A Task
In fear and trembling, I think I would fulfill my life
Only if I brought myself to make a public confession
Revealing a sham, my own and of my epoch:
We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs and
demons
But pure and generous words were forbidden
Under so stiff a penalty that whoever dared to pronounce one
Considered himself as a lost man.
poem by Czeslaw Milosz
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Get Stiff Quick
When your backbone bends,
And your vision dims...
You've got to,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
When you know you need to move,
From foolish doers...
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
No need to put up more with that funky stuff.
You've got to,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
No need to ride a roller coaster,
You know was tough.
No need to do a shuffle singing those sad songs.
Or get along with others you wish from you gone!
Just,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
You've got to,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick!
When your backbone bends,
And your vision dims...
You've got to,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
Mean what you say and be done with it.
You've got to,
Get stiff...
Get stiff quick!
Don't let just anything fall from your lips.
Or bite your tongue to let an old patience sit.
When you wish to make a point you know wont quit.
You've got to,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
You've got to,
Get stiff.
Get stiff quick.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Fear of a loss
Ring, ring
That was phone,
Mum answered
In a moment
Lost in time
my mum was gone
Granny on the couch
Nervous, anxious, fearful
A Quiet, deathly silence
Filled the emptiness
We were told to pray
I dared not ask why
Praying, wondering, still dared not ask
Then the memory, gripping
Daddy hadn’t come home that day
Fearing the unknown
Dared not question
Fear of hearing
Fear of knowing
Fear of loss
Ring, ring
Granny answered,
Questions, silence, gripped by fear
Bravely, she spoke what we dared not ask
What we feared we would hear
Daddy was gone
We lost him
In the silence of this night
He passed on, quietly
As he had passed through this life
Through our lives
The silence continued
Time had stopped
The heavy quietness
The ominous silence
Overwhelmed my senses
Fear
Loss
My fear of loss
No longer a fear
A reality now
poem by Alessandra Maraschin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Losing Life to Fear
In fear of being heard,
In fear of being understood,
In fear of not being heard,
In fear of not being understood,
In fear of being misheard,
In fear of being misunderstood,
In fear of hearing too much,
In fear of understanding too much,
In fear of saying too much,
In fear of saying too little,
In fear of being too enlightened,
In fear of not being factually correct,
In fear of being too bright,
In fear of being too ignorant,
In fear of being praised,
In fear of being bullied,
In fear of not being like others,
In fear of loosing my individuality,
In fear of being ostracized,
In fear of being camouflaged,
In fear of being the attraction,
In fear of being ignored,
In fear of being too different,
In fear of being too common,
In fear of following others,
In fear of disobeying others,
In fear of being too gullible,
In fear of being too stubborn,
In fear of being used,
In fear of being misused,
In fear of rewards,
In fear of punishments,
In fear of responsibility,
In fear of expectations,
In fear of being trusted,
In fear of being mistrusted,
In fear of your lack of response,
In fear of your over-reaction,
In fear of eternal silence,
In fear of noisy communication,
In fear of your acceptance,
In fear of your rejection,
In fear of exciting you,
In fear of upsetting you,
In fear of loving you,
In fear of hating you,
In fear of your love,
In fear of your hatred,
In fear of being loved,
In fear of being hated,
In fear of thinking,
In fear of existing,
In fear of living,
In fear of dying,
In fear of being myself,
In fear of being another,
In fear of knowing myself,
In fear of neglecting myself,
I lost my voice;
I lost my identity;
I lost my self.
I lost this life;
I lost my life;
I lost life's life.
poem by Suraj Samtani
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Forbidden Fruit
all the forbidden fruit I ever
dreamt of--or was taught to
resist and fear--ripens and
blossoms under the palms of my
hands as they uncover and explore
you--and in the most secret
corners of my heart as it discovers
and adores you--the forbidden fruit
of forgiveness--the forbidden fruit
of finally feeling the happiness
you were afraid you didn't deserve--
the forbidden fruit of my life's labor
--the just payment I have avoided
since my father taught me how--
the forbidden fruit of the secret
language of our survivors' souls as
they unfold each others secret
ballots--the ones where we voted
for our first secret desires to come
true--there's so much more
I want to say to you--but for
the first time in my life I'm at
a loss for words--because
(I understand at last)
I don't need them
to be heard by you.
