W. Lloyd Garrison Standard
Vegetarian, non-resistant, free-thinker, in ethics a Christian;
Orator apt at the rhine-stone rhythm of Ingersoll.
Carnivorous, avenger, believer and pagan.
Continent, promiscuous, changeable, treacherous, vain,
Proud, with the pride that makes struggle a thing for laughter;
With heart cored out by the worm of theatric despair;
Wearing the coat of indifference to hide the shame of defeat;
I, child of the abolitionist idealism --
A sort of Brand in a birth of half-and-half.
What other thing could happen when I defended
The patriot scamps who burned the court house,
That Spoon River might have a new one,
Than plead them guilty? When Kinsey Keene drove through
The card-board mask of my life with a spear of light,
What could I do but slink away, like the beast of myself
Which I raised from a whelp, to a corner and growl?
The pyramid of my life was nought but a dune,
Barren and formless, spoiled at last by the storm.
poem by Edgar Lee Masters
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Related quotes
The Ballad Of Buckethead
Whos this guitar-playing sonsa bitch? , is a question common asked.
On his head a bucket of chicken bones, on his face a plaster mask.
Hes the bastard son of a preacher man, on the town he left a stain.
They made him live in a chicken house to try to and hide the shame.
He was born in a coop, raised in a cage. children fear him, critics rage.
Hes half alive, hes half dead. folks just call him buckethead.
Farmers would torment him as he snuggled with the hens.
Theyd hose him down with water, and steal his little friends.
Now late at night hed sneak off to the graveyard all alone,
And play a soapbox guitar to the faces made of stone.
Buckethead found his freedom at the age of 17,
When he burned the chicked house down with a quart of gasoline.
He did puppet shows on corners and bought a real guitar,
And with the help of colonel sanders, hes bound to be a star.
He was born in a coop, raised in a cage. children fear him, critics rage.
Hes half alive, hes half dead. folks just call him buckethead.
song performed by by Primus
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On Being Chosen To Be A Medical College Dean For Three Years Or More
It wasn’t my aim or ambition in life
To be a Dean of a Medical College
Nor did I ever try to work my way
Up the ladder of achievement planned
But...
Some things can happen in such strange ways
Some things don’t ever, although we want them to
Some things can’t, though we try our level-best
Some things won’t as God will never approve
But if...
Things happen in most unexpected ways
And it is something good to be proud of;
To take or not to, is the question moot
Yet, chances don’t knock at life’s door often!
So,
Why not give it a try, we sometimes feel
And grab the opportunity by heart
And put our soul in it and walk the road
Till realities strike a different chord
So much so that...
Disenchantment gains in-roads very soon
And spoils the fun and steals the thrill of life
And makes the clouds dark and fiery in sky
Bringing not just rain but a thunderstorm!
Yet...
There’s no turning back for now
There’s no leaving something half-done
There’s no accepting defeat, half-won
There’s just to dash ahead with job at hand,
Come what may...
poem by John Celes
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I Am An Abolitionist
I am an Abolitionist!
I glory in the name:
Though now by Slavery’s minions hiss’d
And covered o’er with shame,
It is a spell of light and power —
The watchword of the free : ——
Who spurns it in the trial-hour,
A craven soul is he !
I am an Abolitionist!
Then urge me not to pause;
For joyfully do I enlist
In Freedom’s sacred cause:
A nobler strife the world ne’er saw,
Th’ enslaved to disenthral;
I am a soldier for the war,
Whatever may befall!
I am an Abolitionist!
Oppression’s deadly foe;
In God’s great strength will I resist,
And lay the monster low;
In God’s great name do I demand,
To all be freedom given,
That peace and joy may fill the land,
And songs go up to heaven!
I am an Abolitionist!
No threats shall awe my soul,
No perils cause me to desist,
No bribes my acts control;
A freeman will I live and die,
In sunshine and in shade,
And raise my voice for liberty,
Of nought on earth afraid.
poem by Anonymous Americas
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I was raised a Christian, but I wouldn't call myself a Christian now. I think when I was younger it was easier to focus on the negative, nihilist vision... this is sort of picking up on the other half of the body, which is God and white light.
quote by Billy Corgan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Avoid The Light
growls
Modern day plague
Stronger than any and every
Virus, disease, or sickness
/growls
For a glimpse of ideology.
