SONNET: The Darker Side of the World-coin
My heart throbs much for the millions homeless;
Stomachs all starved for days and perhaps weeks!
For ones with loin-cloths living still shameless;
For nomads who drink water from the creeks.
My heart feels sad for my weaker brethren;
For jobless youth who cannot hold heads high;
For justice-denied men, women, children;
For men in streets who some day like dogs die!
My heart goes out to the poor and helpless;
To untouchables and tribes ostracised;
To souls who live in darkness, quite helpless;
To brothers who are slaves, disenfranchised.
Yet, poverty exists amidst plenty!
And hearts, lungs, minds fail when men are twenty!
poem by John Celes
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Related quotes
That Millions Do Live In Poverty
That millions do live in poverty should never be seen as okay
The gap between the haves and the have nots keeps getting bigger by the day
Everyone should have the chance to live happy a home to live in and enough for to eat
There never should be slums and ghettos and never a poverty street,
That millions are born to live in poverty and to end their hard lives in despair
Only tells us if there's a god that god favours the wealthy and that god is not very fair
To leave millions homeless and dying of malnutrition the people condemned to die poor and young
In the refugee camps of the World live the displaced, the poor and unsung,
In the age of celebrity worship the poor in millions multiply
Why millions are destined to be poor don't ask me I wouldn't know why
Even in the World's wealthiest Countries poor people are no longer rare
And millions and millions of have nots in the bigger World out there
And millions are dying of hunger and millions are doing it tough
And millions are displaced and homeless and as refugees living it rough.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Why Tell Me About It I know All Too Well
Why tell me about It I know all too well
That many are living in their Earthly Hell
The hungry the homeless the poor and downtrod
They must be the children of some Lesser God.
Why tell me about it I know for the have nots life must seem unfair
So many grow poorer for every new millionaire
The scourge of poverty rife in every Race
In a fair Human World this would not be the case.
Even in so called wealthy Nations poverty does abound
Not too far from where the rich live the homeless to be found
The streets of the poor suburb a breeding ground for crime
Where many don't live to enjoy their life's prime.
Why tell me about it of course I'm aware
That the poor of the World have never been rare
And millions are living in dire poverty
In a fair Human World this would never be.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Stop Acting! We Have Issues To Address!
More than hundred million of our people,
Live in luxury. The luxury you can't find in any castle,
Of a European country, as the labor law is strict there,
Here in my father's land India, abused are our workers,
Who can work nonstop for the peanut salaries and old clothes,
Modern day slaves bend their heads to the floor,
Most of them not protected against ills and injuries,
Mansions and factories filled with cheap laborers,
Where the dogs are well fed, cared and have a clean place,
To call it their home, but the children of our brothers,
Have waited silently for a new dawn for many years,
During the visit of our ministers, our roads are spotless,
During inspection days, everything is kept in order to impress,
During the arrival of foreign dignitaries, the dramas enacted,
To show the prosperity of the poverty stricken political ideology,
When climb down the steps of the red carpeted,
Pathway of the airplane staircases, everyone with a nose,
Can smell the decaying of the uncollected rubbish,
Few kilometers away, the sides of the modern and old roads occupied,
By the homeless, who have nothing to say it their own,
Except the poverty that is nurtured in the hearts of poverty,
Which in turn disperse the seeds of poverty everywhere,
Through dirty wind, water and land agents, here
Seven hundred million live in poverty and another three hundred,
Try to act neither as rich nor as poor, but as a middle class.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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When light and air were born
When light and air were first born
Man came,
And woman followed,
So filled
With awe & wonder,
What is this light that makes them see?
What is this air that makes them breathe and live?
Definitions were made,
In awe and wonder, What it feels when air gets
Into their lungs what it feels when they Walk in the light and not stumble on stones?
The years accumulated like layers and layers Of earth and fire and rocks and earth and sea
Came then some cataclysmic changes While more and more
Men and women and lots of children came
Inhabiting this earth
And awe and wonder
Were lost, More changes came that kill and annihilate and
Men and women and children were so preoccupied with saving themselves, Forgetting how air first filled their lungs Forgetting how light first guided them not to stumble to stones,
Now air and light
Have become so ordinary, & no one really remembers about how it was at first No one really cares to recall what first was,
Men and women and children are so busy
Preoccupied with darkness,
these choking blankets darkness
These poisonous packets of air,
so debilitating, so deadly &
some of the children Simply dropped dead on the streets, and fear so gripped the men and women
gripes and grimes geometrically hurried in their hearts,
Night’s darkness
The darkness of insensitivity
buried them and indeed things change and
everything goes from bad to worst
What was it at first, is now not felt anymore, what was first
was taken for granted and finally forgotten,
Where is the awe? Where is the wonder?