Submitted by Venus
poem by Michael Lally
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
...each of us has to find out for himself what is permitted and what is forbidden - forbidden for him. It is possible for one never to transgress a single law and still be a bastard. And vice versa. Actually it's only a question of convenience. Those who are too lazy and comfortable to think for themselves and be their own judges obey the laws. Others sense their own laws within them things are forbidden to them that every honorable man will do any day in the year and other things are allowed to them that are generally despised. Each person must stand on his own feet.
quote by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
We shall be inclined to pronounce the voyage that led to the way to this New World as the most epoch-making event of all that have occurred since the birth of Christ.
quote by John Fiske
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Like Father Like Son
He was raised in the english way
His daddy taught him respect, he taught him how to pray
They sent him off to boarding school
Where he learned how to live by someone elses rule
And he went to confession
He went to confession
Holy father wash my sins away
He went to confession
He went to confession
Mother mary take the pain away
He read letters from home at night in his bed
And got this uneasy feeling when his father said
Fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise a good boy
The fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise a good boy
He bought his daddys car and he learned to drive
And when he left school he got a nine to five
He met the girl and he got his spouse
And they had the child and they got the house
And he went to confession
He went to confession
Holy father wash my sins away
He went to confession
He went to confession
Mother mary take the pain away
He loved his son and he helped him build walls and fronts
He knew hed heard it before
Someone had said it once
Fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise a good boy
The fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise a good boy
He raised his son in the english way
And he taught him respect, he taught him how to pray
He sent him off to boarding school
Where he learned how to live by someone elses rules
And he went to confession
He went to confession
Holy father wash my sins away
He went to confession
He went to confession
Mother mary take the pain away
It must be something much deeper than fear or pain
Another child learns a pattern he wont break the chain
Fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise a good boy
The fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise a good boy
The fear of God and the feel of the rod
Will raise the next boy
song performed by by Rick Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
In all the areas within which the spiritual life of humanity is at work, the historical epoch wherein fate has placed us is an epoch of stupendous happenings.
quote by Edmund Husserl
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
As If
It was more than a matter of knowin
Or the words that were finally said
It was more than the comin or goin
Or the things that were made in your head
It was more than a matter of wantin
And needin the foolish things I gave
As if I ever cared to make you cry
Couldve been right to know that it wast
Yet you knew I was sorry
I dared to make you cry
As if I would
As if I could
As if I tried
But the words that were finally spoken
Like the thoughts that remain in my soul
And hearts that were finally broken
And embrace that never be hold
And the words that I never told you
But I told you, the foolish things I said
As if I ever cared to make you cry
I couldve been right to know that I wasnt
Yet you knew that I was sorry
I dared to make you cry
As if I would
As if I could
As if I tried
As if I ever cared to make you cry
I couldve been right to know that I wasnt
Yet you knew that I was sorry
I dared to make you cry
Could have been strong but the words didnt rhyme
And the things that would come between us
song performed by by Neil Diamond
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Still-born(fools paradise) .
Our relationship
Is as perfect
As a still-born child.
Never dared to be
Touched
Ever again
For fear of
Revealing
It was never
Perfect.
Only in our minds` eye
Of each other.
poem by Peter Vealey
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Lost in everything
Lost in thought
lost in pain
lost in fear
that you can never retain!
Lost in trouble
lost in grief
lost in heartbreak
that you can never relief!
Lost in sorrow
lost in death
lost in misery
That you can never refresh!
Lost in life
lost in words
lost in everything
That you can never return!
Lost in chaos
lost in peace
lost in burdens
that you can never release!
Because these are the things
we think and feel
through the good and the bad
It's a forever done deal!
poem by Katarina Bowman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Three Oddest Words
When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.
When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no nonbeing can hold.
poem by Wislawa Szymborska
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
The Death Penalty
Bring back the death penalty screamed a lady as the blood ran, dripping from the cold concrete as her sons blood fled from its body. Bring back, bring back the death penalty screamed a mother as her child dies slowly watching the pools of life fade away from his eyes.
Bring back, bring back the death penalty screamed a mother while she watched her child being killed by the hands of another man, bring back the death penalty.
Bring back the death penalty as she screamed holding her dying child while he laid his last words and breath upon her chest. Bring back the death penalty she screamed in mercy so that she will so that she will no longer have to hold any more of her dying sons and lay them in graves before she lays in her own.
