En.Citatepedia^®.ro

Silvertongue

He came down from the mountainside,
His beard was white, his hair was grey,
He brought his retinue of priests
All buckled in a warlike way.
They strode into the village square
And said: 'Now listen, everyone,
Just gather round, pay heed to him,
He's come to warn you - Silvertongue! '

His brow was cold, his face was grim
And we were silent in his stare,
We didn't make a single sound,
Stood hushed within the village square.
His priests were stood with weapons drawn,
Their swords and helmets bore a spire,
And on their breasts, the holy sign.
The symbol of St. Elmo's Fire.

'I am the Word you must obey, '
He said, in tones that chilled the soul,
'I come with tales of history,
Of those who chose the Devil's mould.
They brought the wrath of God to bear
On humankind, he gave his seal,
The one commandment you must share;
Man never must invent the wheel! '

At that, the clouds of purple gold
With lightning lit the mountainside,
As if the Lord above had heard,
Approved the Word, and then had smiled.
The rain that glowed began to fall
And lit the corn out in the field,
It glowed there in the darkening light,
It sparked blue flashes in his beard.

'In days of old, ' he said, 'they made
A pact with him who mocked the rod,
He showed them how to make the wheel,
They used it then, in spite of God,
Their lives revolved on wheels in wheels
That ground their flour, that rolled down hills,
That made their own fake lightning power,
That drove their water driven mills.'

'As they grew mighty, God despaired,
They built great towers in the sky,
Machines that flew them in the air
The Devil's transport, by and by,
And then the tribes had gone to war
Their wheels bogged down in fields of mud,
They used the wheel to drive their trains
Of slaughter through vast fields of blood.'

'The end came suddenly, they say,
When men designed a thousand suns,
They lit the earth as bright as day,
Each sun roared like a million guns.
The seas reared up and swamped the shore,
The cities burned, the people died,
Their wheels lay rotting to the core
With what was left of human pride! '

'So you must be just as the Ox
And bear your burden on your back,
No wheel shall light your daily task,
What you can't lift, then you must lack.
The man who first designs a wheel
Shall surely seek his own reward,
To hang upon the willow tree,
His wife and child put to the sword! '

He left us then, with all his priests,
I heard they wandered near and far,
They fought with all the mutant beasts
Out on the fringe, where land was scarred.
But neighbors whispered each to each
The words that they had heard that day:
'What is this wheel he spoke about?
Could life be made less harsh that way? '

For months we sweated with the ox
That dragged the plough that we would guide,
Our furrows slowly curved their way
Like ripples through the countryside.
My neighbor baulked at all the strain
Of ploughing slow, and bleeding hands,
'God rot the man! ' I heard him say,
'I shall not do what he commands! '

He took his sons and went to ride
Out where the land was burned and black,
They took their arrows, and their pride
And sought the priest, no turning back!
The clouds rolled in all purple gold
Down from the heights, I stayed inside,
The rain that burned the flesh came down,
I heard that Silvertongue had died.

My neighbor came back home once more
I saw him proudly plough his fields
His plough rolled free, not like before,
It raced past mine, through clods and weeds.
I looked more closely as it passed,
And saw some strange thing that he'd done,
The plough rolled freely underneath,
Upon the skull of Silvertongue!

4 November 2009

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Heart Like A Wheel

Calling up the promised land. johnny sevens coming over
The sea. hes taking your time. when you want to be free.
Holding out a helping hand. are you ready for a real
Career? will you be so cool. when its happening here?
It dont say nothing that I havent heard. if what I hear is
True. you wont keep the law with a broken word. so what
Are you going to do?
Heart like a wheel. turning away from anything thats real.
Heart like a wheel. changing in time. beating colder steel.
Pass the message around the world. the medium is in
Retreat. the power is here. and packing some heat.
Sell your soul to a holy war. set the captive free. we make
No promises anymore. but it isnt fooling me
Heart like a wheel. turning away from anything thats real.
Heart like a wheel. changing in time beating colder steel.
You cant keep the wheels turning anymore. with anger,
Blood and fear. or make any friends with an m16. when
You blast your way through here.
Heart like a wheel. turning away from anything thats real.
Heart like a wheel. changing in time beating colder steel.
Heart like a wheel. turning away from anything thats real.
Heart like a wheel. changing in time beating colder steel.
Heart like a wheel. turning away from anything thats real.
Heart like a wheel. driving the world is going to be a steal.

