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The petitioner's problem is to avoid Scylla without being drawn into Charybdis.
quote by Robert Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Odysseus
Seeking to find his home, Odysseus crosses each water;
Through Charybdis so dread; ay, and through Scylla's wild yells,
Through the alarms of the raging sea, the alarms of the land too,--
E'en to the kingdom of hell leads him his wandering course.
And at length, as he sleeps, to Ithaca's coast fate conducts him;
There he awakes, and, with grief, knows not his fatherland now.
poem by Friedrich Schiller
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Odysseus' Fate
Through horrors of land and horrors of sea
Bereft and wandering, Odysseus,
God-fearing wretch, sought Ithaca;
Unfaltering, he plunged into the gloom of Hades;
The roar of fierce Charybdis and underwater Scylla's groans
Shook not his noble soul.
His patience vanquished cruel fate, it seemed,
And to the dregs he'd drunk the bitter cup.
It seemed the heav'ns were done with testing him
And drove him softly, slumbering,
To homeland's longed-for cliffs.
He waked: what then? He did not know his home.
poem by Konstantin Nikolaevich Batiushkov
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A Yellow Light Shines
A yellow light shines
in the dark sky of life,
showing the way to
a wayward stranger.
A yellow light shines
illuminates a sign
and the emergence of a staggering soul
from the entrance of Scylla
but Charybdis
waits inside.
A yellow light changes to red
and then to blue
and slowly Proteus forms
Slowly.....
Life's Jekyll and Hyde sobers up
to the realization
that the light within him
is about to be extinguished
and his hopes dashed by
yet another
gin on the rocks.
poem by Kevin Parkin
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Homunculus
In between Charybdis, Scylla,
homunculus, rude roamer, strays
to fourscore years extending stays
through polyvalent polyfiller.
For poor: chores hand-to-mouth, time, killer,
shows no indulgence, easy prey
they fall from food chain fast, low pay,
high stress, address unknown, downhiller.
Complacency as self-fulfiller
seems insufficient, boredom weighs
on wealth patchworking life through craze,
tastes fragile for societal pillar:
contemptuous attempt half-hearted
one moment here, next tear departed.
(22 September 2009)
poem by Jonathan Robin
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Neurosis is the way of avoiding non-being by avoiding being.
quote by Paul Tillich
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Falls On Me
You see me hanging round
starting to swear about this black hole you've dug for me
and silently within hands touchin skin shock
breaks my disease and i can breath
and all of your weights
all you dream falls on me
it falls on me
and your beautiful sky
the light you breath
falls on me
it falls on me ahha
Your faith like a pain
it draws me in again
she washes all my wounds of me
darkness in my veins
I never could explain
and i wonder if you have ever see
Will you still believe
and all of your weights
and all that you dream
falls on me
it falls on me
and your beautiful sky
the light you breath
falls on me
it falls on me
am I that strong
to carry on
have i changed your life
have i changed my world
could you save me ahhhhha
and all of your weights
all you dream
falls on me
it falls on me
and you beautiful sky
the light you breath
falls on me
it falls on me
and all of your weights
all you dream falls on me
it falls on me
and your beautiful sky
the light you breath
falls on me
it falls on me
ahhhhaha yea ahhhah yea
song performed by by Fuel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When The Rain Falls Down
when the rain falls down it awakes my dream
when the rain falls down it washes me clean
when the rain falls down it screams my scream
when the rain falls down it follows me
when the rain falls down it carrys me
when the rain falls down it unties me
when the rain falls down it talks to me
when the rain falls down im comin clean
when the rain falls down. down on me.
poem by Alyssa Swensen
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Breathing-Time
Peace, perfect peace. . . . Come, lay aside your gun.
The danger zone is past; the gauntlet run.
The bark of Scylla ceases on her shore,
And grim Charybdis threatens us no more.
Respite, Nepenthe, leaning-posts and beer!
Football and horses! Breathing time is here!
O witless fools, who, with your cry, 'To Arms!'
Your warnings venomous, and false alarms,
Sought to estrange us from our yellow friends,
Thus all your potter and your bunkum ends!
We are secure once more; we breathe again.
No further need is there for ships or men.
'The Treaty is renewed!' Hip, Hip, Hooray! . . .
Now let us dream the happy hours away.
One pen-stroke! and our liberty appears
Secure again, for ten long, blissful years.
A diplomat or two, a little ink,
Some paper, and, Hi Presto! in a wink,
The Yellow Peril vanishes from sight,
Like vague dream shadows of a restless night.
