Bangladesh (a riff)
Everywhere I stand, I stand in water
It's wide expanse defines the border;
My country sinking into the sea,
The waters lapping at my knee;
My country now a muddy brown
The roofs submerged below their crown
The water lapping at the poles,
The tidal waves toss wooden bowls.
This was once an idyllic spot,
Woven mats float in the rot;
Graceful stands of bending trees
Sad victims of expanding seas.
Were I a fish with breathing gills,
A floating bird, bobbing, still,
I'd bid my children to follow me,
We would have rescue from the sea.
poem by David McLansky
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
When The Two Sisters Go To Fetch Water
WHEN the two sisters go to fetch water, they come to this spot and they smile.
They must be aware of somebody who stands behind the trees whenever they go to fetch water.
The two sisters whisper to each other when they pass this spot.
They must have guessed the secret of that somebody who stands behind the trees whenever they go to fetch water.
Their pitchers lurch suddenly, and water spills when they reach this spot.
They must have found out that somebody's heart is beating who stands behind the trees whenever they go to fetch water.
The two sisters glance at each other when they come to this spot, and they smile.
There is a laughter in their swift-stepping feet, which makes confusion in somebody's mind who stands behind the trees whenever they go to fetch water.
poem by Rabindranath Tagore
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Gardener XVIII: When Two Sisters
When the two sisters go to fetch
water, they come to this spot and
they smile.
They must be aware of somebody
who stands behind the trees when-
ever they go to fetch water.
The two sisters whisper to each
other when they pass this spot.
They must have guessed the secret
of that somebody who stands behind
the trees whenever they go to
fetch water.
Their pitchers lurch suddenly, and
water spills when they reach this
spot.
They must have found out that
somebody's heart is beating who
stands behind the trees whenever
they go to fetch water.
The two sisters glance at each other
when they come to this spot, and they
smile.
There is a laughter in their swift-
stepping feet, which makes confusion
in somebody's mind who stands behind
the trees whenever they go to
fetch water.
poem by Rabindranath Tagore
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Fish Out Of Water
I feel so out of place here
With this high society
These high fallutin people
Dont know what to make of me
I feel like a minnow in a sea of moby dicks
A small fry in a big pan
Theyre caviar -- Im fish sticks
Fish out of water
I know I dont belong
Fish out of water
Everything I do is wrong
My style of hair, the clothes I wear
The way I speak, the things I eat
The way I act, my lack of tact
Nothin seems to fit
Fish out of water
Flounderin round
Out of my element
But Im just as good as they are
Why do I feel second rate
Its like, sorry charlie,
We want only tuna with good taste
I guess you could say wal-mart
Is quite a way from guccis
Im timex, theyre rolex
Im captain ds, theyre sushi
Fish out of water
Ive had it to the gills
Fish out of water
With these yuppie-guppie frills
Yeah, Im a square in a round hole
A catfish in a goldfish bowl
A little fish with lots of soul
Out of my element
Fish out of water
Flounderin round just for the halibut
Save me, save me
S.o.s. somebody
Save me, save me
Somebody rescue me
Fish out of water
Somebody throw me in
Fish out of water
On a scale of one to ten
Im a two, perhaps a three
Compared to the big fish in the sea
Im washed ashore so save me please
Im in an awful fix
Fish out of water
Rescue me
And you better do it quick
Fish out of water
Its such a culture shock
Fish out of water
My stomachs tied in knots
Fish out of water
Fish out of water
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
One Small Drop Of Water
The pounding of the ocean waves
as they break upon the sand
is a reminder of the tremendous strength
of water surrounding the land.
The peaceful lapping of aqua water
as it rolls upon the sand
graces us with its gentleness
just as the Creator planned.
The saltiness in the great big seas
tastes just like your tears.
For the water that's within us
calls us close to the piers.
Sitting quietly, breathing it in,
You become one with it all.
The magnificence of the scene
makes you feel so small.
