As the builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser.
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The Builders Of The City
You never will find their names on a memorial wall
And any memories of them historians never do recall
The builders of the City who lay with the unsung
Many of them came from distant shores and spoke in a foreign tongue
They more than earned every penny that they were ever paid
The builders of the City yet little of their achievements made
Devoted to the family and devoted to the wife
They worked hard so their children could enjoy a better life,
The builders of the City so much to them we owe
Though nothing written about them and of them little we do know
They built the housing estates, City buildings and City Mall
Though nothing of their life achievements is ever made at all
They lay the rail tracks to the City and made the Roadways through the Countryside
Yet in the builders of the City we never do take pride.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The old man and his stone
an old man
seated alone
on his stone bench
invited me
almost invisible
gesticulating with his hand
sit down beside me
we did not say a word
together we just heard
nothing but our silence
he invited me
to take a look in his garden
he took me by my hand
guiding me
through the open gate
he gave me a grand tour
in his Japanese paradise
and wanted to know
if I would be able
to show him
that spot
he was searching for
all his life
so he could also see
all the larger stones
at once
I'll wait
and watch you
I stood
I sat down
I climbed a tree
while being up there
I could see
a smile on his face
expressing understanding grace
I walked around
accompanied
by the sound
of crackling shelves
I can count endlessly
maybe even further
In that serene garden
I could not find the spot
that place where I could see
all his stones
although I learned
during that search
there were fifteen different larger stones
that unknown space
where I see and count
the old man's 15th stone
there I was on my own
still searching
it was late
at last I returned
sat down beside the old man
on the other stone bench
he offered me his silence
and told me with his eyes
that a man or a woman
is wise
when admitting
accepting
a simple fact
you can see
you can count
all the stones
not at once
not on your own
©Ellie Daphne van Stralen 2012
poem by Ellie Daphne van Stralen
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Battling The Builders
I have to admit that the Great Crested Newt
Is not that good looking and isn't too cute.
But when plans were unveiled for hundreds of homes
To be built on land where the said newts roamed,
Many local residents protested ‘This isn't right! '
And, against the builders, they began a long fight.
The newts lived in a meadow, next to a big pond:
To relocate them all, would have been so wrong.
Pound signs were what the builders were seeing,
But the Planning Committee considered the newts' well-being;
Of destroying the newts' habitat, they weren't big fans,
And so they rejected the building firm's plans.
The Great Crested Newts may be fairly small,
But they battled the builders, who towered so tall.
The newts and local residents won the day,
And they sent the team of builders on their way.
Now the threat of relocation is over and gone,
With their lives, the Great Crested Newts can carry on.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Go Let It Out
Paint no illusion, try to click with whatcha got
Taste every potion cos if yer like yerself a lot
Go let it out, go let it in, go let it out
Life is precocious in a most perculiar way
Sister psychosis dont got a lot to say
She go let it out, she go let it in, she go let it out
She go let it out, she go let it in, she go let it out
Is it any wonder why princes & kings
Are clowns that caper in their sawdust rings
And ordinary people that are like you and me
Were the keepers of their destiny
Im goin leaving this city, Im goin drivin outta town
Your comin with me the right time is always now
To go let it out, go let it in, go let it out
To go let it out, go let it in, go let it out
Is it any wonder why princes and kings
Are clowns that caper in their sawdust rings
Cos ordinary people that are like you and me
Were the builders of their destiny
Were the builders of their destiny
Were the builders of their destiny
Were the builders of their destiny
So go let it out - go let it in
Go let it out - dont let it in
Go let it out - go let it in
Go let it out - dont let it - dont let it in
song performed by by Oasis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A security cam is one small part of a much larger universe of cams. The much larger effect, socially, politically and economically, is going to come from a much larger trend.
quote by Bruce Sterling
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I did tests on small stones before collecting and committing myself to the larger ones.
quote by Andy Goldsworthy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Lesser Lights Of Heaven
The lesser lights of heaven are burning towards a dream
The eyes of mothers bleeding
Cast their children to the sea
The lesser lights of heaven are screaming in our mind
Listen to the chorus
So divine and unkind
The lesser lights of heaven are burning for their Son
Praying for the presence
That birthed them into one
The lesser lights of heaven, their bodies but a flame
A sky that knows no distance
A cut that feels no pain
The lesser lights of heaven are bending towards your will
Cutting through the person
Who would rather die than kill
The lesser lights of heaven cast crowns before your throne
Dissipate into nothing
We truly are alone
The lesser lights of heaven are burning for their Son
Praying for the presence
That birthed them into one
The lesser lights of heaven, their bodies but a flame
A sky that knows no distance
A cut that feels no pain
Can we live through this?
