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Improvisations: Light And Snow: 13

My heart is an old house, and in that forlorn old house,
In the very centre, dark and forgotten,
Is a locked room where an enchanted princess
Lies sleeping.
But sometimes, in that dark house,
As if almost from the stars, far away,
Sounds whisper in that secret room —
Faint voices, music, a dying trill of laughter?
And suddenly, from her long sleep,
The beautiful princess awakes and dances.
Who is she? I do not know.
Why does she dance? Do not ask me! —
Yet to-day, when I saw you,
When I saw your eyes troubled with the trouble of happiness,
And your mouth trembling into a smile,
And your fingers pull shyly forward, —
Softly, in that room,
The little princess arose
And danced;
And as she danced the old house gravely trembled
With its vague and delicious secret.

poem by Conrad Potter Aiken
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes

Improvisations: Light and Snow

The girl in the room beneath
Before going to bed
Strums on a mandolin
The three simple tunes she knows.
How inadequate they are to tell how her heart feels!
When she has finished them several times
She thrums the strings aimlessly with her finger-nails
And smiles, and thinks happily of many things.

I stood for a long while before the shop window
Looking at the blue butterflies embroidered on tawny silk.
The building was a tower before me,
Time was loud behind me,
Sun went over the housetops and dusty trees;
And there they were, glistening, brilliant, motionless,
Stitched in a golden sky
By yellow patient fingers long since turned to dust.

III

The first bell is silver,
And breathing darkness I think only of the long scythe of time.
The second bell is crimson,
And I think of a holiday night, with rockets
Furrowing the sky with red, and a soft shatter of stars.
The third bell is saffron and slow,
And I behold a long sunset over the sea
With wall on wall of castled cloud and glittering balustrades.
The fourth bell is color of bronze,
I walk by a frozen lake in the dun light of dusk:
Muffled crackings run in the ice,
Trees creak, birds fly.
The fifth bell is cold clear azure,
Delicately tinged with green:
One golden star hangs melting in it,
And towards this, sleepily, I go.
The sixth bell is as if a pebble
Had been dropped into a deep sea far above me . . .
Rings of sound ebb slowly into the silence.

On the day when my uncle and I drove to the cemetery,
Rain rattled on the roof of the carriage;
And talkng constrainedly of this and that
We refrained from looking at the child's coffin on the seat before us.
When we reached the cemetery
We found that the thin snow on the grass
Was already transparent with rain;
And boards had been laid upon it
That we might walk without wetting our feet.

When I was a boy, and saw bright rows of icicles
In many lengths along a wall
I was dissappointed to find
That I could not play music upon them:
I ran my hand lightly across them
And they fell, tinkling.
I tell you this, young man, so that your expectations of life
Will not be too great.

It is now two hours since I left you,
And the perfume of your hands is still on my hands.
And though since then
I have looked at the stars, walked in the cold blue streets,
And heard the dead leaves blowing over the ground
Under the trees,
I still remember the sound of your laughter.
How will it be, lady, when there is none left to remember you
Even as long as this?
Will the dust braid your hair?

VII

The day opens with the brown light of snowfall
And past the window snowflakes fall and fall.
I sit in my chair all day and work and work
Measuring words against each other.
I open the piano and play a tune
But find it does not say what I feel,
I grow tired of measuring words against each other,
I grow tired of these four walls,
And I think of you, who write me that you have just had a daughter
And named her after your first sweetheart,
And you, who break your heart, far away,
In the confusion and savagery of a long war,
And you who, worn by the bitterness of winter,
Will soon go south.
The snowflakes fall almost straight in the brown light
Past my window,
And a sparrow finds refuge on my window-ledge.
This alone comes to me out of the world outside
As I measure word with word.

VIII

Many things perplex me and leave me troubled,
Many things are locked away in the white book of stars
Never to be opened by me.
The starr'd leaves are silently turned,
And the mooned leaves;
And as they are turned, fall the shadows of life and death.
Perplexed and troubled,
I light a small light in a small room,
The lighted walls come closer to me,
The familiar pictures are clear.
I sit in my favourite chair and turn in my mind
The tiny pages of my own life, whereon so little is written,
And hear at the eastern window the pressure of a long wind, coming
From I know not where.

How many times have I sat here,
How many times will I sit here again,
Thinking these same things over and over in solitude
As a child says over and over
The first word he has learned to say.

This girl gave her heart to me,
And this, and this.
This one looked at me as if she loved me,
And silently walked away.
This one I saw once and loved, and never saw her again.

