Bill
'Gentle brother, answer truly,
Tell what you be.
But, I pray, tax not unduly
Your sagacitee.
Is your brand u-ni-fi-cation
Is't, or is your appellation
Something mild and shorter still?
Answer truly, Brother Bill.'
Gentle brother answered truly,
Though in language hot
For his temper was unruly:
'Don't talk blinded rot!
Blow u-ni-fi-blanky-cation!
If you want me name an' station
My true moniker is Bill,
An' I work at Johnson's mill.'
'Gentle brother, wax not ireful.
I'm not out for jokes.
Yea, and conseuqnces direful
Smite bad-temepered blokes.
I've no doubt, all day perspiring,
You graft hard. I'm not inquiring
Who you are or what you do,
But what are you? Answer true.'
Brother Bill stood wildly staring,
Anger in his eye;
And, beligerently glaring,
Thus he made reply:
'Up at Johnson's mill I'm working,
And I ain't a bloke for shirking.
If you want me answer true,
I'm a better man that you!'
'Gentle brother, of your senses
You seem quite bereft.
Just consider how immense is....'
Here's Bill's dirty left
Took the catechist right squarely,
And Bill forthwith bounced him fairly,
Punched till he was out of breath.
Bill despised a shibboleth.
Note ye how each platform spouter,
Playing at 'the game,'
Strives to label ev'ry doubter
With a foolish name.
With sly tricks and ruses clever
They are keenly seeking ever
To affix a party brand
To all voters in the land.
List, ye party politicians,
Talking near and far,
We don't want vague propositions
As to what you are.
For the shibboleths of party
Rightly earn the curses hearty
Of all honest men and true.
Let is hear of what you DO.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Ive Been Away
Ive been away so long
Wonder where I went wrong
Spent my last years in a cell
Never ever go away again
Ive been so sad and lonely
Never ever ever gonna go away again
Its a waste of time doing time
When you dindt commit a crime
It wasnt me it was my brother bill
And Id have to tell never gonna speak to bill again
Hes made me sad and lonely
Never ever gonna speak to brother bill again
It was no use, they put my brother on the jury
He bribed the others cause he owns the local brewery
They let me out today
Brother bills gonna pay
No ones ever gonna speak to bill again
Never ever gonna speak to bill again
Hell be too cold and bony
Never ever gonna go away again
Never ever gonna go away again
Never ever gonna go away again
song performed by by Who
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Brother
Some moments are more momentous
than ever you could believe.
They are so great
that they take your breath away.
It started with a letter from an Aunt
who wrote and said your half brother Bill
would love to hear from you.
I did not have a half brother.
She had that all wrong,
the only Bill I remember
was adopted by my grandparents.
He was her half brother not mine.
However as it turned out
she was right and I was wrong.
For over fifty years,
his existence had been kept from me.
In the proceeding weeks that followed,
I found his address and then his telephone number,
then I phoned him.
For the first time in more than forty years,
I spoke to him.
At first, he could not believe it
and was sad because I never knew about him,
though he did know about me.
He thought I did not want to know him.
I made plans there and then to see him.
In 2001 we had our reunion
and I went back to see him again in 2002.
I could not go back to see him anymore
as my brother Bill passed away in 2003.
They say as one chapter closes another will soon begin.
In 2006, another chapter began,
but that is another story.
13 November 2008
poem by David Harris
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Brother To Brother Hymn
Brother to brother
I know that I can always coun on you
Because you are my brther
And I am your brother also
Brother to brother
Your life is different than mine
You live in Brazil
I live in Canad a country that is more advanced in technology
Brother to brother
I will pray for you
Eventhough you don't believe in God
Brother to brother I will email you more frequently
Brother to brother I will sing you a song
Brother to brother I hope the saints will go to Sao paulo and watch you While you are sleeping
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Use Me
Written by: bill withers
My friends feel its their appointed duty
They keep trying to tell me all you want to do is use me
Uh huh but my answer about all that use me stuff
I want to spread the news that if it feels this good getting used
You can keep on using me
Until you use me up
Until you use me up
My brother sit me right down and he talked to me
He told me that I ought to not let you just walk on me
Well Im sure that he meant well, yeah but when our talk was throught
I said brother if you only knew youd wish you were in my shoes
You can keep on using me
Until you use me up
Until you use me up
Sometimes its true you really do abuse me
Oh you get me in a crowd of high class people
And you act real rude to me
I said, oh baby, baby, baby, baby, when you love me I cant get enough
I wanna spread the news that if it feels this good getting used
You can keep on using me
Until you use me up
Until you use me up
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Gypsy Jill
They're hanging Bill at eight o' clock,
And millions will applaud.
He killed, and so they have to kill,
Such is the will of God.
His brother Tom is on my bed
To keep me comforted.