Can we live through this?
Can we live through this?
Can we live through this?
The lesser lights of heaven are burning towards a dream
song performed by by Zao
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Temporary Poem Of My Time
Hebrew writing and Arabic writing go from east to west,
Latin writing, from west to east.
Languages are like cats:
You must not stroke their hair the wrong way.
The clouds come from the sea, the hot wind from the desert,
The trees bend in the wind,
And stones fly from all four winds,
Into all four winds. They throw stones,
Throw this land, one at the other,
But the land always falls back to the land.
They throw the land, want to get rid of it.
Its stones, its soil, but you can't get rid of it.
They throw stones, throw stones at me
In 1936, 1938, 1948, 1988,
Semites throw at Semites and anti-Semites at anti-Semites,
Evil men throw and just men throw,
Sinners throw and tempters throw,
Geologists throw and theologists throw,
Archaelogists throw and archhooligans throw,
Kidneys throw stones and gall bladders throw,
Head stones and forehead stones and the heart of a stone,
Stones shaped like a screaming mouth
And stones fitting your eyes
Like a pair of glasses,
The past throws stones at the future,
And all of them fall on the present.
Weeping stones and laughing gravel stones,
Even God in the Bible threw stones,
Even the Urim and Tumim were thrown
And got stuck in the beastplate of justice,
And Herod threw stones and what came out was a Temple.
Oh, the poem of stone sadness
Oh, the poem thrown on the stones
Oh, the poem of thrown stones.
Is there in this land
A stone that was never thrown
And never built and never overturned
And never uncovered and never discovered
And never screamed from a wall and never discarded by the builders
And never closed on top of a grave and never lay under lovers
And never turned into a cornerstone?
Please do not throw any more stones,
You are moving the land,
The holy, whole, open land,
You are moving it to the sea
And the sea doesn't want it
The sea says, not in me.
Please throw little stones,
Throw snail fossils, throw gravel,
Justice or injustice from the quarries of Migdal Tsedek,
Throw soft stones, throw sweet clods,
Throw limestone, throw clay,
Throw sand of the seashore,
Throw dust of the desert, throw rust,
Throw soil, throw wind,
Throw air, throw nothing
Until your hands are weary
And the war is weary
And even peace will be weary and will be.
Translated from the Hebrew by Barbara and Benjamin Harshav
poem by Yehuda Amichai
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Larger Than Life
If you want to make believe
Theres nothing up my sleeve
Im a man as man can be
As you can plainly see
Dont want to see no tears
Eliminate your fears
When you think youve seen it all, baby
You cant believe your eyes, what you heard werent lies
My love is too much to hold, too much to hold
Much to much
Im someone you cant fight
Im plain in size
You cant believe your eyes
What you heard were not lies
Im too much to hold
I cant be bought or sold
Im far more than a man
Im gonna make you understand
Im larger than a life size man
And you cant believe your eyes, what you heard werent lies
My love is too much to hold, too much to hold
My love is larger than life, ooh larger than life
My love is larger than life, larger than life
My love is too much to hold, it cant be sold, oh no
You cant believe your eyes, what you heard werent lies
My love is too much to hold, too much to hold
My love is larger than life, larger than life
My love is larger than life, larger than life
My love is too much to hold, it cant be sold, oh no
Im larger than a life size man
My love is larger than life, larger than life
My love is larger than life, ooh larger than life
My love is too much to hold, it cant be sold, oh no
song performed by by Kiss
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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With A Lesser Chance To Be Evil
Giving 'in' wasn't enough.
I had to give up and walk away,
From all that 'stuff'.
All that teasing 'bling',
I just had to touch...
With a belief I needed,
To sit on a throne as if I were king.
Giving 'in' wasn't enough.
Giving foolishness up I thought would be tough.
But...
When I did my heart felt free.
Renewed I then became everything...
I was meant all along to be.
With less chance to feel evil.
Or romanced wishes I had turf that would never be taxed.
So glad I gave up thoughts like that!
