
Granville Calhoun
I wanted to be County Judge
One more term, so as to round out a service
Of thirty years.
But my friends left me and joined my enemies,
And they elected a new man.
Then a spirit of revenge seized me,
And I infected my four sons with it,
And I brooded upon retaliation,
Until the great physician, Nature,
Smote me through with paralysis
To give my soul and body a rest.
Did my sons get power and money?
Did they serve the people or yoke them,
To till and harvest fields of self?
For how could they ever forget
My face at my bed-room window,
Sitting helpless amid my golden cages
Of singing canaries,
Looking at the old court-house?
poem by Edgar Lee Masters

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Related quotes

Henry C. Calhoun
I reached the highest place in Spoon River,
But through what bitterness of spirit!
The face of my father, sitting speechless,
Child-like, watching his canaries,
And looking at the court-house window
Of the county judge's room,
And his admonitions to me to seek
My own in life, and punish Spoon River
To avenge the wrong the people did him,
Filled me with furious energy
To seek for wealth and seek for power.
But what did he do but send me along
The path that leads to the grove of the Furies?
I followed the path and I tell you this:
On the way to the grove you'll pass the Fates,
Shadow-eyed, bent over their weaving.
Stop for a moment, and if you see
The thread of revenge leap out of the shuttle,
Then quickly snatch from Atropos
The shears and cut it, lest your sons,
And the children of them and their children
Wear the envenomed robe.
poem by Edgar Lee Masters

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Sitting In My Hotel
If my friends could see me now, driving round just like a film star,
In a chauffeur driven jam jar, they would laugh.
They would all be saying that its not really me,
They would all be asking who Im trying to be.
If my friends could see me now,
Looking out my hotel window,
Dressed in satin strides and two-tone daisy roots,
If my friends could see me now I know they would smile.
Sitting in my hotel, hiding from the dramas of this great big world,
Seven stories high, looking at the world go by-y.
Sitting in my hotel room, thinking about the countryside and sunny days in june.
Trying to hide the gloom, sitting in my hotel room.
If my friends could see me now, dressing up in my bow-tie,
Prancing round the room like some outrageous poove,
They would tell me that Im just being used
They would ask me what Im trying to prove.
They would see me in my hotel,
Watching late shows till the morning,
Writing songs for old time vaudeville revues.
All my friends would ask me what its all leading to.
Sitting in my hotel, looking through the window at the people in the street,
Seven stories high looking at the world go by,
Sitting in my hotel, looking at the world outside.
If my friends could see me now they would try to understand me,
They would ask me what on earth Im trying to prove.
All my friends would ask me what its all leading to.
song performed by by Kinks

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Putting It On Record For Now...
there is this lady-judge
who had two talented and intelligent sons
with leadership qualities
she loved them so much
her husband is a lawyer who defended the poor
and the oppressed
they live on top of a hill away from the rest
they live a very private life
and mind their own affairs
her sons believed in an ideology of liberating the poor from their chains
left her home and fled to the mountains
the military searched them
and they vanished
there were many things that were rumored
one body was found beside a river ridden with bullets
rotten and worms were consuming each wound
another body was later found on the other side of the mountain
under the forest trees with a face that is severely disfigured
they speculated that they were the bodies of her two sons
missing for years and now thought of dead
the lady judge is strong
we do not speak about it
if she were weaker she would have gone insane
her husband got sick
and found no meaning in lawyering for the masses anymore
i must remember this
and write about it
because no one has done it
this i put on record
we did nothing to appease her
we did nothing to
put into the hands of the law those culprits
those were the harsh times
we only prayed
we only offered flowers
we only left towards our own respective homes
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Baton Rouge
When I think of you baton rouge
I think of a mariachi band
I think of sixteen and a crisp green football field
I think of a girl I never had
When I think of you baton rouge
I think of a back seat in a car
Windows are foggy and so are we
As the police asked for our i.d.
So helpless
So helpless
Ooohhh, ooohhh, so helpless
Ooohhh, so helpless
Ooohhh, so helpless
So helpless
Well I once had a car lost it in a divorce
The judge was a woman of course
She said give her the car and the house and your taste
Or else I set the trial date
So now when I think of you baton rouge
And the deep southern belles with their touch
I wonder where love ends and hate starts to blush
In the fields in the swamps in the rush
In the terra-cotta cobwebs of your mind
When did you start seeing me as a spider spinning web
Of malicious intent and you as poor, poor me
At the fire at the joint, this disinterred and broken mount
In the bedroom in the house where we were unmarried
So helpless, so helpless
So helpless
So helpless, so helpless
So helpless
When was I the villain in your heart
Putting the brake on your start
You slapped my face and cried and screamed
Thats what marriage came to mean
The bitterest ending of a dream
You wanted children and I did not
Was that what it was all about
You might get a laugh when you hear me shout
You might get a laugh when you hear me shout
I wish I had
So helpless, so helpless
So helpless
So helpless, so helpless
So helpless
Sometimes when I think of baton rouge
I see us with two and a half strapping sons
One and a half flushed daughters preparing to marry
And two fat grandsons I can barely carry
Daddy, uncle, family gathered there for grace
A dog in a barbecue pit goes up in space
The dream recedes in the morning with a bad aftertaste
And Im back in the big city worn from the race of the chase
What a waste
So thanks for the card the announcement of child
And I must say you and sam look great
Your daughters gleaming in that -
- white wedding dress with pride
Sad to say I could never bring that to you that wide smile
So I try not to think of baton rouge
Or of a, of a, of a mariachi band
Or of sixteen and a crisp green football field
And the girl, and the girl I never had
So helpless, so helpless
So helpless
So helpless, so helpless
So helpless
song performed by by Lou Reed

