Short Shrift
‘I’ve failed! ’ How many times have sons
And fathers’ fathers echoed me?
‘I’ve failed! My life was spent in dreams, ’
We said, ‘in shallow misery.
In dreams and steel and soot and grime,
In screams, and what would seem some crime
Of trying to live beyond our need...
Our lives were spent in some black creed! ’
‘Too short, too short, the days we spent
In trying to right the days before,
Too long, too long, the years we struggled
Knowing not what struggled for.
What goal, what aim, what discontent,
What loves we lost, what life we spent
In wondering what such life could be?
Short shrift for you - harsh words for me! ’
‘I’ve failed, my sons, I’ve failed you all
And so my failure tortures me,
As in that innocence divine
Your love loves all the failed in me.
If I could strip this flesh, or tear
These eyes that cried hot fire for you
To save you from the same despair
My father’s father brought me to...’
20 July 1976
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Related quotes
Jeane
Jeane
The low-life has lost its appeal
And i'm tired of walking these streets
To a room with its cupboards bare
Jeane
I'm not sure what happiness means
But i look in your eyes
And i know
Oh ...
That it isn't there
Oh, we tried, and we failed
Oh, we tried, and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried
Oh, jeane
There's ice on the sink where we bathe
So how can you call this a home
When you know it's a grave ?
Yet you still have that greedy grace
As you tidy the place
But it will never be clean
Jeane
We tried and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried and we failed
And we tried
Oh ...
Cash on the nail
It's just a fairytale
Oh ...
And i don't believe in magic anymore
Jeane
But i think you know
I really think you know
Oh ...
Oh yes, i think you know the truth
Jeane
Oh ...
No heavenly choirs
Not for me and not for you
Because i think you know
I really think you know
Oh ...
I think you know the truth
Oh, jeane
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried
song performed by by Smiths
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Black Tracker (Or: Why He Lost The Track)
There was a tracker in the force
Of wondrous sight (the story ran):—
He never failed to track a horse,
He never failed to find his man.
They brought him from a distant town
Once more to gain reward and praise,
Nor dreamed the man he hunted down
Had saved his life in bygone days.
Away across the farthest run,
And far across the stony plain,
The outlaw’s horse’s tracks, each one,
Unto the black man’s eyes were plain.
Those tracks across the ranges wide
Right well he knew that he could trace,
And oft he turned aside to hide
The tears upon his dusky face.
Now was his time, for he could claim
Reward and praise if he prevailed!
Now was the time to win him fame,
When all the other blacks had failed.
He struggled well to play his part,
For in the art he took a pride.
But, ah! there beat a white man’s heart
Beneath his old, black wrinkled hide.
Against that heart he struggled well,
But gratitude was in the black—
He failed—and only he could tell
The reason why he lost the track.
poem by Henry Lawson
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Natural miracles
I have never looked around for natural miracles
They are day and night in orbit or circles
Then rise and set without fail
I did not notice so far and miserably failed
How can and in which way I adore sun?
The sky is lit by him without stoppage of any run
Time and again I failed to bow my head
Never had I seen generosity on its part and failed to read
My existence is very much dependent
Still I failed to act as an obedient
How easily I forgot all warm days?
When sun had for many days failed on its way
I enjoyed greenery on earth
Yet failed to see joy beneath
After how much long wait, the shower had pleased
But where had I time to look at when not chased?
I had the life full of glooms
There was no direction and darkness in rooms
Where had I time to look for those shines outside?
When it was given to me hopefully to reside
If I was offered hurdles
There was chance to remove obstacles
Only I had to act and wait for his blessings
Otherwise where was chance anything to go missing?
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
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I've Spent To Long
I've spent to long not caring,
I've spent to long away,
And now you want me back,
To live just like before,
You want to take my hand again,
You want my love to stay,
But I've spent to long not caring,
And my love it flew away.
I've spent to long in solitude,
I've spent to long in hope,
And now you want me in your arms,
To stay and hold you close,
You want to take my love again,
Feel despair take it's place,
But I've spent to long in solitude,
And you've lost this blood soaked race.
I've spent to long not caring,
Spent to long away,
Spent to long denying,
I've spent to long awake,
And now you want my slumber,
You want a love to stay,
But I've spent to long not caring,
And love? It fades away.
poem by Holly Heron
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Tessa's Song
I'm sorry I failed
I'm sorry I fell
Straight from grace
I'm sorry I failed
I'm sorry I lied
Straight to your face
The world you know
Keeps getting bigger
And badder
And all that's true
And all that's good
Doesn't seem to matter
What's good and what's bad
What's right and what's wrong
Is getting harder to comprehend
And just when you think
You've figured it out
The rules are changed again
I'm sorry I failed
I'm sorry you see
All that I lack
I'm sorry I failed
And if I could
I would take it all back
It's hard to believe
This war has gone on
Since before you were born
And I worry
That it will still be raging
When you are grown
The things you see
The drugs and the sex
And you're still so young
I lie awake at night
Hoping I've shown you
Which road is the right one
I'm sorry I failed
I pray that you know
I'm doing the best I can
I'm sorry I failed
I know you will become
So much more than I am
So much time that I've wasted
So many tears that I've tasted
Knowing I'm not the best
But my love for you remains
Untouched by anything
Wondering why I've been so blessed
poem by Sarah Deen
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Foolish Life
What a foolish life I've lived!
