Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail. In order to convey things accurately, the human being is almost forced to find the most precise words possible, which is a precondition for literature.
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How The Words Are Taking The Man
let me start with one word
another word takes in another
and they begin to talk to one another
i let the third word go
and they will ask another one
to equalize both sides
they will soon invite other words
until they will make a crowd
and the words get so many
now with mouths and no ears
like the drink the words take the man
and after so man y words have been uttered
you begin to regret every word that got in
so many and now you feel so empty.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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i teach my child by G. Abad
I.
I teach my child
To survive.
I begin with our words,
The simple words first
And last.
They are hardest to learn.
Words like home,
Or friend, or to forgive.
These words are relations.
They are difficult to bear;
Their fruits are unseen.
Or words that promise
Or dream.
Words like honor, or certainty,
Or cheer.
Rarest of sound,
Their roots run deep;
These are words that aspire,
They cast no shade.
These are not words
To speak.
These are the words
Of which we consist,
Indefinite,
Without other ground.
II.
My child
Is without syllables
To utter him,
Captive yet to his origin
In silence.
By every word
To rule his space,
He is released;
He is shaped by his speech.
Every act, too,
Is first without words.
There's no rehearsal
To adjust your deed
From direction of its words.
The words are given,
But there's no script.
Their play is hidden,
We are their stage.
These are the words
That offer to our care
Both sky and earth,
These same words
That may elude our acts.
If we speak them
But cannot meet their sound,
They strand us still
In our void,
Blank like the child
With the uphill silence
Of his words' climb.
And so,
I teach my child
To survive.
I begin with our words,
The simple words first
And last.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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238
i teach my child by G. Abad
I.
I teach my child
To survive.
I begin with our words,
The simple words first
And last.
They are hardest to learn.
Words like home,
Or friend, or to forgive.
These words are relations.
They are difficult to bear;
Their fruits are unseen.
Or words that promise
Or dream.
Words like honor, or certainty,
Or cheer.
Rarest of sound,
Their roots run deep;
These are words that aspire,
They cast no shade.
These are not words
To speak.
These are the words
Of which we consist,
Indefinite,
Without other ground.
II.
My child
Is without syllables
To utter him,
Captive yet to his origin
In silence.
By every word
To rule his space,
He is released;
He is shaped by his speech.
Every act, too,
Is first without words.
There's no rehearsal
To adjust your deed
From direction of its words.
The words are given,
But there's no script.
Their play is hidden,
We are their stage.
These are the words
That offer to our care
Both sky and earth,
These same words
That may elude our acts.
If we speak them
But cannot meet their sound,
They strand us still
In our void,
Blank like the child
With the uphill silence
Of his words' climb.
And so,
I teach my child
To survive.
I begin with our words,
The simple words first
And last.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Words between words
Words between words
~
I try and say most things subtle
To slip words between words
In the hope you will read and hear
Sometimes I speak with blunt honesty
Sometimes wish I just didn’t speak
Sketching in secret characters
Telling stories built on fantasy
When a subtle look reveals
The obvious biography
Those words between words
What I write, what I speak
I understand words more than people
Words always seem easy
We all have things we wish to say
Some are said, others kept
All that is written then spoken
Are words between words
poem by Matthew Holloway
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That Spot....
this is a blank slate.
when i write some words on it
and you begin to read each
something really happens
though you do not know it
because you are too busy with
the reading of the word
either a part of me dies or lives
it depends on where you stop
and when
tomorrow i shall write again
you must learn where you stopped and
when.
it is that precise moment
that you make me begin to write again.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Crack The Code
I want the words
something you havent heard
will I find them and
will I have what it takes to say them
in the world beside
this one there are no lies and
no suspicion
only dreams without end
You gotta feel what I mean
Look into my eyes and know
Im trying to come clean
But I stumble every time
And then the words they escape
fail to take shape
Its all in the code now (come again)
Feel what I mean
Look into my eyes and know
Im trying to come clean
But I stumble every time
And then the words they escape
fail to take shape
Its all in the code now
Will you let me retract let me take it back
Sometimes my words lack and my mind flies off the track
What Im trying to convey is miles from what I say
And you slip away
In life there are times
when nothing will rhyme
there are days I slip
when I know I should climb
breakin the vows I swore Id never break
a harsh word a white lie easy to mistake
where have you been
havent you noticed
theres no map that exists
to point us out of this
my heart was the target
it found your arrow
baby you know I want to be
your straight and narrow
I been trying to transmit a feeling
I been hoping you receive what Im revealing
See the main thing is hang with me and relate
As we communicate watch out
Fenced in like a dog between houses
Balled up by the trouble my mouth gets
Wrapped up in the things that I dont know
dont you know
Hoping that you crack the code oh
The first to crack the code
(You may not think Im ready to have your love again) oh oh
(You may not think Im ready)
You are the first to crack my code
I want the words
something you havent heard
will I find them and
will I have what it takes to say them
You gotta gotta feel what I mean
Look into my eyes and know
Im trying to come clean
But I stumble every time
And then the words they escape
fail to take shape
Its all in the code now
Didnt I know Im wrong wrong wrong when you knew
You didnt have to give me so long long long to see through
Not predictable what I will do but you know
Cause you cracked the code
Your body is a country
that you know Ill return to
craving like a family heirloom
that I am into
no baby how could I follow
everything you do
just remember when we touch
I feel so renewed
The first to understand me that would be you
It cant work if we cant be open and true
The best thing to happen to me let it be told
That would be the moment that you cracked my code oh oh
The first to crack the code
(You may not think Im ready to have your love again) oh oh
(You may not think Im ready)
You are the first to crack my code
song performed by by 311
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lost For Words
If I can't find the words...