Let gentleness and peace overspread the land;
And bid our infant warriors disband.
The War-god broods o'er Europe even yet?
What matter? We've a decade to forget
That e'er we dreamed we heard the grim dogs bark.
What child at noon is fearful of the dark?
The forges of the nations still are lit?
Their anvils ring? What do we reek of it?
With ten long years of peace and joy and light,
We laugh at our vague terrors of the night.
Are truces ever broken? Treaties scorned?
Statesmen corrupted? Diplomats suborned?
Perish the thought! What if, in some far day,
Some foreswom nation flung its bond away?
Shall we, for such as that, forego our joy,
And start at shadows, like a frightened boy?
Shall croaking pessimists, with mild alarms,
Force us, all needlessly, to fly to arms?
Down with the dolts who prate of ships and guns!
Stern Mars shall not enslave Australia's sons.
Come, gag the fools who urge us to defend
Our ports against our harmless yellow friend!
Their words are insults; their aggressiveness
May give him pain, and cause us much distress.
Ab, gaze on him! as he steps forth to sign -
Say, is his smile not peaceful and benign?
Ten years to hoard the gold in shop and mart;
Ten peaceful years to play the trader's part;
To tend the sheep; to watch the green corn sprout
To cheer the race; to gaily clap and shout
At sports of children, played by heedless men.
Ten years of sweet Areadia - and then? . . .
Heed not the voice that thunders the alarm:
'Ten years to play the man! Ten years to arm!'
(O God of Battles, who, thus long, hath spared
A heedless nation, grant we be prepared!
Ten pregnant years! Tens canty years of grace,
To make or mar the fortune of a race.
Grim years of strenuous and unceasing toil,
That all may not become a foeman's spoil -
That it may not be told, some fateful day:
'Ten years they had; ten years they fooled away.')
Peace, perfect peace. . . Ho, let the fun begin,
And split the welkin with a joyous din!
Charybdis grim has ceased to roar and rave,
And Scylla sits demurely in her cave.
Ho! clash the cymbals, and begin the race!
And thank the gods we have a breathing-space.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
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Beat bullying
I'm running faster,
Dodging people, obstacles.
Not daring to look back,
Avoiding their shouts,
Ignoring their crys.
If i keep running,
Avoiding them,
Then they can't catch me
I'll be free.
No more bullying.
I'll be safe, happy, free,
I'm back to being just me.
poem by Josie Hartnett
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Big Storm, The Rain Falls
The rain falls like leaves and snow.
It stutters and mutters
And bounces and flows.
The rain falls like a big black crow,
Flapping and cawing
And thrashing and crashing.
The rain falls like spades of earth
Tossed on the grave of summer mirth.
The rain falls like a magic spell:
Billions of droplets singing their songs.
The rain falls like a lover's kisses,
Wet on the flesh of the trembling earth.
The rain falls like a forest of time,
Shimmering seconds, liquid and cold.
The rain falls like an ancient story,
Trickling on roots, twisted and old.
poem by Norm Milstein
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Everything Falls Into Place
I know what you're thinking
It's all got to go
At times driven along by the meaning
I need colours me to fade
Everything falls into place
Everything falls in to favour
Everything falls into place
And then we all go mad
and throw it away
We all go mad and throw it away
I see what you're doing'
Makes sense after all
my hearts telling me I'm not mistaken
It feels better than I can believe
Everything falls into place
Everything falls into favour
everything falls into place
And then we all go mad and throw it away
We all go mad and throw it away
We all go mad and we throw it away
I said we all go mad and throw it away
song performed by by Sophie Ellis Bextor from Read My Lips
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In The Darkness Of The Night
In the darkness of the night
you sneak over the wooden floor in the passage
while you are careful,
taking careful steps to avoid it creaking
avoiding it telling the other people in the house
about our escapades
and when the door of the room suddenly opens
I see you standing there
in a transparent night-gown
while the rays of the moon
falls silver-white over you
through the window
and to me you become a goddess
that brings unspeakable joy.
poem by Gert Strydom
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When It Falls, It Falls All Over You
Selling papers on the corner,
I saw a man yesterday.
I asked him if hed wanna
Tell me what made him this way.
He said, when its born, its warm,
Then it gathers strength in lies,
When it falls, it falls all over you.
He used to pick his friends.
They left him in the end.
An easy thing to lose,
The right to pick and choose.
When its born, its warm,
Then it gathers strength in lies,
When it falls, it falls all over you.
He said he left his wife,
The back-bone of his life.
Another came along,
But now I guess shes gone.
