Fragment from Aeschylus
The man who rightly acts without coercion
Will not be grieved, can never wholly sink in wretchedness;
While the lawless criminal is forcibly dragged under
In the current of time when from the shattered mast
The elements rip down his sails.
He shouts, there is no ear to hear him
Struggling, hopeless, at the maelstrom's center.
Gods laugh at the transgressor now,
Watching him, his pride now wrecked,
Caught in desperation's shackles.
He flees the rocks in vain;
His fortunes smash on retribution's reef
And, unmourned, he is engulfed.
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Riding The Scree
He rushes to the cliff and scrambles down the rocks. it takes him a long time to get down to the water, trying to keep up with the current at the same time. as he nears the waters edge he sees
Losing strength.
Struggling down the slope,
Theres not much hope.
I begin to try to ride the scree
But the rocks are tumbling all around me.
If I want john alive,
Ive got to ditch my fear - take a dive
While Ive still got my drive to survive.
Evel knievel you got nothing on me.
Here I go!
song performed by by Genesis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Remember that mindsets can not be changed through force and coercion. No idea can ever be forcibly thrust upon any one.
quote by Pervez Musharraf
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Motor Car
The motor car is sullen, like a thing that should not be;
The motor car is master of Smart Society.
’Twas born of sweated genius and collared by a clown;
’Twas planned by Retribution to ride its riders down.
And straight for Caesar’s Column,
It runs to Caesar’s Column,
Last section, Caesar’s Column
To ride its riders down!
The motor car is shame-struck, for greed and misery,
For mad and hopeless self-lust, and the sins that need not be.
The motor car is vicious, for its conscience makes it so,
It aye would smash the victims while it runs the riders low.
And straight for Caesar’s Column,
Its goal is Caesar’s Column,
It longs for Caesar’s Column
To lay its riders low.
The motor car is maddened like a horse that’s had a fright,
The shameful day behind it and the Coming of the Night!
It flees across the country and it flees back to the town
And straight for Caesar’s Column to run its riders down.
And straight for Caesar’s Column,
What ho! for Caesar’s Column!
Hurrah! for Caesar’s Column!
To seal its riders down.
The motor car is reckless like a gambler losing fast;
The motor car’s in terror of the Future—and the Past;
The motor car is worn out and has passed Sin’s boundary by,
And is bound for Caesar’s Column where to pile its riders high.
It’s bound for Caesar’s Column
And marked for Caesar’s Column,
And doomed for Caesar’s Column
To pile its riders high.
The motor car is brainless, and scornful of all tears,
Its dust is in our faces, its giggle in our ears,
Its harsh laugh is the last laugh of the last lost soul alone,
’Tis nearing Caesar’s Column to set self-damned in stone.
Change here for Caesar’s Column!
All out for Caesar’s Column!
Past Hope—and Caesar’s Column
To lodge self-damned in stone.
I don’t know how ’twill happen, or when ’twill come to pass,
But folk shall yet pass sanely by river, tree and grass;
By homesteads and farm wagons, they’ll ride each pleasant mile,
And back from Caesar’s Column where the world went mad awhile.
And back from Caesar’s Column
With lessons from the Column;
Grown sane at Caesar’s Column
To save the world awhile.
poem by Henry Lawson
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All Things Are Current Found
ALL things are current found
On earthly ground,
Spirits and elements
Have their descents.
Night and day, year on year,
High and low, far and near,
These are our own aspects,
These are our own regrets.
Ye gods of the shore,
Who abide evermore,
I see you far headland,
Stretching on either hand;
I hear the sweet evening sounds
From your undecaying grounds;
Cheat me no more with time,
Take me to your clime.
poem by Henry David Thoreau
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Lorelei
You told me tales of love and glory
Same old sad songs, same old story
The sirens sing no lullaby
And no-one knows but lorelei
By castles out of fairytales
Timbers shivered where once there sailed
The lovesick men who caught her eye
And no-one knew but lorelei
River, river have mercy
Take me down to the sea
For if I perish on these rocks
My love no more Ill see
Ive thought of you in far-off places
Ive puzzled over lipstick traces
So help me god, I will not cry
And then I think of lorelei
I travel far and wander wide
No photograph of you beside me
Ol man rivers not so shy
And he remembers lorelei
River, river have mercy
Take me down to the sea
For if I perish on these rocks
My love no more Ill see
If I should float upon this stream
And see you in my madmans dream
Id sink into your troubled eyes
And none would know cept lorelei
River, river have mercy
Take me down to the sea
For if I perish on these rocks
My love no more Ill see
But if my ship, which sails tomorrow
Should crash against these rocks,
My sorrows I will drown before I die
Its you Ill see, not lorelei
song performed by by Pogues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Adventurer of God
They are solid steel, the rocks are built by gods,
Mountains and volcanoes are one, by gods.