Waiting for this feeling
That I'm drowning in to subside
You make me swim like a beginner
Like I'm new at life
All these words don't come easy
No they always seem to stop
There is awkward silence yeah
Anytime we talk
Oh but I wanna let it in
I wanna ease all your doubts
I keep trying to get it out
But if I can't find the words
To tell you what I'm feeling
Baby that don't mean
It don't mean that I don't feel it
I'm trying to tell you girl
But if you don't believe just look and see
My face says what you mean to me
When I can't find the words
I know I can send you flowers
To try to make my feelings clear
And girl I could hold you tight for hours
I wanna tell you what you're trying to hear
Oh and I wanna let it in
I wanna ease all your doubts
I keep trying to get it out
But if I can't find the words
To tell you what I'm feeling
Baby that don't mean
It don't mean that I don't feel it
I'm trying to tell you girl
But if you don't believe just look and see
My face says what you mean to me
When I can't find the words
But I know sometimes I leave you so upset
Cos I got all these bits and pieces in my head
I know because I let you struggle with the things I haven't said
When I can't find the words
When I can't find the words
When I, when I, when I can't find the words
I wanna ease all your doubts (ease all your doubts)
I keep trying to get it out
But if I can't find the words
To tell you what I'm feeling
But baby that don't mean
It don't mean that I don't feel it
I'm trying to tell you girl
But if you don't believe just look and see
My smile says what you mean to me
When I can't find the words
If I can't find the words
song performed by by Ronan Keating
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dear One
Dear one, how do I find the words,
the words I need to say?
Do they even exist my love?
For words can never convey
my feelings
my emotions,
my love for you
not on any day.
Dear one,
What good are words
that only drift away?
Words that I need to stay,
uttered sounds are here a while.
I speak and then I smile
hoping that in some small way
you'll know on every day
You are my dear one.
poem by Edwina Reizer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Over time, I have come to see the work of literature less as narrating the world than 'seeing the world with words'. From the moment he begins to use words like colors in a painting, a writer can begin to see how wondrous and surprising the world is, and he breaks the bones of language to find his own voice. For this he needs paper, a pen, and the optimism of a child looking at the world for the first time.
Orhan Pamuk in Other Colors: Essays and a Story
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Words
Words on this paper
Words in my head
Words while I'm texting
Computing
Unsaid
Words between people
Words on the phone
Words upon words
Even when I'm alone
Words from the Bible
I question
Don't mesh
Words from pornography
Making them flesh
Words with flat letters
Written in black
Good words and bad words
You cannot take back
Words that are shallow
Words that are deep
When they're too many
They put me to sleep
Words that I'm writing
And rhyming you read
Whatever I'm saying
There's prolly no need
Words from the alphabet
Words that can't be
When you are blind
And it's Braile that you see
Words that are worthless
And said on the fly
My words or your words
Are most likely lies
Words in a sentence
Wise words or fair
The only words earnest
Are those said in prayer
Written by Sara Fielder © 2011
poem by Sara Fielder
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Lip Service
Words inspire and words destroy
Words conspire and words annoy
Words spread freedom and words detain
Words believe them in sound refrain
Words of passion in words misleading
Words without action are words without meaning
poem by P.R. Prosper
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A dear to all
It doesn’t respond to pathy
We fail to show the sympathy
The words seem to be hollow
We fail to grasp or follow
I have still faith in destiny
It maybe realized by many
We need not to have so many
This can be performed by any
We are human
No matter who is man or woman
It is equal rewponsibility and mission
Let us have no more confusion
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
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Written words
Written words
~
Where the written words
Depict the heart itself
How can it fail to touch the soul
The beauty of language
In the expression of thought
Is the unbound creation
Within us all
It is know as humane beauty
The life breath
A belief in a dream
Immortal and thought filled
Alive upon the page
There the written word exists
Reflecting the world
Depicting the heart itself
How can it fail to touch
A human soul
poem by Matthew Holloway
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I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I don't mean only that I have to know what happens. I mean that I have to hear the actual sentences. I have to know what atmosphere the words convey.
