Parramatta Girls
I wouldn’t say he was a bad man
But he got so violent
After my mother she fell ill
After her accident
She couldn’t really do much
She looked old beyond her years
And he took to drinking most the time
And scream he was her nurse
His anger was so scary
He’d shout and bang and crash
We’d try then to avoid him
In case we all got bashed
He never touched me sexually
But sometimes seemed to leer
Whenever I got close to him
Close enough to smell the beer
At 14 I had had enough
After his mates were round
Their eyes were just undressing me
And followed me around
So I left my home next morning
Took some cash – well to be sure
That I could buy some food to eat
Where would I sleep? I’d find a floor
There were other kids just like me
I found out pretty quick
Abused at home and desperate
We’d not run away for kicks
We’d hang around together
And find empty houses where
No one else would bother us
And no one seemed to care
Whether we lived or died you know
Whether we were sick or well
And life took on an emptiness
Till the day that became hell
A knock upon the door so loud
The police came breaking in
Accusing us of many things
And committing mortal sin
The magistrate just took one look
At me standing in the dock
And ordered me into State care
Said I needed a big shock
To discipline my tendencies
For independence and being free
I stood there – not yet 5 feet tall
And cried uncontrollably
They took me to Parramatta
To the Training School out there
Stripped me naked, harshly scrubbed me
And hacked off all my hair
They stung my skin with tinctures
To prevent the lice they said
Then a grubby male doctor
Made me lie upon a bed
Open your legs he shouted
I’m checking for disease
He bruised my legs, he bruised inside
The pain paralysed my knees
While he did this he's smiling
And the warders held me down
For then I did start screaming
And in my tears I almost drowned
There was blood upon the bed sheet
There was so much blood to see
It felt like that damn doctor
Had drained all the blood from me
The warders were mostly women
But the more senior were men
They all seemed so self satisfied
As I lay there so brok-en
Not a single word was uttered
When the showers they showed to me
That I must use each morning
Supervised continually
Those showers were quite open
They did not have no doors
So you had to stand there naked
While the wardens paced the floor
And timed you to the second
That you were let to bathe
Your tender teenage body
Under their steady gaze
It was hell in Parramatta
It was worse than hell I’d say
And all of this was done to me
On that first distressing day
I cried out for my mother
I even called for dad
In my whole life that’s gone on since
I have never felt so bad
But when inside the Training School
It seemed stranger than before
Everything seemed normal
Save the bars on every door
The other girls were round my age
They’d lived lives quite the same
But the warders and the Training School
Had made them all ashamed
Ashamed of what? I asked of them
When we’d whisper or we’d cry
Ashamed of simply living
Ashamed of being alive
We could not speak out loud at all
We’d be punished quick for that
And beaten by the wardens
With their fists or leather straps
The shame was mixed with anger
That our treatment was so wrong
But one day we rebelled you know
And we did things like sing songs
We climbed upon the roof as well
And threw tiles at those down there
We knew we would be punished
But – by God – we didn’t care
We’d had enough of what they did
Had enough of punishment
For none of us had done no wrong
When to Parramatta we were sent
Of course we lost this battle
Of course they were angry
And we were sent into the cell blocks
For weeks of solitary
Or branded as beyond all hope
Incorrigible was what they’d say
The ringleaders were sent by train
Five hundred miles away to Hay
Five hundred miles to break our spirits
Five hundred miles to break our souls
Five hundred miles rubbed sore by shackles
Five hundred miles away from home
There was no darker hell than this
Isolated in the bush
And a trip to Hay was what they’d say
When they would threaten us
I could tell you of the beatings
I could tell you of abuse
I could tell you of the punishments
But what would be the use?
For there seems to be an ignorance
Cast upon this land
And if we don’t hear these stories
Then we will not understand
This place we call Australia
And its position in the world
So listen to this story
Of a Parramatta girl.
