If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Children on the Beach
Most children love to build
Sand-castles on the beach;
And pretty seriously,
They work for such long hours!
Some also draw and write,
By finger on wet soil;
How well they imagine,
And work like artistes fine!
Yet, they are innocent;
They do not know the sea;
The water-waves that come
Wash off their labored tasks.
They never realize
That sand can’t stand for long,
In sun, rain or sea-waves;
‘The foundation isn’t strong! ’
Some do it just for joy;
Some hearts are broken fast;
Some jump with angry feet
–Their toil gone all awaste!
Adults do similar things,
Although, they are aware;
They build castles in air,
And write upon water!
Are not adults stupid
To work with dangers nigh?
And build such flimsy things
That easily gets destroyed!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 5-10-2008
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Can You Hear It
Drum, drum, tipi tap, tong,
I like that beat as it comes along.
It’s the same beat and the same tune,
we all know it’ll be here soon.
Drum, drum, tipi tap, tong,
fast or slow it’s a catchy song.
I kind of look forward to its day
and it's a shame when it goes away.
Drum, drum, tipi tap, tong,
It's getting closer and it won’t be long.
At last it's coming down our street
with its catchy drumming beat.
Drum, drum, tipi tap, tong,
it's so simple I can’t go wrong.
It's getting louder as it comes near,
the people watching give it a cheer.
Drum, drum, tipi tap, tong,
the beat’s blasting out loud and strong.
The man inside this sweeping machine
sings as he works to keep the streets clean.
Drum, drum, tipi tap, tong,
the sounds are fading as it goes along.
But it's nice to know as he sweeps the curb,
his drum, drum, tipi tap, tong, has the final word.
poem by Orlando Belo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Just Know This Is 'Not' Your Best Effort
My mother used to assign my sisters and I...
The most remedial tasks to complete.
When we were much younger.
To test our mental capabilities.
Oh...
Those lessons my mother would teach.
And then...
Shower us with praises.
Having us believe,
We were gifted with unspeakable talents.
After connecting 'dots'.
Or...
Knowing which end of a handle held,
Was used to sweep or mop.
And as years have passed us by,
It became clear her tactic and strategy.
She knew we would seek more difficult tasks,
To satisfy her to complete.
And even to this day...
I can hear her voice say,
'This is wonderful.'
As her eyes express...
'Even though THIS is wonderful.
I just know this is 'not' your best effort.'
And with a seeking we sought,
Increasing much more difficult challenges.
Never becoming satisfied,
Just to do our best.
There 'has' to be something 'greater' to achieve.
'I just know this is 'not' your best effort?
And if it is...
Well,
I 'guess' it's...okay! '
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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This means that they are bound by law and custom to plough the fields of their masters, harvest the corn, gather it into barns, and thresh and winnow the grain; they must also mow and carry home the hay, cut and collect wood, and perform all manner of tasks of this kind.
quote by Jean Froissart
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bang A Drum
I went to see the preacher
To teach me how to pray
He looked at me and smiled
Then the preacher turned away
He said if you want to tell him something
You ain't gotta fold your hands
Say it with your heart
Your soul and believe it
And I'd say amen
Bang a drum for the sinners
Bang a drum for the sins
Bang a drum for the losers
And those who win
Bang a drum bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
Bang a drum for yourself son
And a drum for me
I called upon my brother just the
Other day
song performed by by Bon Jovi
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We Teach Them Young
We teach them young,
What to dislike.
And...
To separate into divisons,
With preferences selected.
We teach them young,
How to hate and who to fight.
With weapons used to kill.
And incite with mindless deeds.
We...
Teach them this!
We teach them,
With a rehabilitation done...
To respect laws when broken.
With the best of pretentions kept.
We...
Teach them this!
We teach them young,
The art of deception.
Self righteousness and hypocriscy.
And then when they reflect these lessons taught...
We teach them denial to have others believe.
We teach them young with a doing done they do!
And yet we get upset with regrets to protest those tests,
They have passed.
With accusations directed at others to blame,
For implimenting those tasks we teach.
We...
Teach them young!
With a doing of this not to admit.
As we wish for escape from their commitments,
Made.
We...
Teach them young.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Great Titanic
It was on one Monday morning just about one o'clock
When that great Titanic began to reel and rock;
People began to scream and cry,
Saying, 'Lord, am I going to die?'
