Report from The Black Box
For Flaco
A cooler
head of lettuce prevailed, but when the actor
asked his question and paused
for us to watch him pause and think
inside the pause, I almost answered
as if we were in a bar, just the two of us
and a balcony and spotlight. The two of us
and programs and makeup and a sofa
from the director’s living room and the black/
womb/agora/séance of theater inviting us to feel
together alone. I recall I don’t recall
the question but its scope on his face
was immense, as if he were the Milky Way
asking am I pretty, am I here for sure for real
for long and my breath was the quiet yessing
of tall grass against the shoulders of a cat
stalking the night. I actually opened my mouth
before I actually thought you will be stoned
and not in the good way, not with stones
of tongues, stones of fingers against my forehead
but the play was messy and tangible and full
of the etceteras I am full of and why
wouldn’t I want to talk with that is a question
the poem is asking you to answer wherever
you are without me is the problem
theater solves, since we sit together
in the dark with the dark because the dark
deserves a face a soliloquy a lover a bow
at the end. When I always wonder if the players
regret that the lights come up and they see us
as we are seeing them as they were,
what a weird mirror that is, showing one side
sudden appreciation and the resumption
of loose ends, the other the vast
and devotional possibilities of being kidnapped
by a dream and which side is which side
are you on?
Related quotes
By My Side
In the dark of night
Those small hours
Uncertain and anxious
I need to call you
Rooms full of strangers
Some call me friend
But I wish you were close to me
In the dark of the night
Those small hours
I drift away
When Im with you
Chorus
In the dark of the night
By my side
In the dark of the night
By my side
By my side
By my side
I wish you were here
I wish you were here
Here comes the clown
His face is a wall
No window
No air at aall
In the dark of the night
Those faces they haunt me
But I wish you were
So close to me
By my side
By my side
I wish you were
I wish you were
Chorus
Those faces they haunt me
I wish you were so close to me
Yes I wish you were
By my side
song performed by by INXS
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Far Far Away
Far, far away from those city lights
Might be shining on you tonight
Far, far away from you
On the dark side of the moon
I long to hold you in my arms and sway
Kiss and ride on the CTA
I need to see you tonight
And those bright lights
Oh, I know it's right
Deep in my heart
I'll know it's right
By the bed, by the light that you read by
By the time that I get home to say good night
I need to see you again
On the dark side my friend
On the dark side
song performed by by Wilco
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The dark side
The dark side
is a cloud the covers your nice day
you feel so alone
I feel like I've been there before
maybe i have
The dark side
takes you away from what you love
and who you love
when you are on the dark side
no one loves you
The dark side
makes you lose your mind
when your in the dark side
you can't go back
you will have regrets
but they will never let you go back
they haunt you for everything that you done
On the dark side
poem by Libbi Kenner
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A Dark Side
You asked
if I had
a dark side.
Most of my life
has been lived
on the dark side.
But I always
believed in the power
and cosmic beauty
of solar energy
radiant vibrant stellar
life giving light.
You asked
if I had
a dark side.
Most of my life
has been lived
on the dark side.
Yet my heart and soul were
no part of the madness
the blackness the void
except as reluctant captive
resisting the entombing life
depleting molasses dark side.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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A Dark Side Cosmic Expansion Exonerated
She asked
if I had
a dark side.
Most of my life
has been lived
on the dark side.
But I have
always
believed in
sublime power
cosmic beauty
permeating
awe-inspiring
solar energy
radiant
vibrant stellar
life
giving light.
She asked
if I had
a dark side.
Most of my life
has been lived
on the dark side.
Yet my heart
and soul were
no conduct part
of madness
the blackness
the void
except as
reluctant captive
resisting
the entombing
life depleting
molasses dark side.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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To Verbalize In A Void
To Verbalize in a Void
Tired of talking to god who never answers and watching silence
drip like tears from the ceiling beams, I walked down to the new
café, the one at the fruit market, for a cup of coffee.
A profound philosophical conversation ensued. The young girl,
who served me asked if I wanted cream in my brew; after a brief
pause, I said no. The slight pause was caused by a sudden need
to tell her I have diabetes and full fat cream is bad for me, but
since this information had little to do with her question I let it pass.
That was the extent of my tête-à-tête for the day, but it was
fulfilling though, a question had been raised and a comprehensive
responds had been given.
poem by Oskar Hansen
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Just Another Night
(ian hunter/mick ronson)
Oh no, the fuzz, all in a line
My oh my, I think Im gonna die
And its just another night
Its just another night
Got a long black face; who goes there?
