Footsteps
On an ebony bed decorated
with coral eagles, sound asleep lies
Nero --- unconscious, quiet, and blissful;
thriving in the vigor of flesh,
and in the splendid power of youth.
But in the alabaster hall that encloses
the ancient shrine of the Aenobarbi
how restive are his Lares.
The little household gods tremble,
and try to hide their insignificant bodies.
For they heard a horrible clamor,
a deathly clamor ascending the stairs,
iron footsteps rattling the stairs.
And now in a faint the miserable Lares,
burrow in the depth of the shrine,
one tumbles and stumbles upon the other,
one little god falls over the other
for they understand what sort of clamor this is,
they are already feeling the footsteps of the Furies.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
The Footsteps
Eagles of coral
adorn the ebony bed
where Nero lies fast asleep
callous, happy, peaceful,
in the prime of his body's strength,
in the fine vigour of youth.
But in the alabaster hall that holds
the ancient shrine of the Aenobarbi
how restless the household deities!
The little gods tremble
and try to hide their insignificant bodies.
They've heard a terrible sound,
a deadly sound coming up the stairs,
iron footsteps that shake the staircase;
and, faint with fear, the miserable Lares
scramble to the back of the shrine,
shoving each other and stumbling,
one little god falling over another,
because they know what kind of sound that is,
know by now the footsteps of the Furies.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Wish You Were Here
Footsteps, I can hear footsteps in the hall
I hear footsteps, seems like Ive been through this before
Some time has come now, some time has passed
But things still look the same
Is heaven all above, and paradise below
And the questions still remain
Ooh, can we see you?
Ooh, are we near you?
How could you disappear out of here?
I wish for something, I wish you were here
Footsteps, I can hear footsteps in the hall
I hear footsteps, it seems like Ive been through this before
Well we loved you then, I guess we always will
We love you still from here
Birds of a feather always stay together
And never separate, no fear
Ooh, can we see you?
Ooh, are we near you?
How could you disappear out of here?
I wish for something, I wish for something
I wish you were here, I wish you were here
I wish you well
Footsteps, I can hear footsteps in the hall
I hear footsteps, seems like Ive been through this before
If all the world was turning blue and gold
Like through your eyes so clear
The time has come to celebrate our past
And crystalize this sphere
Ooh, can we see you?
Ooh, are we near you?
How can you disappear out of here?
I wish for something
Ooh, can we see you?
Ooh, are we near you?
How can you disappear out of here?
I wish for something
I wish you were here, I wish you were here
I wish you well
There will come a day
Oh some day our day will come
Our day will come, our day will come
Words and music : simple minds (c) emi music (publ) ltd reproduced without permission
song performed by by Simple Minds
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Did You Say You Make It On The Stairs?
did i really hear you right?
making love on the stairs
and then the boy
comes surprisingly
asking both of you
what are you both doing
on the stairs
both of you naked
while he pumps
on you
like one ever hungry
lover?
how shameful!
well, okay,
the boy is your son
and the man
is your husband
was the bed broken?
or the stairs
too exciting?
was the marriage
too boring?
well, ok,
i understand,
you split with him
could be the
staggering steps on the stairs
could be that the boy
finally understands
could be that the bed
is not that warm
you split for good
and uhuh?
so you are now free
at last
from those stairs
from the bed
and the boy has to make
the inevitable choice
between pa and ma
the stairs he will always remember
anyhow
yes, the boy not the pa
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Footsteps
Footsteps in the dark
Only love will break your heart
Footsteps, footsteps
Whenever trouble comes around
Or lonely nights lead underground
And far in the dark
Abandoned cars suddenly start up
An anxious sound
As long as I hear your footsteps
In the dark thats all I need
Footsteps in the dark
Only love will break your heart
Footsteps, footsteps
When loneliness induces fear
Like waves against a
Ramshackle pier
When thunder and rain
Scar the windowpane once again
I want you near
As long as I hear your footsteps
In the dark thats all I need
Im longing to see you
I want you, I need you
Like a child who feels afraid
Of the dark at night
Hoping to hear a gentle touch
Turning on a welcome light
As long as I hear your footsteps
In the dark thats all I need
As long as I hear your footsteps
In the dark thats all I need
Footsteps in the dark
Only love will break your heart
Footsteps, footsteps
Footsteps in the dark
Only love will break your heart
Footsteps, footsteps
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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For The Love Of Big Brother
Like a train passing in the distance
Black bird in flight
I hear you call
And even though theres no one
Dark shadows move across the wall
I still hear the echo
Of your footsteps on the stairs
Still recall the images that
Seem to live out there
First you see my fingerprints
Like skeletons of leaves on the wall
People changing places
I stand for a moment
And its gone
I still hear the echo
Of your footsteps on the stairs
Still recall the images that
Seem to live out there
Like a train passing in the distance
Black bird in flight
I hear you call
And even though theres no one
Dark shadows move across the wall
I still hear the sound of
Conversations from the hall
Look to see whos coming
But its nothing
And theres no one there at all
(no one there at all)
song performed by by Eurythmics
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Unseen Shrines
The shrine where only one person can reign,
That is formless, figure less, unseen but felt and ours,
It is simply elusive, safe, treasured, but monopolized,
it is formless, figure less, unseen but felt and ours.