For all this is quite recent
It’s not just history
It happened in the 70s
And it all happened to me.
poem by David Keig
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Five Hundred Miles Away From Home
(bobby bare, charlie williams, hedy west)
Tear drops fell on mamas note
When I read the things she wrote
She said, we miss you girl
We love you come on home
Well I didnt have to pack
I had it all right on my back
Now Im five hundred miles away from home
Chorus:
Away from home, away from home
Cold and tired and all alone
Yes, Im five hundred miles away from home
Its hard to tell the state Im in
Where Im going, where Ive been
But theres a dream Ive been following so long
If mama knew the things Ive done
Shed forgive them everyone
But Im still five hundred miles away from home
Repeat chorus
Cant remember when I ate its just thumb and walk and wait
And Im still five hundred miles away from home
If my luck had been just right Id be with them all tonight
But Im still five hundred miles away from home
Repeat chorus
Lord, Im still five hundred miles away from home
song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Nothing Like A Hundred Miles
I have tried to forget about you
And all the plans that we had planned
Yes, and Im bound to leave this town
I dont care where I may land
If what theyre telling me is true
And you have found somebody new
To love you
There aint but one thing I can do, baby
To save my heart from being broken in two by you
Baby, Im moving through
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
Between me and trouble in my mind
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
Show me the yellow line
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
When Im only passing through
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
To make me forget about you
Forget about you, baby
Dont we like our found farewells
And dont we like to keep our good-byes
Nice and clean
You may wish Id go to hell
While you tell me what a pleasure its been
So long, baby, Im moving on
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
Between me and trouble in mind
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
Somebody show me the yellow line
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
When Im only passing through
Theres nothing like a hundred miles
To make me forget about you
Forget about you
I have tried to forget about you
Baby, I have failed
Just as long as I stay in houston
I will
song performed by by James Taylor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Pleasure Dome
Now I know none of this was planned, it all just kinda happened
I got more than I wanted, but how is still a mystery
Obsessed with this feeling, I trusted it, so I followed it
Im tripping and stumbling across the land, full of miracles
Into a world so far from home, miles and miles from nowhere
Rooms without doors open for me, oh no
Taking me miles and miles from nowhere
Oh (miles and miles), oh yeah
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost in my own pleasure dome
Oh man, I aint got a clue, how you get out, or how to find this place
I want my control back, but Im afraid, Ill lose that feeling
Lost in a world so far from home, Im miles and miles from nowhere
Falling inside my own pleasure dome, Im miles and miles from nowhere
Oh (miles and miles), oh yeah
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost inside my pleasure dome
(solo)
Lost in a world, cant find my way home, miles and miles from nowhere
Falling inside my own pleasure dome, miles and miles from nowhere
Millions of miles, oh no, miles and miles and miles from nowhere
Miles and miles and miles and miles, oh
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost inside my pleasure dome, yeah
Lost, lost
song performed by by Van Halen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Pleasure Dome / Drum Solo
Now I know none of this was planned, it all just kinda happened
I got more than I wanted, but how is still a mystery
Obsessed with this feeling, I trusted it, so I followed it
I'm tripping and stumbling across the land, full of miracles
Into a world so far from home, miles and miles from nowhere
Rooms without doors open for me, oh no
Taking me miles and miles from nowhere
Oh (miles and miles), oh yeah
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost in my own pleasure dome
Oh man, I ain't got a clue, how you get out, or how to find this place
I want my control back, but I'm afraid, I'll lose that feeling
Lost in a world so far from home, I'm miles and miles from nowhere
Falling inside my own pleasure dome, I'm miles and miles from nowhere
Oh (miles and miles), oh yeah
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost inside my pleasure dome
(Solo)
Lost in a world, can't find my way home, miles and miles from nowhere
Falling inside my own pleasure dome, miles and miles from nowhere
Millions of miles, oh no, miles and miles and miles from nowhere
Miles and miles and miles and miles, oh
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost inside my pleasure dome, yeah
song performed by by Van Halen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Runaround
Oh...
Oh...
Thats right...
She dont like it when its cut right
And dont like me makin future plans
And dont want me tryin to live it down
She aint about to give an inch of ground, no..
Well she can take me for is a little ride
Just as long as she drives me home
Around the block, maybe once or twice,
And then some lovin, wouldnt that be nice, yeah!