Oh,
Those delusions I did have packed and stacked on my back.
With chips on my shoulder to create my own Central Park.
Paved and tree lined with unforgiveable misery.
I removed a greed from me.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I felt victory released to free.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
Darkness chased away from my side.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
Not within me will it reside.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I rid myself of fantasies.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I learned to take deep breaths to breathe.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
Giving 'in' wasn't enough.
I had to give up and walk away,
From all that 'stuff'.
All that teasing 'bling'.
Blinging me too much.
I rid myself of fantasies.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I learned to take deep breaths to breathe.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I learned to take deep breaths to breathe.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I learned to take deep breaths to breathe.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
I learned to take deep breaths to breathe.
With a lesser chance to be evil.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Air is a Root
The air is a root.
The stones are filled with tenderness. bravo.
bravo. the stones are filled with air.
the stones are watery branches.
on the stones replacing the mouth
grows the skeleton of a leaf. bravo.
A stone voice face to face and foot to foot
with a stone glance.
the stones are tormented like flesh
the stones are clouds for their second
nature dances to them on their third nose.
bravo. bravo.
when the stones scratch themselves, nails grow
on the roots. bravo. bravo.
the stones woke to eat the exact
hour
Stones
Stones
Stones would play inside her head
And where she slept,
They made her bed
And she would ache
For love and get but stones
La la la la la la la la la
Lordy, child
A good days comin
And Ill be there to let the sun in
And bein lost
Is worth the comin home
La la la la la la la la la on stones
You and me, a time for planting
You and me, a harvest granting
The every prayer ever prayed
For just two wild flowers that grow
La la la la la la la la la on stones
Mmmmmmmm.....
song performed by by Neil Diamond
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I soon realised that what had happened on a small scale cannot necessarily be repeated on a larger scale. The stones were so big that the amount of heat required was prohibitively expensive and wasteful.
quote by Andy Goldsworthy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Solitude
So many stones have been thrown at me,
That I'm not frightened of them anymore,
And the pit has become a solid tower,
Tall among tall towers.
I thank the builders,
May care and sadness pass them by.
From here I'll see the sunrise earlier,
Here the sun's last ray rejoices.
And into the windows of my room
The northern breezes often fly.
And from my hand a dove eats grains of wheat...
As for my unfinished page,
The Muse's tawny hand, divinely calm
And delicate, will finish it.
poem by Anna Akhmatova
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Fear Not, Dear Friend, But Freely Live Your Days
FEAR not, dear friend, but freely live your days
Though lesser lives should suffer. Such am I,
A lesser life, that what is his of sky
Gladly would give for you, and what of praise.
Step, without trouble, down the sunlit ways.
We that have touched your raiment, are made whole
From all the selfish cankers of man's soul,
And we would see you happy, dear, or die.
Therefore be brave, and therefore, dear, be free;
Try all things resolutely, till the best,
Out of all lesser betters, you shall find;
And we, who have learned greatness from you, we,
Your lovers, with a still, contented mind,
See you well anchored in some port of rest.
poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
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The land is not in the least bit fertile and yet the cattle herds grow larger and larger. A cow represents capital investment here.
quote by Richard Leakey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Ships that Won't Go Down
We hear a great commotion
'Bout the ship that comes to grief,
That founders in mid-ocean,
Or is driven on a reef;
Because it's cheap and brittle
A score of sinners drown.
But we hear but mighty little
Of the ships that won't go down.
Here's honour to the builders –
The builders of the past;
Here's honour to the builders
That builded ships to last;
Here's honour to the captain,
And honour to the crew;
Here's double-column headlines
To the ships that battle through.
They make a great sensation
About famous men that fail,
That sink a world of chances
In the city morgue or gaol,
Who drink, or blow their brains out,
Because of "Fortune's frown".
But we hear far too little
Of the men who won't go down.
The world is full of trouble,
And the world is full of wrong,
But the heart of man is noble,
And the heart of man is strong!
They say the sea sings dirges,
But I would say to you
That the wild wave's song's a paean
For the men that battle through.
poem by Henry Lawson
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When you work on a text of a lesser quality, as the interpreter or the delivery person, you are obliged to try to fill it out as you see so many people do in lesser work.
quote by Mandy Patinkin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Over the past few years special interests have had a larger and larger say over who gets what in America, and the voices of average citizens are being shut out.
quote by Marty Meehan
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