Yet we see the lava flow and the abolishment,
To address them is to arrive at and abandon, by gods.
Any geographical feature on the map carries fascination,
One is adventured, one is fine with distortion, by gods.
The map is a remedy for the plain and ill, the happier,
Yellow streams and wooden forests are a distinction, by gods.
Let us laugh and be merry on this whole globe,
Let godliness reign supreme with this incantation, by gods.
The gods are lovable towards their kingdom,
The wishes of the valley are mine in slow-motion, by the gods.
poem by Naveed Akram
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To declare that in the administration of criminal law the end justifies the means to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure conviction of a private criminal would bring terrible retribution.
quote by Louis D. Brandeis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Show
i have seen this
dalmatian, dancing, and
taking rightly all the cues of
his master.
he adds three plus three
equals six. Six barks.
and his tails waggle
for the correct answer.
the people get excited
watching the dalmatian,
trying to speak the language
of numbers and a human
display of his emotions.
at the park a woman kisses
a man. Lips to lips. The man's
hands holding her butt.
The hard bone protrudes.
The palms are wet.
the dalmatian stops his acts.
and people too stop watching him.
they are watching the real show.
Kiss.Lips to lips. Hands and hearts
Bold at the park. The grasses
are clapping their hands. And the
clouds laugh and do not leave.The sun
pockets a smile. Thumbs up
The trees signal.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Shattered Image
I used to sit for hours as a kid
And dangle my feet from an old flat bridge
Seeing myself in the water below
Shatter my image with the rocks Id throw
Shatter my image with the rocks Id throw
Long time gone and a long time ago
When I shattered my image with the rocks Id throw
The world is cruel and people are cold
Now they shatter my image with the rocks they throw
Shatter my image with the rocks they throw
Im far from perfect but I aint all bad
And it hurts me more than it makes me mad
We all do things that we dont want told
And we all throw stones that we shouldnt throw
You shatter my image with the rocks you throw
Long time gone and a long time ago
When I shattered my image with the rocks Id throw
The world is cruel and people are cold
Now they shatter my image with the rocks they throw
Shatter my image with the rocks they throw
If you live in a glass house dont throw stones
Dont shatter my image til you look at your own
Look at your reflection in your house of glass
Dont open my closet if your owns full of trash
Stay out of my closet if your owns full of trash
Long time gone and a long time ago
When I shattered my image with the rocks Id throw
The world is cruel and people are cold
Now they shatter my image with the rocks they throw
Shatter my image with the rocks they throw
Shatter my image with the rocks you throw
Dont shatter my image with the rocks you throw
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Punch & Judy
Gather round!
Punch and judy,
Did it truly,
And were married in a haste,
In love, maybe,
Using the baby,
As a kind of romance paste,
Shes grown fatter,
Her hair cut shorter,
Looks much older than nineteen,
Hes a drinker,
Not a thinker,
Baby spoiled his could-have-been.
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
cos who do we know, dear, who acts like that?
Punch and judy.
Punch and judy,
In a semi,
On a brand new council plot,
Sunday lunchtime,
Beer-for-punch time,
While his dinners far from hot,
She grows tired,
Cab is hired,
She goes round to see her friend,
He comes back late,
Fool is irate,
We will see his temper bend.
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
cos who do we know, dear, who acts like that?
Punch and judy,
In a quandary,
Shes walked out, and he is mad.
Now hes grown up,
Cant smash home up,
Retribution must be had.
Punch and judy,
Had a baby,
Who brought them to married bliss.
Mr punch,,
Has drunken hunch,
That he must punish kid for this
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
cos who do we know, dear, who acts like that?
Punch and judy
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Punch & Judy
Gather round!
Punch and judy,
Did it truly,
And were married in a haste,
In love, maybe,
Using the baby,
As a kind of romance paste,
Shes grown fatter,
Her hair cut shorter,
Looks much older than nineteen,
Hes a drinker,
Not a thinker,
Baby spoiled his could-have-been.
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
cos who do we know, dear, who acts like that?