I want what I wanted
Oh, what a fool believes
I got er in my sights, but
Just out of reach.. oh-oh
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Run-run-runaround, yeah! (round, round, round, round)
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Shes given me the runaround, yeah, ow! (round, round, round, round)
I just love er keepin me hanging on,
She knows exactly what I need
And right down to the knick of time,
Im chasin love down a fine, fine line, ow!
I want what I wanted
Oh, what a fool believes
I got er in my sight, but
Just out of reach, oh-oh
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Run-run-runaround, yeah! (round, round, round, round)
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Shes given me the runaround, oh, ow! (round, round, round, round)
(solo)
Yeah, hey, yeah!!
Ooh, yeah....
Ooh, ahhh, goes like this
Listen baby... ooh, ow, ow, uhh....
Oh, man its hard enough, yeah..
And you make it harder..
Fill me up and then Im satisfied, own me
She owns the time.
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Run-run-runaround, yeah! (round, round, round, round)
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Shes given me the runaround, oh, ow! (round, round, round, round)
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Run-run-runaround, yeah! (round, round, round, round)
Here we go around, (round, round, round)
Shes given me the runaround, oh, ow! (round, round, round, round)
Oh!
Whoa, yeah around,
Oh, I like it
Ow, I like it
Uh, I like it
Yes, Im gonna like it
Babe, I said I like it
Uh, I said I like it
Uh, I like it
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pleasure dome
Now I know none of this was planned, it all just kinda happened
I got more than I wanted, but how is still a mystery
Obsessed with this feeling, I trusted it, so I followed it
Im tripping and stumbling across the land, full of miracles
Into a world so far from home, miles and miles from nowhere
Rooms without doors open for me, oh no
Taking me miles and miles from nowhere
Oh (miles and miles), oh yeah
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost in my own pleasure dome
Oh man, I aint got a clue, how you get out, or how to find this place
I want my control back, but Im afraid, Ill lose that feeling
Lost in a world so far from home, Im miles and miles from nowhere
Falling inside my own pleasure dome, Im miles and miles from nowhere
Oh (miles and miles), oh yeah
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost inside my pleasure dome
(solo)
Lost in a world, cant find my way home, miles and miles from nowhere
Falling inside my own pleasure dome, miles and miles from nowhere
Millions of miles, oh no, miles and miles and miles from nowhere
Miles and miles and miles and miles, oh
Lost in this pleasure dome, lost inside my pleasure dome, yeah
Lost, lost
song performed by by Van Halen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
Every time we do this
I fall for her
Wave after wave after wave
It's all for her
I know this can't be wrong i say
(and i'll lie to keep her happy)
As long as i know that you know
That today i belong
Right here with you
Right here with you...
And so we watch the sun come up
From the edge of the deep green sea
And she listens like her head's on fire
Like she wants to believe in me
So i try
Put your hands in the sky
Surrender
Remember
We'll be here forever
And we'll never say goodbye...
I've never been so
Colourfully-see-through-head before
I've never been so
Wonderfully-me-you-want-some-more
And all i want is to keep it like this
You and me alone
A secret kiss
And don't go home
Don't go away
Don't let this end
Please stay
Not just for today
Never never never never never let me go she says
Hold me like this for a hundred thousand million days
But suddenly she slows
And looks down at my breaking face
Why do you cry? what did i say?
But it's just rain i smile
Brushing my tears away...
I wish i could just stop
I know another moment will break my heart
Too many tears
Too many times
Too many years i've cried over you
How much more can we use it up?
Drink it dry?
Take this drug?
Looking for something forever gone
But something
We will always want?
Why why why are you letting me go? she says
I feel you pulling back
I feel you changing shape...
And just as i'm breaking free
She hangs herself in front of me
Slips her dress like a flag to the floor
And hands in the sky
Surrenders it all...