Anti-christian and eternally alive
growls undead /sings
Buried underneath two thousand years
growls Of histories /growls
Yet able to rise,
Instinctively arise
half growl
Avoid the light, the suns in sight
The undead should be sleeping
Avoid the light, and cross upright
My fledgling's dropping, weeping
Avoid the light, avert your sight
Go underground discretely
(x4) Avoid the light
/half growl
growls
True and purely horror
Man's ultimate enemy and predator
wrapped into one
/growls
Spread black wings of damnation
Then folding into shape a mortal men
growls not slaved /growls
Plasmicumber will over-ride
growls the true emotion /growls
That peering virgin to guard my callused grave
half growl
Avoid the light, the suns in sight
The undead should be sleeping
Avoid the light, and cross upright
My fledgling's dropping, weeping
Avoid the light, avert your sight
Go underground discretely
Alone, unseen, reborn, received
/half growl
It's a battle of wills
Ingloriously killed
growls we shall devour /growls
half growl
Avoid the light, the suns in sight
The undead should be sleeping
Avoid the light, and cross upright
My fledgling's dropping, weeping
Avoid the light, avert your sight
Go underground discretely
(x4) Avoid the light
/half growl
song performed by by Pantera
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Archibald Higbie
I loathed you, Spoon River. I tried to rise above you,
I was ashamed of you. I despised you
As the place of my nativity.
And there in Rome, among the artists,
Speaking Italian, speaking French,
I seemed to myself at times to be free
Of every trace of my origin.
I seemed to be reaching the heights of art
And to breathe the air that the masters breathed,
And to see the world with their eyes.
But still they'd pass my work and say:
"What are you driving at, my friend?
Sometimes the face looks like Apollo's
At others it has a trace of Lincoln's."
There was no culture, you know, in Spoon River,
And I burned with shame and held my peace.
And what could I do, all covered over
And weighted down with western soil,
Except aspire, and pray for another
Birth in the world, with all of Spoon River
Rooted out of my soul?
poem by Edgar Lee Masters
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Defeating...That Beast
You've begun...to defeat,
That beast that's come to be.
You've become...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat,
That beast that's come to be.
You've become...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat it!
Think about the distance you've come,
Defeating...the beast.
Think about your decision not to run,
Away...from the beast.
Think about those knees on the ground,
Weeping for the beast.
Think about the dirt you ate,
Fed...by the beast.
Think about celebrating...
Those days ahead awaiting!
You've begun...to defeat,
That beast that's come to be.
You've become...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat,
That beast that's come to be.
You've become...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat it!
No longer the martyr,
Defeating...that beast.
Get up...and strut about.
You've defeated...that beast.
Let those words come out of your mouth,
'I've defeated...that beast! '
Let the people see and believe it,
You've defeated...that beast.
Whoop...and hollar about,
'I've defeated...and done feeding it!
That beast is outta my house.'
You've begun...to defeat,
That beast that's come to be.
You've become...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat,
That beast that's come to be.
You've become...to defeat it!
You've begun...to defeat it!
More than a piece of cake!
Defeating...that beast.
Gone and eliminated.
Defeating...that beast.
Much more than a piece of cake.
Defeating...that beast.
But gone and eliminated.
Defeating...that beast.
More than a piece of cake.
Defeating...that beast.
Gone and eliminated.
Defeating...that beast.
Much more than a piece of cake.
Defeating...that beast.
But gone and eliminated.
That beatened up beast to beat!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Half The World
Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson
Half the world hates
What half the world does every day
Half the world waits
While half gets on with it anyway
Half the world lives
Half the world makes
Half the world gives
While the other half takes
Half the world is
Half the world was
Half the world thinks
While the other half does
Half the world talks
With half a mind on what they say
Half the world walks
With half a mind to run away
Half the world lies
Half the world learns
Half the world flies
As half the world turns
Half the world cries
Half the world laughs
Half the world tries
To be the other half
Half of us divided like a torn-up photograph half of us are
Trying to reach the other half
Half the world cares
While half the world is wasting the day
Half the world shares
While half the world is stealing away
song performed by by Rush
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The World Around the Child Doth Learn
The world around the child doth learn
Whilst low below the beast doth worm.
The child doth know not of the Earth.
The worm knows nothing of its birth.
The river flows a mighty flow
Knowing all the river knows
Shiver sorrow – Sleep in woe
Keep sane until the morrow.
The world around the child doth turn
Whilst low below the beast doth burn.
Learning sorrow – Yearning desire
Leaves him warm beside the fire.