All the reefer madnessput a poor kid in jail
And its just another night
Yeah, its just another night
Oh take it easy boy or its doa
Chrome on my body and a lot of folks say
That its just another night
Hey, its just another night
Oh, its just another night on the other side of life
Head ones a saw-bones and he wrecked my chair
Said howd you like to do it in a room downstairs
And its just another night
Oh, just another night
Hey now, papa joe, dont you pull my hair
All this intrigue, it gets me out of my league
And its just another night
Its just another night
His old man spent a fortune just to get him in
But baby boy growed up just as stupid as him
And its just another night
Its just another night
Its just another night on the other side of life
Just another night, hung down slow
I dont like the hotel let me go
Hells bells! give me a chance!
This rock n roller dont wanna dance
Just another night
Just another night
Well, its just another night on the other side of life
I never felt so bad; wheres my shades?
Its gonna be a long one getting crazed
A head spoutin noodles said, what do you plead?
I said you aint got to touch a man to make a man bleed
n its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night (on the other side)
Its just another night!
song performed by by Ian Hunter
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Great Stealth-burger Caper
A head cold had settled in with a vengeance.
After a couple of days at home I felt stir crazy.
Was it time to go somewhere, maybe a movie?
A quick glance at Arts & Entertainment section
and we made our choice of movies playing at our
favorite theater.
We jumped in the car and headed to the cinema.
“Haven’t eaten all day lets get a burger” I said.
“We don’t have enough time to stop to eat, lets
get something at the theater” Laureen replied.
“Nope, too expensive and the food is crappy anyway.
Let’s get some burgers to go and sneak them into the theater”
“What? ” You know they don’t let people take in food”
“Yeah, so they don’t need to know, right? ”
We wheeled into “Cruisers” a 50’s throwback diner.
You know the kind with old pictures of Elvis and Marilyn,
hanging on the walls and black & white checkerboard floors.
Cruisers make great burgers cheap (volume...Over a zillion sold) .
Thin patties, shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles
and fresh sesame buns. Burgers better than the guys
with the “Golden Arches” or “flame broiled” belly busters.
It was 30 minutes before show time, but we were in luck.
Things were going well because we arrived 15 minutes before noon.
The movie gods were with us…
Just as we placed our order, people started lining up behind us.
“Two regular burgers with the works and mustard dressing please”
“Want fries with your burgers”
“Nope” I said hurriedly.
Laureen placed her order,
“One regular burger with everything except onions and an order of fries.”
“Do you want curly, regular, tatter tots or steak fries? ”
“Uh, I’ll take the steak fries please”
“Anything to drink? ”
“No thanks, just a cup for water (she wasn’t about to let me drink from her water bottle) .
We looked at each other as we sat down holding
our plastic tent with a black number 3 on it.
“Uh, how are we going to smuggle in that much food”, laureen asked.
“In your purse” I answered with a clueless grin on my face.
“Are you kidding, it’s already full and besides my water bottle is in it”
“I’ll put the water bottle in my back pocket”
“That’s still not enough room”
The waitress called our number.
We walked over to get our order then ran to the car
and zoomed off to the theater.
Laureen opened the bag and looked inside.
“Maybe we better eat the fries because they have a strong odor from
the deep fryer and they may not get by the ushers.
They take up a lot of room anyway”.
“Ok…get em out” I answered.
She set the white bag full of steak fries out and proceeded to pour ketchup on them from a few of those troublesome, sparsely filled plastic packets.
“Mmmm, pretty good I said as I stuffed a couple in my mouth.
I glanced at the bag and said, “Oh what the Hell, hand me a burger”.
By the time we arrived at the theater the burgers and fries were gone.
So much for the stealth burger caper…
We comfort in knowing that we’d smuggled in our whole lunch in our bellies and who likes to eat in the dark anyway.
poem by Ray Lucero
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Question
I don't have the answer
So why ask me, why?
Why do you ask me a question
When there is no reply?
As though the answer was this?
Did you know all along?
That so much space
Is weighed down in white silence
Who told you these things?
These imagined replies?
To the unanswered question
The question why?
There is no reply
But bad weather
Rough roads
There is no reply
Leave the rain alone
There is no reply
No reply
No answer to why
Leave the question alone
No face in the sky
No key to the door
No there is nothing, but nothing
So leave nothing alone
And turn round and go home
Watch the sea from your window
The waves rise and fall
Nothing but madness
And nothing at all! !
The moon's silver crescent
No time to recall
What is left
What is deaf
What is blind
To ritual?
To sign?
There's no pattern no season
No face in the wall
No reason too reasonable
To make no sense at all!
There is no reply
To pain
Love lost
To prayer
Why ask me these questions?
When there's no answer there?
yvette m smith july 09
poem by Yvette Smith
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Alone?