song performed by by Human League
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Catherine Wheels

No night to stay in
Bad moon is rising again
Dice rolls
And you burn
Come down I fear
As that cold wheel turns
I know what I know
Sad clone's been sleeping around
To stroke the right nerve
Whose needs do I serve
As Catherine's wheel turns
She was always the first to say gone
She's got her catherine wheels on
Always the first to say gone
Go kindly with him
To his blind apparition
Whose face creases up
With age gone grey
He'll back here one day
She was always the first to say gone
She's got her catherine wheels on
Always the first to say gone
She's got her catherine wheels on
Wheels on
Catherine wheels
She's gone
Vanished in the night
Broke off the logic of light
He woke
Tore the covers back
Found he was empty inside
So they were told
When the moon would rise
The best time to leave with your soul
She's gone
But towards the light
Watching her whole life unfold
Bruises come out dark
So strong was his hold on her
Regarded by some as his slave
He spoke as in a stranger's tongue
To spare us and drive you away
Bruises come out dark

song performed by by Crowded House
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Swan Song

Her hair was as black as a starling's tail,
Her cheeks as pale as a swan,
Her eyes, like two slim moonstones, glowed
And her mouth was the Holy Grail.
She'd played in the dirt of the village street
So long ago, so long...
She'd swum in the pools of the mountain stream,
But now, that girl had gone.

While I still rise with the early bird
To tend to my father's fields,
As the only son of an only son
I watched the woman leave.
She cried sweet tears as she said farewell
And vowed to come back, and soon,
But the village streets of a western town
Hold nothing for Ling Xiaodan.

The weeks went by, then the months and years
And I heard of her now and then,
She was dressed in expensive clothes, I heard,
She was driving a shiny car;
She was seen at the Beijing Opera
By a man who worked at the door,
'She glided by like a Queen, ' he said,
'As her dress trailed long on the floor.'

And her wai po, down in the village square
Would brag of her daughter's girl,
'She will snare some man with a million yuan, '
She said, 'not a farmer's son.
Go home to your fields and forget her now,
She's not for an also-ran! '
And laughed, as the tears sprang into my eyes
For the love of Ling Xiaodan.

She came back once to the village street
To her home, as ever we must,
But carefully held her dress up high
To avoid the rubbish and dust,
I stood at the side and she looked at me,
Then turned, looked quickly away,
For Ling Xiaodan and a farmer's son
Had nothing at all to say.

But I saw her once before she left,
Alone by the mountain stream,
Her eyes were sorrowful, in remorse,
Remembering how we'd been.
'I loved you once, as a child, ' she said
'But the world is harsh, and grey...
We do what our fathers want us to,
And my father sent me away.'

I sat by her then, and held her hand,
Stroking her neck, and hair,
And kissed the cheek, so pale and wan,
And I cried in a deep despair.
'You must get on with your life, ' she said,
'Get a wife and a baby son;
I leave tomorrow to see the man
That my father has met in town.'

I heard that she'd wed a businessman,
And cried in the quiet gloom,
My dream had died by the mountain stream,
On that day, in the afternoon.
She worked in a shop her husband owned,
So they said, but I never heard
'Til the body was brought back home again,
That the love of my life was dead.

It seemed that she'd sold her favours there
In the rear of a grimy store,
To any man with the change to spare
While her husband played Mah Jongg.
He'd gambled his fortune, and lost it all
While his wife kept the fool from jail
With what she earned with her hands and hair,
And a mouth like the Holy Grail.

But then, a man who was ill or mad
Put his grimy hands at her throat,
And squeezed the life from the darling neck
That I'd once both loved, and stroked.
They buried her up on the mountainside
By the stream, in sight of her home,
And from where I stand in the paddy fields
I can see her pale white stone.