Chorus
It was sad when that great ship went down,
It was sad when that great ship went down,
Husbands and wives and little children lost their lives,
It was sad when that great ship went down
.
When that ship left England it was making for the shore,
The rich had declared that they would not ride with the poor,
So they put the poor below,
They were the first to go.
While they were building they said what they would do,
We will build a ship that water can't go through;
But God with power in hand
Showed the world that it could not stand.
Those people on that ship were a long ways from home,
With friends all around they did n't know that the time had come;
Death came riding by,
Sixteen hundred had to die.
While Paul was sailing his men around,
God told him that not a man should drown;
If you trust and obey,
I will save you all to-day.
You know it must have been awful with those people on the sea,
They say that they were singing, 'Nearer My God to Thee.'
While some were homeward bound,
Sixteen hundred had to drown.
poem by Anonymous Americas
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sonnet: Be Optimistic
Give me some wood and I will make a boat;
Give me more wood and I will build a ship;
Give me the cloth and I will stitch a coat;
Give me the years and I will make friendship.
Give me just mud and I will build a hut;
Give me cement and multi-storeys rise;
Give me my crosses; I'll keep my mouth shut;
Give me more sufferings, I'll keep of vice.
Give me courage to do away with strife;
Give me a job to earn my livelihood;
Give me the chances to succeed in life;
Give me the love I need in my childhood.
Give me something, I'll do accordingly;
Give me a spouse or I will live singly!
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Next To Collect
You could be the next to collect...
RESPECT.
You could be the next on the list...
To get it and quick.
You could be the next to collect...
RESPECT.
Tomorrow no one knows,
Just what to expect.
You may be next to collect it!
An overwhelming love received.
You may be next to collect,
A joy that never leaves.
You may be next to collect it!
A one of a kind peace...
On your mind.
You may be next to collect it!
An overwhelming love received.
You may be next to collect,
A joy that never leaves.
You may be next to collect it!
A one of a kind peace...
On your mind.
You may be next to collect,
Just accept you are blessed.
You could be the next to collect...
RESPECT.
You could be the next on the list...
To get it and quick.
You may be the next to collect it...
An abundance of happiness.
The next to collect.
The next to collect.
You may be the next to collect it...
An abundance of happiness.
The next to collect.
The next to collect.
You may be the next to collect it!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Build A Fire (lenny Dee Remix)
Pulled up to rest, let the engine cool awhile.
Open the beans, gather wood for the fire.
I hum this tune, to all the girls I've known.
Should I care, about the chances I've blown?
Build a fire, they're gonna build a fire
Build a fire, they're gonna build a fire
They're gonna build a fire
They're gonna build a fire
When daylight breaks, I'll be down that road.
Rockman 'an me, with a lighter load.
We'll stop fo r lunch, in some taco bar.
Lee Marvin on the jukebox, 'Wanderin Star'.
Build a fire, they're gonna build a fire
Build a fire, they're gonna build a fire
song performed by by KLF
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Homeland Africa
Ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi
Ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi
Ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi
Down the ocean a ship comes sailing through the waves
Filled with hundreds of men they take as slaves
Just long for their true homeland africa
And to be saved they want to be free
Men women and babyslaves
Coming to the land of liberty, liberty
Ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi...
They are tired of waiting for a brand new day
Some of them sing and chant some of them pray
And some men got a little tired too
No one knows if the journey pay
Men women and babyslaves
Coming to the land of liberty, liberty
Ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi ship ahoi...
song performed by by Boney M.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sea-Saw (more writing fun)
If I saw a wood boat afloat
Upon the sea,
Would what I see possibly be
The wood I cut from a tree?
For when I saw a tree
I would like to think I see,
What the wood I saw
Could be.
If all I saw in wood from a tree
Was all I saw that there was to see,
Would what I did saw
Be the wood that I now see?
And if the wood I once did saw
Was indeed made into that ship on the sea,
Would it even be possible to know that here what I see
Is the wood once sawed by me?
All I here would dare to share is:
I see what I saw, and I saw what I see,
And therefore the wood I do saw could one day be
The boat I may see, afloat upon the sea.
See?
poem by Smoky Hoss
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Good Carpenters
I mourn a dead friend, like myself, a good carpenter.