I loved and failed...
and loved again and failed;
I tried to unlove but failed.
And what a foolish life to live!
I looked back to my wasted years
and knew there'd be no wasted tears
from you...from the only one
I tried to unlove but failed.
poem by Jessel Jane Tevar
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5 Attemps
5 suicide attempts
Each one failed
5 times to try and love you
Each one failed
1- Slit my wrists
Failed horribly
1- Kiss you again
Failed horribly
2- Hang myself
Over the edge
2- Hug you again
Over the edge
3- Gun to my head
I couldn't pull through
3- Look in your eyes again
I couldn't pull through
4- Yell to God to end my life
I couldn't talk
4- Try to talk to you again
I couldn't talk
5- Slit my throat
I didn't have the strength
5- Touch you again
I didn't have the strength
5 suicide attempts
Each one failed
5 times to try and love you
Each one failed
poem by Emily Wimetal
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Destroyed
Destroyed
I did my best to please you
But my best was never good enough
Somehow you're only able to see
All I am not
Did you ever look behind
Aren't you afraid of the pieces you'll find
I have failed you
but you have failed me too
[Chorus]
It's so easy to destroy
and condemn
The ones you do not understand
do you ever wonder if it's justified
It's so easy to destroy
and condemn
The ones you do not understand
in your life why didn't you ever try
I close my eyes as I walk the thin line
between love and hate
For the person with the same blood in his vains
You show no regrets
about all the things you did or said
I have failed you
but believe me
you failed me too
[Chorus 2x]
song performed by by Within Temptation
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tribute to failed generation
When in a pensive mood
I sit and ponder
My life past
I wonder if I have
Failed my generation,
If I have faild my
National heroes
And then if I have
Failed my fathers
But then there are
So much I can do
To redeem my
Nation
So much I can do
To redeem my generation
Even when I grow old
I would have much still to do
To make positive
Impact
In peoples' lives.
But I would start
The change
By making a change
In my own self
And then in everything I do.
poem by Efe Benjamin
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Eye Fat Suicide
Eye failed at suicide
Eye failed at suicide
An individual person HAS no rights in the millennium
All individual rights have been taken away from the constitution
There is no more freedom no more one man doing what he wants
When eye hung the rope around my neck my feet still reached the floor
When eye poured my poison the thief just came along
He drank my hemlock in the form of all my whiskey and then all of my beer
It helped me to quit drinking in the long run for eye tired of thief
But when he stole my suicide eye got no great relief
The gun was oiled and loaded but all eye did was tear
My finger on the trigger stayed when eye heard the neighbors there
Eye will not let any personality send me to my grave
When eye tried to drown myself they came and saved
When eye found my love is helped me in my quest to live
She does have love inside her it's the only thing eye fear
To leave behind this world to lose so great a love
Eye lost at suicide when eye found my flower love
She is that important to make me want to try again
To live long after time has made me bitter in my live
To attempt the possible future the ever and the iff
Eye failed at my own suicide eye also failed to live
But the second chance has come
This time eye will try to love
Something im not good at something from above
To love my purple love
To fail at suicide
To live and love once more
To even up the floor of all the empty lies
Eye failed at suicide
poem by Charles Hice
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Show Tune II
That's the long and short of it
now you know
how I've been waiting all these years
where I'm coming from
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you see
just how hot hot jazz was
how it turned about, my bookcase
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you know
that my arrest record's
not my best record
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you see
how the Past's like a love
you can neither leave nor live
that's the long and short of it
That's the long and short of it
now you know
it was no gun in my pocket
it was a rocket
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
and you're wond'ring dear
how I kept so pure
hull, it was easy
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you see
so bounce your head
into bed
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
read the blues
in these tattoos
make a song of it
that's the short and long of it.
How I wish
there was a bridge-
then I could burn it;
or the train
of a refrain
then I could board it
but there isn't
no there isn't, so...
poem by Morgan Michaels
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Emotionless
Hey dad Im writing to you
Not to tell you, that I still hate you
Just to ask you how you feel
And how we fell apart how this fell apart
Are you happy out there in this great wide world?
Do you think about your sons?
Do you miss your little girl?
When you lay your head down how do you sleep at night?
Do you even wonder if were all right?
Were alright
Were alright
Its been a long hard road without you by my side
Why werent you there all the nights that we cried?
