An aphorism ought to be entirely isolated from the surrounding world like a little work of art and complete in itself like a hedgehog.
quote by Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hedgehog
The snail moves like a
Hovercraft, held up by a
Rubber cushion of itself,
Sharing its secret
With the hedgehog. The hedgehog
Shares its secret with no one.
We say, Hedgehog, come out
Of yourself and we will love you.
We mean no harm. We want
Only to listen to what
You have to say. We want
Your answers to our questions.
The hedgehog gives nothing
Away, keeping itself to itself.
We wonder what a hedgehog
Has to hide, why it so distrusts.
We forget the god
under this crown of thorns.
We forget that never again
will a god trust in the world.
from 'Poems 1968-1998'
poem by Paul Muldoon
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The Hungry Hedgehog
By the time I returned back to our estate,
The sky was dark, and it was getting late.
I came into a large, moonlit square,
And a hungry hedgehog, I saw there.
At seeing the hedgehog, I felt such a thrill;
I stopped in my tracks, and stood stock still.
Seeing him there was quite a surprise;
For a few moments, we interlocked eyes.
He looked, as if to say ‘Why are you looking at me?
What's the big deal? There's nothing to see!
I've been a hedgehog since I was born:
For me, being a hedgehog is quite the norm! '
‘You are the one, who looks rather weird,
And you are the one, who should be feared.
I don't see your kind often: you are quite rare.
So please could you not just stand and stare? '
‘Right, well, if we're done here, then I'll be off:
I'm hungry, and am hunting for insects to scoff.'
By my intrusion, the hedgehog seemed annoyed;
Encounters with humans, they try hard to avoid.
He was otherwise engaged: he could not stay,
He soon turned tail, and then scampered away.
Seeing a hedgehog in these parts, is a rare sight:
So now, forever in my mind, I will recall that night.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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The Hedgehog and the Fox
At dusk a fox walked down the street
searching for any scraps to eat.
Across gardens and down folks’ drives,
oblivious to many peoples lives.
An adult hedgehog scurrying by
caught the watchful fox’s eye.
Being a fox it instinctively thought,
this meal was as good as caught.
It stopped and sniffed it from head to foot,
and couldn’t believe its stroke of luck.
However, a time for friendship this was not,
the wise hedgehog had sussed the plot.
Waiting on ceremony was not its style at all,
the hedgehog rolled into a ball.
A predicament not met by the fox before,
which made the creature a mite unsure.
A tentative touch here, a gentle touch there,
but this wasn’t getting it anywhere.
It touched it again then licked its paw,
this was an enigma, that’s for sure.
Taking two paces back there it sat,
wondering how to unroll it flat.
It suddenly got up and peed on the ball,
but the hedgehog never flinched at all.
From four paces away the fox sat and observed,
waiting for the hedgehog to lose its nerve.
It peed on it once more, and again sat down,
and waited for it to become unwound.
It waited and waited, and became distracted,
then like a spring the hedgehog reacted,
through the grass and over a high fence,
leaving the fox bemused by its sudden absence.
poem by Orlando Belo
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Nostalgia
Surrounding mountains are like virgins.
Sun is far away.
The birds are flying to their nests
when the Sun goes down.
All the ships cast off to their own destinations
and the Harbour is quiet as a widow.
A seagull rests on an isolated crane
and waiting for a fishing boat to come.
Evening star peeps
Moon is far away
I finished my work and returned to my billet
thinking of my loved ones.
Where are they now?
They too very far away.
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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The way you want to respond is to ask a question: Is this technology directly relevant to our hedgehog concept? If the answer is YES, then we want to become pioneers, not in the technology, but in the application of that technology specifically linked to our hedgehog concept.
quote by James Collins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Alankar (Decor) -28
Villains(Rondel)
Lot lots are villains surrounding
Like dust that helps mites to build mounds
Get housed snakes but there in mites'mounds
Dust and snakes no doubt surrounding
But they are rare seen surrounding
Not in huge swarms like mosquitoes
Lot lots are villains surrounding
'Bite and suck' their manifestoes
These are just few picks surrounding
Lot more in the guise of servants
Be it loam or home, those servants
Cheat, beat, loot to grab anything
Lot lots are villains surrounding
poem by Indira Renganathan
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Time Stealing Employment Responsibilities
in this modern age as in past ages
receding back into incredibly ancient times
work has entailed journeys departures separations
lovers wives children may miss
departing work bound fathers in modern ages
departing mothers work bound share similar responsibilities
when loved ones are busy employment gone
when loved ones have to complete work requirements
when work requirements face hairline deadlines
employment will demand its pound of flesh
so complete responsibilities efficiently professionally
this is your work complete it to best abilities wisely
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Isolated, not just glassed in, but apart
You ever just feel like you're in another world, because you're not like them
ever feel set apart, not sanctified, because it's like you're they condemn
you, not even for being a Christian, but just because you don't fit in
not because of lack of sin
or the 'not of the world' idea, i feel that, but what happens when you
don't fit in with your own people, when your meaningless interests conflict
even contradict
their own, when they look at like some alien and assume that they too
believe, but there seems to be this wall
that stops us from being friends, because im so different,
who are my people, when i don't even belong with those who are
'not of the world' they feel so far
away from me i can't help but feel isolated sometimes
as i write these rhymes
i also must wonder of them really know the real me
they can agree
with me
on what is important, but i must say i feel isolated
not just glassed in, but
apart...
