Aprons of Silence
Many things I might have said today.
And I kept my mouth shut.
So many times I was asked
To come and say the same things
Everybody was saying, no end
To the yes-yes, yes-yes,
me-too, me-too.
The aprons of silence covered me.
A wire and hatch held my tongue.
I spit nails into an abyss and listened.
I shut off the gable of Jones, Johnson, Smith,
All whose names take pages in the city directory.
I fixed up a padded cell and lugged it around.
I locked myself in and nobody knew it.
Only the keeper and the kept in the hoosegow
Knew it--on the streets, in the post office,
On the cars, into the railroad station
Where the caller was calling, "All a-board,
All a-board for . . . Blaa-blaa . . . Blaa-blaa,
Blaa-blaa . . . and all points northwest . . .all a-board."
Here I took along my own hoosegow
And did business with my own thoughts.
Do you see? It must be the aprons of silence.
poem by Carl Sandburg
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Related quotes
Paa Genfersøen
Hvor Alperne høit deres Snekrone bær'
Og træde den saftfulde Ranke,
Jeg føler mig dog mit Danmark saa nær;
Thi Danmark boer i min Tanke.
Og Søen, den er saa blaa, saa blaa
Som Vinterhimlen i Norden!
Nei, ingen Maler tør male den saa. -
Gid Alle dog saae det paa Jorden!
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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Dagen stiger
Dagen stiger,
Mulmet viger.
— Over Land og Sø og Bugt
Skinner Sommersolen smukt!
Himlen er blaa,
Fuglene slaae,
Alle Smaa-Blomsterne høre derpaa.
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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P. Wulff
Tak for hver Bretlands evig blaa Kjærminde,
Tak for din Orlogs Sang, saa rask og skjøn.
Du bandt en Krands af Tang, som Bølgen grøn,
Og hang paa Vraget, hvorfra Perler rinde.
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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Fremad!
Fremad! frem, I danske Drenge!
Husk, I værne maae
Danmark, deiligst Vang og Vænge,
Blomst paa Havets Blaa.
Værne skulle I med Staalet
Danmarks Ret og Modersmaalet,
Saa det aldrig glemmes siden.
Gud er med i Striden!
Ãrlighed til Skjold I føre!
Fjenderne I slaae,
Saa at det for Verdens Ãre
Rigtigt runge maa.
Under Kampen Sværdet raade,
Efter Kampen Mildhed, Naade!
Fremad! frem, I danske Drenge,
Værner Vang og Vænge.
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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Dandse, dandse Dukke min!
Dandse, dandse Dukke min!
Nei, hvor Frøkenen er fiin!
Cavaleren ligesaa,
Han har Hat og Handsker paa,
Buxer hvide, Kjole blaa,
Liigtorn paa den store Taa.
Han er fiin, og hun er fiin.
Dandse, dandse Dukke min!
Her er gamle Lisemo`er!
Hun er Dukke fra i Fjor;
Haaret nyt, det er af Hør,
Panden vasket er med Smør;
Hun er ganske ung igjen.
Kom Du med, min gamle Ven!
I skal dandse alle Tre.
Det er Penge værd at see.
Dandse, dandse Dukke min!
Gjør de rette Dandsetrin!
Foden ud ad, hold Dig rank,
Saa er Du saa sød og slank!
Neie, dreie, snurre rundt,
Det er overmaade sundt!
Det er nydeligt at see.
I er søde alle Tre.
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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Christian Wulff
Den vide Verden Faae kun nævne kan,
Der var opoffrende og god, som han;
Den skjønne Guds Natur han havde kjær,
Og paa hans Bryst faldt Dødens Draabe der;
Een Smerte kun ham fyldte, stor og heel,
Forladt og i en anden Verdens Deel
Sin stakkels syge Søster han forlod.
Et Suk — hans Hjerte brast — hos Gud han stod.
Det danske Flag man ham om Kisten gav,
Hans Kjærlighed ham fulgte i hans Grav;
Et Egetræ strøer gyldent Løv paa den;
Sov sødt, sov vel, Du tro, Du kjære Ven!
