When You Thought Me Poor
When you thought me poor,
my poverty was shaming.
When blackness was unwelcome
we found it best
that I stay home.
When by the miracle
of fierce dreaming and hard work
Life fulfilled our every want
you found me crassly
well off;
not trimly,
inconspicuously wealthy
like your rich friends.
Still black too,
now
I owned too much and too many
of everything.
Woe is me: I became a
success! Blackness, who
knows how?
Became suddenly
in!
What to do?
Now that Fate appears
(for the moment anyhow)
to have dismissed
abject failure
in any case?
Now that moonlight and night
have blessed me.
Now that the sun
unaffected by criticism
of any sort,
implacably beams
the kiss filled magic that creates
the dark and radiant wonder
of my face.
poem by Alice Walker
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The Blackness Of The Black Black Night
THE BLACKNESS OF THE BLACK BLACK NIGHT
The blackness of the black black black night
The blackness inside-
‘The wretch concentred all in self’
Why oh I oh I oh I?
A million times the question comes
Focusing only on number one.
Who are we
And what can we be
If we are only
‘me me me’?
The blackness of the black black night
The blackness deep deep inside
Why oh why oh why oh
Always always always ‘I’?
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Blackness
Venturing into a big black hole.
Emptiness surrounds, it fills my soul.
The grandness of the blackness takes control.
Hopeless, meaningless damn the blackness.
The blackness inside that does feed us and beats us.
It swallows me up and feeds my soul.
Heats the hate that makes me cold.
It reaches out and takes a hold.
To drive me further in blackness bold.
Further and further it's freakishly cold.
Enveloped yet to be told.
No boundries how far will it go?
We've got to see how dark the black can be.
So venture now to blackness hold.
You must be bold to take this road.
poem by Michael McParland
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The Mothering Blackness
She came home running
back to the mothering blackness
deep in the smothering blackness
white tears icicle gold plains of her face
She came home running
She came down creeping
here to the black arms waiting
now to the warm heart waiting
rime of alien dreams befrosts her rich brown face
She came down creeping
She came home blameless
black yet as Hagar’s daughter
tall as was Sheba’s daughter
threats of northern winds die on the desert’s face
She came home blameless
poem by Maya Angelou
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The Better Friend
A man of good character is a better friend
Than a rich man who only loves his wealth
For the man with character will stay till the end
With his friend, in poverty or in poor health.
I have had so many friends in times of abundance
And only about two remained in Adversity
In life I discovered true friends of substance
Were not found in my times of Prosperity.
So when you are down and so all alone
And you find there is one friend who stands with you
You are most blessed not with what you own
But for that one friend whom you found is true.
poem by Cynthia Buhain-Baello
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Why Tell Me About It I know All Too Well
Why tell me about It I know all too well
That many are living in their Earthly Hell
The hungry the homeless the poor and downtrod
They must be the children of some Lesser God.
Why tell me about it I know for the have nots life must seem unfair
So many grow poorer for every new millionaire
The scourge of poverty rife in every Race
In a fair Human World this would not be the case.
Even in so called wealthy Nations poverty does abound
Not too far from where the rich live the homeless to be found
The streets of the poor suburb a breeding ground for crime
Where many don't live to enjoy their life's prime.
Why tell me about it of course I'm aware
That the poor of the World have never been rare
And millions are living in dire poverty
In a fair Human World this would never be.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Dark and Black
Yes I am dark and black,
its none of your business,
don’t fill your heart with hatred,
it is my one and only destiny,
so don’t wanna be my enemy.
Yes I am dark and black,
it is my fate and race,
I’m here to run this pilgrim race,
I’m hot and real, not another fake,
so get used to my deep black face.
Yes I am dark and black,
That’s what I am, I love it so,
I’m not ashamed, don’t be confused,
It’s not for sale keep moving on,
I’m black and proud, all my days.
Yes I am dark and black,
call it whatever you want,
equate me with all your evil and demons,
but excuse me your personal pains and agony,
for darkness and blackness ain’t the same thing.
Yes I am dark and black,
before I was loaded in your slave boat,
and shipped to plantations far unknown,
and made to work and toil for free,
raped and abused, miseries untold.
Yes I am dark and black,
touch my hue and feel the smoothness,
embrace me and feel some gladness,
reject me at your own destruction,
respect me and be respected.