I wish i could just stop
I know another moment will break my heart
Too many tears
Too many times
Too many years i've cried for you
It's always the same
Wake up in the rain
Head in pain
Hung in shame
A different name
Same old game
Love in vain
And miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Away from home again...
song performed by by Cure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I Was Young When I Left Home
Written by Bob Dylan
Recorded on the Minnesota Hotel Tape (Dec 22, 1961)
Tabbed by Eyolf strem
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open G tuning (DGdgbd')
G 000000
G' 000430
D 000210
C 002010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I sorta made it up on a train. Huh, oh I'm here. This must be good for somebody, this sad song. I know it's good for somebody. If it ain't for me, it's good for somebody. I just talked about it, huh huh.
G
I was young when I left home
G' D C
and I been a-rambling 'round.
D
And I never wrote a letter to my home.
G G' D C
To my home, lord to my home.
D G
And I never wrote a letter to my home.
It was just the other day,
I was bringing home my pay
when I met an old friend I used to know.
Said your mother's dead and gone,
baby sister's all gone wrong
and your daddy needs you home right away.
Not a shirt on my back,
not a penny on my name.
But I can't go home thisaway.
Thisaway, lord lord lord.
And I can't go home thisaway.
If you miss the train I'm on,
count the days I'm gone.
You will hear that whistle blow a hundred miles.
Hundred miles, honey baby, lord lord lord,
and you'll hear that whistle blow a hundred miles.
I'm playing on a track,
ma would come and whoop me back
on them trussels down by old Jim McKay's.
When I pay the debt I owe to the commissary store,
I will pawn my watch and chain and go home.
Go home, lord lord lord.
I will pawn my watch and chain and go home.
Used to tell ma sometimes
when I see them riding blind,
gonna make me a home out in the wind.
In the wind, lord in the wind.
Make me a home out in the wind.
I don't like it in the wind,
I go back home again,
but I can't go home thisaway.
Thisaway, lord lord lord,
and I can't go home thisaway.
I was young when I left home
and I been all rambling 'round.
And I never wrote a letter to my home.
To my home lord lord lord.
And I never wrote a letter to my home.
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Helpless With Dementia
I was a victim of dementia
I could not remember recent things
Confined to a small lock down area
When I had a visitor, I was so happy
I can’t remember that I wasn’t a real mother to you
Or when I let others abuse and beat you too
I am now at the mercy of all others
Oh how I pray you forgave me too
You tried your best to take care of me
But I kept wandering off, only wanting to be free
You felt such guilt and cried many tears
When the doctor said you could no longer take care of me
I know you searched many nursing homes
To find that special place, that would care for me
A place of love, where i couldn’t roam
A place with nurses, where I’d be safe
You paced the floors and cried
Each time they sent me to the hospital
They would say I must haven fallen
They were convincing with their lies
Bruises on my face, they weren’t all falls
Violent patients abused me
I was at the mercy of all of them
Said they wouldn’t break elder laws
They had an excuse for everything
Blow after blow
You tried to stay most of the time
For you they put on a show
When you were there
They would paint my finger nails
And fix my hair
When you were gone I was tied to a chair
They took my dignity and self respect
They were paid by the hour, and didn’t care
Towards the end, they say I fell and broke my hip
Next week told I fell and broke my leg
Once a week I was at the emergency room
You always beat the ambulance there
The last hospital visit, I got a staph infection
The doctor said i was near the end
I couldn’t tell you what they did to me
Because I forgot so much
You stayed by my side until the end
Telling me you loved me, and softly singing hyms
The angels came for me one night
And ended all my pain
Please don’t cry for me anymore
I’ve been made whole again
I look down at you, and wish I could take the pain away
I’m in heaven now and this is where I must stay!
To all that have loved ones with dementia, please guard their care.
All nursing homes are not the way they seem. They will put on a show for you so they can make their blood money. They neglected and abused my mother. So I am her voice.