I see his bleary, blotchy face,
I hear his sodden snore.
He plans that he can take Bill's place;
I felt worse than a whore
As in his arms I cried all night,
Thinking of poor Bill's plight.
I keep my eyes upon the clock;
It nears the stroke of eight.
I think how bravely Bill will walk
To meet his gallows fate . . .
His loaded gun is in the tent,--
I know now what he meant.
Though Tom is boastful he will wed
With me, no more to part,
I'll put a bullet through his head,
Another through my heart:
At eight, stone-dead we three will be,
--Bill, Tom and me.
poem by Robert William Service
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Answer
Bill has left his house of clay,
Slammed the door and gone away:
How he laughed but yesterday!
I had two new jokes to tell,
Salty, but he loved them well:
Now I see his empty shell.
Poker-faced he looks at me;
Peeved to miss them jokes - how h
Would have belly-laughed with glee!
He gives me the pip, I swear;
Seems just like he isn't there:
Flown the coop - I wonder where?
Bill had no belief in "soul";
Thought the body was the whole,
And the grave the final goal.
Didn't reckon when we pass,
This old carcass maybe has
Spirit that sneaks out like gas.
"Look here, Bill, I'm asking you
What's the Answer? Tell me true:
Is death the end of all we do?
"Hand me out the dope - are we
No more than monkeys on a tree?"
... And then I swear to God I see
bill bat an eye and - wink at me.
poem by Robert William Service
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Use Me
(bill withers)
My friends feel its their appointed duty
They keep trying to tell me all you want to do is use me
But my answer yeah to all that use me stuff
I wanna spread the news that if it feels this good getting used
Oh you just keep on using me until you use me up
Until you use me up
My brother sits me right down and he talked to me
He told me that I ought not to let you just walk on me
And Im sure he meant well yeah but when our talk was through
I said brother if you only knew youd wish that you were in my shoes
You just keep on using me until you use me up
Until you use me up
Oh sometimes yeah its true you really do abuse me
You get in a crowd of high-class people and then you act real rude to me
But oh baby baby baby baby when you love me I cant get enough
I wanna spread the news that if it feels this good getting used
Oh you just keep on using me until you use me up
Until you use me up
Talking about you using me but it all depends on what you do
It aint too bad the way youre using me
Causes I sure am using you to do the things you do
Ah ha to do the things you do
song performed by by Hootie & The Blowfish
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Our Pote
A pote is sure a goofy guy;
He ain't got guts like you or I
To tell the score;
He ain't goy gumption 'nuff to know
The game of life's to get the dough,
Then get some more.
Take Brother Bill, he used to be
The big shot of the family,
The first at school;
But since about a year ago,
Through readin' Longfeller and Poe,
He's most a fool.
He mopes around with dimwit stare;
You might as well jest not be there,
The way he looks;
You'd think he shuns the human race,
The how he buries down his face
In highbrow books.
I've seen him stand for near an hour,
Jest starin' at a simple flower -
Sich waste o' time;
The scribblin' on an envelope . . .
Why, most of all his silly dope
Don't even rhyme.
Now Brother's Jim's an engineer,
And Brother Tim's a bank cashier,
While I keep store;
Yet Bill, the brightest of the flock,
Might be a lawyer or a doc,
And then some more.
But no, he moons and loafs about,
As if he tried to figger out
Why skies are blue;
Instead o' gittin' down to grips
Wi' life an' stackin' up the chips
Like me an' you.
* * * * * * * * * *
Well, since them final lines I wrote,
We're mournin' for our Brother Pote:
Bill crossed the sea
And solved his problem with the beat,
For now he lies in peace and rest
In Normandie.
He died the bravest of the brave,
And here I'm standin' by his grave
So far from home;
With just a wooden cross to tell
How in the blaze of battle hell
As gloriously there he fell -
Bill wrote his "pome".
poem by Robert William Service
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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To My Brother...
More than the blood of my blood. He is my friend,
my rock...my brother.
Brother, in times of need, never judging, always there.
My Brother, could, would, always make things right.
Brother, never made much ado, about the task at
hand...he just did it.
Brother, who lifted me, when I was down.
Brother, who brought the laughter, amid the pain.
Brother, the word he never spoke...was 'no'.
Brother, who had the answers, to my questions.
Brother, who by example, did walk the path of right.
Brother, in all my years...in all my life, never have
I met another...like my loving brother.
The Blood That Binds...
More than the blood of my blood. He is my friend,
my rock...my brother.
Brother, in times of need, never judging, always there.
My Brother, could, would, always make things right.
Brother, never made much ado, about the task at
hand...he just did it.
Brother, who lifted me, when I was down.
Brother, who brought the laughter, amid the pain.
Brother, the word he never spoke...was 'no'.
Brother, who had the answers, to my questions.
Brother, who by example, did walk the path of right.