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Power To The People
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Say you want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
A million workers working for nothing
You better give em what they really own
We got to put you down
When we come into town
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
I gotta ask you comrades and brothers
How do you treat you own woman back home
She got to be herself
So she can free herself
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Now, now, now, now
Oh well, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Yeah, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
song performed by by Lennon John

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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SOS (Save Our Sons)
We Black men of England
Too proud to cry for shame,
Let's cry a sea
Cry publicly,
Expose our very pain,
For Babylon the bandit
Is on our sisters trail,
The bad talk
And the cool walk
Will not keep us out of jail.
We Black men of England
Our guns are killing us,
How dare we?
Now hear me
How great is dangerous?
There's a fascist and a druggist
Out to get our kith and kin,
Let silent guns
Save our sons
The power is within.
We Black men of England
Excel as if in sport
For our people,
Because some people
Want to see our face in court,
When we Black men of England
Look the mirror in the face,
Through our sisters eyes
We men shall rise
As proud sons of our race.
poem by Benjamin Zephaniah

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Malema
Sons and daughters!
Of the harvest and the fields of love;
Pass over it and come to me,
And like Malema sitting down by the fig tree.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis

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The Old Gentry
That all from Adam first began,
None but ungodly Whiston doubts,
And that his son and his son's son
Were all but ploughmen, clowns, and louts.
Each when his rustic pains began
To merit pleaded equal right;
'Twas only who left off at noon,
Or who went on to work till night.
But coronets we owe to crowns,
And favour to a court's affection;
By nature we are Adam's sons,
And sons of Anstis by election.
Kingsale! eight hundred years have roll'd
Since thy forefathers had the plough;
When this in story shall be told,
Add, that my kindred do so now.
The man who by his labour gets
His bread in independent state,
Who never begs, and seldom eats,
Himself can fix or change his fate.
poem by Matthew Prior

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Power To The People
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
Say we want a revolution,
Wed better get it on right away.
Well, get yer on your feet
And into the street, singing:
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
A million workers workin for nothin,
You better give em what they really own.
We got to put you down
When we come into town, singing:
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
I gotta ask you comrades and brothers,
How do you treat your own woman back home?
Shes got to be herself,
So she can give us help, singing:
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
Now, now, now, now!
Oh well, power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
Oh yeah, power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, power to the people!
Power to the people!
Oh well, power to the people!
Power to the people, right on!
song performed by by Yoko Ono

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Bible Stories: Ruth (Part Ia)
There was a famine in the land,
Governed by Judges at that time;
Elimelech left Bethlehem,
With wife, Naomi and two sons,
To stay in Moab for a while;
Mahlon and Chilion were their names,
Ephrathites of Bethlehem town;
Their father died while in Moab
The sons took Moabites as wives;
Orpah was one; the other, Ruth;
They lived for about ten years there;
The two sons too happened to die!
Naomi wanted to leave Moab
And come back to Judah, her place;
She told her daughters-in-law to
Return to each one’s mother’s house;
The Lord would deal with them kindly.
She kissed them each; they wept aloud!
They wanted to accompany her;
She told them they were very young;
If they felt, they could remarry;
She did not want them to suffer
Along with her in her old age;
The hand of God was against her!
poem by John Celes