Yes I am dark and black,
forever I will be, don’t block my path
I’m more than this, so let me be,
no matter your segregation, I’m here to stay,
it’s not just a fact but it’s the plain truth.
Yes I am dark and black,
the unending ocean couldn’t change my blackness,
your strongest chain couldn’t break my color,
please blame your fathers and your mothers,
if my son now sit enthroned as your king.
Yes I am dark and black,
I was before your fathers arrived,
I was as I sailed the stormy waters,
I was as I waited my salvation,
I am and forever will be.
Yes I am dark and black,
it is my turn to rise and shine,
burn yourself in hell if you can’t stand it,
cry all you want, it won’t change the truth,
for the Most High has sealed it, there’s no repentance.
Yes I am dark and black,
and whom shall I fear?
why should I be dismayed?
and what shall I be afraid of?
yes I am dark and black,
and so shall it be
beyond this border even into eternity.
Isaac Slimx
May 2009
poem by Isaac 'slimx'
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Finding
From the candles and dumb shadows,
And the house where love had died,
I stole to the vast moonlight
And the whispering life outside.
But I found no lips of comfort,
No home in the moon's light
(I, little and lone and frightened
In the unfriendly night),
And no meaning in the voices. . . .
Far over the lands and through
The dark, beyond the ocean,
I willed to think of you!
For I knew, had you been with me
I'd have known the words of night,
Found peace of heart, gone gladly
In comfort of that light.
Oh! the wind with soft beguiling
Would have stolen my thought away;
And the night, subtly smiling,
Came by the silver way;
And the moon came down and danced to me,
And her robe was white and flying;
And trees bent their heads to me
Mysteriously crying;
And dead voices wept around me;
And dead soft fingers thrilled;
And the little gods whispered. . . .
But ever
Desperately I willed;
Till all grew soft and far
And silent . . .
And suddenly
I found you white and radiant,
Sleeping quietly,
Far out through the tides of darkness.
And I there in that great light
Was alone no more, nor fearful;
For there, in the homely night,
Was no thought else that mattered,
And nothing else was true,
But the white fire of moonlight,
And a white dream of you.
poem by Rupert Brooke (1909)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Places among the stars,
Places among the stars,
Soft gardens near the sun,
Keep your distant beauty;
Shed no beams upon my weak heart.
Since she is here
In a place of blackness,
Not your golden days
Nor your silver nights
Can call me to you.
Since she is here
In a place of blackness,
Here I stay and wait
poem by Stephen Crane
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Unaffected
there never seems to be, because what i believe, a moment i'm not trying
to show them who i am, why can't they understand the things that
they're denying?
they're denying...
so what should i do, just lay next to you as though i'm unaffected?
and who should i be when they're judging me as though i'm unaffected?
a chance they'd never give to ever want to live the life that i am made of
theres nothing left to prove, my heart's forever true, what is it they're
afraid of?
afraid of....
so what should i do, just lay next to you as though i'm unaffected?
and who should i be when they're judging me as though i'm unaffected?
before they even saw my face they knew that i was not the same
and decided i was not the one for you, for you...
so what should i do? i'm not unaffected
and who should i be? i'm not unaffected
so what should i do, just lay next to you as though i'm unaffected?
and who should i be when they're judging me as though i'm unaffected?
unaffected.......
song performed by by Hoobastank
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Just Wealthy Whingers
Why do some very wealthy people see fit for to complain
When they already have more than enough seems beyond me to explain
Since to whinge they do not have a reason it does occur to me
That their money is not an antidote for their spiritual poverty
Worth millions in money and assets but it does seem sad to say
That their type more to be pitied spiritually poor in their small way
Like 'tis said much always wants more in their case this does apply
Why some wealthy people crave for more I really wonder why
Not far from their leafy suburb live the poor of poverty street
The homeless and the down and outs who never have enough to eat
Five hundred thousand dollars in yearly profit after tax and they complain for us not a good year
The more some have the more some want or so it does appear
They are just wealthy whingers some are so hard to please
In a World where millions of poor people are dying of hunger and disease.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Crows
THEN, suddenly, I was aware indeed
Of what he said, and was revolving it:
How, in the night, crows often take to wing,
Rising from off the tree-tops in Drumbarr,
And flying on: I pictured what he told.