She'd played in the dirt of the village street
So long ago, so long...
She'd swum in the pools of the mountain stream,
But now, that girl had gone.
I married a woman I barely knew
And she bore me a black-haired girl,
With eyes like two slim moonstones, and...
A mouth like the Holy Grail.

10 March 2006

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Celtic Sonant

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining star to you
Deep peace of the son of peace to you
One man stood firm guarding cups overflowing
Brimful of memories and yesterdays dreams
He could never explain his own silent thunder
The ocean just blows rough at this time of year
And the wheel keeps on turning
The wheel keeps on turning
The wheel keeps on turning
Turning around
Away we will sail with all our flags flying
Too many changes can cause us delay
Each star in the sky is there for a reason
Making it so bright for this time of day
And the wheel keeps on turning
The wheel keeps on turning
The wheel keeps on turning
This fool made it round

song performed by by Moody Blues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Big Wheels

Ive been thinking it over
So many times they say
You got it made
They never understand
The answer lies within your soul
cos no one know which side
The coin will fall.
Big wheels turning
Baby I know
Big wheels turning
Baby I know
Big wheels turning, turning...
Save it for a rainy day
For when the cold wind blows
Just to see how they run
I thought theyd know
I tried my best, all I could do
But somehow it was not enough for you.
Big wheels turning
Baby I know
Big wheels turning
Baby I know
Big wheels turning, turning,
Turning, turning...
Chorus:
I remember the dead of night
A lonely light that shines upon the window
I see it all so clear
The tenderness, the silent tears
Out here in the pouring rain
Through cold dark waiting days
I see you standing there
I see the big wheels turning
Never ending, on and on they go.
I think Im going home
I think Im gonna have to start again
Its rather sad
Because Ive looked around, cant seem to find
Whatevers always rolling through my mind
Big wheels turning
Baby I know
Big wheels turning
Baby I know
Big wheels turning, turning
Turning, turning...
Repeat chorus

song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Bride of the Wind and Rain

There was morning dew, and the sky was blue
When the stranger came to town,
Riding a painted wagon, pulled
By horses, black and brown,
He carried a wand of hickory,
Was clad in a purple cloak,
'The Master of Elementals'
Said the sign - 'of the Gypsy Folk.'

The people gathered to hear him speak
When he stopped in the village square,
'I hold the secrets of wind and rain,
Of summer clouds up there.
The gentle rain for your barley crop,
The breeze that flutters the leaves,
Or the menace of darkening thunderheads
As the lightning strikes at your eaves.'

The people laughed: 'He's a crazy loon, '
They said: 'We think you're a clown! '
They rocked his wagon and jeered at him
But the stranger stood his ground.
'You jeer at eternal mysteries,
And you fail to understand,
But I have the power to raze your crops
With a twitch of my willow wand.'

They turned his wagon upside-down
And laughed, and danced and sang,
'There's not been much to cheer us here
Since we ducked old Widow Strang.
Her spells could never save her
And your wand can do its worst,
So show us your 'Elementals'...'
Then he said - 'Your town is cursed! '

He raised the willow wand on high
And muttered seven words
That didn't make much sense to them,
(In a tongue they'd never heard) .
The rain fell out of a cloudless sky
Like a fine and gentle mist,
A gentle, soaking, water spray,
Then he said - 'Shall I persist? '

There'd been a drought, the people laughed,
And danced about in glee,
'We need the rain, you're a sad buffoon
With your vain idolatry.
So do your worst with your willow wand
Our crops will prosper now...'
'Your crops will nourish the barren ground, '
He said, 'I'll show you how! '

A wind arose in the barley fields,
The rain came pouring down,
The corn, it swayed in the gusts, the trees
Were bent toward the ground,
The sky was blackened with thunderheads,
The rain, it turned to hail,
The crowd began to scatter, and fled
As the women began to wail.

The thunderheads were dark and dense,
They turned the light to gloom,
The hailstones rattled on every roof
In the dark of the afternoon,
Then lightning flashed, lit up the sky
As the stranger paced the town,
His scowl so unforgiving and grim as
The lightning struck the ground.