Men and women and children, where are you all going?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Poor Children
They are the future of humanity
But many of them living in poverty
And without shelter homeless on the street
Searching through rubbish bins for scraps of food to eat.
Poor children are victims of circumstance
In life they never really get a chance
Or have opportunities as privileged children do
The road from the poor suburb to prison leads them to.
From broken homes they are condemned to fail
Their abusive and drug addicted parents serving time in jail
Their parents too homeless in their teen years
On no hope street no laugther only tears.
The Government does not care about those who live in poverty
No political advantage in philanthropy do they see
Their tally men for them have taken note
That few in the poor suburb ever bother for to vote.
Poor children without homes and sleeping rough
And life for them already hard enough
At the wrong end of the social divide
Any chance of a good future to them is denied.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Helpless
There is a town in north ontario
Dream comfort memory despair
And in my mind I still need a place to hide
All my changes were there
Blue blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the skies
Casting shadows in our eyes
Leave us helpless helpless helpless helpless
Helpless helpless they leave me now
Helpless helpless helpless
Blue blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
They leave us
Helpless helpless helpless helpless
Helpless helpless they leave me now
Helpless helpless helpless
Helpless helpless helpless helpless
Helpless helpless they leave me now
(neil young)
Copyright warner/chappell
song performed by by Nazareth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Dont Even Know Their Names!
his spirit left his body,
and walked through the hells.
a firm voice spoke:
'keep your eyes open,
look, and see! '
he saw dark skinned children,
their bodies frail and thin,
their features carved with hunger.
he saw women and children,
running from the bombs,
young men gunned down,
in the streets.
he saw the homeless family,
sleeping in a beaten old car,
hoping no one would come
to make them move.
he saw the young addict shaking,
the young woman helpless,
her baby crying in the bare apartment.
he saw the young man sent to prison,
trying to hide his fear,
a fear so strong they
could smell it on him!
he saw the woman who'd been beaten,
the man jobless and angry.
he saw millions of Native Americans,
slaughtered, and left for the crows.
he saw the old couple hungry,
in their apartment with no lights,
and no heat in the dead of winter...
'i cant take it any more,
what has this got to do with me?
i dont even know their names! '
'their names are anybody, and everybody...
they are why you must return.
they are your children, your
brothers and sisters, your father
and your mother...
they are your responsibility!
you must return to finish the work! '
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Faces On Hands, Hands On Heart
news blackout, streets packed out,
politicians inside trade deals....
feed the poor, Communist whores,
dont know how despair feels!
Jefferson raise a cup, Crazy Horse rises up,
freedom's a blood filled rainbow...
homeless jobless, insulated snobness,
fighting for today and tomorrow.
faces on hands, hands on heart,
a small fire strong against the dark.
all God's children doing their part....
faces on hands, hands on heart!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Take The Stone and Throw! Are You Ready?
Abandoned, battered and alone,
A few small mouths and old relations,
She owns nothing, not even her respect,
She has a spring that can be sold,
Day and night, the buyers are ready,
No need advertisement, the dogs can smell,
The most abused helpless profession,
Where the commodity is repeatedly auctioned,
Not the baby chasers at home,
Chase these babies of their neighbors,
When men are useless and helpless,
Women resort to prostitution.
When men are spineless and voiceless,
Women work as prostitutes.
When men are ignorant and violent,
Women are forced to be prostitutes,
When men fail to work with their brains,
Women lift their skirts for public display.
Prostitutes were everywhere in Europe and America,
Even in Japan when they were poor and destitute.
Prostitute are there in Singapore in Holland,
Where this profession is legal,
Prostitution in Indian cities,
Is not bloomed out of prosperity,
It is the deepen wound of poverty.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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That Tomorrow Is Another Day
There always is tomorrow you hear some people say
But for many tomorrow will me much like today
In the refugee camps of the World thirty million refugees
From war ravaged and drought stricken Countries waiting for placements overseas
In living conditions poor and overcrowded they are obliged to stay
No Country seems to want them that does seem sad to say
Even the wealthy Nations have their own homeless poverty is Worldwide
Due to their circumstance of birth to millions success has been denied
That there always is tomorrow so happens to be true
Though the millions of homeless and displaced better Karma are surely due
Than what life is giving them millions dare not to look ahead
And many far too many only wishing they were dead
That tomorrow is another day with that most would agree
But tomorrow will be like today for those in poverty.
poem by Francis Duggan
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It Begins Right Now!
we live in the most intense time
that the modern world has seen...
governments and economies are
caving from within... the very
air we breathe is polluted, the
water we drink has been defiled.
sea life is being destroyed, and
the world food situation worsens
at an alarming rate... millions
live and die in poverty, millions
are homeless, without medical care...