And yet as you sit there under the skies
it makes you realize
that you are a part of this wonder
no matter how small your size.
poem by Edwina Reizer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Quatrain #97 - The ocean waves always.......
The ocean waves always come lapping to the sea shore
at the waters edge there's hardly a difference any more.
There three worlds meet that are all interdependent on each other;
water, land and air merging on the bosom of our earth the Mother.
poem by George Krokos
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
Ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
As in a sack some thing washed in:
And lay amidst the shells
And pebbles of the shore
Amidst the lapping of the waters rude
And the sea-waves’ roar.
Ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
The sea-waves washed her in
One eye was closed the other open
And on her golden hair
Were drops of red:
Wild lapped the sea-waves and the cloud
Frowned on the sea-shore
Amidst the lapping of the waters rude
And the sea-waves’ roar.
How many winters rude have skimmed
Their frozen fingers on the white breast
Of the pale moon-lit lake a-dreaming sound
How many a Spring of green
Has come and gone:
Since that ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
The sea-waves washed her in
Her clothes that rich were tattered were
Unseemly with the smoke of cigars
And the drunk smell of alcohol
Her look was wild and sad and raw:
Wild lapped the sea-waves and the cloud
Frowned on the sea-shore
Amidst the lapping of the waters rude
And the sea-waves’ roar.
poem by Emmanuel George Cefai
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
In The Wide Brown Country
To the wide brown country the Seasons come and go
South in South Australia where the Murray flow
Through the wide brown country where the brown dust fly
When the gales are rushing down the southern sky.
In the wide brown country woods not there to see
Where the mighty Murray crawls on towards the sea
Through the bone dry paddocks that are never green
Mother Nature in this landscape in her brown only seen.
Where the black tribes fished and hunted centuries ago
Little of their culture others seem to know
Through the wide brown country they travelled far and wide
And theirs was a great culture but their culture with them died.
In the wide brown country wildering flowers are rare
And the sun parched paddocks always looking bare
And where only the hardiest can hope to survive
Emu, wombat and wallaby and grey roo seem to thrive.
In the wide brown country where the Murray flow
Onwards towards the ocean onwards ever slow
And the grass is growing brown even where the rains have been
In that brown old country that man has failed to green.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Storm At Sea
Below us there was a rising and falling,
Waves of breadth claimed a devastation;
The comical waters were customs and beliefs,
Persuading us as sailors to listen and learn
To the lapping of the ocean on the boat’s hull.
It sounded a pity to see a little water on your soul
And body and boat, the reality was immensely disgusting.
It disgusted them when gusts of the greatest winds
Formed density and texture of a gale,
This compelled them to squint at the hidden sun
For more waves and more water to be hidden.
Treating them kindly after a sunset,
The night waters sprayed juice and venom as well.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Where The Waters Meet
today i feel good
i walked in the water
loved how it felt under my feet
i look out in the oceans
and wonder
where the waters meet
so i walk i untill the water meets my breast
i look around and see more water
am i in the middle
where the waters meet
do it feel me
where the water meets my skin
so warm and soft
but yet so i wonder
where the waters meet
i give in to the waves
and lean till i float
close my eyes and i feel my self drift away
where the water meet i will never know
where the waves take me is where ill go
where the water meets my soul
poem by Raesheka Antwine
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
MuDdY......... wAtEr............! !
MuDdY......... wAtEr............! !
Pouring muddy water?
I clean my self
Again he throws
Muddy water
I throw him out again
There walks a new person
Sprinkles little mud around
I dust them here n there
And I walk towards life
He stops me there
I turn back at him
He splashes the muddy water
I wash them again with
With waters of tears!
