Night in the Gardens of Port of Spain
Night, the black summer, simplifies her smells
into a village; she assumes the impenetrable
musk of the negro, grows secret as sweat,
her alleys odorous with shucked oyster shells,
coals of gold oranges, braziers of melon.
Commerce and tambourines increase her heat.
Hellfire or the whorehouse: crossing Park Street,
a surf of sailor's faces crest, is gone
with the sea's phosphoresence; the boites-de-nuit
tinkle like fireflies in her thick hair.
Blinded by headlamps, deaf to taxi klaxons,
she lifts her face from the cheap, pitch oil flare
toward white stars, like cities, flashing neon,
burning to be the bitch she must become.
As daylight breaks the coolie turns his tumbril
of hacked, beheaded coconuts towards home.
poem by Derek Walcott
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Burning Heat
Burning in my heart- burning in my soul
Gotta have it more and more- hot and overloaded
Starving for some fun tonight- always dressed to kill
Dont tell me what I need- I need the thrill indeed
Dont stop me now
Ill run you over- bastard
Get out of my way
I feel mighty great
Burning heat- gets me- burning heat
Burning heat- breaks me- burning heat
Cant you see it coming- stronger than a bull
Get yourself going- youre too easy to beat
Dont forget Im strong- powerful and straight
I can take you on cause I am hard to break
Dont stop me now
Ill run you over- bastard
Get out of my way
I feel mighty great
Burning heat- gets me- burning heat
Burning heat- breaks me- burning heat
Burning heat- gets me- burning heat
Burning heat- breaks me- burning heat
Burning heat- leads me- burning heat
Burning heat- feeds me- burning heat
Burning in my heart- burning in my soul
Gotta have it more and more- hot and overloaded
Burning heat- gets me- burning heat
Burning heat- breaks me- burning heat
Burning heat- leads me- burning heat
Burning heat- feeds me- burning heat
song performed by by U. D. O.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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House On Fire
She strides down 7th street
Smokey night - summer heat
Commotion - concrete fires
Where neon souls are burning
His whole life - a hung jury
She was the crime - Wheel's gonna pay
She's got blue steel; cocked and locked
She is Justice - Justice is burning
She's turning the tables upside down
She's like a flame; she's burning higher
She's like a house on fire - House on fire
Wheel feels lucky - drinkin' blind
One track mind - sheer distraction
Steps on cracks, breakin' backs
Nothin's sacred on the other side
He turns left - she turns right
They both step through the veil of night
Cold blue steel reflection
And Wheel's got nowhere to hide
She's turning the tables upside down
She's like a flame; she's burning higher
She's like a house on fire - House on fire
Players of passion playing with fire
Streetlights are flashing but who are they for
Fisted love fueling fantasy
Is love worth the fire he's asking for
song performed by by Kansas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The smells of Football
Football has it's own smells
from the grass on the pitch
to the aroma from the Hot Dog stalls.
In the dressing room there's sweat
strong odour coming from ointments
being rubbed into aching muscles.
On the terraces you smell beer
years ago there was tobacco too
on Boxing Day the whiff of cigar smoke.
As a boy my mothers washing powder
making my kit smell nice and fresh
and getting rid of mud and grass stains.
The smell of leather of a new pair
of football boots and new ball
and layers of thick black polish.
At the half-time break in a match
onto the field came a large tray
full of sweet smelling and tasty Oranges.
These are the smells of Football
the odours of the Beautiful game
and for some the sweet smell of success.
poem by Kevin Halls
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Money Wordle Coin
G G joint to join
Ahoohoy oh let us ride
Smoking pots of other sweat’s treasure
For our own l-l-l-leasure
For our own p-p-p-pleasure
Money wordle coin
Tinkle tinkle oh little star
Tinkle tinkle sweat scar
Ridden 2 far 2 far
poem by Miroslava Odalovic
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Taxi In The Rain
Where have I been going
On this lost and rainy night
I, who have no home to go to
Waiting for a taxi in the rain
The grey earth sleeps
And lets me take my way
Alone amidst the crowd
Waiting for a taxi in the rain
I’ve come so far in search
Of what I have not found
Perhaps it is down this street
Waiting for a taxi in the rain
Grey and frozen faces
Pass me by unhurriedly
Turning their backs to the dreamer
Waiting for a taxi in the rain
poem by Christine Natale
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lockerbie Street
Such a dear little street it is, nestled away
From the noise of the city and heat of the day,
In cool shady coverts of whispering trees,
With their leaves lifted up to shake hands with the breeze
Which in all its wide wanderings never may meet
With a resting-place fairer than Lockerbie street!