Brother, in all my years...in all my life, never have
I met another...like my loving brother.
Brother...
More than the blood of my blood. He is my friend,
my rock...my brother.
Brother, in times of need, never judging, always there.
My Brother, could, would, always make things right.
Brother, never made much ado, about the task at
hand...he just did it.
Brother, who lifted me, when I was down.
Brother, who brought the laughter, amid the pain.
Brother, the word he never spoke...was 'no'.
Brother, who had the answers, to my questions.
Brother, who by example, did walk the path of right.
Brother, in all my years...in all my life, never have
I met another...like my loving brother.
He Is My Blood...
More than the blood of my blood. He is my friend,
my rock...my brother.
Brother, in times of need, never judging, always there.
My Brother, could, would, always make things right.
Brother, never made much ado, about the task at
hand...he just did it.
Brother, who lifted me, when I was down.
Brother, who brought the laughter, amid the pain.
Brother, the word he never spoke...was 'no'.
Brother, who had the answers, to my questions.
Brother, who by example, did walk the path of right.
Brother, in all my years...in all my life, never have
I met another...like my loving brother.
Lifelong Bonds...
More than the blood of my blood. He is my friend,
my rock...my brother.
Brother, in times of need, never judging, always there.
My Brother, could, would, always make things right.
Brother, never made much ado, about the task at
hand...he just did it.
Brother, who lifted me, when I was down.
Brother, who brought the laughter, amid the pain.
Brother, the word he never spoke...was 'no'.
Brother, who had the answers, to my questions.
Brother, who by example, did walk the path of right.
Brother, in all my years...in all my life, never have
I met another...like my loving brother.
My Brother Bill
This is the sad true story about my brother Bill
who was four years older than me.
He was born and then tossed aside by his mother
who left him to his father’s parents to raise,
then promptly disappeared out of his life forever.
My grandparents brought him up
hoping his father would take care of him
when he returned from the war.
His father also my dad returned from the war
married with another son and didn’t want to know.
They gave him a nickname in private
so no one else would know.
In private, they always called him Dopey.
My sister and I were told
our grandparents had adopted him
and he was nothing to do with us.
When my dad’s parents died in 1958 and 59
plans were made to come back to England
where my mother’s parents were still alive
and leave Bill far behind.
Then as his mother had done eighteen years before
his father abandoned him as well.
For a while, he had to live on the streets
taking handout from where ever he could.
He was arrested for vagrancy and sent to jail.
Getting out he got himself a job and began to build a life.
He got married and started a family,
until one night he came home
and found his wife in bed with another man,
and a divorce followed and he was alone again.
Then after 25 years, his job vanished
and he had to find another.
One day in 2000, he got a telephone call
and did not know whether to believe it or not.
It was a call he never thought he would ever get,
a call from his younger brother - me.
As we talked on the phone, some truths came to pass
his brother and his sister did not know about him.
They were told he had been adopted
and were nothing to do with them.
However, I had found the truth,
which incensed my mother enough to disown me.
We met one another for the first time
after forty-two years in 2001 and again in 2002.
In 2003, this sad story ends,
in the March of that year
Bill succumbed to a heart attack.
His final words were a testament to his life.
No one loved me enough to care.
The sad truth is someone did
and that someone was me.
We never had enough time together,
circumstances kept us apart,
but he was my brother
and will remain in my heart.
2 November 2009
Authors Note:
The facts are as Bill told them to me. A sad refrain to a wonderful guy who was tainted by my parents as being bad and no good. If the truth were known he was probably better than the both of them. He was a guy who would give you the shirt of his back if you needed it. My brother Bill, may he now rest in peace.
DVH - 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A True Brother
A true brother is the one who
Builds an unbreakable bond with you
And it doesn't matter from where he came
Or if you were the same
It only matters that both of you share
Friendship, respect and care
A true brother may be old or even young
He may be also short or even long
Matter not the outside
Only look through him inside
If you found a pure gem,
Then this would be him
Don't say that your brother
Is only the son of your father
For he can be
Anyone you see
Anyone who shows loyalty
Accompanied by true principles pf morality
A true brother is the one who shows
Tolerance where ever he goes
A true brother is more than a friend
Where the formed friendship can never end
He is absolutely more than a buddy
He is like an organ in the body
A true brother is a hidden treasure
That conceals friendship's pleasure
He is the one who never lets you down
And never irritates you or makes you frown
And never leaves thee alone, but always be with you
When you're desperate, sad and glad too
A true brother is the one who you can trust
Because he knows that friendship is a must
Your secrets he'll never spread
In brief, it is true what is said
That a friend in need
Is a friend in deed
poem by Jawad Al Harake
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For Bill - My Brother
Who was aged five when I was born
My brother
Who hid my toys and broke my dolls
My brother
Who avoided his sister at school all day
My brother
Who tolerated my teenage years
My brother
Who as an adult became a friend
My brother
Who mellowed with each passing year
My brother
Who supported my desire to immigrate
My brother
Who was there when others weren't
My brother
Who buried our parents while I was gone
My brother
Who cherished every visit I made
My brother
Who had his ticket to visit me here
My brother
Who unexpectedly died this year
My brother
poem by Evelyn Macdonald
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Confessions of a Bound Soul
Brother, my brother,
How selfish was I
While you seemed to struggle,
I sat idly by
Brother, my brother
Yes, try as I might
I now realize
It was also my fight
Brother, my brother
Now look at your arm
It's cold and immovable
Lost all its charm
Brother, my brother
Now look at your leg
There's so much left missing
Yet not once did you beg
Brother, my brother
Though I lost more in mass
It is you far more haunted
By our mistakes in the past
Brother, dear brother
Listen when I say
I will stick by your side
Until this goes away
Brother, dear brother
Listen when I say
I will stick by your side
Until our final day
poem by Amanda Saveley
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Who are you today my brother?