I looked for the side of the moon,
That no one sees;
I found what I sought.
In a mirror, looking back at me -
Looking in that mirror
I wonder to my self,
Am I - are we all
Alone?
The reflection I see
Appears to be, only me,
But, the deeper I look into those eyes
The more illumination I realize:
On the dark side of the moon
Or in Central Park
There is always a place
Drawn to the dark -
A map in the mirror
Showing the way
Calling souls of mankind
To where they can find
The light of day -
There is no night
God cannot see into,
No empty soul
He cannot peer through -
Alone
May be our pain
But alone
We shall never remain -
For, there is no side
God does not see,
And there is no true alone,
For any -
God gives
Inhabited silence, so that we may know
God is our
Inner necessity, alone -
The great Alone
To us he hands down,
So that
Through nature, song, prayer and poem
We, with others, will know him, and
Know we are never truly alone -
And know, knowing all of this
Makes all the difference
In all the loneliness of life...
For all together -even when alone -
We are always together alone with a God
Who so graciously desires to know, and be known.
poem by Smoky Hoss
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Prisoner Of The Dark
There is always a call, from outside a call
Yet I stay rooted in a dark theater hall
There is an outside where the sky gets paint
The birds busily tweet for my ears to be lent
The sunrays stretch their hands for me to come along
The winds want me listen to a long forgotten song
I want to run out there, to see and smell it full
As the rain comes from heaven for the parched earth to be cool
Once I soak in them, feel them inside me
The moon coming out of clouds sets my spirit free
The call is loud and clear, it is all over me
In a dark theater hall, I only dream to be free!
poem by Pradip Chattopadhyay
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Depicting Reflection
I gaze at the looking glass one final time
As I hope for some veritable truth to find
But the cracks run along my face in jagged lines
As the mirror cracks from side to side
Peering into the cold, dark faceted eyes
A broken poppet stares back from inside
And I catch a reflection of that I despise
As the mirror cracks from side to side
The scarred reflection is now forsaken
And many are the times my heart has died
But now it is my soul that is breakin'
As the mirror cracks from side to side
I gaze at the looking glass one final time
As the mirror cracks from side to side
poem by Sheri Hockman
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In Truth I Like Aldo
i truth i like aldo
does this man exists?
that was the question
thrown by him to me
and he answered
such questions well
enough
he has a dimple
on his chin
grey curly hair
on his head
tall, not so dark,
smiling,
a not so big
tummy,
always with a coat
but without a tie
beside his
another older
friend
advocating
against
child abuse
at least,
that is the picture
he sent me once
nice man
on some
unfinished poems
that i love
to finish
so here we are
on this poetry
we love each
poem after poem
the next question
is
smartazz unloved
who loves us?
will you william?
shine on the siennes?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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You have a new comment about your poem...
'What is the purpose of poetry? [Candidates
will be awarded up to 80% of the total marks
for this paper on the answer to
this question. Write on one side of the paper only
but with both frontal lobes;
hearts may be used in answers to this question.]'
After the two hours is up, hand in
a blank sheet; the examiner may sigh and smile.
Some sages say - those not affected
by some academic status to uphold -
(that pause, that look, which indicates,
it's not as simple as all that...) -
that it's the oldest-fashioned thing,
to melt the heart...
but today I'd say, well yes and no -
more like a key you turn and - whoosh! -
there cascades out, all that's in their heart,
all the vast all which they have to give;
and you stand aside, stunned and humble;
such a small key; such a vast world is there.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Sack Full Of Stones
(Travis Tritt/Marty Stuart)
I used to be the kind of guy
I could laugh as well as cry
With a heart feather-soft and summer-warm
Since you've left me I've been faced
With emptiness that's been replaced
With a heart that's hard and heavy as a sack full of stones
I never thought I'd ever see
The man my mirror is showing me
Lord I must have aged ten years
Since you've been gone
The longest mile you'll ever crawl
Is the one after you fall
Draggin' around a heart that's heavy as a sack full of stones
With the world upon my shoulders
And my feelings on my sleeve
Every time I close my eyes at night
All I do is watch you leave
But by far the biggest curse of being left alone
Is draggin' around a heart that's heavy as a sack full of stones
Well I tried turning to a bottle
But the bottle turned on me
I've tried everything
But nothing sets your memory free
I'm serving life here in a prison
That we once called a home
With a heart that's cold and heavy as a sack full of stones
With the world upon my shoulders
And my feelings on my sleeve
Every time I close my eyes at night
All I do is watch you leave
But by far the biggest curse of being left alone
Is draggin' around a heart that's heavy as a sack full of stones
Yes by far the biggest curse of being left alone
Is draggin' around a heart that's heavy as a sack full of stones
song performed by by Travis Tritt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dark Side Of The Moon
Every night we dream of things
half of them we never remember,
but our dreams are only things
our brain is sorting out
what it wants to remember.