A wedding party had sheltered in
The chancel of the church,
They dared not hold the service since
The thunder cloud had burst.
The noise drowned out the vicar's voice,
The organ pipes had wailed,
Playing the devil's music to
The rattling of the hail.

The stranger strode on up the aisle,
The people stared him down,
He waved his wand, the floor had split
As an earthquake shook the ground,
'How much to stop this craziness? '
A man stood up and said,
'You've made your point, take what you want! '
The stranger shook his head.

'Not all of your gold will buy me off,
You jeered and laughed at me,
Your town will sink in the primal mud
And be lost in antiquity,
But there is one thing I'd take right now
To save my wounded pride,
I would take just one of your number here...'
Then he pointed to the bride.

The bride had cowered behind the groom
As lightning hit the spire,
The roofing lead came crashing down
On the altar, and the choir,
A floodtide surged in the open door
And the wedding party cried:
'For God's sake, give him the woman then,
Give him the blushing bride! '

The groom was pushed aside and held,
The bride passed hand to hand,
'It's better we let you take her
If it will save our troubled land! '
'I'll only be taking her maidenhead,
Then you can have her back,
And live with the scorn and shame of her
Dishonoured, like you, in fact! '

He took the bride through the chancel door
And they disappeared in the rain,
Somebody said they heard her scream
And the bridegroom reeled in pain,
He swore revenge on the lot of them,
Ran cursing out of the church,
To look for his bride, defiled, he said,
He began his demented search.

There was morning dew, and the sky was blue
When she marched back into town,
Her dress was ragged and torn by then,
Blood-stained, and she wore a frown.
She carried a long white willow wand
As she marched to the village square,
And screamed; 'You'd better come out and pray! '
There was no forgiveness there!

The townsfolk hid in their flooded homes
As she wandered every lane,
There was never a sight of the stranger there
In the torrents of hail and rain,
She waved for the thunderheads to come
And she brought the lightning down,
But the groom was locked in a crazy room
In a distant part of town.

Now the ruined bride still walks the streets
In a torn and faded dress,
More like the rags of the hand-me-downs
Than a hint of future bliss,
The crops have drowned in the sodden fields
And the houses filled with mud,
As she screams like an elemental witch
For the loss of her virgin blood.

18 April 2010

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lightning Jack

The air was still, the eve was chill
And the Elders forecast rain,
They looked to the distant rolling hills
At the ominous cloud that came,
The doors and shutters of cottage folk
Were slammed and barred in the dark,
With the first of the lightning forking down
On its way to the village of Stark.

A figure stood at the crossroads there,
And stared at the cloud in dread,
His boots were muddied, his topcoat wet
And his hat just drooped on his head,
With thunder rumbling like a growl
At the back of the Devil's throat,
The figure dropped to his knees and howled,
In a long and a high pitched note.

The crossroad gibbet was made of oak,
Had carried a hundred moans,
Had hung its felons from each of its arms
'Til the flesh had peeled from their bones,
It stood like a force of nature, poised
To point three ways in the dark,
To the towns of Taye, of Ath and Brahe
And fourth, to the village of Stark.

The thunder had rolled relentlessly,
The rain, it was pelting down,
A villager saw the figure there
As he halted a while, and frowned,
The lightning forked from the darkening cloud
And it struck the figure in black,
As the oak exploded in one brief flash
By the figure of Lightning Jack.

The figure staggered and howled once more
Then he shook his fist at the sky,
He'd been lit by the bright blue thunderbolt
That had crisped his hat, bone dry,
But now he was mad as he raised his voice
And he screamed by the wreck of the tree:
'You can burst the gibbet and scorch the earth
But by God, you can't get me! '

He made his way to the village of Stark
Took a room at the village Inn,
But news had spread of his near escape
From the lightning bolt of sin,
The villagers took to crossing themselves
When he passed, each turned his back,
They'd have no truck with the devil's seed,
That they knew as Lightning Jack.

For Jack had been struck a dozen times
By a bolt from the darkening sky,
It was almost as if he was cursed by God
And the villagers wondered why?
Wherever he roamed in the lanes and fields
When a storm was coming on,
He'd run and hide, but the storm's black tide
Would follow, wherever he'd gone.