To my mother who did the best she knew how to.
poem by Donna Nimmo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Walls
Im not ashamed
To say that Ive loved you well
Im not ashamed
To let you know
Im just a name thats all
Scratched upon your wall
Youve used it well but what the hell
Thats what walls are for
Im not ashamed
To listen to the fast-fallin rain
In the morning upon my window
Im not afraid to cry
Im not ashamed to try
To be your friend once again
cause thats whats friends are for
Friends are for sorting out the hang-ups that we hide
Walls are for shutting out the love we feel inside
Im not ashamed no to talk it over once again
To rearrange my vocabulary
But I cant seem to find
Any words to change your mind
Because I left them all behind
And thats what words are for
Words are for explaining the mistakes we might have made
Names are for calling when theres nothing left to say
Im not ashamed, no, to say that Ive loved you well
Im not ashamed, and yet I know
Im just a name, thats all
Scratched upon your wall
Youve used it well, but what the hell
Thats what walls are for
Im not ashamed of wearing out my old grey socks
Chasing you around the back woods
Im not ashamed to darn
Nor to proud to find some yarn
To sew them up once again
cause thats what socks are for
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Beautiful Land Of Australia
All you on emigration bent,
With home and England discontent,
Come, listen to my sad lament,
All about the bush of Australia.
I once possessed a thousand pounds.
Thinks I—how very grand it sounds
For a man to be farming his own grounds
In the beautiful land of Australia.
Illawarra, Mittagong,
Parramatta, Wollongong.
If you wish to become an ourang-outang,
Then go to the bush of Australia.
Upon the voyage the ship was lost.
In wretched plight I reached the coast,
And was very nigh being made a roast,
By the savages of Australia.
And in the bush I lighted on
A fierce bushranger with his gun,
Who borrowed my garments, every one,
For himself in the bush of Australia.
Illawarra, Mittagong,
Parramatta, Wollongong.
If you wish to become an ourang-outang,
Then go to the bush of Australia.
Sydney town I reached at last,
And now, thinks I, all danger's past,
And I shall make my fortune fast
In this promising land of Australia.
I quickly went with cash in hand,
Upon the map I chose my land.
When I got there 'twas barren sand
In the beautiful land of Australia.
Illawarra, Mittagong,
Parramatta, Wollongong
If you wish to become an ourang-outang,
Then go to the bush of Australia.
Of sheep I got a famous lot.
Some died of hunger, some of rot,
For the devil a dropp of rain they got,
In this flourishing land of Australia.
My convict men were always drunk,
They kept me in a constant funk.
Says I to myself, as to bed I slunk,
How I wish I was out of Australia!
Booligal, Gobarralong,
Emu Flat and Jugiong.
If you wish to become an ourang-outang,
Then go to the bush of Australia.
Of ills, enough I've had you'll own.
And then at last, my woes to crown,
One night my log house was blown down
That settled us all in Australia
And now of home and all bereft,
The horrid spot I quickly left,
Making it over by deed of gift
To the savages of Australia.
Booligal, Gobarralong,
Emu Flat and Jugiong.
If you wish to become an ourang-outang,
Then go to the bush of Australia
I gladly worked my passage home,
And now to England back I've come,
Determined never more to roam,
At least, to the bush of Australia.
And stones upon the road I'll break,
And earn my seven bob a week,
Which is surely better than the freak
Of settling down in Australia.
Currabubula, Bogolong,
Ulladulla, Gerringong.
If you wouldn't become an ourang-outang,
Don't go to the bush of Australia.
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
500 Miles Away From Home
I'm 500 Miles Away From Home
Teardrops fell on mama's note,
When I read the things she wrote
She said 'We miss you son, we love you, come on home'
Well I didn't have to apck I had it all right on my back
Now I'm 500 Miles Away From Home
Away from Home, away from home
Cold and tired and all alone
Yes I'm 500 Miles Away From Home
I know this is the same coat I took when I left home
But it sure looks different now
And I guess i look different too
But time changes everything
I wonder what they'll say
When they see their boy lookin' this way
Oh, I wonder what they'll say when I get home
Can't remember when I ate, its just thumb and walk an wait
And I'm still 500 miles away from home
If my love had been just right, I'd be with them all tonight
But I'm still 500 miles away from home
Oh, I'm still 500 miles away from home
poem by Christina Conseco
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
One Hundred Punks
They customised their gear and synchronised
(they)flame out in the streets with flame in their eyes
Guerilla operator aint heard of cool
Check out any wall - one hundred punks rule
One hundred punks rule
A hundred punks run with london town
Down wardour street to the soho sound
Dont sleep all week only when they fall down
A hundred rumble boys and tumble girls
Protected by steel in a private world
Tomorrows famous faces advertise today
And the studs on their back say
One hundred punks rule
A hundred punks run the loaded gun
They look so sharp they look like one
If you aint got the look youll never be one
A hundred punks run with total suss
A hundred good mates you know you can trust
Theres never no bother and theres no fuss
Check out any wall - one hundred punks rule
One hundred punks rule
And jimmys no.101 knows one day hell be one
Watch him - watch him go!