-Pablo Neruda about César Vallejo
I looked at the book.
'It will stand,' I thought.
Not a palace
built by a newspaper czar,
nor a mud hovel
that the sea will soften,
but a good house of words
near the sea
with everything plumb.
That is the most I can ask.
I have cut the wood myself
from my own forests,
I have sanded it smooth
with the grain.
I have left knotholes
for the muse to whistle through
-old siren that she is.
At least the roof does not leak.
& the fireplace is small
but it draws.
The wind whips the house
but it stands.
& the waves lick
the pilings
with their tongues
but at least they do not suck me
out to sea.
The sea is wordless
but it tries to talk to us.
We carpenters are also translators.
We build with sounds, with whispers & with wind.
We try to speak the language of the sea.
We want to build to last
yet change forever.
We want to be as endless as the sea.
& yet she mocks us
with her barnacle & rust stains;
she tells us what we build will also fall.
Our words are grains of sand,
our walls are wood,
our windowpanes are sprayed with solemn salt.
We whisper, as we build, 'Forever please,'
-by which we mean at least for thirty years.
poem by Erica Jong
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bang On The Drum All Day
I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don't want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don't want no candy
I don't want no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing 'til I got
Blisters on my hand
Because...
When I get older they think I'm a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with ny hands
But my licks were so hot
I made the teacher want to dance
And that's why...
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
the boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And i pound on that drum like it was the boss's head
Because..
I CAN BANG ON THAT DRUM
HEY, YOU WANT TO TO A BANG AT IT?
i CAN DO THIS ALL DAY
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Build A Fire
Pulled up to rest, let the engine cool awhile.
Open the beans, gather wood for the fire.
I hum this tune, to all the girls Ive known.
Should I care, about the chances Ive blown?
Build a fire, theyre gonna build a fire
Build a fire, theyre gonna build a fire
Theyre gonna build a fire
Theyre gonna build a fire
When daylight breaks, Ill be down that road.
Rockman an me, with a lighter load.
Well stop for lunch, in some taco bar.
Lee marvin on the jukebox, wanderin star.
Build a fire, theyre gonna build a fire
Build a fire, theyre gonna build a fire
song performed by by KLF
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The old welfare system was hurting people by discouraging work and marriage. Welfare reform, and now this legislation, will build on the understanding that work and strong families are the foundation upon which we build our future.
quote by James Talent
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Dean & I
Hum drum days
And a hum drum ways
Hey kids, let me tell you how I met your mom
We were dancin and romancin at the senior prom
It was no infatuation
But a gradual graduation
From a boy to a man
Let me tell you while I can
The soda pop came free
Hey sis, one kiss, and I was heaven bound
Now who would have guessed miltons paradise lost could
Be found
But in the eyes of the dean, his daughter
Was doin what she shouldna oughta
But a mans gotta do
What a mans gotta do
The consequence should be
Church bells, three swells
The dean, his daughter and me
They were dating in the park
They were smooching in the dark
Of a doorway for two
She whispered I love you -
Ooh, you know I never felt this way before
Ooh, you know the elevator in my heart
Has gone awol, awol, awol, awol
And then I kissed her
And when I kissed her
Its a wonderful world
When youre rolling in kisses
Now, the paint is peeling
(hum drum days and hum drum ways)
Now, and when the chips are down
(hum drum days and hum drum ways)
Now, you kinda lose all feeling
(hum drum days and hum drum ways)
Now, your head goes round and round
(hum drum days and hum drum ways)
Round and round and round and round and round
Im throwing myself off this train
Hum drum days
And a hum drum ways
Hum drum days, hes got
Hum drum ways, oh boy
Hey, you know Im really earning now
My ship came in with a cargo of dollars
My names lit up on the prow
Its a wonderful world
When youre rolling in dollars
Now!
song performed by by 10 Cc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bang On The Ukelele Daily
I dont want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I dont want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I dont want no candy
I dont need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing til I got
Blisters on my hand because
When I get older they think Im a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And thats why
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the bosss head
Because
I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bang The Drum All Day
I dont want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I dont want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I dont want no candy
I dont need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing til I got
Blisters on my hand because
When I get older they think Im a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And thats why
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the bosss head
Because
I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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