They said that he'd killed a man one day
For a woman of gypsy blood,
But she had rushed to her lover's side
As he died there, in the mud.
Then she cursed him once in the Romany way,
And she cursed his soul as well,
That he'd live forever to curse the day
That he'd broken her lover's spell.

They'd dragged him before the magistrates,
His hands and his feet in chains,
They'd sent him down on a murder charge
To be hanged by the autumn rains,
The drop, it had failed to open up,
The rope had snapped with his fall,
The beam gave way on the third attempt
And he lay half-stunned on the floor.

The third attempt brought a swift reprieve
From a Judge, in the fear of God,
Who thought it an omen he be spared
For the Lord's own lightning rod,
So he sent him out of the country,
Told the wretch he'd better not hope,
To return again, or he'd feel the pain
Once more, of the hangman's rope.

And so he sailed to the continent
And his feet were set to roam,
He slept in the barns of farmers' farms
With never a place called home,
While every storm from a threatening sky
Had caused him to curse and shout,
The rolling verse of the Romany's curse
Was determined to seek him out.

The lightning struck on the baldest hill,
It struck in the deepest wood,
It took one eye, and blistered his tongue,
Withered one arm where he stood,
At times he bordered on madness,
Scanned the skies for a lightning bolt,
And shook in fear as his fate drew near
That he'd turn to a pillar of salt.

The Mayor of Stark in his ermine robes
Had drawn on his long gold chain,
Had gathered his councillors round him
Raised his voice, and began to declaim:
'As long as I'm the Mayor of Stark
In charge of the town's decrees,
This Lightning Jack is a menace,
Wrecks our barns and blasts our trees.'

They carried him bodily into the square
And they bound him up in chain,
With lightning flashing around their heads,
He roared: 'Now feel my pain!
God's wrath will stay with you in Stark
Unless you let me go! '
The Mayor looked round the village square
Then quietly answered - 'No! '

'A curse may turn to a blessing,
It depends on a person's creed,
And you may seek your salvation
By fulfilling a village's needs.'
They hoisted him up to the ancient church,
They tied him onto the steeple,
'Now you may serve as our lightning rod,
Perched high above the people! '

At Stark they witness many a storm
Where the lightning forks on down,
But not one villager has been struck
In field or farm or town,
The lightning arcs down to the Church
To sear the hangman's dross,
For something withered and crisp lies there
Beneath the Holy Cross!

And after the worst of the storm is spent
The wind howls through the eaves,
The lightning tapering off, it makes
Its way back through the trees,
Then you may listen and hear a cry
That sounds more like a plea -
'You can blast and light up the weathercock
But by God, you can't get me! '

15 June 2009

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Social Change

Oh, you are an assessor weighing gold,
sitting in that silent counter cold.
Your half- broken- pot, husk and blower
have brought you up slower.
The banks have got a social change!

There goes he on a two-wheeler nice
not in that rural barber’s guise.
“ Hair-Dressor”, the name he got
once he left that village rot.
What a change from his abode of flies!

A timber-dealer in that noisy shop,
never allows his old ware trade to flop.
With rags he was in a shack;
but now he does all with knack.
A shift in place has put him atop!

Oh, you that black-smith waited for grains
and lay grilling in the hot summer near drains!
You fabricate now steel – designs
and the plough you made once whines!
Your life with machines has so much rains!

Hey, you washer-man in a vast yard!
Where has gone that ass, your village bard?
Potters have a life of ceramic charm;
band masters are in colourful clothes warm.
And the Mason wields his “Master-Card”!

O you that farmer driven to the city
when god of rains to the fields denied pity!
Your plough and whip have no roles
and the city your woe tolls.
Your loaded back breaking inspires a ditty.

poem by Rajendran Muthiah
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Maps And Charts

For part of your voyage, Captain
I was there at the helm with you,
So young, and the world had flowered,
I caught my breath at the view;
But you stood grim, determined
And saw what I could not see,
You spoke of the storms and tempests
That I had coming to me.