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Round Room
My room is round when I lay down, when I wake up it's square
When I go outside it's on a spiral set of stairs
The people that surround me are waiting out there
In a round room they can't find me anywhere
Right angle rooms drive me crazier each day
Put me in a box I know I'm never going to play
Put me in a square room and I won't know what to say
I want a round room at the end of the day
I had an apartment, four corners on the walls
Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep there at all
I want a curve to the place where I stay
I want a round room at the end of the day
If I pass out take me to the round church
Where echoes resound
And my spirit is found
And when I float high
Take my arm and I'll fly you by
The outskirts of town, to a garden that's round
I went to the lighthouse and I liked the view
I looked out the window and I could see you
Put me in a square house and I won't have a clue
I want a round room just to be with you
song performed by by Phish

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Sons Of The Pioneers
(myles goodwyn)
Published by northern goody two tunes, ltd./capac - ascap
Reachin for a space in time, layin our fate on the line
Starting out a life anew, after weve come so far
Wont you look and see now, here we are
You were the ones, there is no doubt
You ate it up and spit it out
You were the ones, you made it clear, you could take it
We are the sons of the pioneers (we are the sons of pioneers)
The day has come, our fate is clear
Were the sons of the pioneers
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Were not afraid to try (were not afraid to try)
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid of fear
Whats the point of going on, if you feel that it couldnt be done
Cause I just wanna understand, freedoms the soul of a man
Wont you look and see now, and show me how
We have the chance, there is no doubt
Well pick it up, and see it out
We are the ones, you made it clear, we can take it
We are the sons of the pioneers (we are the sons of pioneers)
The day has come, the way is clear
For the sons of the pioneers
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid to try (men not afraid to try)
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid of fear......................fear
When you think of how far weve come, and to know that weve only begun
Leaving us a legacy, makes sense to me
That now our time has come, for we have to move on
You were the ones, there is no doubt
You ate it up and spit it out
You were the ones, you made it clear, you could take it
And now its time, our fate is surely here now
There is no doubt about it, its time we thought about it
We are the ones, the way is clear, for the sons of the pioneers
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid to try (men not afraid to try)
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afriad of fear
Is there any doubt, none at all, they heard the call of the
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid to try (men not afraid to try)
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid to try (men not afraid to try)
Sons of the pioneers (sons of the pioneers)
Men not afraid of fear
song performed by by April Wine

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shimshon
To have thirty sons and thirty daughters from your many wives,
Like the customs of a bride;
To have forty sons and thirty grandsons in your life,
Like the customs of a bridegroom;
But, out of love came something so sweet.
Yo are barren but now you will conceive and bear a son,
Like the dreadlocks of Shimshon!
But my best friend had taken my wife away.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis

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Science Fiction
["Fields Of Regret" with changed lyrics]
Forever I'll enjoy you underchevement
I gonna see you every day now if I can
Why then don't the night show really matters
I still wake on the fields of regret
There is something to this dream we're all involved in
wow, Can I see it, can I say it may exist
Rest me, hide my years around the planet.
If we dwell in the fields of regret
What horror must invade the mind
When the approaching judge shall find
What sinful deeds from all mankind
With death and nature in surprise
Behold the wretched sinners rise
To meet the judge's searching eyes
And when the doomed no more can flee
From the flames of misery
Assist me while I die
Wander through those ever thoughts though if imagined
But come down on it's so easy to resist
Rest me, hide my years around the planet.
Sound another, no part over, won't forget
When we laugh at the fields of regret.
song performed by by Alice Cooper

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Our Hero
"Flowers, only flowers -- bring me dainty posies,
Blossoms for forgetfulness," that was all he said;
So we sacked our gardens, violets and roses,
Lilies white and bluebells laid we on his bed.
Soft his pale hands touched them, tenderly caressing;
Soft into his tired eyes came a little light;
Such a wistful love-look, gentle as a blessing;
There amid the flowers waited he the night.
"I would have you raise me; I can see the West then:
I would see the sun set once before I go."
So he lay a-gazing, seemed to be at rest then,
Quiet as a spirit in the golden glow.
So he lay a-watching rosy castles crumbling,
Moats of blinding amber, bastions of flame,
Rugged rifts of opal, crimson turrets tumbling;
So he lay a-dreaming till the shadows came.
"Open wide the window; there's a lark a-singing;
There's a glad lark singing in the evening sky.
How it's wild with rapture, radiantly winging:
Oh it's good to hear that when one has to die.
I am horror-haunted from the hell they found me;
I am battle-broken, all I want is rest.
Ah! It's good to die so, blossoms all around me,
And a kind lark singing in the golden West.
"Flowers, song and sunshine, just one thing is wanting,
Just the happy laughter of a little child."
So we brought our dearest, Doris all-enchanting;
Tenderly he kissed her; radiant he smiled.
"In the golden peace-time you will tell the story
How for you and yours, sweet, bitter deaths were ours. . . .
God bless little children!" So he passed to glory,
So we left him sleeping, still amid the flow'rs.
poem by Robert William Service