A hundred punks run the leather army
I know whose by my side not at home with tv
Even when Im down I hear them sing for me
Check out any wall - one hundred punks rule
One hundred punks rule
Check out any wall - one hundred punks rule
One hundred punks rule
Check out - one hundred punks rule o.k.
song performed by by Billy Idol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Ahead Down The Highway
Im heading down this highway
Im heading down this road
Im heading down this highway
Its a long road, Im told
But I dont mind
No, no, no and I dont care
Its a hundred-thousand miles weve gotta go
Yeah!
Im sailing on this ocean
Im sailing on this sea
Im sailing on this ocean
To see what you can see
But I dont mind
No, no, no and I dont care
Its a hundred-thousand miles Ive gotta go
Yeah!
Im climbing through this forest
Im climbing through the wood
Sometimes its hard to see the light
But I know you could
But I dont mind
No, no, no and I dont care
Its a hundred-thousand miles Ive gotta go
Yeah!
Im drifting through the desert
Drifting through the sands
Climbing all the mountains
Checking out the land
Running with the rivers
Racing up the shore
And jumping off the cliffs, boys
cause all I want is more, all I want is more
And it wont be long now
till well be knock-knock-knocking on your door
And it wont be long now
till well be knock-knock-knocking on your door
And it wont be long now
till well be knock-knock-knocking on your door
Were heading down this highway
Were heading down this road
Were heading down this highway
Its a long road, Im told
But I dont mind
No, no, no and we dont care
Its a hundred-thousand miles weve gotta go
Yeah!
song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
To Doris
She said I come from a land flanked by the warmer seas
A flat brown land that stretch for miles with hardly any trees
In my dreams I see the big game parks and the open plains I see
'Oh' Africa my Africa I hear you calling me.
I hear the male lion cough and roar and the wild hyena scream
And the Natives dance before my eyes so real to me they seem
I hear them singing in the night and their drumming I too hear
And Africa close to my heart though miles away from here.
Doris accent is a give away as accents often are
You'd know that to get to this great Land that she's had to travel far
Her lovely South African accent one never should mistake
The migrant may live far from home but ties that bind are hard to break.
A farmer's daughter from South Africa her life story ought be told
A woman close to eighty years though she doesn't look that old
A teenager in the thirties the hard life she has been through
Her only brother a prisoner of war in Europe in world war two.
Her ill mother convinced her son had died lost the will to live on
And he returned home to the tragic news that his mum was dead and gone
There's sorrow blood and tears in war and tragedy as well
And for mums with sons on battlefields life must be living hell.
She raised five sons in South Africa and one died at twenty five
Brain damaged by measles as a child she helped him to survive
And Doris with great sadness says that her son's life was far too brief
There's ups and downs in life she says and there's happiness and grief.
With her son and daughter in law she lives east of Melbourne now by road off 'One Tree Hill'
A woman from a far Country and suppose she always will
Feel homesick for her home Country, I love Australia she say
But my homeland is South Africa the brown Land far away.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Red Army Blues
When I left my home and my family
My mother said to me
Son, its not how many germans you kill that counts
Its how many people you set free
So I packed my bags
Brushed my cap
Walked out into the world
Seventeen years old
Never kissed a girl
Took the train to voronezh
That was as far as it would go
Changed my sacks for a uniform
Bit my lip against the snow
I prayed for mother russia
In the summer of 43
And as we drove the germans back
I really believed
That God was listening to me
We howled into berlin
Tore the smoking buildings down
Raised the red flag high
Burnt the reichstag brown
I saw my first american
And he looked a lot like me
He had the same kinda farmers face
Said hed come from some place called hazzard, tennessee
Then the war was over
My discharge papers came
Me and twenty hundred others
Went to stettiner for the train
Kiev! said the commissar
From there your own way home
But I never got to kiev
We never came by home
Train went north to the taiga
We were stripped and marched in file
Up the great siberian road
For miles and miles and miles and miles
Dressed in stripes and tatters
In a gulag left to die
All because comrade stalin was scared that
Wed become too westernized!