Your words took shape, exploded,
Then burst at my head and heart
Like shooting stars in the sunset,
Like embers, glowed in the dark,
I lost so much of their meaning,
Ignored so much that was said
Your thoughts flashed bright on the water
Then dimmed, went out – despaired.

You tugged at my understanding
Set course for the verities,
I stood for so long behind you
That you merged with the skies and seas,
The breeze snapped long at the mizzen
The spinnaker billowed and flared,
I questioned the ship’s direction
But I doubt if you even heard.

We parted one brave morning
When I took a ship of my own,
Then you drove alone at the sunset
While I made sail to roam,
We’d each glimpse sights of the other
At sea, and in seaports new,
When we’d spark our flints together
As my understanding grew.

Then my storms and tempests claimed me
As you’d said they would at the start,
And sparks came back of your warnings
As I set my course by the stars,
And I tried to grasp your secrets
That had glimmered and glowed in vain,
But you’d set a course for the sunset
And never came back again.

So now in my darkened cabin
I pore over maps and charts
And I set each course for the helmsman
To look for your many parts,
I know that the journey shortens
As the planets wheel and turn,
And you wait for me at the sunset
Where our maps and charts are burned.

26 December 1994

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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It All Comes True

I stand here a black man I have no history
I was brought up in east chicago and I grew up on the streets
The chains around the playground were the chains around my heart
The brand upon my shoulder well it reminds you who you are
Chorus:
And it all comes true yes it all comes true
Like a wheel inside a wheel it turns on you
And you think, what have I done? what can I do?
What you believe about yourself
It all comes true
I was just a young girl my mother called me hon
My father was unhappy cause I should have been his son
They said, learn to be a waitress and learn to be a wife
And be thankful for a chance to live an ordinary life
Chorus:
And it all comes true yes it all comes true
Like a wheel inside a wheel it turns on you
And you think, what have I done? what can I do?
What you believe about yourself
It all comes true
My life is a contradiction of sorrow and desire
I drag my heart across the ash to throw it on the fire
Maybe theres a reason and could there be a plan
Or are we all just fools to think well understand
Chorus:
And it all comes true yes it all comes true
Like a wheel inside a wheel it turns on you
And you think, what have I done? what can I do?
What you believe about yourself
It all comes true
And it all comes true yes it all comes true
Like a wheel inside a wheel it turns on you
And you think, what have I done? what can I do?
What you believe about yourself
It all comes true

song performed by by John Mellencamp
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Wheel

The wheel is turning and you cant slow down,
You cant let go and you cant hold on,
You cant go back and you cant stand still,
If the thunder dont get you then the lightning will.
Wont you try just a little bit harder,
Couldnt you try just a little bit more?
Wont you try just a little bit harder,
Couldnt you try just a little bit more?
Round, round robin run round, got to get back to where you belong,
Little bit harder, just a little bit more,
A little bit further than you gone before.
The wheel is turning and you cant slow down,
You cant let go and you cant hold on,
You cant go back and you cant stand still,
If the thunder dont get you then the lightning will.
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod,
Big wheel turn by the grace of god,
Every time that wheel turn round,
Bound to cover just a little more ground.
The wheel is turning and you cant slow down,
You cant let go and you cant hold on,
You cant go back and you cant stand still,
If the thunder dont get you then the lightning will.
Wont you try just a little bit harder,
Couldnt you try just a little bit more?
Wont you try just a little bit harder,
Couldnt you try just a little bit more?

song performed by by Grateful Dead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Custers Blues

Well you look just like general custer
On the day of his last stand
Heading up into the black hills
Glorious and grand
I saw it by your side
A map in your hand
Heading up into the rain
Singing this land is your land
Now Ive seen your dust a-rising
And Ive seen your numbers swell
Ive seen you crossing the badlands
And Ive heard your captains yell
Ive watched you when youre sleeping
Ive seen you filling up your can
Thinking as you work
That this land is your land
But now youre bursting into my country
Youre messing up my fields
Youre playing games with my holy places
Youre tearing the earth with your wheels
Right now your star is ascending
And your head is bursting with pride
But I wonder if custer was still singing
this land is my land when he died
Was he still singing this is my land when he died
Was he singing that its my land when he died
Was he singing when he died
Was he singing when he died
Was he singing its my land when he died
When he died...
Was he singing when he died

song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I see the Four-fold Man

I see the Four-fold Man, The Humanity in deadly sleep
And its fallen Emanation, the Spectre and its cruel Shadow.
I see the Past, Present and Future existing all at once
Before me. O Divine Spirit, sustain me on thy wings,
That I may awake Albion from his long and cold repose;
For Bacon and Newton, sheath'd in dismal steel, their terrors hang
Like iron scourges over Albion: reasonings like vast serpents
Infold around my limbs, bruising my minute articulations.