There is such a relief, from the clangor and din
Of the heart of the town, to go loitering in
Through the dim, narrow walks, with the sheltering shade
Of the trees waving over the long promenade,
And littering lightly the ways of our feet
With the gold of the sunshine of Lockerbie street.
And the nights that come down the dark pathways of dusk,
With the stars in their tresses, and odors of musk
In their moon-woven raiments, bespangled with dews,
And looped up with lilies for lovers to use
In the songs that they sing to the tinkle and beat
Of their sweet serenadings through Lockerbie street.
O my Lockerbie street! You are fair to be seen--
Be it noon of the day, or the rare and serene
Afternoon of the night-- you are one to my heart,
And I love you above all the phrases of art,
For no language could frame and no lips could repeat
My rhyme-haunted raptures of Lockerbie street.
poem by James Whitcomb Riley
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Goodby Pork Pie Hat
When Charlie speaks of Lester
You know someone great has gone
The sweetest swinging music man
Had a Porkie Pig hat on
A bright star
In a dark age
When the bandstands had a thousand ways
Of refusing a black man admission
Black musician
In those days they put him in an
Underdog position
Cellars and chittlins'
When Lester took him a wife
Arm and arm went black and white
And some saw red
And drove them from their hotel bed
Love is never easy
It's short of the hope we have for happiness
Bright and sweet
Love is never easy street!
Now we are black and white
Embracing out in the lunatic New York night
It's very unlikely we'll be driven out of town
Or be hung in a tree
That's unlikely!
Tonight these crowds
Are happy and loud
Children are up dancing in the streets
In the sticky middle of the night
Summer serenade
Of taxi horns and fun arcades
Where right or wrong
Under neon
Every feeling goes on!
For you and me
The sidewalk is a history book
And a circus
Dangerous clowns
Balancing dreadful and wonderful perceptions
They have been handed
Day by day
Generations on down
We came up from the subway
On the music midnight makes
To Charlie's bass and Lester's saxophone
In taxi horns and brakes
Now Charlie's down in Mexico
With the healers
So the sidewalk leads us with music
To two little dancers
Dancing outside a black bar
There's a sign up on the awning
It says "Pork Pie Hat Bar"
And there's black babies dancing...
Tonight!
song performed by by Joni Mitchell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Daylight Katy
She walks be the sea where the seaworld is
And she waits for the man to come
She lives in town with her high-heeled friends
And she knows its a long way down
But she doesnt have to get up in the morning
With her hair so soft and long
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
She walks to the sea where the seaweed is
Where the rust and the dirt runs deep
She lives nine lives in her midnight world
While her old mans fast asleep
And she doesnt have to get up in the mornin
With her hair so soft and long
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
She lives by the sea when the summer wind comes
And the sea dont mind at all
She talks to the sea when the sea runs wild
And the waves run steep and tall
And she doesnt have to get up in the mornin
With her hair so soft and long
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Village Far Far Away
Far, far away is my village!
Where fireflies of my childhood
Still glow in thick folliage
Of Pipal trees.
My lisping words
As they fell from my lips
Are still alive
On old, bent, dying stairs
Of the long-deserted house!
Like rapiers thrust into silence.
Far, far away is my village!
Where darkness
Spreads its wing before it is evening
Tick-tocking sound of the flour mill
Long flights of birds
Going far, far away
Tinkling bells
All become a single tune
To drown into the dark lake
Of night.
Far, far away is my village!
Where I saw
Dreams of happy days to come
While learning my lessons
In the dim light
Of hurricane lamp.
Far, far away is my village!
Where reflections of my first love
Still linger
Where paths are shrouded
In sadness
And loneliness laced with secret longings
Peoples fields, ponds, the school
And trees herded together.
Far, far away is my village!
Where wind still finds
Its way in moonlit nights
Through silent streets
And sleepy courtyards
Calls for me in silence
And turns back, not finding me.
Wind has the same old habit
The same old routine
But life has trampled me
Under direction-less feet
Of crowds in cities.
(Translated by Dr. Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Summer Turns To High
Mercury is rising still
Turn the fan on high
I wont step on my own shadow
No one wants to cry.
Someone put a pox on me
I spit in their eyes
Summer turns to high.