Happy is he to conspire.
So happy is he to respire.
poem by David Lacey
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E.C. Culbertson
Is it true, Spoon River,
That in the hall-way of the New Court House
There is a tablet of bronze
Containing the embossed faces
Of Editor Whedon and Thomas Rhodes?
And is it true that my successful labors
In the County Board, without which
Not one stone would have been placed on another,
And the contributions out of my own pocket
To build the temple, are but memories among the people,
Gradually fading away, and soon to descend
With them to this oblivion where I lie?
In truth, I can so believe.
For it is a law of the Kingdom of Heaven
That whoso enters the vineyard at the eleventh hour
Shall receive a full day's pay.
And it is a law of the Kingdom of this World
That those who first oppose a good work
Seize it and make it their own,
When the corner-stone is laid,
And memorial tablets are erected.
poem by Edgar Lee Masters
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Half The World
Half the world lives,
Half the world makes,
Half the world gives
While the other half takes.
Half the world hates,
Half the world runs away,
Half the world's late,
Half the world praises the day.
Half the world is,
Half the world was,
Half the world thinks,
Half the world does.
Half the world lies,
Half the world burns,
Half the world cries
While the other half turns.
Half the world cares,
Half the world weeps,
Half the world shares,
Half the world keeps.
Half the world sings,
Half the world laughs,
Half the world brings,
Half the world tries to be the other half.
End.
I'm a proud African child
I'm a pretty bud
growing out of the mud,
I'm a blessed child -
tame and free in mind,
I'm a proud African child.
I'm a precious stone,
neither am I broken nor torn,
A precious stone am I -
treasure to the nation's eye,
I'm a proud African child.
I'm a star in midnight
which gives a spark of light,
Like a diamond in the sky
I dwell with pride in the high,
I'm a proud African child.
I'm the hope for the future,
a pure seed of true virtue,
A fragrant leaf of uncorrupt nature,
A beneficiary of unlimited adventure,
I'm a proud African child.
I'm a child of God
out of doom and gloom called,
I'm more precious than gold
and even more special than a goat,
I'm really a Proud African Child.
poem by Comfort Ndlovu
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Half In Day, Half In Night!
what if you moved the mountain?
raised your hand and stilled the storm?
fed the hungry, healed the sick,
and stood up and stopped all wars?
what if you peeled back the mask of prejudice,
and exposed the beating heart?
what if you walked on the water?
what if you built a temple,
using only your own hands?
what if you made your life a prayer?
what if you gave all you had to the poor?
what if you did all of this,
and it still wasnt enough?
would you be willing to go on?
what if i gave you my heart,
my spirit, and my soul?
and laid my body at your feet,
sacrificing my dreams for yours?
what if i stood up like a man
and demanded an answer?
would you know,
and would you care?
what if i opened the door
and flew into the night?
would there be a light on
when i returned?
what if i just dont know
anything else to say or do?
so what if i just be me?
would you recognize the man
standing, half in day,
and half in night?
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Twenty Questions (feat. Miho Hatori)
Is the cup half empty, or is the cup half full?
Does the sun rise at dawn, or does the earth just spin along?
Or is it all perspective on how we see the world?
How many countless life forms are on a little ball that twirls?
Are we intrinsically separate beings?
Or could we possibly be parts of the same thing?
Water feeds the plants and the sunshine makes them grow,
So how can anyone be an island on their own?
Does life make me happy, or does it bring me down?
Do I have what I need, or do I just want what's around?
Am I seeing truth, or do I just see wool?
Well is the cup half empty, or is the cup half full
song performed by by Beastie Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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She'll hide her face
She'll hide her face when shes not alone.
she slaps on her a mask, but its not her own.
It's the mask that everyone else wears.
She wants to be just like them
supposedly free with glee.
Free from her troubles, worries and strife.
Free from her demons that dominate her life.
But when the darkness falls.
And she's all her alone she can't hide her face.
Her mask falls and crumbles apart.
Her heart fills with the numbness she's had for many years.
Now her tears will fall she's all alone.
In her last bid for a better life,
She let the mask slip once.
She had to put it on again as they stared at her in disbelife.
The world didn't want to see her pain.
Rather belives she's an annoying pain.
So Her mask went back on.