Bring back the death penalty she screamed as her sons soul left his body and he became another victim to a violent society. Bring back the death penalty, bring back our sons.
poem by Melvyn Mohan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
We've had public hearings. We've had interim reports, which our statute has encouraged us to provide to the public. We have brought the public along with us, trying to make as much available as possible over time.
quote by Richard Ben Veniste
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Oh, My Gosh! Oh, My Gosh! Oh, My Gosh! (A Poem about Jennifer!)
Oh, my! That kiss! And just for me! How cute, how sweet, how quaint!
I'm kinda lost... pure ecstacy! I hope that I don't faint!
Oh, gosh! One more! Upon my lips! Must be my lucky day!
Oh, wow! A third! My heartbeat dips - it almost slipped away!
Please stop! No more! Oh, not again! Four times? Don't make it five!
I'm not as strong as other men! I don't think I'd survive!
Good gracious, girl! I'm not that cute! Five kisses in a row?
I think it's time for you to scoot! One kiss before you go?
Did I kiss back? Confession time! Jennifer! Je t'adore!
Exquisite kisses, so sublime! Addicted now for sure!
Now I see why! It's kinda nice! It's awesome, don't you think?
It kinda takes you by surprise to find two hearts in sync!
Why did we wait so long, my dear? Why were we so reserved?
Thank God, at last we've lost our fear and got what we deserved!
Such tenderness! Such happiness! Such are the joys of life!
I've got to ask you now I guess... Erm, will you be my wife?
poem by Denis Martindale
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Remember the Ridiculous?
Remember the ridiculous?
When outrageous public statements made,
Were attributed to those considered nonconformists.
Or at least depicted as militant with violent wishes!
And were silenced quick wherever they dared to sit.
Remember the heights achieved by those self righteous?
The ones who quoted from scriptures and knew what sinning meant.
The ones who declared a separation of church and politics.
And spoke of family values and deplored decadence.
With hints they were chosen and others lived to be blasphemous!
Rewind these actions and tell me this...
Whose standards vowed are at a crisis now?
Who authorized the lives we live?
While standing by to watch...
Chaos rise to become prioritized as top notch!
With excuses to make and pointing fingers to give!
Remember the ridiculous?
When outrageous public statements made,
Were attributed to those considered nonconformists.
Or at least depicted as militant with violent wishes!
And were silenced quick wherever they dared to sit.
And those making the most noise today...
Protest loudly in disarray!
In groups to influence and convince in their dismay...
They represent the people who are of conservative ways.
Remember the ridiculous?
When terrorists were thought to ride camels...
And not be Ivy league graduates,
On shores who condoned and promoted this!
With only greed and the economy as the main interest.
Too bad the borders can not be secured,
By those who are staunch racists!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Transaction
Those considered in life as losers
Shall die as a success, but when?
Those considered fearful of death
Shall create sayings applicable to love
And happiness, such is the amount.
My gratitude bespoke the meanings,
Inside the prayer went a message
To the angels to transact words for laughter
And bliss of Paradise.
I crushed the bones of a person in command,
And so when is the death of mine?
I had to fear the acts of a cruel manner,
Never do I pray for more fear,
No people describe their attitudes.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Liquid Depression (4)
Liquid depression how shall I compare thee
With the demons deep within my soul
You are not the only demon there,
I've many more, that you could not know
Though you share the same body and soul
It is my mind that you alone control
Liquid depression is only a materialistic possession
Other demons exist in the darkness
I have lost all control and I dare not to entertain
Obssessions with my soul, lost or not
I must keep them in the dark
Not force them to be seen
I am not all I appear to be
Sinner I was born, sinner I'll be
Demons keep me afraid
Can't you see, liquid depression
Keeps me free from the demons within,
That you cannot see and I cannot make flee
poem by Frankie Stamey
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery.
quote by Joseph Pulitzer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Famous Movie Poem - Snow white and the seven dwarfs
i was
am and
will always
be the eighth
the dreamer, friend
who could only wish
i could join in the real fun
first excited, intrigued
inflamed over the egoistic queen
dying to tell snow white
of the deadly apple
watching in dead silence
as she bit into the evil thing
my heart so ached
that i cried out in pain
nobody heard
not even snow white
though i was just a few feet away
i was so close to the dwarfs
i told all my friends about them
who laughed and became too dwarfs
jealous dwarfs, jealous dwarfs
of the seven dwarfs
who had all the actions
the joy, excitements, suspense,
with pretty snow white
over and over
in our dreams, our tales
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!