Punch and judy.
Punch and judy,
In a semi,
On a brand new council plot,
Sunday lunchtime,
Beer-for-punch time,
While his dinners far from hot,
She grows tired,
Cab is hired,
She goes round to see her friend,
He comes back late,
Fool is irate,
We will see his temper bend.
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
cos who do we know, dear, who acts like that?
Punch and judy,
In a quandary,
Shes walked out, and he is mad.
Now hes grown up,
Cant smash home up,
Retribution must be had.
Punch and judy,
Had a baby,
Who brought them to married bliss.
Mr punch,,
Has drunken hunch,
That he must punish kid for this
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
This must be make-believe,
cos who do we know, dear, who acts like that?
Punch and judy
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fortunes Of War
After the war
And now that theyve sent us homeward
I cant help but feel that Im on my own
No one can see just what this conflict has done to
The minds of the men who are on their way home
Im scarred for life
But its not my flesh thats wounded
So how can I face the torment alone
The vivid scenes and all the recurring nightmares
I lay there and sweat until it gets light
People say dont worry
Say that times a perfect healer
That the nightmares they will come to pass
Cant hear what theyre saying
I am living in my own world
And Im feeling trance-like all the time
I hear voices in my head
Could I really be going crazy
In the night the visions seem so real
Do you care if you live or die
When you laugh are you really crying
Youre not sure whats real anymore
Fortunes of war
Fortunes of war
Fortunes of war
No pain anymore
Sometimes I wake
I feel that my spirits broken
I wonder if Ive the strength...
Carry on carry on
song performed by by Iron Maiden
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shackles Of Fear
Shackle bounded
Bounded by shackles
Shackles of fear
They confine these hands
Shackles of fear
They bind these feet
Bound by shackles of fear
My mind is overdosed
My heart it beats slow
My eyes are wide shut
Lord God please
Release these shackles that hold me in captivity
Lord God please
Break these shackles that hinder me
Please God don't let my fear be the end of this journey
I'm shackle bounded
Bounded by shackles of fear
And I fear the release of my bounded shackles
These shackles they hinder me
poem by Brittany Hooks
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The taker of Souls!
To the bitter end
My soul was dragged
dirty and bruised
I became insult
'd better bury
once my mortal
and write my epitaph
they took your soul!
they stole her pen!
I was not so
No voice, no hands
without singing and charm
then quieted my love
my words now
have no more life
became disgust and shame
wrecked, shattered hopes
I was not so
so pale, so dry
so bitter so empty
then they kept my voice
poem by Mirna Morgan
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Who Am I?
Where was I before, who brought me here?
Who were with me or was alone there?
Have to vacate or to stay forever?
When and where have to go from here?
Big confusion, complete answer, no one knows
Such secrets and facts of life,
Keeps to Him, will never disclose.
No faith in human beings, checks the threat we pose.
Regrets His own creations, all that it shows.
Was I not in the elements of Earth, before taking birth?
Elements combined, I surfaced, remains the truth?
Matter from the earth gave me life,
Have to go back, no matter, how big am I.
Am I not a robot with machines and parts?
Don't know of which brand and marks?
How long they function, no guarantee, no argument?
With remote HE controls my movement.
Born with mix of fortunes and miss-fortunes
Makes me to dance at HIS tunes.
Sitting in heavens decides my fate.
Even then I call HIM, 'GOD THE GREAT'.
Yes, I have to go back, not to come back,
Elements of earth go back to earth to lie on tracks
No chance but if, only by chance,
May recombine the elements of Earth,
In the same manner that I get re-birth.
By fair and unfair means,
By running in the length and breadth
And even at the cost of my health,
I created so much of wealth
But sorry! Can't take it with me,
Not even the naked body goes with me
No protests have any such right,
Don't know, with whom to fight.
Now I know I am here only by chance
Now I know where was I before
Now I know have not to stay for ever
Now I know where have to go from here,
When my term is over.
Cool minded
When I sit and think
All differences with HIM
I forget and sink.