Shall I count them for you upon my fingers?
Or like a priest solemnly sliding beads?
Or pretend they are roses, pale pink, yellow, and white,
And arrange them for you in a wide bowl
To be set in sunlight?
See how nicely it sounds as I count them for you --
'This girl gave her heart to me
And this, and this, . . . !
And nevertheless, my heart breaks when I think of them,
When I think their names,
And how, like leaves, they have changed and blown
And will lie, at last, forgotten,
Under the snow.

It is night time, and cold, and snow is falling,
And no wind grieves the walls.
In the small world of light around the arc-lamp
A swarm of snowflakes falls and falls.
The street grows silent. The last stranger passes.
The sound of his feet, in the snow, is indistinct.

What forgotten sadness is it, on a night like this,
Takes possession of my heart?
Why do I think of a camellia tree in a southern garden,
With pink blossoms among dark leaves,
Standing, surprised, in the snow?
Why do I think of spring?

The snowflakes, helplessly veering,,
Fall silently past my window;
They come from darkness and enter darkness.
What is it in my heart is surprised and bewildered
Like that camellia tree,
Beautiful still in its glittering anguish?
And spring so far away!

As I walked through the lamplit gardens,
On the thin white crust of snow,
So intensely was I thinking of my misfortune,
So clearly were my eyes fixed
On the face of this grief which has come to me,
That I did not notice the beautiful pale colouring
Of lamplight on the snow;
Nor the interlaced long blue shadows of trees;

And yet these things were there,
And the white lamps, and the orange lamps, and the lamps of lilac were there,
As I have seen them so often before;
As they will be so often again
Long after my grief is forgotten.

And still, though I know this, and say this, it cannot console me.

XII

How many times have we been interrupted
Just as I was about to make up a story for you!
One time it was because we suddenly saw a firefly
Lighting his green lantern among the boughs of a fir-tree.
Marvellous! Marvellous! He is making for himself
A little tent of light in the darkness!
And one time it was because we saw a lilac lightning flash
Run wrinkling into the blue top of the mountain, --
We heard boulders of thunder rolling down upon us
And the plat-plat of drops on the window,
And we ran to watch the rain
Charging in wavering clouds across the long grass of the field!
Or at other times it was because we saw a star
Slipping easily out of the sky and falling, far off,
Among pine-dark hills;
Or because we found a crimson eft
Darting in the cold grass!

These things interrupted us and left us wondering;
And the stories, whatever they might have been,
Were never told.
A fairy, binding a daisy down and laughing?
A golden-haired princess caught in a cobweb?
A love-story of long ago?
Some day, just as we are beginning again,
Just as we blow the first sweet note,
Death itself will interrupt us.

XIII

Who is she? I do not know.
Why does she dance? Do not ask me! --
Yet to-day, when I saw you,
When I saw your eyes troubled with the trouble of happiness,
And your mouth trembling into a smile,
And your fingers pull shyly forward, --
Softly, in that room,
The little princess arose
And danced;
And as she danced the old house gravely trembled
With its vague and delicious secret.

XIV

Like an old tree uprooted by the wind
And flung down cruelly
With roots bared to the sun and stars
And limp leaves brought to earth --
Torn from its house --
So do I seem to myself
When you have left me.

The music of the morning is red and warm;
Snow lies against the walls;
And on the sloping roof in the yellow sunlight
Pigeons huddle against the wind.
The music of evening is attenuated and thin --
The moon seen through a wave by a mermaid;
The crying of a violin.
Far down there, far down where the river turns to the west,
The delicate lights begin to twinkle
On the dusky arches of the bridge:
In the green sky a long cloud,
A smouldering wave of smoky crimson,
Breaks in the freezing wind: and above it, unabashed,
Remote, untouched, fierly palpitant,
Sings the first star.

poem by Conrad Potter Aiken
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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New Home Town

(randy goodrum)
Therell be friendly faces everywhere you look
Like that magic page inside your coloring book
And well begin again
And find our strength again in our new hometown
And theres a house beside a pond inside our woods
And every winter it becomes the neighborhood
Therell be a snowman then
And skaters everywhere in our new hometown
(chorus)
So dont be afraid, little princess
When the train finally reaches tracks end
Every step of the way, Ill be one heart beat away
Little princess, tomorrow starts right now
In our new home town
Theres a room inside our house thats mine and yours
And I promised you feel safe and so secure
Well have a better life, a little paradise
In our new hometown
(chorus)
So dont be afraid, little princess
Cause our journey has come to an end
Every night every day Ill be one heart beat away
Little princess, tomorrow starts right now
In our new hometown

song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When She Tiptoed

when she tiptoed
she was inside her locked room
when she tiptoed and danced the ballet
she was inside her locked room & she closed all the windows

outside the world sees her as a limp

and she likes it that way
she is the princess of hypocrisy.