The crows that shake the night-damp off their wings
Upon the stones out yonder in the fields,
The first live things that we see in the mornings;
The crows that march across the fields, that sit
Upon the ash-trees' branches, that fly home
And crowd the elm-tops over in Drumbarr;
The crows we look on at all hours of light,
Growing, and full, and going these black beings have
Another lifetime!
Crows flying in the dark
Blackness in darkness flying; beings unseen
Except by eyes that are like to their own
Trespassers' eyes!
And you, old man, with eyes so quick and sharp,
Who've told me of the crows, my fosterer;
And you, old woman, upon whose lap I've lain
When I was taken from my mother's lap;
And you, young girl, with looks that have come down
From forefathers, my kin ye have another life
I've glimpsed it, I becoming trespasser-
Blackness in darkness flying like the crows!
poem by Padraic Colum
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Princess And The Black Horse(Final Fight-I)
And they decided to start the fight at midnight,
as the wand would work then with brilliant spark.
To unriddle the mystery of dark reign of magician,
they had to kindle the light, to annihilate power dark.
Evening called night, and night sat with blackness,
and darkest became the kingdom of prince's father.
The princess, promised to call him, prince of light,
as dark denotes, night, blackness, evil power, rather.
The King opened a box of story, which told princess,
theirs was the kingdom of Light, full of peace, gay.
It was said, the sun never sets in his happy kingdom.
But, a magician came to that king's court one day.
He played trick of black magic, and covered the sun,
blocking the rays of the sun, he set his own reign.
By his power of witchery, he made the king a lion,
turning queen, to lioness, the prince a horse in chain.
Insidious was he, sold the prince in a witch-fair.
Sordid was his mind, without hesitation he became king.
In the unknown realm the prince as a dark horse,
was bought from the fair, and in king's stable did bring.
poem by Nilakshi Das
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the Way To Success
failure may outnumber success
failure is there
to make you strong
failure may cause pain
but nothing goes in vain
failure keeps you in touch
with reality
failure gives wisdom
failure gives experience
cowards don't fail
It's for the brave
who leave the shore
to sail into unknown
failure is a stop
in the journey of life
don't stop at the bend
today's failure would be
tomorrow's bigger success
failure is the cradle
in which success rocks.
failure is not a sin
failure is the first step for success
failure teaches you how to succeed
failure always helps in your success
failure helps you from failing
if you fail, it's not the end of the world
try!
success will definitely be on your way
so will run away your failure
but...
never forget your failure in life which helped you in your
SUCCESS
poem by Liioona Mohie
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You Feel That The World Is Against You
You feel that the World is against you and nothing for you is going right
And you struggle just for to make ends meet and life is a hard uphill fight
But than you there are far worse off people though you do not see things that way
In Rwanda a Country in Africa teenagers to support their families work today.
Their parents by war taken from them and the eldest members of the family
Must work for to support their younger siblings they only know of poverty
In our society you may seem a poor man but poverty one can compare
And in the eyes of a Rwandan you would be a multi billionaire.
On five hundred dollars a week take home pay you support your two young children and your wife
As well as buy food, pay bills and the mortgage you do know about the hard life
In this Land they call you a battler you struggle just for to get by
Though the millions of battlers of Rwanda would say that the good life you enjoy.
You feel the whole World is against you a poor fellow on a poor street
But your fridge of food never empty and you and your family
have plenty to eat
And the hungry poor of Rwanda with you only would disagree
They would see you as a wealthy person for they know of extreme poverty
poem by Francis Duggan
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Life's Justice
Life's cruel justice finds me yet, once again.......
Each day I rise to one more wrinkle neath my eye. Each tell a story, that's written upon my face... A journey accepted many year ago and it continues today..One of obstructed paths and contradiction along the way...
Life's cruel justice finds me yet, once again.
My body lost to the pain of each passing night reaches into the blackness for resolve.
Life's cruel justice has found me again.
Enduring the pain has created chaos in my thoughts and within few remembered dreams.. 'It's difficult to say, the last time I dreamed.'
Life's justice has found me, and death, lies next to me as I struggle on the edge of the shadows of the dark, hoping death leaves my side and gives me, one more night.