I turn my eyes to the schools and universities of Europe
And there behold the Loom of Locke, whose Woof rages dire,
Wash'd by the Water-wheels of Newton: black the cloth
In heavy wreaths folds over every nation: cruel works
Of many Wheels I view, wheel without wheel, with cogs tyrannic
Moving by compulsion each other, not as those in Eden, which,
Wheel within wheel, in freedom revolve in harmony and peace.

poem by William Blake
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jerusalem: I see the Four-fold Man, The Humanity in deadly sleep

I see the Four-fold Man, The Humanity in deadly sleep
And its fallen Emanation, the Spectre and its cruel Shadow.
I see the Past, Present and Future existing all at once
Before me. O Divine Spirit, sustain me on thy wings,
That I may awake Albion from his long and cold repose;
For Bacon and Newton, sheath'd in dismal steel, their terrors hang
Like iron scourges over Albion: reasonings like vast serpents
Infold around my limbs, bruising my minute articulations.

I turn my eyes to the schools and universities of Europe
And there behold the Loom of Locke, whose Woof rages dire,
Wash'd by the Water-wheels of Newton: black the cloth
In heavy wreaths folds over every nation: cruel works
Of many Wheels I view, wheel without wheel, with cogs tyrannic
Moving by compulsion each other, not as those in Eden, which,
Wheel within wheel, in freedom revolve in harmony and peace.

poem by William Blake
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Spin The Wheel

When I was young I thought I stood
On solid ground well that proved wrong
Everything I know was true
Just blew up in my face
Isnt life wonderful?
I really didnt think so
I took my chips and cashed them in
And let the games begin
Cause its easy
Its prefectly easy
To spin that wheel round
til you turn it all upside down
Its easy
Its perfectly easy
To let that wheel spin
til the numbers come back right to you
Now spin that wheel
Theres nothing to lose
Spin that wheel
Its waiting for you
Now spin that wheel
Let the wheel decide
Spin that wheel
Go along for the ride
Spin the wheel
You lose!
When I was young and set to move
I started looking forward to
The fun that disappeared so soon
I wanted to check out
Isnt life wonderful?
I didnt used to think so
I took my chips and cashed them in
And started up again
Now its easy

song performed by by Devo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Speed Of Light

So gradual in those summers was the going
of the age it seemed that the long days setting out
when the stars faded over the mountains were not
leaving us even as the birds woke in full song and the dew
glittered in the webs it appeared then that the clear morning
opening into the sky was something of ours
to have and keep and that the brightness we could not touch
and the air we could not hold had come to be there all the time
for us and would never be gone and that the axle
we did not hear was not turning when the ancient car
coughed in the roofer's barn and rolled out echoing
first thing into the lane and the only tractor
in the village rumbled and went into its rusty
mutterings before heading out of its lean-to
into the cow pats and the shadow of the lime tree
we did not see that the swallows flashing and the sparks
of their cries were fast in the spokes of the hollow
wheel that was turning and turning us taking us
all away as one with the tires of the baker's van
where the wheels of bread were stacked like days in calendars
coming and going all at once we did not hear
the rim of the hour in whatever we were saying
or touching all day we thought it was there and would stay
it was only as the afternoon lengthened on its
dial and the shadows reached out farther and farther
from everything that we began to listen for what
might be escaping us and we heard high voices ringing
the village at sundown calling their animals home
and then the bats after dark and the silence on its road

poem by William Stanley Merwin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Near-Accident 7.31.2008