Change is must,
Can't break HIS own laws
In action no exception,
No flaws
Even for Sun, Moon and Stars
No cheers
Must change
No matter
May be there,
For millions of years.
poem by Swadesh Chander Virmani
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Expendable Youth
Gun down cold on a raw deal
Home turf my battlefield
In no one's way caught in a crossfire
Stray bullets can kill
Expendable youths
Fighting for possession
Having control the principle obsession
Rivalry and retribution
Death the only solution
Inured soul lies on the ground
Head blown off face down
Lying in a pool of blood
An accidental death homicide
Expendable youths
Fighting for possession
Having control the principle obsession
Rivalry and retribution
Death the only solution
Struggling to survive
The drug induced warfare
To have control and principle obsession
Expendable youth fighting for possession
Violence is only a friend
Expendable youths
Fighting for possession
Having control the principle obsession
Rivalry and retribution
Death the only solution
song performed by by Slayer from Seasons In The Abyss
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Terrible
This terracotta urn
contains the ashes
of an earth-baked dream.
You worship the setting sun,
rape of dawn will continue.
Intravenous entry of hope
had failed.
Outside the window
crowd of heirlooms, falling like stars.
Thoughts come and go, we hunted opportunities in vain.
Tonight I will dropp the wheels
on the tarmac, to roll the pride.
My flight had knocked out
the sleeping pain. Now amnesia
will help me to climb on the moon’s shoulders.
They dragged her in the field,
the most deprived one. Was outraged.
I send you my grief, my sadness,
O, god. The flag was flying half mast,
rapist was absconding.
poem by Satish Verma
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Nothing
The truth comes over me
Like wine, like summer heat
The world, it moves too fast
I miss my simple past
And I can see
For all the things I think I need
Brother take me out to where the reef ends
Where theres only, only green sea
Brother take me out to where the reef ends
I only want to want
Nothing
Child, she knows its good
She plays the way she should
Her days, they taste like lime
She moves in perfect time
And I can see
For all the things I think I need
Brother take me out to where the reef ends
Where theres only, only green sea
Brother take me out to where the reef ends
I only want to want
Nothing, nothing, no
Theres no promises
Today is all there is
And I cant see
For all the things I think I need
Brother take me out to where the reef ends
Where theres only, only green sea
Brother take me out to where the reef ends
I only want to want
Nothing, oh nothing, nothing
song performed by by Heather Nova
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Captain And Me
Deep as a river, wide as the sea
Changin' the ways of a captain and me
I could be happy, Lord, so then should he
If all of the universe unveiled itself to me
So then a day flows into night
Down the street the beggar man who finds himself in wine
If I am a good man and sure in all my ways
The captain of a starship that's homeward bound today
Growin', growin', changin' ev'ry day
Knowin', showin' all my worldly ways
Hear the chimes, hear how they ring
Marking time all through the day
A whisper, an answer, a cry in the night
Break down, turn around, a feeling of fright
The Indian, the Black Man, the Asian who see
A door that is opening, and they're goin' to be free
Growin', growin', changin' ev'ry day
Knowin', showin' all my worldly ways
Hear the chimes, hear how they ring
Marking time all through the day
We are all acceptable, we are all a place in time
Moving through a passageway, bringing forth the end of time
Growin', growin', changin' ev'ry day
Knowin', showin' all my worldly ways
Hear the chimes, hear how they ring
Marking time all through the day
Light the fire, start the day, mark the light that shows the way
Changing times of fortunes past, we will all be free at last
We are the people of the round about
We are the sails upon the sea
We're gonna be there when ev'ry body laughs about
The way that we are changin', you and me, yeah
We are the people of the round about
We are the sails upon the sea
We're gonna be there when ev'ry body laughs about
The way that we are changin', you and me, yeah
We are the people of the round about
We are the sails upon the sea
song performed by by Doobie Brothers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You don't even exist...
Sharpen up your blunt canines
Summon up the lost souls
Call your gods to tackle me
'cause you have no existance
Lo! under the veil of lion-skin
there stands some beast
some beast of burden...
Serve your gods to tackle me
'cause you have no existance
Silence is the best answer
And you had some questions
You answered them quite well
Backstabbing is not the silence
Find your gods to tackle me
'cause you have no existance
You fear the wind; i'm the wind
You breathe in me, spit on me
But you couldn't catch me
And i've caught you red-handed
Kneel to your gods to tackle me
'cause you have no existance
My pride's my life, you attack it
You aint've pride, you're proud
Torment your gods to tackle me
'cause you have no existance
To me, you're zero existance
nor your gods bother me
You know the pain, you know it
To inflict pain, you need rebirth
Sing your elegy, write your wish
resurrect your dead soul
Resurrect your gods to tackle me
'cause you have no existance...
26-03-2006
poem by Usman Hanif
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