Words of apology
Gestures of forgiveness
He takes my crying face
And paints me again
Again with muddy water
No tears this time
Its blood I use again
To clear the muddy water
And I limit the days I want to live
In distress he pats my pats my back
With his right hand
But alas he was staining me
With his left hand
Muddy water was it again
I clear my seat
I tidy myself
Painstakingly not with
Brush nor broom
But with scalpel and knife
Cutting and chistlling
Callous and critical
Every inch of my individuality
But still he would silently take me
Take me to the corners of love
& again teem me with muddy water
There I attempt to kill myself
& he pacifies me again
With explanations of muddy water
Now I know scrubbing and scouring
Will never help
Virtuous and untainted
Spotless and shipshape do I wannu be
But its muddy water this lfe
So i`l go beneath heaps of mud
Cause however much of muddy water
Muddy water he pours
I`l be mud all the time
My blood minced in mud
My bones decayed in mud
My flesh sink in mud
Every cell of mine
Crumble into the muddy mud! !
poem by Dr DHANA LAKSHMI
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Lake Someplace
Speak to me
thee wet and lonesome lapping waves
Outrun evaporation of your grave
along this chiseled limestone shore
where you have passed
through distant bygone doors
Across the lake,
where terra cotta porticos stand tall
and dark eyed maidens wait for men to call
with servant hearts,
and apron strings
expecting all the good things life might bring
Explain to me the mystery of this place
The air is still,
the sun upon my face
weathering whiskered old men
leathered and tanned
who sell fresh fish from a wooden stand
Pausing to smell the cedars high on the hill
that long for a breath of winters chill
Oh, to be liquid just like you
and stare at it forever
through the eyes of a molecule
poem by Sara Fielder
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Baby Running Barefoot
When the bare feet of the baby beat across the grass
The little white feet nod like white flowers in the wind,
They poise and run like ripples lapping across the water;
And the sight of their white play among the grass
Is like a little robin’s song, winsome,
Or as two white butterflies settle in the cup of one flower
For a moment, then away with a flutter of wings.
I long for the baby to wander hither to me
Like a wind-shadow wandering over the water,
So that she can stand on my knee
With her little bare feet in my hands,
Cool like syringa buds,
Firm and silken like pink young peony flowers.
poem by David Herbert Lawrence
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Bridge, The
I once
as a young boy
stood on a little
wooden country bridge;
tip-toed to look at
the languid moving water
Tomorrow popped up -
the wind that had blown in
tore off a leaf from
a tall standing tree
roots entrenched
by the water's edge
and this leaf
wafted and fluttered
and glided into the
current below
taken bodily
where gravity pulls
and drifted upon the
wavelets lapping
and pushing
its severed self
far, far away into
the distance
I heard the crickets
and the cicadas
droning in the
afternoon sun;
those things could
ruin your ears!
and all the while
I gazed upon the
fallen leaf
hoping to spy on
what the future
promised downstream:
that if I let go
of whatever it was
that kept me there
feet dangling through
the rusted railing;
heart racing
would I wake up
and return to the
bustling world
unable to swim
against the current
rudely torn off
poem by Frederick Kesner
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Withered And Died
This cruel old country has driven me down, teased me and lied.
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died.
Once I was bending the tops of the trees,
Kind thoughts in my head, kind voices to hear.
Then I took up with a girl from the West.
They'd run and hide, they'd run and hide.
Count one to ten and she's gone like the rest.
My dreams have withered and died.
If I was a butterfly, lived for a day,
I could be free just blowing away.
Silver moon sailor and silver moonshine
On the water so wide, water so wide,
Slip from the bed of a good friend of mine
My dreams have withered and died.
Once I was bending the tops of the trees
Kind thoughts in my head, kind voices to hear.
This cruel country has driven me down, teased me and lied.
Teased me and lied.
I've only sad stories to tell to this town.
My dreams have withered and died. (x3)
song performed by by Elvis Costello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Withered & Died
This cruel old country has driven me down, teased me and lied.
Ive only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died.
Once I was bending the tops of the trees,
Kind thoughts in my head, kind voices to hear.
Then I took up with a girl from the west.
Theyd run and hide, theyd run and hide.
Count one to ten and shes gone like the rest.
My dreams have withered and died.
If I was a butterfly, lived for a day,
I could be free just blowing away.
Silver moon sailor and silver moonshine
On the water so wide, water so wide,
Slip from the bed of a good friend of mine
My dreams have withered and died.