Margaret Alice drove into a pole this morning,
didn’t realize the car was badly injured, then
as she tried to drive home, felt the full force
of the near-accident: The wheel alignment was
out, the right front wheel completely skew, the
car wouldn’t go, the car park attendant directed
to the wheel alignment garage where Manuel -
Manuel Lennon – checked the car –

It is busted madame, you have to drive it to another
garage, Margaret Alice hysterical – the kids are at
school, who will take care of them? – I cannot drive,
the car’s wheels are all skew, said Schalk Jordaan –
we’ll drive the car to the garage, Manuel in your
car, we’ll take you there; I called Caroline, she
went to fetch Nici and Tiaan, Celeste at the garage –
this will cost you madame; I smiled, yes it will,

But my kids are safe; here is Barbara and Lieb,
they’ll take me home; took the number and
details of Manuel and Schalk who drove my
broken car all the way to the garage, I was too
shaken and scared to drive my little lame duck;
they took care of me and my car, made sure I
had a lift before they left – how can I thank them?
They’ll never know how much they meant

To the lady with the broken car – but in this poem
I’ll let them know how much their help meant!

poem by Margaret Alice
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Hymn Of The Big Wheel (disc 2)

The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
There's a hole in my soul like a cavity
Seems the world is out to gather just by gravity
The wheel keeps turning the sky's rearranging
Look my son the weather is changing
I'd like to feel that you could be free
Look up at the blue skies beneath a new tree
Sometime again
You'll turn green and the sea turns red
My son I said the power of reflections over my head
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
We sang about the sun and danced among the trees
And we listened to the whisper of the city on the breeze
Will you cry in the most in a lead-free zone
Down within the shadows where the factories drone
On the surface of the wheel they build another town
And so the green come tumbling down
Yes close your eyes and hold me tight
And i'll show you sunset sometime again
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
As a child solemn pray my hope hides in disguise
While satellites and cameras watch from the skies
An acid drop of rain recycled from the sea
It washed away my shadow burnt a hole in me
And all the king's men cannot put it back again
But the ghetto sun will nurture life
And mend my soul sometime again
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
(x2

song performed by by Massive Attack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hymn Of The Big Wheel

Horace andy
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
Theres a hole in my soul like a cavity
Seems the world is out to gather just by gravity
The wheel keeps turning the skys rearranging
Look my son the weather is changing
Id like to feel that you could be free
Look up at the blue skies beneath a new tree
Sometime again
Youll turn green and the sea turns red
My son I said the power of ? ? ? s over my head
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
We sang about the sun and danced about the trees
And we listened to the whisper of the city on the breeze
Will you cry ? ? ? in a lead-free zone
Down within the shadows where the factories drone
On the surface of the wheel they build another town
And so the green come tumbling down
Yes close your eyes and hold me tight
And Ill show you sunset sometime again
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
As a child solemn pray my hope hides in disguise
While satellites and cameras watch from the skies
An acid drop of rain recycled from the sea
It washed away my shadow burnt a hole in me
And all the kings men cannot put it back again
But the ghetto sun will nurture life
And mend my soul sometime again
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
(x2)

song performed by by Massive Attack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Annunciation

'The lord appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and behold, the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed.'-EXODOUS iii.2.

When to your virgin heart, unstirred, ungiven,
Upon the quiet mountainside untrod,
The sudden naked fire came down from heaven,
Burning you with the very breath of God,

Was the sun lost? Were all the sweet stars dim
While God raised round your head those walls of light?
Were you locked dumbly, terribly with Him,
Within that burning temple day and night?

What was it to have God there like a bird-
God like a great, gold flower upon your breast-
While He spake things that only one man heard,
Face down before that glory manifest?

When that strange flame went up the mountain side,
Were your forsaken lips so burned with gold
That the creatures of the wild stood off and cried,
And in your breast no blossom dared unfold?

Did you call back the startled birds to build,
And put forth all your simple buds again,
Forgetting how your branches once were filled,
In sweet embrace of passing sun and rain?

Or were all other birds forbidden sing
After those great, gold plumes had made their nest?
Was, in its strange and awful blossoming,
That great, gold flower the last upon your breast?

poem by Muriel Stuart
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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