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The night we danced

The night we danced
~
It was in that little room
We dance concentric circles
Your laughter tickled my ear
Filled my heart with joy
Holding your hand in mine
The touch of your fingers
Our heads buried in shoulders
Your scent and warmth
I remember as though
We are still dancing
The way we slowly moved
Both trying not to fall
The look of your smile
That shine in your eye
You were so beautiful
The night we danced
Slow concentric circles
Without music we moved
In that little room

poem by Matthew Holloway
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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House Of The Heart

So many people live in the house of the heart
And all the people that lives in the house of the heart
Are very at the house of the heart
Because they don't live alone
The house of the heart is a very big house
With 10 bedrooms,1 kitchen, a dining room,1 large living room, and 5
Bathrooms
At the house of the heart everybody sleeps in their own bedroom

poem by Aldo Kraas
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This House Is Haunted

I was sitting in my room, dark and gray and crying
Someone in my life I fear was at the point of dying
A cold wind blew right up my spine, it was the break of dawn
A little voice went deep inside told me she was gone
Oh...This house is haunted
Oh...That's how I want it to be
Oh...This house is haunted
You can always stay here with me...
No more singing, no more laughing, no more sunny days
She left and took the colors with her, buried in her grave
This is where we climbed the tower, this is where she fell
Then when her young heart stopped beating, I went to hell
Oh...This house is haunted
Oh...Ha....
Oh...This house is haunted
Ho...Oh...
You float through the living room, I watch my TV
I feel you sit down on the couch right here next to me
Then I feel your lips touch mine just like we used to do
I'm so happy all alone being here with you...

song performed by by Alice Cooper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A House Is Not A Home

(burt bacharach / hal david)
A chair is still a chair
Even though theres no-one sitting there
But a chair is not a house
And a house is not a home
When theres no-one there to hold you tight
And no-one there you can kiss goodnight
A room is still a room
Even though theres nothing there but gloom
But a room is not a house
And a house is not a home
When the two of us are far apart
And one of us has a broken heart
Now and then I call your name
And suddenly your voice appears
But its just a crazy game
When it ends, it ends in tears
Darling, have a heart
Dont let one mistake keep us apart
Im not meant to live alone
Turn this house into a home
When I climb the stairs
And turn the key
Oh, please be there
Still in love with me
Im not meant to live alone
Turn this house into a home
When I climb the stairs
And turn the key
Oh, please be there
Still in love with me

song performed by by Dusty Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I sit alone...

I sit alone
In this cold dark room
No windows no doors
Just icy cold air

I live alone
In this cold dark room
No family no friends
Just loneliness to share

I stay alone
In this cold dark room
No voices no sounds
Just nobody to care

I probe alone
In this cold dark room
In my mind in my world
Just a room filled with despair

I roam alone
In this cold dark room
No way in no way out
Just a worn but rigid snare

I rust alone
In this cold dark room
Not because there is no other way
Just because its easier that way....

poem by Deep Dark Soul Poet
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Cold Dark..

I sit alone
In this cold dark room
No windows no doors
Just icy cold air

I live alone
In this cold dark room
No family no friends
Just loneliness to share

I stay alone
In this cold dark room
No voices no sounds
Just nobody to care

I probe alone
In this cold dark room
In my mind in my world
Just a room filled with despair

I roam alone
In this cold dark room
No way in no way out
Just a worn but rigid snare

I rust alone
In this cold dark room
Not because there is no other way
Just because its easier that way....

poem by Deep Dark Soul Poet
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Like A Stone

On a cold wet
Afternoon
No room for love and emptiness
By a freeway
I confess I was lost in the pages
Of a book
Full of death
Reading how well die alone
And if a God will lay to rest
Anywhere we want to go
In your house
I long to be
Room by room
Patiently
Ill wait for you there
Like a stone
Ill wait for you there
Alone
And on my death bed
I will prey
To the gods and the angels
Like a pagan
To anyone who will take me to heaven
To a place
I would recall
I was there so long ago
The sky was bruised
The world was black
And there you led me on
In your house
I long to be
Room by room
Patiently
Ill wait for you there
Liek a stone
Ill wait for you there
Alone
In all I read
Till the day was gone
And I sat in regret
In all the things Ive done
For all that Ive blessed
And all that Ive wronged
In dreams till my death
I will wonder on
In your house
I long to be
Room by room
Patiently
Ill wait for you there
Like a stone
Ill wait for you there
Alone
Alone

song performed by by Audioslave
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Here In My House

Here in my house.
My dreams are filled in the here and now.
Here in my house.
Things seem so estranged.
Life's closer to being changed.
Where I live there is a numbness.
There's an emptiness waiting to be undone.

