Gluing Humpty
20th century perception
was major laceration
in fabric
of consciousness.
restore to wholeness
whole conception
of what roams
round Kosmos
and
for pete's sake-
cheer up!
poem by Doug Bentley

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I Have Not Been To Oxford Town
Baby grace is the victim
She was 14 years of age
And the wheels are turning, turning
For the finger points at me
Alls well
But I have not been to oxford town
Alls well
But I have not been to oxford town
Toll the bell
Pay the private eye
Alls well
20th century dies
And the prison priests are decent
My attorney seems sincere
I fear my days are numbered
Lord get me out of here
Alls well
But I have not been to oxford town
Alls well
But I have not been to oxford town
Toll the bell
Pay the private eye
Alls well
20th century dies
This is your shadow on my wall
This is my flesh and blood
This is what I couldve been
And the wheels are turning and turning
As the 20th century dies
If I had not ripped the fabric
If time had not stood still
If I had not met ramona
If Id only paid my bill
Alls well
But I have not been to oxford town
Alls well
But I have not been to oxford town
Toll the bell
Pay the private eye
Alls well
20th century dies
And the wheels are turning and turning
As the 20th century dies
This is my bunk with two sheets
This is my food though foul
This is what I could have been
Toll the bell
Pay the private eye
Alls well
20th century dies
song performed by by David Bowie

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The 20th century taught us how far unbridled evil can and will go when the world fails to confront it. It is time that we heed the lessons of the 20th century and stand up to these murderers. It is time that we end genocide in the 21st century.
quote by Allyson Schwartz

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I mean, certainly it's the single biggest event, I think, in terms of popular entertainment, or art even, if you say that, of the 20th Century. It's been film. It's the 20th Century's real art form.
quote by Sydney Pollack

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Old Pete Parraday
Old Pete Paraday, his mind works very slow;
But, when it fastens on a thoughts, he will not let it go.
He measures it and mumbles it until an answer comes,
Just as he mumbles bits and scraps between his toothless gums.
'I likes to think a bit,' says he. 'An', thinkin', by and large
On these 'ere modrun fashions like, 'as fairly riz me garge.'
Old Pete Paraday, he thinks the joke is rich;
''Cen-TEN-ary! Cen-TEEN-ary!' Did ever you 'ear sich?
I never knowed the like,' says he: 'sich argymints as those.
The proper word is 'Century,' as any scholard knows.
An', when I makes my century, come seven year ahead,
I'll have you call it 'Century,' an' nothin' else instead.'
Old Pete Paraday, he cackles in high glee.
''Cen-TEN-ary! Cen-TEEN-ary!' Ho, lahdidah!' says he.
''Tis these 'ere modrun misses is to blame for all sich rot.
They paints their lips and plucks their brows an' thinks they knows a lot.
But I weren't hatched but yesterdee; an', sure as you're alive,
I knows,' says old Pete Paraday, 'how many beans make five.'
Says old Pete Paraday: 'I've thought it up an' down,
An' back an' front an' crossways, an' likewise roun' an' round'.
The proper word is 'Century,' an' means one hundred years.
'Cen-TEN-ary! Cen-TEEN-ARY!' They fair gits in yer ears!
So when I reach my century, you call it just that way;
An' none of your noo-fangled stuff,' says old Pete Paraday.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis

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It's odd being an American now. Most of us are peaceful, but here we are again, in our fifth major war of this century.
quote by Pete Hamill

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We African Americans have now spent the major part of the 20th Century battling racism.
quote by Constance Baker Motley

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The 20th Century was the century of Aviation and the century of Globalization. The next century will be the century of Space.
quote by Wilson Greatbatch

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The Swinging Universe
reading a 13th century poet
feeling the sun circling round me
and all the inaccuracies it cast onto me
reading a 20th century poem
feeling the earth circling round the sun
and all its limitations
reading a 30th century poem
feeling the whole universe circling round us
and the privilege to play with its power
reading a 40th century poem
feeling the privilege to swing the
whole universe around us
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo

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The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over
Back in 1899, when everyone was singing auld lang syne
A century took a long, long time for every boy and girl.
Now theres only one thing that Id like to know
Where did the 20th century go?
Id swear it was here just a minute ago
All over this world.
Chorus:
And now the 20th century is almost over,
Almost over, almost over
The 20th century is almost over
All over this world.
All over this world, all over this world
The 20th century is almost over, all over this world.
Does anyone remember the great depression?
I read all about it in true confession
Im sorry I was late for the recording session
But somebody put me on hold.
Has anybody seen my linoleum floors
Petroleum jelly, and two world wars?
They got stuck in the revolving doors
All over this world.
And now...
The winters getting colder, summers getting hotter
Wishin wells wishin for another drop of water.
And mother earths blushin cause somebody caught her
Makin love to the man in the moon.
Tell me how you gonna keep em down on the farm
Now that outer space has lost its charm?
Somebody set off a burglar alarm
And not a moment too soon.
Because...
Old father time has got his toes a tappin
Standing in the window, grumblin and a rappin
Everybodys waiting for something to happen.
Tell me if it happens to you!
The judgment day is getting nearer
There it is in the rear view mirror.
If you duck down I could see a little clearer
All over this world!
And now...
song performed by by John Prine