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Money Machine
When I was just a child
My life was, oh, so simple
And the ways of the great world
Seemed strange and funny
Then when I was a young man
I learned of that machine
That turns out all those bails of precious money
Now you can measure you manhood by it
You can get your children to try it
You can bring your enemies to their knees
With the possible exception of the north vietnamese
It takes a strong hit from the money machine
Sitting on top, on top of the world
Strong hit from the money machine
Sitting on top, on top of the world
General motors and ibm
Afl-cio and all the kings men
When I began the game
See me singing bout fire and rain
Let me just say it again
Ive seen fives and Ive seen tens
It was a strong hit from the money machine
Sitting on top, on top of the world
Strong hit from the money machine
Settle up top, on top of the world
(money, money, money)
(give me that dough)
(mine, mine, mine)
Been living in the lap of luxury too long
Please, mr. dj, wont you play my song
Maybe my baby will listen on the radio
Come back home to me
Help me spend my dough
I need a strong hit from the money machine
Sitting on top, on top of the goddamn world
I need a strong hit from the money machine
Strong hit from the money machine
Sitting on top, on top of the world
Money, money, money
song performed by by James Taylor

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Make This House A Home
Well theres something in us living
Theres something you should know
There was a time for us to fall
Now its time to grow
But you know its not the way
That I intended it to be
Crossing hearts and killing souls
And trying to get down to whats real
All I ever wanted was to make this house a home
I let go of sinking sand wont you help me find a stone
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
Was to make this house a home
All I needed was your hand to hold
I spent so much time alone
I needed your direction
But we re-aligned my broken bones
Well theyre running from a lifeless state
Somehow we lost our hold
All we have with us is change
Left over from what started out as gold
All I ever wanted was to make this house a home
I let go of sinking sand - wont you help me find a stone
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
Was to make this house a home
This is what I give to you
Its flesh and blood
Its body and soul
Wont you take whats left of who I am
And try to see it whole
Im holding you responsible for every word I say
If you feel the brokenness
Wont you try and look the other way
I never meant to be so low
I only wanted you to see
That time was healing someone else
But its tearing apart the very heart of me
This is what I give to you
Its flesh and blood
Its body and soul
Wont you take whats left of who I am
And try to see it whole
All I ever wanted was to make this house a home
I let go of sinking sand - wont you help me find a stone
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
Was to make this house a home
So make this house a home
Make this house a home
Make this house a home
song performed by by Indigo Girls

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Uchebulem
I have thirty sons and thirty daughters,
But you shall conceive and give birth to a son!
Do call him 'Uchebulem',
For i am the Seer next door;
And he is going to be the man of the people.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis

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Powerless Money – The Hidden Secret
You can buy bed from money but you cannot buy sleep.
You can satisfy your lust from money but cannot buy love.
You can buy corrupts from money but cannot buy honesty.
You can buy cage for birds but cannot buy there cheerfulness.
You can buy schools for kids but cannot buy there playfulness.
You can build house from money but not a home from money.
You can buy paintings of artists but cannot buy there creativity.
You can buy medicines to kill pain but cannot buy feelings that give pain.
You can buy a coffin for a dead body but cannot buy a life for him.
You can buy flesh and meat to eat but cannot buy a life for them.
You can buy the beautiful flowers but cannot buy fragrance of flowers.
You can buy poems of poet but cannot buy emotions of there heart.
You can do many things with money
still you will see that you are helpless.
Life will no more be graceful
and you will see how money is so powerless.
Money is given power by those who want to rule you.
- By those who want to rule your body and mind.
- By those who want to make you dance as a puppet.
- By those who want to sale your talent in market.
And we are doing all this, making money more and more powerful.
And we forget that money is so powerless, may be we are a big fool.
poem by Ramesh Kavdia

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Golden Hair
Lean out your window, golden hair
I heard you singing in the midnight air
My book is closed, I read no more
Watching the fire dance, on the floor
Ive left my book, Ive left my room
For I heard you singing through the gloom
Singing and singing, a merry air
Lean out the window, golden hair...
song performed by by Pink Floyd

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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