Flyv lille Svale, Vindens Vei derhen,
Bring Hilsen ham, som kommer ei igjen,
Hvis blaa og milde Øine vi først see
Der, hvor ei meer er Død og Hjertevee!
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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Abelard and Heloïse
["There are so many things I want to talk to you about." Abelard probably said to Heloïse, "but how can I when I can only think about kissing you?" --KATHARINE LANE in the Evening Mail.]
Said Abelard to Heloïse:
"Your tresses blowing in the breeze
Enchant my soul; your cheek allures;
I never knew such lips as yours."
Said Heloïse to Abelard:
"I know that it is cruel, hard,
To make you fold your yearning arms
And think of things besides my charms."
Said Abelard to Heloïse:
"Pray, lets discuss the Portuguese;
Their status in the League of Nations.
. . . . Come, slip me seven osculations.
"The Fourteen Points," said Heloïse,
"Are pure Woodrovian fallacies."
Said Abelard: "Ten times fourteen
The points you have, O beaucoup queen!"
"Lay off," said Heloïse, "all that stuff.
I've heard the same old thing enough."
"But," answered Abelard, "your lips
Put all my thoughts into eclipse."
"O Abelard," said Heloïse,
"Don't take so many liberties."
"I do it but to show regard."
And Heloïse told her chum that night
That Abelard was Awful Bright;
And--thus is drawn the cosmic plan--
She loved an Intellectual Man.
poem by Franklin P. Adams
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My Friend, The Parking Lot Attendant
—he's a dandy
—small moustache
—usually sucking on a cigar
he tends to lean into cars as he
transacts business
first time I met him, he said,
"hey! ya gonna make a
killin'?"
"maybe," I answered.
next meeting it was:
"hey, Ramrod! what's
happening?"
"very little," I told
him.
next time I had my girlfriend with me
and he just
grinned.
next time I was
alone.
"hey," he asked, "where's the young
chick?"
"I left her at home...."
"Bullshit! I'll bet she dumped
you!"
and the next time
he really leaned into the car:
"what's a guy like you doing driving a
BMW! I'll bet you inherited your
money, you didn't get this car with your
brains!"
"how'd you guess?" I
answered.
that was some weeks ago.
I haven't seen him lately.
feIlow like that, chances are he just moved on
to better
things.
poem by Charles Bukowski
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A.d.d
She told me that she had A.D.D
I asked her what was one plus two, she said: "three"
I was so impressed that I asked her again
What was seven plus three, and she said: "ten"
I asked her more additions and she got them all correct
She was very intelligent by what I could detect
Then as I tried to talk to her more, but she got distracted
I then tried to get her attention then she overreacted
She then told me something that threw me for a shock
Her having A.D.D, wasn't what I had thought
She could add quickly and correctly which was true
But paying attention to others she could not do
She was easily distracted from the projects she was on
And also forgetful from the tasks she's undergone
She said she is sometimes forgetful from day to day
Then she looked at me and asked; "what did I say? "
I asked her some more questions and she never listened
So I spoke directly to her, and her eyes they glistened
She spoke to me, then she called me someone else's name
"And I don't like to follow instructions! " to me she did exclaim
"I won't finish my work or duties or chores and I never will"
"Only thing that helps me, if and when I take a small pill"
"I will avoid the things that will take a lot of mental strain"
"As this is who I am, and my thoughts and my brain"
Then I asked her what was one plus one and she said: "two"
She then looked at me and walked away, and said: "adieu."
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
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Us Two
Wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
"Where are you going today?" says Pooh:
"Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too.
Let's go together," says Pooh, says he.
"Let's go together," says Pooh.
"What's twice eleven?" I said to Pooh.
("Twice what?" said Pooh to Me.)
"I think it ought to be twenty-two."
"Just what I think myself," said Pooh.
"It wasn't an easy sum to do,
But that's what it is," said Pooh, said he.
"That's what it is," said Pooh.
"Let's look for dragons," I said to Pooh.