Well she planned the day when she'd be gone.
poem by Amy Louise Kerswell
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Live with Laughter
So much time passess
We have moments of saddness
At other times it seems like we are passed depressed
One thing will keep us together
Its the sound of joy
Laughter from a little kid
The sound of there high pitch laughter
The laughter at every new thing they see
Laughter makes our day better
Laughter makes our life worth living
Nothing can make you feel better rather than laughter
So make someone laugh make yourself laugh and live life
poem by Lexie Bousman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You look better that way
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You look better that way
Are you my friend ?
Are you my plumber ?
Are you my God ?
What do you do ?
Wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
Which mask are you ?
Which mask are you ?
Complicated crushed up disappointed squirming angry thrusting stabbing regretting starving greedy human alien being, struggling down the street, up the alley, in the elevator, through the party, to the office, in the bedroom, on your way to the morgue. Bullshitting, lying, doing a good deed or feeling loved barely possible. Aware of insatiable demands of not a society all around you. Chunky frat boys in their shorts, pimps with old semite eyes, sex hoochies of the jungle, sensitive smart alec college graduates, critics fronting franticly in New York city, every body in L.A just plain licking ass or having it licked, irony in place of balls, balls in place of brains, brains in place of soul, where is the soul?, where is the love?, where am i?
Which mask are you ?
Which mask are you ?
Which mask are you ?
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
which mask are you ?
song performed by by Iggy Pop
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Things That Make Me Happy
When I see the Sun
The sun up in the sky
And when the rays they
They glisten off your eyes
And when your eyes
Yeah when your eyes meet mine
That’s the thing that
That’s the thing that makes me
Yeah that’s the thing that makes me happy
And when I wake up to
To a brand new day
When we back our bags and
We take off on our way
And when we lose track
When we lose track of time
That’s the thing that
That’s the thing that makes me
Yeah that’s the thing that makes me happy
And when the clock
Yeah when the clock strikes 5
I’m heading home to you
And I’m feeling so alive
And when I pull in
Yeah when I pull into your drive
That’s the thing that
That’s the thing that makes me
Yeah that’s the thing that me happy
And in the afternoon
When were feeling the warm breeze
And we can see it
Go brushing through the trees
It makes me feel so
It makes me feel so fancy free
And that’s the thing that
That’s the thing that makes me
Yeah that’s the thing that makes me happy
And when the music
Goes rolling through my mind
Songs that could bring
Eyesight to the blind
And when we sing
We sing along with all the words we find
That’s the thing that
That’s the thing that makes me
Yeah that’s the thing that makes me happy
poem by Tim David Cook
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Growing Pains
I was a child
Beguiled and fresh
Of innocents and new
Who played like many
With trust and hope
For the future that would be new
But unlike many
I broke in two
A rag doll in despair
And knew not of the
Wrong been done
To a child of one so young
Suppressed I learned
So young in life
Of what not to share
Love, life and Happiness
Were things to me not real
I walked around half dead half live
Thinking alas is this my life
And every day I cried in vain
Crying I want to take my life
But life for me continued
In suffering and pain
Never really sharing
All that I had gained
Life can take its ups and downs
For me more so the downs
But then I learned to look for hope
That carried me to higher ground
So from childhood to teenage years
To young adult I grew
With all those years of doubt and shame
Suppressed with in my pain
The burden I carried for so many years
Turned to hatred and pain
So for many years my anger
Took me through a life of pain
Of self doubt and helplessness
So I always hide my pain
You learn to live you bare the pain
Of all that life can give
Then grow into a women
That your burdens you bare alone
But now I stand before you
A women of today
Learning, Love, Life and Happiness
And this time for me it’s real
And with open arms I learn
To share my love once again
With all my family and Friends
I say thanks once again.
poem by Kaila George
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Release That Joy and Feed Us
Overcome that struggle you have,
To mask your hidden pride...
And peek from inside,
That casting shadow.
Free yourself from this false image.
You keep displayed.
For fear someone may steal,
Your quest...
To shine with exhilarating light.
The basking in this ray you gave...
Is missed by others,
Who enjoyed it when they bathed.
Overcome that struggle you have,
To mask your hidden pride...
And peek from inside,
That casting shadow.
Your flower blooming in radiance is missed.
Restore the courage within you that still lives.
Resist like you have...
From all of those conflicts had in your past!
And let us share and witness,
That which you unselfishly give!
The 'you' you 'are' from within is desperately needed.
To help assist all darkness from us to leave,
We plead.
Come out! Come out!
And glow like that bright star you are!
Come out! Come out!
Release that joy and feed us.
Please don't let us starve.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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