The shrine where only one person can reign,
Light this shrine with the wick of kindness,
The kindness, the size of life long,
Oil of understanding to fuel it regularly,
As Tolerance suffocates the person in it,
Let us understand and love each other,
The shrine where only one person can reign,
Never lighten this shrine with spirited lamps,
Smoke it with Incense of weeds and drugs,
The shrine that is figure less,
The shrine that is formless,
The shrine that is unseen,
The shrine that can be felt,
The shrine that can be enjoyed,
The shrine that can be worshiped,
It is nowhere else, it is in our heart,
That is built for the person whom we love.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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The Sound Of My Footsteps
i open the door
i enter this house
its windows closed
its chairs set aside
along the corners
of the corridors
the sound of my
shoes making
footsteps
reverberates
in the living room
it is like the lonely
poem you wrote
for me
footsteps taking
the stairs up the
second floor leading
to an empty room
nobody lives here
anymore
you explained
one day
this was a happy home
until all of them
were shot
dead, by the lone
gunner,
what was his name again?
you told me once
his name is loneliness
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Walking In My Footsteps
You're walking in my footsteps
From the tracks
That I have left.
You're walking in my footsteps
For now you see
My regrets.
For now you walk
With a limp
From your burdens
Your back is bent.
And you're walking in my footsteps
For now I see
That you're upset
You're walking the road
That I've walked before
The one I swore
I'd walk no more.
And you're walking in my footsteps
For now you see
The tracks I left
You're walking it so fast
Just like a run
Leaving the mud prints
Under the sun
That dries up
and turns to dirt
Which blows away
But stays the hurt.
And you're walking in my footsteps
From your burdens
That I have kept
I see the blood
That I have shed
Mixed with yours
Though it still is red.
And you're walking in my footsteps
For the footsteps now, are the same
With the same depth
From the same tears
From the same old troubles
From the same old fears.
And you're walking in your footsteps
For mine are gone
And yours are here.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
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Footsteps
(l. stansfield/i. devaney/r. darbyshire/f. musker)
Dont give up, youre not alone
Though youre weak and chilled to the bone
I will shore the pain that youre going through
If theres one set of footsteps Ill be carrying you
If theres one
One set of footsteps in the sand
One set of footsteps
If theres one
One set of footsteps in the sand
One set of footsteps
If youre losing faith, Ill understand
Dont be afraid Im holding your hand
If you trust in me then I will be true
If theres one set of footsteps Ill be carrying you
If theres one
One set of footsteps in the sand
One set of footsteps
If theres one
One set of footsteps in the sand
One set of footsteps
Then Im gonna walk on, walk on
Im gonna walk on till the hurt is gone
Walk on, walk on
Im gonna keep going, gonna carry on
Walk on, walk on
Im gonna walk on
Im gonna walk on
Dont give up, youre not alone
Gotta try to be strong, youve got to move on
Just hold on tight and youll make it through
If theres one set of footsteps Ill be carrying you
If theres one
One set of footsteps in the sand
One set of footsteps
If theres one
One set of footsteps in the sand
One set of footsteps
Walk on, walk on
Walk on, walk on
Im gonna walk on till its gone
song performed by by Lisa Stansfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamor for, a leader.
quote by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Rock In The Sea
Think of our blindness where the water burned!
Are we so certain that those wings, returned
And turning, we had half discerned
Before our dazzled eyes had surely seen
The bird aloft there, did not mean?—
Our hearts so seized upon the sign!