poem by David Knox
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Love And Be Loved
The Princess was given a gift;
she would love and be loved
her whole life long, when the
evil fairy came with her curse
to the christening, saying the
Princess would be turned out
of her kingdom; she could not
take away the gift of love
Though the curse was fulfilled,
the Princess lost her kingdom,
love went with her in the form
of a Prince turned into a Hedge-
hog who loved the Princess
more than life; the Princess
grew to love the Hedgehog
also and her kiss revealed
Her love to him, turned him back
into a Prince; all the evil fairy had
done was to make sure that the
Princess had an adventurous life,
married her true love who had laid
down his life to save hers when he
became a Hedgehog to serve…
E Nesbit - The Princess and the Hedgehog -
Abelard-Schumann 1974
poem by Margaret Alice
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A good artist should be isolated. If he isn't isolated, something is wrong.
quote by Orson Welles
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Isolated
There are days when you feel,
you’re on a beach on a deserted island
with no one to talk to,
no one answers your telephone calls,
just an answering machine at the other end,
and don’t you just hate talking to machines,
no individuality and no spirit there.
On the internet, someone is available,
but no one replies to you
and suddenly you get that feeling
you’ve been deserted by everyone.
Your emails are never answered
and you wonder what you’ve said.
No one wants to chat to you
for some reason or another.
You get to feel that you’re isolated
within your own little sphere
and really, there is no one out there.
Finally, you work yourself up
to thinking no one really cares
and you are just isolated
on a deserted island of your own
in the middle of nowhere.
You then begin to pray someone
will answer one of your calls
and drive the desolation away.
21 February 2011
poem by David Harris
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Please let me out
Let me out of here
Out of this hell called life.
From the life of mine.
That never was.
It's a prison full of shame
And worthlessness
I'm trapped
I'm isolated
I'm alone
There's nothing left inside of me
But the terrifying emptiness
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Where am I going?
What's left for me to continue
In this painful world
Where am I going?
Is it meant to be this way
There is no love
There is no happiness
There is no compassion
Nor understanding
This is a cruel world -
I'm isolated
Trapped in hopelessness.
Lost in confusion
Helpless, worthless, useless
Let me out of this hell
Bound by the chains
Of rejection
Of shame
Of hurt
Of anger....
Left with nowhere to run
....or hide....
Amy Kerswell
poem by Amy Louise Kerswell
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Four Letter 'Work' Song
Work me up, work me out, work me flip side down.
Work me here, work me there, work me with renown.
Work me hot, work me greedy,
work me through and through.
Work me to the very marrow,
work me just like I'd work you.
Work me proud, work me late,
work me do not hesitate.
Won't you let me work for you?
Work me til I'm black and blue.
Work me steady, work me needy, work me to a lather.
Work me til my backbone breaks, and the buzzards gather.
Work me in, work me under, work me til I bleed,
Work me over red hot coals, work me like a boss in need.
Work me nasty, work me silly, work me through the clover.
Up down, 'n' in between, into a slipknot sweet Jehovah.
Work me, work me, go ahead.
Work me, work me, til I'm dead.
Buddy Bee Anthony
poem by Buddy Bee Anthony
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The girl in class
I’ve seen her
She sat next to me in class
She never talked
Her head was always down
Isolated
That’s the word
Isolated
Not willing to open up
She wasn’t at school today
Or the next
The speaker turns on
The announcements are read
One special announcement
At the end
Of a funeral
For a student
Who was afraid
poem by Cheyenne Joyner
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We, the most powerful democracy in the world, have developed a strong norm against talking about politics. It's fine to talk about politics with people you agree with. But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with. Political discourse becomes isolated, and isolated discourse becomes more extreme. We say what our friends want to hear, and hear very little beyond what our friends say.
quote by Lawrence Lessig
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The inspiration of a divine aphorism is often the inferno.
aphorism by Hasier Agirre, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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The fox has many tricks. The hedgehog has but one. But that is the best of all.
A Hectic Day
Work is inevitable
Work is accumulative
Work is strenuous
Work is living
A good work represents a good life
A well lived life is a balance
A balance between work & play
Is a life worth living!
Thus it begins my enthusiasm
For compilation of workloads
To be effective & efficient
To complete it I shall stop
Writing this poem!
poem by Jeline Loh
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Here today&Gone tomorrow
As i look at my surrounding's,
I realized i could be here today and gone tomorrow,
My mom's said to live my life and enjoy it,
Because i could be here today and gone tomorrow,
I always thought that life was a fairytale & i would always be a princess,
But i didn't realize i could be here today & gone tomorrow,
People always say the world would end in 2012,
But the world could be here today & gone tomorrow,
As i continued to walk down the streets & look at my surrounding's,
I realized that i'm no longer on earth,
I realized this pathway instantly when the gates appeared,
I realized that i was there yesterday but gone today,
No more suffering
No more pain
I'm gone today
poem by Nalaysia Cannonier
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The Thought I Cannot Complete
The thought I cannot complete,
This is the thought I cannot complete,
The thought of the life I lead,
The thought of the wonderful world I live in.
Thinking am I worth living in this precious world which we destroy for our survival,
Are we born to rule on this earth or are we born to serve on this earth.
Are we born to control the nature we cannot conserve, is this really the free world they claim to be, are we yet understanding the meaning of life.
This is the thought I cannot complete,
They say the brain is intellectual yet others believe money is power and so we claim to live in the free world we cannot afford.
I used to think religion is an individual belief though now I got caught in the world where i'm forced to believe even the fabricate religion yet I stand none credulous.
Does resurrection exist nor heaven and hell we told we will reach according to our good and evil deeds, or will I perish so the young soul shall be born,
This are the thoughts I cannot complete.
poem by Sefofane Shabalala
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