Used to love my country
Used to be so young
Used to believe that life was
The best song ever sung
I would have died for my country
In 1945
But now only one thing remains
But now only one thing remains
But now only one thing remains
But now only one thing remains
The brute will to survive!
song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Memphis
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
I got to get away, study my geography
Im just a shadow of the boy I used to be
I used to see the light, now its all a mystery
I used to feel the beat, now I feel a million miles from...
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
I used dirty words never too excessively
But saying rock&roll never seemed so bad to me
I dare said it in hip and happy company
I was in and out in a second on my way to...
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis, so where the hell is memphis?
I had a one-way ticket and a little radio
I turned it on, heard the sound from twenty years ago
Somebody smiled and said, thats the only way to go
He died at twenty-one, now nobodys innocent in...
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Somebody turned around, said, I got to disagree
He wrote that sort of turn people out to anarchy
He made them think about marlon brando on tv
I guess they still went down against anything they got in...
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
I met a wise old man, he had longer hair than me
He said, memphis is nothing like it used to be
A hundred dead guitarists lying in the cemetry
I felt a sudden chill, now Im not so sure about...
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Memphis - where the hell is memphis?
Im on a lonesome train on a lonesome track
I think Ill jump right off, head for home, double back
And though Im better now I know that no-one knows the facts
Im gonna start again, forget I ever heard about...
song performed by by Joe Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Pearls of Verna Boone
I'd been alone for a year or so
Since Norma Jean had died,
I stayed in the house I'd bought for her
At the end of River Drive,
I'd felt her death as a fatal blow,
A crippling twist of fate,
For Norma Jean was my one true love,
Though I'd met her a little late!
I was past my prime when our eyes had met,
And she'd looked so young to me,
Her eyes had sparkled like diamonds set
As scarabs in sand and sea,
She saw the desert behind my eyes,
The emptiness in my life,
I stumbled over the words, but she
Said 'Yes! ' - She would be my wife!
I didn't know that she carried then
The seeds of a painful death,
Her face was flushed at the altar stone
And she seemed so short of breath,
I thought it merely a passing faint
That excitement had brought on,
As we stood in front of the Minister,
And joined our lives as one.
But then at home, she fell apart,
Collapsed on the kitchen floor,
I saw her lying, and coughing blood
Like I'd never seen before,
The doctor called, and he shook his head
As he left her there in the bed,
'I'm very sorry, ' the doctor sighed,
'But your lovely wife is dead! '
I cried and raged, and swore at fate
I smashed each wedding gift,
I wouldn't go to the funeral
But stayed at home and wept.
I cursed the heavens and thought that hell
Could never have been as bad
As a love that I'd waited a lifetime for,
A love that I'd never had!
The house next door was a rental place,
Stood empty for months that year,
But then a couple had moved on in,
I didn't see him, just her.
I thought that he was a traveller,
Was constantly on the road,
He came at night, and he left at dawn
In a battered and ancient Ford.
I had no reason to talk to them,
I sat at home with my grief,
I wandered out in the garden then
At one with each falling leaf,
But then one day, I heard her there
The other side of the fence,
Breaking her heart, as crying there
She sobbed with vehemence.
After a week of this, I climbed
The fence, and spoke to her,
'Why do you sigh, why do you cry? '
But she cried then all the more.
I walked around and sat with her
Quite late in the afternoon,
She smiled, and dried her eyes, and said,
'My name is Verna Boone! '
She said she'd only been married
Just a year this coming Spring,
But now that she knew the man he was,
Regretted everything,
He'd lost her money, just gambled it,
Had spent it on other girls,
And now they were left with nothing, he
Just wanted her mother's pearls!