quote by John Irving
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Do not tell me about your love [2]
Do not tell me about your love,
when I cannot phone you when I want to,
when you put the things between us in words
or loneliness will only cut deeper into me
and I wonder where your joys lie
(let the end of our love never begin)
and every time that you do not phone
my heart feels stripped and cold.
Do not tell me about your love,
as sometimes I wonder if you are only pretending
that you want to share your time with me
and I wonder where your joys lie
why your peculiar behaviour do not bother you,
you rub me like emery
when you put the things between us in words.
Let me keep on pretending
as I know there’s love in your heart
that you want to share your time with me
before I cancel that which is between us forever
or my heart, my voice will go silent.
Do not tell me about your love,
as for me there may only be heartache
when you come out with the real truth
as I know there’s love in your heart
and when at times I want to hesitate
I may realize that I am just wasting my time
when you put the things between us in words,
I may be astonished
and if you really love me,
when you come out with the real truth
it may bless or wreck everything
and for your attention I will never beg.
Do not tell me about your love,
when you put the things between us in words
if you truly adore me
or loneliness will only cut deeper into me
and if you really love me,
let the end of our love never begin.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Hope
When there is no bright sun shining
when saddened words have just been said
when you find no sense in wonder
when all those tears have been full shed
when your path seems pointless forwards
when you eye the day with fear
when the black dogs will walk with you
when their howl is always near
when you fail to see the goodness
when you fail to see the hope
when you fail to see that life itself
hangs from a fraying rope
when you fail to smile at sunrise
when the dusk is in your soul
then you live your life in shadows
and its time to take control
for there is no sense in grieving
for a past that’s left behind
and the wonder of the future
is that its there for us to find
so when there is no bright sun shining
when you feel you’ve lost your way
turn your eyes forever forwards
and bless every single day.
poem by David Keig
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Think That...(thoughts on words and promises)
Words… are so easy to say
Promises, ne’er so hard to keep
Words… easily written
Promises, not to be shallow or deep
Words…so effortlessly uttered
Promises, should never be broken
Words…so unthinkingly muttered
Promises, not given only in token
Words…so empty… so easy to say
Promises… never just idle notions
Words should be true in every way…and
Promises be pledges of devotions
poem by David Whalen
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Oh The Poems
OH THE POEMS AND THE POEMS AND THE POEMS
Oh the poems and the poems and the poems
Oh the love of Literature
Oh all that stuff
I have given my life to-
Words and meanings and feelings
Pages and pages and pages –
What it is all this literary life for?
When out the window out the door
With our eyes we see in an instant other worlds other dreams?
I don’t know and I will never know
And Literature is certainly far more than I can say it is-
Oh the poems and this poem and this day turning grey
And all my life old and old and more old and more old-
Oh why oh why oh why
And always back to God
My last rescue and refuge and escape
I who have read so much Great Literature
And can only write this-
Oh the why and the oh oh oh and the words
And the whole world of Literature
I would belong to and do not.
Oh the words oh the world oh the Literature
Oh God help me please can’t you please help me a little or not?
poem by Shalom Freedman
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The Things You Say
Words
Said in a careless huff as you walked away
Hurt
Words
Said in a whispered excited voice
Caused electricity in me
Words
Said in a caring loving way
Were a balm for the wound in me
Words
Said in an angry menacing way
Felt like daggers thrown at me
Words
Said like sugary sweet morning due
Caused my knees to go weak
Words
Words, Words, Words..
Your words have so much power over me
Words
Said like a magic spell
Have enchanted me
Words
You throw around those words so carelessly
Do you know
Words
How they have been affecting and inflicting me..
poem by Rabia Minhas
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Words.... (Poetry Itself)
words do not heal the broken hearted,
words do not end wars.
words do not change the face of indifference,
words do not impress god!
words do not feed the hungry,
nor set the captives free.
words do not give shelter to the homeless,
or hope to those ridden with despair.
words do not stop discrimination,
words do not bring justice.
words do not bring forgiveness,
nor do they bring understanding...
words do not fill the empty,
nor erase the scars of love...
words do not define dialogue!
it is only then,
the hands and feet of the human heart...
and poetry itself is nothing more,
than the action of involved compassion!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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