"Yes, let's," said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
"Yes, those are dragons all right," said Pooh.
"As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That's what they are," said Pooh, said he.
"That's what they are," said Pooh.
"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh.
"That's right," said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!"- and off they flew.
"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he,
"I'm never afraid with you."
So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said: "True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he. "That's how it is," says Pooh.
poem by Alan Alexander Milne
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Mawe Mawe
you have your reasons
for disappearing
what they do not want to see
you have covered them all
down to the last word of your mouth
you swallowed it
and keep your mouth
shut, shut, shut
i guess you are happy
on the land of the ice
cold maybe
but the silence inside you
keeps the warmth.
we miss you somehow
and your art of
concealment but where
ever you are now
we wish you the best
if you come back
we are always here to pretend
nothing happened
and nothing happens still
in the bleak future
we are always here to keep our
mouths shut too.
we will always love you somehow.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Masked Face
I found me in a great surging space,
At either end a door,
And I said: "What is this giddying place,
With no firm-fixéd floor,
That I knew not of before?"
"It is Life," said a mask-clad face.
I asked: "But how do I come here,
Who never wished to come;
Can the light and air be made more clear,
The floor more quietsome,
And the doors set wide? They numb
Fast-locked, and fill with fear."
The mask put on a bleak smile then,
And said, "O vassal-wight,
There once complained a goosequill pen
To the scribe of the Infinite
Of the words it had to write
Because they were past its ken."
poem by Thomas Hardy
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Sonnet V: Nothing But No
Nothing but "No," and "Aye," and "Aye," and "No"?
How falls it out so strangely you reply?
I tell ye, Fair, I'll not be answer'd so,
With this affirming "No," denying "Aye."
I say, "I love," you slightly answer "Aye";
I say, "You love," you pule me out a "No";
I say, "I die," you echo me an "Aye";
"Save me," I cry, you sigh me out a "No";
Must woe and I have nought but "No" and "Aye"?
No I am I, if I no more can have;
Answer no more, with silence make reply,
And let me take myself what I do crave.
Let "No" and "Aye" with I and you be so;
Then answer "No," and "Aye," and "Aye" and "No."
poem by Michael Drayton
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Woes Versus Rues II
One on one, against and with each other
What's a bottle of alcohol?
"Brothers are bound to each other…"
I listened carefully, the smoke lifting
"Because they are bound by blood, "
I listened carefully, remembering everything
"tethered by compulsory empathy."
I listened carefully, the whiskey sweating
"I do not want that..."
I listened carefully, the sweat soldering down
"I want to be your comrade."
I listened carefully, the echoes rupturing painfully
I have never asked:
"What is a comrade? "
poem by Norman Santos
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I, She And Silence
First, first...
Over phone...
"Hello"... "Hello"
For hours… sweet talk…
Many a laugh…
3 years later...
Face to face
"Hi"... "Hi"
Two shy smiles…
Silence...
Two cups of coffee...
Silence...
While parting two broad grins...
Silence…
She turned aside …bit her lips
I sighed…scratched head
Silence…silence…silence…
2 days later........
Over phone...
"Hello"..."Hello"
for hours …sweet talk…
Many a laugh
poem by Sathya Narayana
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Physical Science
(after Antjie Krog)
Right at the front at the big old green board
the teacher waits with a strong wooden cane
while pretty girls peep at me
and here I am alone in my wooden bench,
where just here I can die in my chair
when the teacher starts to wander around
while the lesson drags on and on
and he is causing great fear among the pupils
before a crooked old finger points at me,
I see scientific formulae in chalk,
how that teacher throws down the board-eraser,
and gives me a hiding until I get all the answers right;
sometimes I wonder from where he comes,
and see the most devious fiend only in him.
[Reference: "Wiskunde" (Mathematics) by Antjie Krog.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Hjerte-Suk til Maanen
Hulde Maane, stiig fra Skyen frem!
Solen hviler alt bag Laas og Lukke.
Ak, Madam, Madam, jeg elsker Dem!
Vær ei kold mod mine hede Sukke!