The rest are left to visit
the dark side of the moon.
When love comes to us
with all its frills and froth,
then departs with broken hearts.
We always like to remember
the thrill of its coming
and the sadness of parting
is sent to the dark side of the moon.
As with everything in our lives,
we tend to want to forget
we package them together
and parcel them away.
Then on an appropriate day we send them,
on their way to
the dark side of the moon.
The dark side of the moon
where all discarded dreams go.
The dark side of the moon
is where old love letters stray,
to stay forever and a day
on the dark side of the moon.
26 September 2008
poem by David Harris
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Angel With A Dark Side
I like to imagine how you really are—
An Angel with a dark side—Mysterious and—
Heavenly— yet dressed in black—with—an—
Affinity for things that go bump in the night.
True beauty in the Flesh—my Dark Angel—
Not sent from up above to save humanity—
Just to save me—and heal yourself in the process—
Real Angels are not dressed in white with a
Golden Halo around their heads—I have seen—
A Real Angel—they are dressed in Black and have—
Tattoos and piercings—more beautiful than the Angels
That the fairy tales speak of—A real Angel has felt hurt—
And happiness—and battles demons on a daily basis—
Angels are a rarity—the real ones are anyway—
But—an Angel with a Dark side—Is the Rarest of
All Angels—The Darker her wings—the more pain and
Hurt and love and happiness she can feel—because a real
Angel—with a Dark Side—is one that has been to Hell and back—
That's how she earned her Wings—if you are ever lucky enough
To catch an Angel—with a Dark Side—love them—they are special!
poem by Dougie Fresh
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Wherever Destiny Falls
(after Hannah Szenes)
One two three and we part
a few strides taken in the dark
and the smell of making love is still strong
and our feelings remain a question mark.
One two three and tomorrow you may see me
not as a lover, or even a friend,
but might be my enemy
and in a week or two I might not still be here
and life is sometimes great, sometimes fair,
sometimes the dice rolls
when it’s cast to another side,
and the end I feel is quite near
and what you mean to me, doesn’t count,
does not matter at all,
what matters most is in the balance
and when the dice falls, you are lost
while the game of life is still on
and for some going strong
while I am trying to play again
somewhere else
and one two three and we part
a few strides taken in the dark
and the smell of making love is still strong
somewhat like new rain on the earth
and I am still gambling and I may be right,
I might be wrong
and we embark on where destiny falls,
rather than on what matters most.
[Reference: The last poem of Hannah Szenes:
:
“One - two - three... eight feet long
Two strides across, the rest is dark...
Life is a fleeting question mark
One - two - three... maybe another week.
Or the next month may still find me here,
But death, I feel is very near.
I could have been 23 next July
I gambled on what mattered most, the dice were cast. I lost. “]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Anxiety
do you love me really
have you thought me recently
do you still care about me
I want to ask that question
but the words swallowed by the dark of night
do I have a right to say
will you answer my call
should I understand you further
I'm always at your side
but your voice becomes strange and distant
can I share my burden
am I doing something wrong
can I feel you again
I want to hug you to squash this anxiety
but doubt trap me in the cage of stone
poem by Maria Sudibyo
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Never Said It
Wish I would never have said it
But if only admit it
And I will tell you the truth cause that's all I know
So pathetic, you can't ignore how he bought you
He sat you down and he taught you
And you'll obey every rule that he made
Cause he bought you, now he owns you
So don't go away, don't go away
I got something to say about the dark side of me
Dead side of me, light side of me
Dark side of me, dead side of me
I lied to you and you caught me
I shoulda learned what you taught me
And the truth cuts just like a knife,
When you cut me
And I'll do all that I told you
I loved you and I would hold you
But those are just things that I said in my head
But she told you, shoulda told you
I said don't go away, don't go away
Got something to say about the dark side of me
Dead side of me, light side of me
Dark side of me, dead side of me
Just let me be, what I want to be
I said I haven't told you anything
I hold it all inside in vain
I think of you and I think of pain
Now I've told you everything
I said don't go away, don't go away
I got something to say about the dark side of me
(I said I haven't told you anything)
Dead side of me
(I hold it all inside in vain)
Light side of me
(I think of you and I think of pain)
Dark side of me
(Now I've told you everything)
Dead side of me
I said I haven't told you anything
I hold it all inside in vain
I think of you and I think of pain
I never tell you anything
I said I haven't told you anything
I hold it all inside in vain
I think of you and I think of pain
Never said it, so forget it-
song performed by by Papa Roach
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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