Once I was bending the tops of the trees
Kind thoughts in my head, kind voices to hear.
This cruel country has driven me down, teased me and lied.
Teased me and lied.
Ive only sad stories to tell to this town.
My dreams have withered and died. (x3)
song performed by by Elvis Costello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Unbearable Lightness
Truth is heavy
Like a sackful of stones that falls on the ocean's bottom
Few can reach out to it
Some fish gnaw at it out of curiousity
It rusts and moulds
Aching for a loving touch
Forlorn and forever alone
A lie is so light
It refuses to sink
Bobbing and tantalising on the ocean's surface
Waves keep lapping it up making it shine even more
It glistens and glimmers
You touch it and yearn for more
It makes you its slave
poem by Renu Rakheja
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Just Across The Rio Grande
(don cook, chick rains)
The lights of laredo dance on the water
And shine in a young mans eyes.
Who stand on the border and dreams of paradise.
Hes heard crazy stories of how people live over in the promised land.
He heard they eat three meals a day, just across the rio grande.
Hes got a wife named maria, and a baby
Named rose, and another one to feed on the way.
Two willing hands, that couldnt find work today.
He stares at the river and curses the future,
That he cant understand.
He knows the child would have a chance, just
Across the rio grande.
Its only a river,
Thats not so deep or wide.
A boy can throw a stone across and
Reach the other side. its just some
Muddy water, cutting through the land.
But a man can make a dream come true
Just across the rio grande.
The lights of laredo dance on the water and
Shine in a young mans eyes. who stand on the
Border and dreams of paradise.
Hes heard crazy stories of how good life is
Over in the promised land, and
Sometimes it seems like God must live just
Across the rio grande.
Repeat chorus
song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
If you can't stand a little sacrifice and you can't stand a trip across the desert with limited water, we're never going to straighten this country out.
quote by Ross Perot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Across The Border
Tonight my bag is packed
Tomorrow Ill walk these tracks
That will lead me across the border
Tomorrow my love and I will sleep neath auburn skies
Somewhere across the border
Well leave behind my dear
The pain and sadness we found here
And well drink from the bravos muddy water
Where the sky grows grey and wide
Well meet on the other side
There across the border
For you Ill build a house
High upon a grassy hill
Somewhere across the border
Where pain and memory
Pain and memory have been stilled
There across the border
And sweet blossoms fill the air
Pastures of gold and green
Roll down into cool clear waters
And in your arms neath open skies
Ill kiss the sorrow from your eyes
There across the border
Tonight well sing the songs
Ill dream of you my coraz_n
And tomorrow my heart will be strong
And may the saints blessing and grace
Carry me safely into your arms
There across the border
For what are we
Without hope in our hearts
That someday well drink from gods blessed waters
And eat the fruit from the vine
I know love and fortune will be mine
Somewhere across the border
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Whose Country Is This?
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of snakes;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of many waters;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of thieves! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of people;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of oil;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of earthquakes!
Whose country is this?
it is a land full of lovers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of volcanoes!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of beautiful flowers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of hansome men;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of beautiful women;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of roses;
Whose country is this?
it is a land ruled only by men;
Whose country is this?
It is a land without rainfall;
Whose country is this?
It is a land ruled by a woman;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of corruption!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pirates! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land ruled by law;
Whose country is this?
It is a land controlled by rebels!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of ice;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pregnant women;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of singers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of troubles;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of war! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land with the biggest cemetery in the wolrd!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of desert;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of trees;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pregnant teenagers!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of timber;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of hatred;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of love;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of care;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of peace;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of smokers!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of businesses;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of harlots;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of wise people;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of idiots!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of gold;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of cocoa;
Whose country is this?
It is a alnd full of crabs;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of evil;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of rainfalls;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of ants;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of horses;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pigs;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of statues;
Whose country is this?
it is a land full of birds;
And so on, and so forth!
Because nature had made them so as we see them around us,
But the wise and fool live together on this earth.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!