You broke my mothers heart, you broke your children for life
Its not ok but were alright
I remember the days you were a hero in my eyes
But those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now Im writing just to let you know that Im still alive
The days I spent so cold, so hungry, were full of hate
I was so angry, the scars run deep inside this tattooed body
Theres things Ill take to my grave, but Im ok, Im ok
Its been a long hard road without you by my side
Why werent you there all the nights that we cried?
You broke my mothers heart, you broke your children for life
Its not ok but were alright
I remember the days you were a hero in my eyes
But those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now Im writing just to let you know that Im still alive
And sometimes I forgive, yeah and this time Ill admit
That I miss you, said I miss you
Its been a long hard road without you by my side
Why werent you there all the nights that we cried?
You broke my mothers heart, you broke your children for life
Its not ok but were alright
I remember the days you were a hero in my eyes
But those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now Im writing just to let you know that Im still alive
And sometimes I forgive, yeah and this time Ill admit
That I miss you, said I miss you...hey dad
song performed by by Good Charlotte
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mask Of Future
Dreams weren’t farfetched for me
Life wasn’t bad for me
I got everything I wanted,
Power and ability, and even opportunity
But I ignored something unknown.
I got an opportunity,
But I did not complete my wish.
I did not misuse my opportunity,
But this world has a sequence.
A flow which we all follow
Something I failed to do.
I used my powers at the wrong time.
I stepped into higher steps ignoring the lower ones.
But I failed to realize something,
I failed to realize that everything required a basement.
A basement on which it can stand.
A power on which it can function.
I ignored the lower aspects of my life,
I went for the larger ones and accomplished them with ease
But there were two things in the lower steps.
Two things that I ignored.
Time and patience.
I ignored the aspect of time, and looked into the future.
I lacked patience and was eager to reach the future.
But I failed to realize that the future did not exist.
We can never reach our future.
For, when we reach it, it becomes the present.
I failed to realize that the future is yet another present,
A present which I always ignored.
I failed to realize that we can control only our present.
Use the present wisely, and the future will follow up.
I failed to see the hidden mask of future.
A mask, if opened, showed that the future is just another present.
poem by Vivek Kartha
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There Is No Hope
There is no hope in this war to save you,
For you gave no credit to my words and you lied to me! !
But the sword of war is now before you;
And like days of old when your people failed to understand the laws.
Now the war is seen ahead of you and,
You have nowhere to hide! !
And there is no hope to save you;
Because you failed to give credit to my words when we first met.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Days spent
Explaining things
My days spent
And I failed to explain
Your living style in
What you were wanted
How you were dealing trade.
With this water
With this air
And light and earth
Not with owner
All day long
The fruits I eat
The water I drink
The air I take breath
Though I am not here
To enrich what were not mine.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
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No father?
i told my father it was so and i got up and left him then you know
though there was nowhere i had to go and nothing i had to do
i stand before you father
but you refuse to see
oh father, have you forgotten me?
i kneel before you father
but you do not feel
i am your flesh and same blood
if only you knew
if only i could tell you your an ass
if only i could say and put into words what you've put me through
if only you were around to say good job
as a father you have failed
as a father you were never there
i am ill be gotten history
...no father?
poem by Calvin Jenkins
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Like A Lonely Bird
What is now covering my eyes? !
What is now blocking my way?
For there is something wrong somewhere because,
You failed to call me;
And like thirteen years in hell and seven years at home.
You failed to call me and i don't know why;
And, i am now like a lonely bird without a nest!
But, i need you around me to solve my problems.
Mine oh mine! ! !
You failed to call me since all these years;
And all these while i was there lonely waiting for you,
But, who will be there for me when you are gone forever?
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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If I only have the time, i could have spent that with you
you are a set of words, you are
a line straight and hazy like the
sunset
horizon
i like you and your image of you
metaphorical
sounding like a whisper
a sonorous sound
i like what you have for me
even if the moment was as short as a whimper
as deep as a sigh
i like you whatever that be
you are a poem, and if only
i have more years to live, you are my poem,
how i wish i could have spent
all these days with you, but i am just a mortal man
and my father is the river my mother the ocean
and i no longer belong here, for my life is always one
that moves on
never stopping never questioning
never ending like your imagination
in a span of
divine attention, nothing like an intervention
an acclaim.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Brave New World
The police have failed the people;
they don’t protect them on the streets.
The judges have failed the police;
they don’t send the criminals to prison.
The politicians have failed the judges;
they don’t sack them.
The people have failed the politicians;
we don’t vote for someone else.
poem by Brian Taylor
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April!
April in tears
for the life lost in Qinghai
from the rubbles, ruins
and from those ash clouds,
in 730 days..
from a mountainous terrain
how this tiny globe
trampled
on failed Chandrayans
failed cryogenic GSLVs
And in summer,
rain lost its charm
on unforeseen disasters….
May unwrapped
on edges, on scales
of aphelion and perihelion
Seasons change…
April 17,2010
poem by Rema Prasanaa
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