I have a question for you my dear brother
Tell me..who are you today
We both know the reason I'm asking
You're health has left you this way
I ask myself the same question
The answer is always the same
But you my dear long lost brother
Its like playing a guessing game
Medication dulls all your senses
For most that's a terrible crime
But for you my dear younger brother
It brings you some quality time
You live in a clear social bubble
Unaffected by worldly strife
In your youth you were just my young brother
Now your lost for the rest of your life
You dont know when its me on the phone
Unaware of how old you are
I remember the days spent together
Working hard on your latest 'new' car
All thats left are some polaroid photos
Taken when we were having a laugh
All thats left of our time with each other
Memories fading every day not by half
Schizophrenia the name that it is given
To many it means not a thing
Yet to you and I my young brother
Its a term that means everything
poem by Dan McGonagle
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Sibling Children at Play
Two sibling children are at play;
The ‘horse’ is elder sister, Jill,
Whose younger brother ‘driver’ Bill
Sits on an ‘Umbrella-cart’, gay!
‘Giddap! ’ ‘Giddap! ’ shouts Bill to her;
‘Pull me, pull me, pull me faster! ’
The fuming, panting tired Jill,
Finds it hard pulling Bill ‘uphill’?
The ‘Umbrella-cart’ moves with speed;
Poor Jill is pulling fast indeed;
Her brother giggles, laughs aloud;
The cart-drive makes him truly proud!
But, Jill is only five-years’ old;
Her baby brother is quite bold;
She does not have the strength to pull;
But give a joy-ride for Bill, she’ll!
The wheels of th’ cart wobble along;
Bill insists her to sing a song;
‘Neigh like a horse! ’ he commands her;
If she does not, Bill will holler.
Her little brother loves the ride;
The cart stops often by road-side;
The ‘driver’ shouts, ‘Pull on farther! ’
Or I will cry and call mother.
Poor Jill cannot pull on and on;
But she must do: she is first-born;
Jill loves her little brother, Bill;
Do anything for him, she will.
Yes, children love to play all day;
They do not know dangers en way;
They copy elders, come what may;
They never like the word called ‘nay’.
But children love a simple ride;
They do it on their own with pride;
They love to learn and enjoy too;
You never know what they can do.
To children, work is also play;
They love to learn in playful way;
At times, they fight as though by right;
They sleep like angels small, at night!
Their innocence is worth watching;
Their childish ways befit smiling;
Their scuffles are worth too, prying;
But sad ’tis to see them sobbing.
And adults dream of childhood years-
The loveliest in life with dears!
That was the time they knew not fears,
While parents never allowed tears.
Copyright by Dr John Celes 11-21-2007
poem by John Celes
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If It Aint One Thing Its Another
(bobby carmichael/ tony stampley/joe stampley)
I got up this morning tried to get off of work
I couldnt even find not one clean shirt
There was no hot water when I jumped in the shower
I know my boss is gonna dock me an hour
The older I get the more I discover
If it aint one thing its another
I got the car, I tried to get motivated
Now Im stuck in the traffic, all Im doing is waiting
The fool behind me keeps blowin his horn
I got my top laid back and its coming up a storm
The older I get the more I discover
If it aint one thing its another
Light bill phone bill water and gas
Pay day comes and it goes so fast
Theres no way out and Im telling you brother
If it aint one thing its another
I got to the job and I tried to explain
The boss said you wont have to do that again
I called home just to tell her the news
She said bye bye baby Im leaving you
She took the kids and shes gone to her mothers
If it aint one thing, its another
Light bill phone bill water and gas
Pay day comes and it goes so fast
Theres no way out and Im telling you brother
If it aint one thing its another
If it aint one thing its another
song performed by by Randy Travis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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