(DOR,061511)
Fate of a votary is written by God
Fate of a votary is written by God
Can it be changed now and then?
No, it can not be changed by men,
Regarding fate none is ready to nod,
If a baby is born to a rich person,
That baby becomes a rich man in life,
Then he marries to a wealthy wife,
What about the fate of a poor man’s son?
Every fate depends upon NATURE,
By Nature a rich to a poor is addressed,
Nature also brightens a poor son’s future,
ON the mercy of Lord a fate is stressed,
Nature can make a hill to a creature,
If God likes, it can be changed or redressed.
poem by INDIA Mazid S Kazi
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The Mad Gardener's Song
He thought he saw an Elephant,
That practised on a fife:
He looked again, and found it was
A letter from his wife.
'At length I realise,' he said,
The bitterness of Life!'
He thought he saw a Buffalo
Upon the chimney-piece:
He looked again, and found it was
His Sister's Husband's Niece.
'Unless you leave this house,' he said,
'I'll send for the Police!'
He thought he saw a Rattlesnake
That questioned him in Greek:
He looked again, and found it was
The Middle of Next Week.
'The one thing I regret,' he said,
'Is that it cannot speak!'
He thought he saw a Banker's Clerk
Descending from the bus:
He looked again, and found it was
A Hippopotamus.
'If this should stay to dine,' he said,
'There won't be much for us!'
He thought he saw a Kangaroo
That worked a coffee-mill:
He looked again, and found it was
A Vegetable-Pill.
'Were I to swallow this,' he said,
'I should be very ill!'
He thought he saw a Coach-and-Four
That stood beside his bed:
He looked again, and found it was
A Bear without a Head.
'Poor thing,' he said, 'poor silly thing!
It's waiting to be fed!'
He thought he saw an Albatross
That fluttered round the lamp:
He looked again, and found it was
A Penny-Postage Stamp.
'You'd best be getting home,' he said:
'The nights are very damp!'
He thought he saw a Garden-Door
That opened with a key:
He looked again, and found it was
A Double Rule of Three:
'And all its mystery,' he said,
'Is clear as day to me!'
He thought he saw a Argument
That proved he was the Pope:
He looked again, and found it was
A Bar of Mottled Soap.
'A fact so dread,' he faintly said,
'Extinguishes all hope!'
poem by Lewis Carroll
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Blackness Of The Nights
In the blackness of the night
I seem to wander endlessly
with a hope burning out deep inside
I'm a fugitive, community has driven me out
For this bad, bad world I'm beginning to doubt
I'm alone and there is no one by my side
In the blackness of the night
I see a shadow passing by
from the heels of an old soldier boy.
There's no comprimising
and his eyes are black as the sky
For this bad, bad world he is going to die.
He's alone and there is no one by his side
In the blackness of the night
I see a sparkle of a star
from the sweet silver tear of a child
and she's clutching at a photograph of long, long ago
When her parents were happy she was too young to know
she's alone and there is no one by her side
I'm alone and there is no one by my side
In the blackness of the night
I seem to wander endlessly
with a hope burning out deep inside
I'm a fugitive, community has driven me out
For this bad, bad world I'm beginning to doubt
I'm alone, and there is no one by my side
song performed by by Cat Stevens
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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And I found my home
Walking on a LONELY road
All alone dark and cold
I thought it was the end for me
But I found my home
Hiding in the shadows of my pain
ANd every word spoken made me insane
I thought nothing else matterd
But I found my home
Always confused never on the right
Closing my eyes to everything in sight
I didn't wanna keep going
But I found my home
Keeping everything there was inside
All I ever wanted to do was hide
I thought this whole world was nothing
But I found my home
Just when I lost all hope
When everything shatterd and I couldn't cope
A family of angels healed my pain
And I found my home
poem by Jess Zapata
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Wandering Star
Please could you stay awhile to share my grief
For its such a lovely day
To have to always feel this way
And the time that I will suffer less
Is when I never have to wake
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
... those who have seen the needles eye, now tread
Like a husk, from which all that was, now has fled
And the masks, that the monsters wear
To feed, upon their prey
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
(always) doubled up inside
Take awhile to shed my grief
(always) doubled up inside
Taunted, cruel.... ...
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
song performed by by Portishead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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