When its born, its warm,
Then it gathers strength in lies,
When it falls, it falls all over you.
I think I used to see
That old man on tv,
Can you be the same?
It seems like such a shame.
When its born, its warm,
Then it gathers strength in lies,
When it falls, it falls all over you.
The world he thought he knew,
Has better things to do.
As I went on my way
I thought I heard him say:
When its born, its warm,
Then it gathers strength in lies,
When it falls, it falls all over you.
song performed by by Neil Young
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Created To Be Implemented
Inconsistencies,
And those 'fronting'...
With a smothering up,
Of their hypocrisies...
Are all over the place!
Try avoiding them without being affected.
And the ones self righteous,
Declaring themselves 'normal'?
The 'standard' bearers?
Need not go too far from any mirror,
To do an honest self evaluation.
Conflicts, turmoil...
And other problems today that exist?
Have been created to be implemented,
By those refusing...
To zero in on their own flaws and blemishes.
Try avoiding them without being affected.
Or attempt to exit from a baiting into a debate.
To leave unscathed and rated to feel depreciated.
And if one can do this to feel an accomplishment?
A miracle has been witnessed.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Sonnet: On Obedience
If you had been so good that you
Obeyed your parent’s wishes, then,
Be glad you did as Christ did do,
And walked upon road to heaven.
If you had prayed to God from heart,
And did your duty as Christ did,
Don’t you worry when you depart,
For you had done just what God bid.
If you had tried avoiding sin,
But fell victim to tempter’s calls,
God will help you finally win,
As Christ raises you from your falls.
Obey the codes that God had set;
Eternity is what you get!
Fondly dedicated to my niece,
Mrs. Jubilla Richard, on her birthday
Copyright by Dr John Celes 2-8-2010
poem by John Celes
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Name Or Memory
the scar on the doorknob shouts,
everytime i reach for the door.
never asking which way i'm going,
as if i knew the direction home.
the vase falls from the table and shatters,
ants race about, avoiding fire.
the mad generals, refrigerator and stove,
fight to the death over who's feeding who.
the cat in the window stretches,
and the iron gathers dust.
only the pulse of the coffeepot steady,
and the scent of love that stains the walls.
what is life? more than this?
or something less, and forbidden?
i pray to the razor over a sink stained,
that asks not for name or memory!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Dolphin
My Dolphin, you only guide me by surprise,
a captive as Racine, the man of craft,
drawn through his maze of iron composition
by the incomparable wandering voice of Phèdre.
When I was troubled in mind, you made for my body
caught in its hangman's-knot of sinking lines,
the glassy bowing and scraping of my will. . . .
I have sat and listened to too many
words of the collaborating muse,
and plotted perhaps too freely with my life,
not avoiding injury to others,
not avoiding injury to myself--
to ask compassion . . . this book, half fiction,
an eelnet made by man for the eel fighting
my eyes have seen what my hand did.
poem by Robert Lowell
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6 - Conclusion to poverty
6. Final poem of my collection
------------
Summer falls, winter crowds and
spring rises,
there still is no change.
Seasons cannot bring change.
The ignorance of avoiding the
unavoidable does not alter.
Poverty locked, sealed tight by
heartless emotion, exposed by
the hands of greed.
We are the keepers of change.
To open our eyes.
To stop following the scent of money,
to be led by our hearts.
That would arise such change.
Write history with change,
change poverty to history.
poem by Luke Hawkins (2010)
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Avoid Drama
There’s drama in everyone life
Everyone bring around a little baggage with them
The husband and the wife
Probably complaining about someone they don’t really like
It sort of weird you see
There’s so much wrong, and I could be right
Even I have a little drama about me
Baby daddy drama – I hate it all
Parents saying I didn’t do enough with my life
Second older sister took a fall
Oldest sister is now a wife
Youngest sister is not so well
Baby father is no where around
Only time can tell
He’s no where insight to be found
Avoiding drama may come easy for some, and others not
The struggles of life pops up in a while
It isn’t all that
Worries take over- not even a smile
There’s so much drama
I can’t even avoid it all
Baby daddy, ex- girlfriend drama
It’s all I use to think about
Why you have to leave your baby mama?
I find it hard to avoid drama
There are drama queens
The baby daddy and the baby mama
The adults and the ex-girlfriends in there teens
The husband cheating on his wife
He causing problem
And messing up his life
Dramas is all around us
It comes out
And hurt us
Dramas
Avoiding it
Dramas
Running away from it
It will come back in a way
And messes with our head
Avoiding drama, it couldn’t be okay
poem by Margo Reid
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