masses of workers are unemployed,
children grow up on the streets
without hope, and end up in prison.
human rights are being violated,
or just plain taken. and people
are absolutely afraid of each other!
we have closed our eyes, and numbed
our souls for too long. now we stand
on the brink of disaster, and we're
forced to wake up!
so what can one person do? one person
can live in a way that stands for truth...
one person can demand freedom, and equality.
one person can reach out a helping hand...
and when one person daring to live becomes
millions, we can move the stone from the
mouth of the cave!
but it all begins with one person... and
it begins right now, or its too damned late!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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My Justice
'Justice is the one thing you should always find'**-
It needs find all who seek its aegis, e'en though it is blind;
Justice chooses one side, that of verity;
There exists no convolution, only a resplendent clarity
When true justice is rendered, to those in need
Of the curative powers that only it may heed;
Justice denied to one, is justice denied to all, the same-
To those responsible for its denial, goes all the shame!
Justice is not just a decision, its a means of thought-
For its very guard, many a war has been fought,
Many a man has given his very life, as would I-
And no man should be asked to live without it-nor should I;
My justice shan't come, until I may look them in the eyes, and say:
'Though I am not with you, I've kept you in my heart, and there you'll stay! '
poem by Maurice Harris
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Helpless
Helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless
I thought about it but I couldnt think of what to say
But I thought about it anyway.......yeah
I tried to tell you what you mean to me
But it didnt come so easily..........no
I never reckoned
For more than a second
Just how it would be on my own
Id be helpless, without you
Id be helpless, without you
The dawn that calls beyond the night
Tells its old story.
The shadows fade into the light
In all its glory.
Helpless
Helpless baby Im a helpless
Helpless baby
Im a helpless
If I could put a good shine on the past
Do you think that we could make it last - oh yeah
Seems to mind the time goes fast
I wonder if the vote is cast
Now that you mention it,
Got my attention
I quite clearly blew me away
Id be helpless, without you
Id be helpless, without you
The dawn that calls beyond the night
Tells its old story.
The shadows fade into the light
In all its glory.
Helpless
Helpless baby Im a helpless
Helpless baby
Im a helpless, without you
Id be helpless, without you
Helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Lost My Heart When I Found You
Kiss me all over is all I can say
I've waited a lifetime to feel this way
You leave me breathless
And out of my mind.
I'm just so helpless
So baby be kind
I lost my heart
When I found you
Yeah, it feels so good
To lose
I lost my heart
When I found you.
I lost my heart to you
You touched me in places
Deep in my heart
Imagination runs wild in the dark
Babe, I surrender
Only to you.
I can't remember
How it feels to be blue
I lost my heart
When I found you
Yeah, it feels so good
To lose
I lost my heart
When I found you
I lost my heart to you
You leave me breathless
And out of my mind
I'm just so helpless
So baby be kind
I lost my heart
When I found you.
Yeah, it feels so good
To lose
I lost my heart
When I found you
I lost my heart to you
song performed by by Shania Twain
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On The Poverty Line
A mother and grandmother near the end of her life
To an unworthy fellow she was a good wife
Without provocation her he often did beat
But at least she feels happy she is not on the street
As a homeless person struggling for to make ends meet
Without a roof over her head and with little to eat
And though she cannot afford to go out for to wine and to dine
She feels happy to live on the poverty line.
The hard life has left her with lines on her face
But poverty she is happy to embrace
One of the people by society forgot
But she is not one to complain of her lot.
For millions and millions life is so unfair
And so many more like her in the big World out there
For millions a huge struggle just to get by
For success they no longer bother to try.
Her ex husband left her for a younger woman a decade ago
She is better without him that much she does know
She took his abuse and his every blow
But any bitterness towards him she never does show.
She lives as a good person and spiritually pure
But she does not know how it feels to live as financially secure
She never eats out never tasted good wine
The one who exists on the poverty line.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Untouchables
You and me have a passion
Escaping the days that go by
Just our desire
Patronise a secret painted salon
Let us talk about the live
Where the skins arent out
But it was o.k.
It was all right
We were, we were
The untouchables tonight
The untouchables tonight
You and me while were waitin on a corner
Share a packet of two
With all the fools to savour
We laughed and cried, split our sides
At what they told us
But it will be o.k.
It will be all right
We were, we were
The untouchables tonight
The untouchables tonight
Ive coloured my life blue and
Ice diamonds are the line of my life
But time strikes against us
It takes some of us home
Will pick our souls, turn up in you
While it sets me free
All things young and blue, whatll I do
When youre gone too
(scat)
Itll be o.k.