Think how we sailed up-wind, the brine
Tasting of daphne, the enormous wave
Thundering in the water cave—
Thunder in stone. And how we beached the skiff
And climbed the coral of that iron cliff
And found what only in our hearts we’d heard—
The silver screaming of that one, white bird:
The fabulous wings, the crimson beak
That opened, red as blood, to shriek
And clamor in that world of stone,
No voice to answer but its own.
What certainty, hidden in our hearts before,
Found in the bird its metaphor?
poem by Archibald MacLeish
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Footsteps
Footsteps approach.
In my heart there is reproach.
Is it good or is it bad?
The uncertanty in this drives me mad.
Are they coming to kill me, or take me grand?
To higher plaines I never planned.
I hope it's not the footsteps of the damned.
To crush my soul with eternal cold.
The footsteps now grow very bold.
Inside I'm feeling dreads not told.
What will these footsteps hold?
I'll soon find out.
They're quite close now.
poem by Michael McParland
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Following In Your Footsteps
(ian hunter/mick ronson)
Some folk leave courage,
Some folk leave you hope
Why am I out here hangin
Like a fool at the end o my rope
Some folk leave you wisdom,
Some folk leave you signs
You can never be sure
What went on before
Life is just a matter of time
Picture of you,
Clouding my view
Im following in your footsteps,
Tryin to make some sense of it all
Maybe its a sign of weakness,
But thats where my footsteps fall
Im following in your footsteps,
Tryin to hang on to your dreams
You never got what you wanted
So I never got what I need
Im following in your footsteps,
cos thats where the footsteps lead
Someone must have given me anger,
Someone must have given me hate
Or why would I stand here shakin,
When theres so many chances to take
Pictures of you,
Climb into view
Im following in your footsteps,
Tryin to make some sense of it all
Maybe its a sign of weakness,
But thats where my footsteps fall
Im following in your footsteps,
Watchin my children grow
Theyre following in my footsteps
Takin it on the road
Were following in your footsteps
cos thats where the footsteps go
Were following in your footsteps, yeah
cos thats where your footsteps go
song performed by by Ian Hunter
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet: The Desert-Snake in a rat-hole!
The Desert-snake was cornered in a hole,
And flushed out ’live, without a single scratch;
A prisoner now with once a kingly role;
To Eagles’ eyes, he’as finally no match.
The victors sigh a heave of great relief;
The vanquished too was tired of hiding;
That people rejoice is the false belief;
The desert wasn’t meant for happy riding.
The Oppressor has been removed for good;
Some dignity, the Aggressors may get;
As people clamor for water and food,
The war seems still far from over as yet.
The Eagles have their Desert-snake in beak!
But wars can find all fighters sometime weak.
poem by John Celes
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We Walk
Up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs into the hall
Take oasis, marats bathing
We walk through the wood we walk
Up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs into the hall
Take oasis, marats bathing
We walk through the woods we walk
Take oasis take oasis take oasis take oasis
Up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs into the hall
Take oasis, marats bathing
We walk through the world we walk
Up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs into the hall
Take oasis, marats bathing
Up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs into the hall
Take oasis, marats bathing
Up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs into the hall
Into the hall
song performed by by REM
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It is difficult to discriminate the voice of truth from amid the clamor raised by heated partisans.
quote by Friedrich Schiller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Looking, Walking, Being
"The World is not something to
look at, it is something to be in."
Mark Rudman
I look and look.
Looking's a way of being: one becomes,
sometimes, a pair of eyes walking.
Walking wherever looking takes one.
The eyes
dig and burrow into the world.
They touch
fanfare, howl, madrigal, clamor.
World and the past of it,
not only
visible present, solid and shadow
that looks at one looking.
And language? Rhythms
of echo and interruption?
That's
a way of breathing.
breathing to sustain
looking,
walking and looking,
through the world,
in it.
poem by Denise Levertov
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Take Care
There is power in seeming certain - danger also.
When the Witch is dead you will be held to account for promises made.
Dorothy and her companions, scarred and fresh from the kill
demand something more than thirty pieces.
They will clamor for truth, justice, hope - all the virtues
held so dearly at arm's length.
Take care Mr. Wizard.
Take care to tread lightly where hearts and minds are concerned.
Take care to speak softly, quiet as fog and clear as the call to prayer.
Take care, take care.
poem by Ronald Shields
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Quaaludes Again
She fumbles and stumbles
And falls down the stairs,
Makes love to the leg of the dining room chair.
She's ready for animals, women or men.
She's doing Quaaludes again.
poem by Sheldon Allan Silverstein
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