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One layer was certainly 17th century. The 18th century in him is obvious. There was the 19th century, and a large slice, of course, of the 20th century; and another, curious layer which may possibly have been the 21st.
quote by Clement Attlee

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Good Grief
Good Grief, For Pete’s Sake and I Swanee To My Time
How many times I’ve used these phrases to express what’s on my mind!
But I’ve had some time to think things through and if you’ll pardon me
I think I’m more confused right now that I ever used to be!
Could someone please explain to me how grief is ever good?
Who the heck got that one started I’ve never understood!
But oh, Good Grief it’s not like I intentionally misled you
You’ve said it too, you know you have and you’re confused now too.
And has anybody ever figured out just who this Pete guy is?
I knew a Pete some time ago, but I don’t think this sake is his.
My mind is reeling now, seems I’m more confused than ever.
And for Pete’s sake don’t try and say you never said it, never!
So here we are at last to the most mind boggling phrase
I Swanee to My Time? What th? My mind is in a haze!
I heard that all my life it seems and from my kin was told
O, I Swanee to my time! Forget it! I’m just too damned old!
So now we have dissected all those cute old phrases here.
I’m sure you will agree with me the meanings now are clear
Good Grief will just confuse you and For Pete’s Sake, don’t you lie!
I Swanee to my time! Uh, hello? You see I have gray hair? Why?
poem by Donna McCord

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The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.
quote by Stephen Ambrose

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I think Picasso was, without doubt, the greatest portraitist of the 20th century, if not any other century.
quote by David Hockney

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So Many Changes
As I sit here thinking of what to say
I sort through my thoughts of what's important to me.
There has been so many changes, yet so much more to be done
And a whole world out there for me to see.
The importance of the individual is the single greatest
achievement of the 20th century.
I dream of a time when we can all come together
To better our community relationships
Which could enable us to make a difference
Ridding us of racism, sexism, greed, and
ruthless businesses.
In order to succeed in the future
It's imperative that we prepare to accept human diversity
with respect and without compromise.
So we have to ask our self's, What surprises does the 20th century
hold for us?
Dianna Nally
poem by Dianna Nally

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I have made my living bearing witness to some of the most horrific events of the end of our century, at the end of the 20th century.
quote by Christiane Amanpour

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Pop!
ego's basic fallacy
is rooted in perception
self is separate
from cosmos
rather than being
an intuitively wrapped
rainbow hue bubble
floating in an ever-moving
trillions year Kosmos
that's a verb
pop!
poem by Doug Bentley

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Education in the key to preventing the cycle of violence and hatred that marred the 20th century from repeating itself in the 21st century.
Elie Wiesel in Chicago Sun-Times (5 November 2001)

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America, America!
I am a poet of the Hudson River and the heights above it,
the lights, the stars, and the bridges
I am also by self-appointment the laureate of the Atlantic
-of the peoples' hearts, crossing it
to new America.
I am burdened with the truck and chimera, hope,
acquired in the sweating sick-excited passage
in steerage, strange and estranged
Hence I must descry and describe the kingdom of emotion.
For I am a poet of the kindergarten (in the city)
and the cemetery (in the city)
And rapture and ragtime and also the secret city in the
heart and mind
This is the song of the natural city self in the 20th century.
It is true but only partly true that a city is a "tyranny of
numbers"
(This is the chant of the urban metropolitan and
metaphysical self
After the first two World Wars of the 20th century)
--- This is the city self, looking from window to lighted
window
When the squares and checks of faintly yellow light
Shine at night, upon a huge dim board and slab-like tombs,
Hiding many lives. It is the city consciousness
Which sees and says: more: more and more: always more.
poem by Delmore Schwartz

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Motion pictures are the art form of the 20th century, and one of the reasons is the fact that films are a slightly corrupted artform. They fit this century - they combine Art and business!
quote by Roger Corman

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Liberation Seeker
The following poem is the translation of my hindi poem Mumukhshu from the book Sab Rang
.--0-
Twentieth century
at the fag end of life
standing & waiting
to turn into history
still in two minds
thinking what to say
and to gift
twenty-first century
on its birthday.
Nuclear holocaust & nuclear proliferation?
warning on depletion of ozone?
class and color struggle?
devalued or hollow speeches
on environmental degradation?
or
the human race
which has lost its sense
in the murky world of
separatism, terrorism & extremism
playing into the hand of cancer, AIDS and drugs
yet wearing a mask of humanity and concern
weeping for fellow human beings.
Suddenly
twentieth century smiled
an aura surrounded it
springing new hope
why? why?
after all why?
twenty-first century be birthed by it
why it shouldn’t allow 21st century
to stand on it own foundation
let 21st century build itself de-novo
without the crutches of 20th century.
So without notice
20th century found solace into oblivion
into time and history
allowing 21st century to emerge
with a new dawn
liberation seeker
waiting to liberate itself
from its previous deeds
------------.
Copyright 2010 Tribhawan Kaul
poem by Tribhawan Kaul

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