De er bleg, og jeg er ligesaa;
Begge vandre vi saa taust og ene;
Hurtigt gaaer De hen ad Himlens Blaa,
Ogsaa jeg har gode lange Bene.
Er det sandt at Maanen trækker Vand,
Vil jeg græde mig til Ãgtemand.
Hav mig naadig dog i Deres Sind,
Husk den Tid, da jeg var meget lille,
Da jeg spilled Skorsteen, Klink og Pind,
Og fik Riis, skjøndt ei jeg have vilde.
De har Kundskab om mit Barndoms Liv,
Jeg var god — en lille Sukker-Unge,
Nu jeg er det i Superlativ,
Men beskedent tier her min Tunge.
O, Madam, Madam! kom ned til mig,
Eller ogsaa tag mig op til Dig!
De har hørt saa mangen Elskers Suk,
Trøstet ham ved Deres kydske Flamme,
Ak, men mig De svarer ei et Muk,
Det er ikke christeligt, Madamme!
Gjerne sukked jeg for Dem paa Spansk,
Men jeg er ei stiv i Grammatiken,
Ak! jeg mægter knap at tale Dansk,
Hjertet synker ned i Kjole-Fikken.
Skjænker De ei snart mit Hjerte Ro,
Vist jeg spiller Werther Nummer to.
poem by Hans Christian Andersen
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The ABC
'Twas midnight in the schoolroom
And every desk was shut
When suddenly from the alphabet
Was heard a loud "Tut-Tut!"
Said A to B, "I don't like C;
His manners are a lack.
For all I ever see of C
Is a semi-circular back!"
"I disagree," said D to B,
"I've never found C so.
From where I stand he seems to be
An uncompleted O."
C was vexed, "I'm much perplexed,
You criticise my shape.
I'm made like that, to help spell Cat
And Cow and Cool and Cape."
"He's right" said E; said F, "Whoopee!"
Said G, "'Ip, 'Ip, 'ooray!"
"You're dropping me," roared H to G.
"Don't do it please I pray."
"Out of my way," LL said to K.
"I'll make poor I look ILL."
To stop this stunt J stood in front,
And presto! ILL was JILL.
"U know," said V, "that W
Is twice the age of me.
For as a Roman V is five
I'm half as young as he."
X and Y yawned sleepily,
"Look at the time!" they said.
"Let's all get off to beddy byes."
They did, then "Z-z-z."
poem by Spike Milligan
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Railroad Man
I feel like an old railroad man
Ridin' out on the Bluemont Line
Hummin' along Old Dominion Blues
Not much to see, and not much left to lose
And I know I can walk along the tracks
It may take a little longer
But I know how to find my way back
I feel like an old railroad man
Who's really tried the best that he can
To make his life add up to something good
But this engine no long burns on wood
And I guess I may never understand
The times that I live in
Are not made for a railroad man
I feel like an old railroad man
Gettin' on board at the end of an age
The station's empty and the whistle blows
Things are faster now
This train is just too slow
And I know I can walk along the tracks
It may take a little longer
But I know how to find my way back
song performed by by Eels
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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All Over You
the sap is rising
and there's no disguising
what I feel for you
so mesmerising
got me fantasising
nothing I won't do
parascending, whoa oh
but it's all depending
on your sky so blue
my wings keep stalling
from the sky I'm falling
and it's over - all over you
all over you
let me build a nation
that bears no relation to the one we knew
take inspiration
from my own salvation
'cause it's over - all over you
get on board the gravy train
off the rails if you don't keep me sane
justify the things I do
just believe that it's all over you
all over you
the sap is rising
and there's no disguising
what I feel for you
so mesmerising
got me fantasising
and it's over - all over you
[Spoken]
through the heat-haze and the blue
I will shimmer and distort
and become what you always knew
but were never taught in this sad time
take on board the things I say
just be sure that you'll be mine someday
justify the things I do
just believe that it's all over you
all over you
the sap is rising
got me fantasising
so mesmerising
and there's no disguising
that it's over - all over you
song performed by by Level 42
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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