Heaven is shy of Earth—that's all—
Bashful Heaven—thy Lovers small—
Hide—too—from thee—
poem by Emily Dickinson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
City Of Music
Music is like a city
The genres are the suburbs
The bands, the streets
The albums, the buildings
And the songs, the apartments
The streets get inspiration from other streets
They duplicate then alter them slightly.
The city is very busy and there are always
People driving through looking and listening
The city is growing every day.
The suburbs larger and larger
And some join together.
The streets longer and longer
And some old and tattered.
The building will always stay the same
But they will always be new.
The city will always keep growing
As the music goes on.
poem by by unknown author
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Power To The Music
Hey people were victimized & circumsized
Crossed the line of no return
The critics say we devestate
Socialites just masturbate
Wont the losers ever learn?
Who said musics dead in the streets?
Dont know what they talk about
They gotta put a bullet in my head
If they want to keep me down
Power to the music in the streets
Mothers tell their sons of cyanide & suicide
They blame it on the devils tongue
Suck me like a parasite, military 3rd reich
You book-burning bastards wasting blood
Who said musics dead in the streets?
Dont know what they talk about
I want my music waking up the dead
Dont tell me to turn it down
Power to the music in the streets
song performed by by Motley Crue
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Art Encompassed
Michelangelo carved poetry
into purest marble
painted it across ceiling
of adorned Sistine Chapel.
Leonardo Da Vinci
cunningly imprisoned it
within magnetic eyes
of portrait Mona Lisa.
Vincent Van Gogh ground pigment
mixed fresco artistic paint
then splashed poetry upon heaven’s
eternal Starry Starry Night.
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Am Not Your Broom
Now broom, you must now sweep for me
The dust it fills my room
No, john, I will not sweep for you
For I am not your broom
What nonsense are you speaking, broom
My words you must obey
Another life awaits me and
Im leaving you today
I am not your broom
I am not your broom
Ive had enough, Im throwing off
My chains of servitude
I am not your broom
I am not your broom
No longer must I sweep for you
For I am not your broom
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
When the bright angel dominates, out comes a great work of art, a Michelangelo David or a Beethoven symphony.
quote by Madeleine L'Engle
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Ball Of Fire
Our Sun beats down, its rays so strong,
It heats this earth, where we belong,
Ripening to gold the waving corn,
Rising up high to start the morn.
Its sunshine pleasures all it greets,
And brightens so, our darkest streets.
With warmth it transforms a frosty day,
And bright beams sweep the gloom away.
Oh, ball of fire, shine radiant for me,
And all your famed glory, let me see.
poem by Ernestine Northover
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Takin' It To The Streets
(Michael McDonald)
You don't know me but I'm your brother
I was raised here in this living hell
You don't know my kind in your world
Fairly soon the time will tell
You, telling me the things you're gonna do for me
I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see
Takin' it to the streets
Takin' it to the streets
Takin' it to the streets
Takin' it to the streets
Take this message to my brother
You will find him everywhere
Wherever people live together
Tied in poverty's despair
You, telling me the things you're gonna do for me
I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see
Takin' it to the streets
Takin' it to the streets
Takin' it to the streets
Takin' it to the streets
song performed by by Michael Mcdonald
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Streets Of Little Italy
(robbie seidman)
Producer for bonnie: desmond child
The narrow and the winding ways
The streets of old new york
The families, the street life, the spark
The rooftop where we watched
San gennaros festival
Masquerades in the dark...
On the streets down in little italy
Where the past goes on and on forever
And I feel it ever present
In every step I take alone
On the streets down in little italy
The oceans and the years
That separate our lives
From these streets we once called our home
Those distances of space and time
How strong they are
And how weak they are...
On the streets down in little italy
Where the past goes on and on forever
And I feel it ever present
In every step I take alone
On the streets down in little italy
Does the morning sunlight
Still hit the bed where we used to lie
Do the sidewalk stands and markets still overflow
Where I lingered till I was empty
Where I stayed till I had to go
Though in the night
Sometimes I see you disappear
Down cobblestones...
On the streets down in little italy
Where the past goes on and on forever
And I feel it ever present
In every step I take alone
Like your presence in my bones
On the streets down in little italy
song performed by by Bonnie Tyler
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!