Here in my house.
I need peace and solitude.
I want the happy interlude.
Where's the happiness?
Why the sappiness?

Here in my house.
I want a lover to feed me.
Come and take me to bed.
Save my room for my heart to be filled.

Here in my house.
Outside, life torments and plays with the wind.
You get caught up in the bum rush.
When love comes, it hurts too much.
You don't want to let go.

Here in my house.
Let's sweep away our cares.
Find a place to get our anger out.
Constructively, with every whimp of passion.
Love rules out your heart.
That what love does.
Here in my house.
You want it too much.
Here in my house.

poem by Raven Brent
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Gardener XXIV: Do Not Keep to Yourself

Do not keep to yourself the secret of
your heart, my friend!
Say it to me, only to me, in secret.
You who smile so gently, softly
whisper, my heart will hear it, not my
ears.
The night is deep, the house is
silent, the birds' nests are shrouded
with sleep.
Speak to me through hesitating
tears, through faltering smiles, through
sweet shame and pain, the secret of
your heart!

poem by Rabindranath Tagore
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The Houses

1898 -- A Song of the Dominions

'Twixt my house and thy house the pathway is broad,
In thy house or my house is half the world's hoard;
By my house and thy house hangs all the world's fate,
On thy house and my house lies half the world's hate.

For my house and thy house no help shall we find
Save thy house and my house -- kin cleaving to kind;
If my house be taken, thine tumbleth anon.
If thy house be forfeit, mine followeth soon.

'Twixt my house and thy house what talk can there be
Of headship or lordship, or service or fee?
Since my house to thy house no greater can send
Than thy house to my house -- friend comforting friend;
And thy house to my house no meaner can bring
Than my house to thy house -- King counselling King.

poem by Rudyard Kipling
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For All Princesses

Of being a fairytale princess; every little girl has dreams
So real to them, it all really seems
By her mean stepmother, Cinderella was made to work so hard every day
Her fairy godmother helped her out in the best possible way
She met her handsome prince charming at the ball
Losing her glass slipper; on the ladies of the land; he had to call
Everyone of them tried it on their foot
She became a princess without her soot
Snow White cleaned the house for the seven dwarfs in the wood
The wicked queen tried the poison apple trick to kill her; if she could
Into a deep sleep Snow White drifted
From her side the loyal little men; never shifted
Along came her prince; with a kiss awakened her
Living happily ever after; they all were
To prick her finger on a spinning wheel, an evil fairy made
Princess Aurora for one hundred years; asleep, stayed
To break the spell; a good fairy tried
After a great length of time; her prince was by her side
He had broken through the tanglement of branches; that did surround
The castle everywhere
Then he saw sleeping beauty lying there
A princess in a long white gown
On his knee and bending down
Her lips with his; the prince did touch softly
He stepped back; awake, was she
Rejoicement went throughout the land
The prince and princess together did stand
All these fairytale princesses had so many trials to go through
Before their wishes came true
Even the princess who on a mountain of mattresses had to sleep
Her awake all night, this did keep
She proved that she was a princess with a delicate skin; absolutely
As under all the heap of foam was a little pea
My daughter Sarah is a princess to me
That's how it will always be

poem by Rose Angel H
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Mimis House

I remember many times when I was just a child,
How I played in that old house upon the farm.
With rocking chairs and squeaky stairs, all pieces of her world,
And a fire in her room to keep us warm.
cause no one is a stranger in mimis house,
cause love has made his home there in her heart.
And shes got that infectious way of laughing right out loud
That takes away my pain and lights the dark.
And now were not as young as when I played there all the time,
And the visits seemed too scarce and far between,
But life goes on at mimis house, and in my mind Im there,
With a fire in her room to keep us warm.
cause no one is a stranger in mimis house,
cause love has made his home there in her heart.
And shes got that infectious way of laughing right out loud
That takes away my pain and lights the dark.
And when I stop and think of how shes aging,
Growing strong and graceful in her god.
Well, you know it takes my fear away from aging;
She seems to know the secret that well never be apart.
cause no one is a stranger in mimis house,
cause love has made his home there in her heart.
And shes got that infectious way of laughing right out loud
That takes away my pain and lights the dark.
Yes, shes got that infectious way of laughing right out loud
That takes away my pain and lights the dark.