Lift my bed sheet keep in sandles
Circle search and there are candles
Summers here but night is raising hopes and dragonflies
If those hopes are overshadowed
Cotton-candy, caramel-wafer.
Summer turns to high
Summer turns to high
Summer turns to high
Summer high
After wine and nectarines the fireflies in turn
Move like syrup through the evening with the sweet resign
I wont fight for cant happen
Im preoccupied
Summer turns to high
Summer turns to high
Summer turns to high
Summer high.
song performed by by REM
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Metaphors of a Magnifico
Twenty men crossing a bridge,
Into a village,
Are twenty men crossing twenty bridges,
Into twenty villages,
Or one man
Crossing a single bridge into a village.
This is old song
That will not declare itself . . .
Twenty men crossing a bridge,
Into a village,
Are
Twenty men crossing a bridge
Into a village.
That will not declare itself
Yet is certain as meaning . . .
The boots of the men clump
On the boards of the bridge.
The first white wall of the village
Rises through fruit-trees.
Of what was it I was thinking?
So the meaning escapes.
The first white wall of the village...
The fruit-trees...
poem by Wallace Stevens
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Too Many Nights
Too many nights, with too many faces
I don't know where I've been
Too many days
With too many places, I don't know who I am
Drive into the lights
The streets are like rain clouds
Dripping into the night
Wheels keep on turning
The sky is still burning
Thunderclouds start a fight
Far away from home
Rolling like hills
The sea is my homeland
Wishing upon a car
Miles are minutes
And days are my cities
Recording my life on a map
Far away from home
Too many nights, with too many faces
I don't know where I've been
Too many days with too many places, I don't know who I am
And the stars make a picture
And the stars are my heaven to see
And the stars make a picture
And the stars are my heaven to see
song performed by by Goldfinger
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Words by joni mitchell
Music by charles mingus
When charlie speaks of lester
You know someone great has gone
The sweetest swinging music man
Had a porkie pig hat on
A bright star
In a dark age
When the bandstands had a thousand ways
Of refusing a black man admission
Black musician
In those days they put him in an
Underdog position
Cellars and chittlins
When lester took him a wife
Arm and arm went black and white
And some saw red
And drove them from their hotel bed
Love is never easy
Its short of the hope we have for happiness
Bright and sweet
Love is never easy street!
Now we are black and white
Embracing out in the lunatic new york night
Its very unlikely well be driven out of town
Or be hung in a tree
Thats unlikely!
Tonight these crowds
Are happy and loud
Children are up dancing in the streets
In the sticky middle of the night
Summer serenade
Of taxi horns and fun arcades
Where right or wrong
Under neon
Every feeling goes on!
For you and me
The sidewalk is a history book
And a circus
Dangerous clowns
Balancing dreadful and wonderful perceptions
They have been handed
Day by day
Generations on down
We came up from the subway
On the music midnight makes
To charlies bass and lesters saxophone
In taxi horns and brakes
Now charlies down in mexico
With the healers
So the sidewalk leads us with music
To two little dancers
Dancing outside a black bar
Theres a sign up on the awning
It says pork pie hat bar
And theres black babies dancing...
Tonight!
song performed by by Joni Mitchell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Song
YOU are as gold
as the half-ripe grain
that merges to gold again,
as white as the white rain
that beats through
the half-opened flowers
of the great flower tufts
thick on the black limbs
of an Illyrian apple bough.
Can honey distill such fragrance
as your bright hair-
for your face is as fair as rain,
yet as rain that lies clear
on white honey-comb,
lends radiance to the white wax,
so your hair on your brow
casts light for a shadow.
poem by Hilda Doolittle
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Aint That So
(ferry)
Ive been around
So far it seems
Too bad the blues
Blew my schemes
Dynamite
Such sweet surprise
In southern heat
Or northern skies
Aint that so
Shadows cling
Where shutters close
Who can tell
Heaven knows
Why some can laugh
And some can sing
Stand in line
Or get on down and swing
Aint that so
Cross the street
Whos ringing bells?
Peeling walls
Of cheap hotels
Neon flare
A sudden chill
And there you lie
And time stands still
Aint that so
song performed by by Roxy Music
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Country Sweat
Sweat!
Sweat!
Sweat!
Born for trouble, poised for action
Ready to spring at a moment's notice
Nerves like a trigger, waiting to be pulled
Covered with sweat, it ain't nice
Sweat!
Help me please I'm burning up
I got this fire in my heart
Won't let me sleep, can't concentrate
Even when it's cold I'm dripping sweat
It ain't nice
Sweat!