Itll be all right
If I believe tonight
If I believe were right
And then well be, well be
The untouchables tonight
The untouchables tonight
The untouchables tonight
The untouchables tonight
The untouchables tonight
song performed by by Billy Idol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My heart beat
01/09/2010
My heart beat
My heart beat
My heart beats with worry and sorrow
Seeing mankind climbing the ladder of hate
Seeing mankind fading away the love for humanity
My heart bleeds
My eyes cry sadness as blood brothers and sisters
hate on each other
The love I have for my sisters is deep
The care I feel for my brother is deep
None can separate my siblings and I
For we forever one
My heart beats play songs of sorrow and pain
My heart bleeds with sorrow and pain when I see
Homeless yuts begging on the streets
Where are you mother of earth set to nature and feed this young one
GOD why plant a seed on hateful woman
All eyes are on you woman of prostitution
All eyes are you woman of abortion
Defiling the survival of humanity by allowing vanity to control you
Who is to look after the nation and keep it clean when you are
Soulfully unclean
Move away from the darkness mankind
Can't you see the women are dying
Can't you the children are still crying
Hunger pains the stomach
Hunger supresses the brain to lowest level of thinking
I feel the pain in the core of my chest
I feel my heart beat, the drums in my brain
Makes my ears buzz when I hear the cry of the children on the streets
My feet get cold and my toes cramp as they feel the cold on the side walks of Jozi
My heart beats with sorrow and worry
Seeing mankind turning a blind eye on Poverty
My heart beats sing a sad song, a sad song
That tells me to fight poverty
Lets fight poverty people
Lets give to the needy
Take care of our elders
Feed our children
Love the nation
because my heart beats sing a sad song, a sad song.
My heart beat
By: Empress Ela Spirit
EES! ! ! ! !
poem by Zanele Mavuso
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Don't Tell Me About It I Already Know
Don't tell me about it I already know
That money on bushes and trees does not grow
Yet of it some do have far more than enough
Whilst millions of poor people are doing it tough.
The unequal distribution of wealth seems humanity's shame
For every millionaire hundreds without a penny to their name
Homeless and hungry on poverty street
They hardly would know of the taste of good meat.
So many of life's opportunities denied
Their circumstance of birth their future's for them decide
Of their lives of poverty of varying degrees
In the refugee camps millions of refugees.
Don't tell me about it I know all too well
That millions are living in their earthly hell
Money breeds inequality doesn't that seem unfair
It is a rat race in the big World out there.
poem by Francis Duggan
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love And The Batterfly
Who can describe the meaning of love
While it changes masks
From heart to heart
Beyond the realities and lies
Sometimes open closed heart's doors
Sometimes snatches away happy heart's hops
And the important question's answer no one knows
If love really exists or its only a guessture
An employment of emotions
Some people's love is as short as batterfly's life
Their love is alike with poor batterfly 's life
They live just three days and how pity that than they die
Oh poor batterfly this reality sheds my heart to millions of pieces
But the life is unfair
Yet your kind patience embraces the unfairness it self
How this can be called life, love!
While it ends before it is just begun
Loving hearts are like happy batterflies
Like the lover who is happy in love
But at once finds out that all those were just lies
The loving heart is poor it does not has the opportunity to decide
To continue or stop
Just it has to give up
Disregarding what it feels inside
The one who gives up. walks away and forgets
But the loving heart's pain there alone cries
I'm the one who loved more than her life
And the day that the love deserted my life
With him have gone the shining smiles of mine
Who can make my heart tears
While my heart is firings fears
While my body is still here
My soul long ago is lost
With my hands I've held my heart out of my body out off fears
Out off my breast was covered bloody tears
I've gave my heart to love with my most happy years
For the one whom I've gave a life
Took away the beats of my heart!
poem by Sossi Khachadourian
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Men With Broken Hearts
You'll meet many just like me upon life's busy street
With shoulders stooped and heads bowed low and eyes that stare in defeat
Or souls that live within the past where sorrow plays all parts
Where a living death is all that's left for men with broken hearts
You have no right to be the judge to criticize and condemn
Just think but for the grace of God it would be you instead of him
One careless step a thoughtless deed and then the misery starts
And to those who weep death comes cheap these men with broken hearts
Oh so humble you should be when they come passing by
For it's written that the greatest men never get too big to cry
Some lose faith in love and life when sorrow shoots her darts
And with hope all gone they walk alone these men with broken hearts
You've never walked in that man's shoes or saw things through his eyes
Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies
Some were propers some were kings and some were masters of the arts
But in their shame they're all the same these men with broken hearts
Life sometimes can be so cruel that a heart will pray for death
God why must these living dead know pain with every breath
So help your brother along the road no matter where he starts
For the God that made you made them too these men with broken hearts
song performed by by Hank Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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