song performed by by Amy Grant
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Heart Has A Longing Of Its Own Apart From The Beautiful

who can dictate
what the heart can love?
no one

on that day of
sorrow
the beautiful princess
gives up
her royal right
to a shepherd
that she loved

travels a desert and
a forest
crosses six rivers
sleeps over grass
for three nights
just t to be with him

and she enters his
thatched-roof house
surrounded with chickens
and goats
and asks him to make
love with her tonight

she undresses herself
her white body
scented by fresh roses
and precious perfume
lighted
by the moon

but all that the shepherd did
was to look at the stars
and then
sleep

the night is cold
with its eerie silence
and the princess
kills herself

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Labyrinth

Say it's the same sun spinning in the same sky
Say it's the same stars streaming in the same night
Tell me it's the same world whirling through the same space
Tell me it's the same time tripping through the same day
So say it's the same house and nothing in the house has changed
Yeah say it's the same room and nothing in the room is strange
Oh tell me it's the same boy burning in the same bed
Tell me it's the same blood breaking in the same head
Say it's the same taste taking down the same kiss
Say it's the same you
Say it's the same you and it's always been like this
Say it's the same you
Say it's the same you and it always and forever is
Say it's the same you
Say it's the same you and it's always been like this
Say it's the same you
Say it's the same you and it always and forever is
Say it's the same you
Say it's the same you
Yeah tell me it's all the same
This is how it's always been
But if nothing has changed...
Then it must mean...
But the sun is cold - the sky is wrong
The stars are black - the night is gone
The world is still - the space is stopped
The time is out - the day is dropped
The house is dark - the room is scarred
The boy is stiff - the bed is hard
The blood is thick - the head is burst
The taste is dry - the kiss is thirst
And it's not the same you
It's not the same you
No it never was like this
It's not the same you
It's not the same you and it never really is
It's not the same you
It's not the same you
No it never was like this
It's not the same you
It's not the same you and it never really is
It's not the same you
It's not the same you
Oh it's not the same
This isn't how it's always been
Everything has to have changed...
Or it's me...

song performed by by Cure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cold Dark Room

i sit alone
in this cold dark room
no windows
no doors
icy cold air
i sit alone
in this cold dark room

i live alone
in this cold dark room
no family
no friends
no life to share
i live alone
in this cold dark room

i stay alone
in this cold dark room
no voices
no sounds
no one does care
i stay alone
in this cold dark room

i sit alone
in this cold dark room
no way out
no way in
but i dont care
i sit alone
in this cold dark room

i live alone
in this cold dark room
in my mind
in my world
i dont want to share
i stay alone
in this cold dark room

i stay alone
in this cold dark room
because
it's easier that way

poem by Austin Beyer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sonnet: An Empty House Remembers

The empty house around me ticks and creaks,
A moody end to evening's gentle rains,
A brooding quiet as the daylight wanes,
The secret language empty houses speak.

What stories might this house preserve entire
In rhythmic code composed of click and groan?
Does House recall a sadness with each moan?
Is laughter stored in every plank and wire?

And how might I, a fleeting visitor,
Acquire an ear for stories trapped in time,
And wrap a tale or two in words and rhyme?
How can I tap the House's secret lore?

In silence soft the house slips off to sleep.
Alone I sit, in darkness vast and deep.

poem by Russell Collier
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6th Nonsense

The room is dark, I die.
Like painting the wind, it's impossible.
If oranges were gray we might call them 'Grays'
That would be groovy.
The room is dark, I die.

The room is dark, I die.
If there's rain in Spain would it make it to Maine?
I don't think so.
Everything's Zen?
I don't think so.
The room is dark I die.

The room is dark, I die.
I want to drift through lavender fields like honey on a cotton ball.
Dig it.
But the high-talking motorcross bandits won't let me.
The sorrow.
The room is dark, I die.

The room is dark, I die.
But if I were in Punjab I never would have seen the quartet.
If only quartets had 7 people.
That's alright because bunsen burners don't cost much.
The room is dark, I die.

The room is dark, I die.
That's my favorite Bible verse.
I think it's in Lushiticus, or Nueteronomy.
The hail storms don't mean anything when you're a unicorn anyway.
The room is dark, I die.

poem by Sledge Hammer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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