'They're all I have to remember her, '
She sobbed, like a frightened child,
'They're worth a lot, but they're more to me, '
She looked at me, and smiled.
She took me inside and pulled them out
Three strings, they were very fine,
'He said that he's going to pawn them! '
Then she put her small hand in mine.
I was sad, alone and vulnerable,
I looked at her lovely curls,
She smiled at me, and she asked me then
If I'd care for her mother's pearls?
'I'll say they're lost, misplaced, I'll say,
He'll rant and rage, and more,
But he won't be able to pawn them now...'
Then she walked me to the door.
I took her home, and I placed the pearls
With the gems my wife had once:
'They'll be all right in the downstairs safe.'
It was then that she saw the gun.
She looked afraid, but she picked it up
And weighed it there in her hand,
I took it gently and locked it up
With the rest of my contraband.
'She must have watched as I spun the dial,
I know - I was such a fool! '
The sergeant sat and he stared at me,
And his stare was distant, cool.
He didn't believe a word I said
I could see that now, I'm done!
They put me back in a cell to wait
To be charged with Murder One!
She told them I had come over when
Her husband came home one night,
Waving a gun and ranting, then
Her husband put up a fight!
I'd shot him once through the head, she said,
Then taken her on the bed,
Stolen a fine pearl necklace,
Then beaten and left her for dead!
They found the gun on the floor, they said,
I knew that the gun was mine,
They found the pearls in my safe, they said,
It was only a question of time.
She sat at the back of the court while I
Was stood in the prisoner's dock,
And I noticed she wore her mother's pearls
With a nice new evening frock.
10 August 2009
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Synchronicity Ii
Another suburban family morning
Grandmother screaming at the wall
We have to shout above the din of our rice crispies
We cant hear anything at all
Mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration
But we all know her suicides are fake
Daddy only stares into the distance
Theres only so much more that he can take
Many miles away
Something crawls from the slime
At the bottom of a dark
Scottish lake
Another industrial ugly morning
Tha factory belches filth into the sky
He walks unhindered through the picket lines today
He doesnt think to wonder why
The secretaries pout and preen like cheap tarts in a red light street
But all he ever thinks to do is watch
And every so called meeting with his so called superior
Is a humiliating kick in the crotch
Many miles away
Something crawls to the surface
Of a dark scottish loch
Another working day has ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race
Daddy crips the wheel and stares alone into the distance
He knows that something somewhere has to break
He sees the family home now looming in his headlights
The pain upstairs that makes his eyeballs ache
Many miles away
Theres a shadow on the door
Of a cottage on the shore
Of a dark scottish lake
Many miles away
Many miles away
Many miles away
Many miles away
Many miles away...
song performed by by Police
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Lamps Are Out
Every now and then I open the book
by Agee and Evans about those tenants
in the summer of 1936 living not far
from the geographic center
of the North American cotton belt
**All over Alabama the lamps are out**
Two stores, four houses at a crossroads
called Madrid, seven miles to Cookstown,
which landlords and tenants call home
and where three hundred souls reside
Children in school there stay alive
by one form or another of cowardice
or brutality or deception taught
by sick women or sicker men
devoid of natural honesty and vigor
poem by Michael Pruchnicki
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Rainy Daze
Tears falling from my sky
Mixing with the raindrops running from my eyes
And our sky may cry in crystal showers
And tomorrow may seem a hundred miles away
And your hurting may be strong for the moment
But this sadness cannot stay
Bring me the sunshine to dry up all the rain
The sunshine to put and end to our pain
Now you know the years have been hard ones
You see it when you look into their eyes
And you hope for them that these crystal teardrops
Will somehow just pass by
And our skies may cry in crystal showers
And it seems we can't leave yesterdays behind
But you know our sun will shine down again
Yea, you know it's just a matter of time
Bring me the sunshine to dry up all the tears
Bring me the sunshine, it's been raining for years
And our skies may cry in crystal showers
And tomorrow may seem a hundred miles away
But this rain, it just can't stay.