Rivers running down my back
Makes me slippery, like a fish
If I don't stop, I might drown
Falling down, down, down, down, not dead yet
covered with
Sweat
CHORUS
The cool boys bit the dust
They couldn't take the pressure
The cool girls got knocked up
They only wanted to have fun
(Where did they go?)
They fell in low and suffered
(Where did they go?)
They picked up guns and hammers
(Where did they go?)
Without friction there's no heat
WIthout heat there's no fire
Without fire there's no desire
You're making me hot, hot, hot, hot!
Sweat! Sweat!
Take my baby, Saturday night
It's hundred and ten, it's alright
Close the door to my little room
Starting to sweat, fun starts soon
Sweat!
Principal caught me after school
Gave me hell, called me a fool
Pointed his finger, at my face
Started to sweat all over the place
Flowed like rivers, onto the floor
I can take it, give me some more
Sweat!
War breaks out throughout the land
Dodging bullets in the sand
Enemy's getting much to close
Sun beats down on the back of my neck
Fingers twitchin', covered with sweat
Covered with sweat
CHORUS
Sweat!
song performed by by Oingo Boingo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Night was coming
Night was coming
with a piercing huge orange sun
breaking through
white and black clouds
in the west.
It found a gap
and the sun was hanging
like a orange ball
above the street
and it was blinding.
Cars passed barely visible
above the orange glare
and some had already
turned their lights on.
The sun dipped down
below some trees
and for a time
it glowed behind them
and soon it would be dark
and the first stars
were already appearing
and a full yellow moon
was rising,
but below bright lights
was already burning
right across the city
in colours of amber
streetlights
green, yellow and red
traffic lights,
blue lights flashing
on police cars
and almost every bright colour
caught on neon signs
while people came and went
to different destinations
some smiling and relaxed,
others in a hurry
and some others
locked in a world of their own.
poem by Gert Strydom
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A phantom scene barely glimmers
1
A phantom scene barely glimmers,
The soft choirs of shades,
Melpomene has lashed the windows of her room with satin.
Wagons stand in the black gypsy-camp.
The frost crackles outside.
Everything is dishevelled -- people and objects,
The burning snow crunches.
2
Piece by piece, the servants take down
Piles of bearskin coats.
In the rumple flits a butterfly,
A rose is muffled in the fur.
Gnats and boxes of colorful raimie,
The slight heat of the theater.
On the street the lamps flicker,
And the heavy steam belches.
3
The coachmen are weary from shouting,
And the night is pitch black.
No matter, my dear Eurydice,
That our winter is bitterly cold.
For me, my native tongue is sweeter
Than the song of Italian speech ,
For in it, the fount of foreign harps
Will mysteriously prattle.
4
The pitiful sheepskin smells of smoke,
From a snow drift the street is black.
From a glorious melodic den
Immortal Spring flies to us, so that
The aria eternally resounds:
'You will return to the green meadows,'
And the living swallow fell back
On the burning snow.
poem by Osip Emilevich Mandelstam
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Peace or Poverty
Their skin soaks up the heat
Leaving it as black as the midnight sky,
Their eyes wide, white, pleading
Begging to the passersby.
They litter the street
Half naked bodies,
Red and colouring their feet
Searching for a entrance
A door out of the circle of poverty.
Poverty means destruction
Destruction means fear
Behind locked doors we sit in early evening
Too scared to see a black face
Terrified of black feet crossing the threshold.
But why be fearful of your slaves,
Those you whip and beat
Treating like the dirt from the doormat
Where you wipe your feet.
Role diversity causes poverty
Poverty destroys peace
But peace minus poverty
Means Equality should increase.
poem by Sonali Shah
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Waiting for the bus.....(for Karen)
The market place was closin'
my feet were nearly frozen
I tried to see the bus come through the snow.
But even though I strained
no bus ever came
and I wished I were in bed, that night,
back home
Then behold, we saw a Taxi
Mother said 'oh should we,
baby's cold, ain't that what money's for? '
So she held up a free hand
and hailed that taxi man.
I'd never been in a taxi cab before.
It was big and bright and black,
and we sat up at the back,
the man who drove it was so very nice.
I snuggled up to mum
She said ‘you warmer hon? '
And I fell fast asleep upon her lap.
It was the best ride I'd ever had
in that black taxi cab.
I thought my mum
the best that there could be!
When I was three
and she hailed a cab for me.
poem by Ruth Walters
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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