Publicans and Sinners
I have not pitied those whose lives were sin,
And shame and sorrow, pain and poverty,
Not half so much as those whose even way
Leads changeless onward, dull and stark and gray.
For I have seen them on a winter night
Make friends of foes and hold high revelry
While those whose souls were upward bound to God
Have passed each other by without a nod.
Gamblers, drunkards, prostitutes and thieves,
Look with what pious pains we plot their doom!
With what religions and what governments
We conjure, to deny them standing room!
And like the Pharisee we still condemn
The Christ who pours out wine, or weeps with them.
poem by Elizabeth N. Barr (1921)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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You Make Me Cry
You make me cry
This exquisite pain
I must deny
Though to my death
It runs through my vein
With every breath
Again and again.
I whisper
'Hold your head high'
But collapse in a lonely room
In my chosen doom
I will lie
Forever.
Your words of love
Like fickle wind
Departed.
With your promise
On a breeze.
Thatleft me broken hearted.
You make me cry
But please
Do not feel my sorrow.
But seize your new dream
Tomorrow.
poem by Kevin East
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Perfect Circle
Put your hair back, we get to leave
Eleven gallows on your sleeve
Shallow figure, winners paid
Eleven shadows way out of place
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Pull your dress on and stay real close
Who might leave you where I left off?
A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends
Drink another, coin a phrase
Heaven assumed, shoulders high in the room
Heaven assumed, shoulders high in the room
Heaven assumed, shoulders high in the room
Try to win and suit your needs
Speak out sometimes but try to win
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
song performed by by REM
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Oh, Brother
Im not much for making little wishes
But Id like a little wish to come true for you
Im not talking about loaves and fishes
But I wish that there was something I could do for you
Heres a little bit of cheap advice
To be taken in an hour of need
Dont assume that the life you left
Is the life you have to lead
(chorus)
When you come home what you gonna do
Oh brother, oh brother
Dont you try to deny
What you know to be true
The same mess of misery that you done been through
Standing in line
And its waiting for you
One kiss leads to another
Brother when you come back home
Id like to know whos knocking on door
Id like to know what they come here for
Youd like to say no
But the words wont come
Come in and sit down, seem to roll off your tongue
You forget to remember, to never die young
One kiss leads to another
Brother when you come back home
Standing in line, all of your friends
Standing in line, party never ends
Standing in line, the river flows, the river bends
Standing in line, all of your friends
- chorus -
And that moon will be
Shining in the trees
All night long
Something bound to happen for sure
Soon youll be
Stopping by talking to a friend again
Swear you aint never tasted nothing so pure
- chorus -
When you come home, your friends are dropping by
When you come home, the moon is gonna shine
When you come home, I tell you no lie
When you come home, theyre gonna offer you a line
Standing in line, all of your friends
Standing in line, party never ends now
Standing in line, the river flows, the river bends
Standing in line, all your so called friends
Standing in line, when you come home
Standing in line, oh brother, oh brother now
Standing in line, when you come home
Standing in line, what youre gonna do now
Standing in line...
song performed by by James Taylor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Winter Days Why Do You Came!
Snowy winter days once again came!
Ah Winter days
how did you came?
Haven't you met through your road crying summer days?
Haven't you met through your ways crying Autumn days?
Ah snowy winter days
Haven't you met your friends
Through your road
while you were coming here
Ah sweet summer days
They left us in vain
They Saw our pain
Even the sun above cried for children's ache
First time through my life time
I knew even the sun above has a heart.
While unfortunately human beings didn't have!
Ah chilly winter days how could you come here?
Haven't you met through your road mourning Autumn days.
They were broken when they left
As i know you are friends.
If you ever met them there
They would tell you about our aches.
How pain we've passed through
They saw and they felt
They went home crying all alone
Ah snowy cold winter days how could you come here?
While our world is bared it's clothes
And humanIty is bared of pity as well as the mercy
Poverty huged the cold and has wrapped our world
Ah, how much pain can we bear yet!
Ah, poor souls are in pain till the vein!
poem by Sossi Khachadourian
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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For The Friends And Foes
FOR THE FRIENDS AND FOES
FLAMES OF JOY BURNING EVERYWHERE
IN THE MIDDLE OF COLD WINTER
FLOWING IS WARM SPIRIT TO SHARE
MELTING THE TENDER FEELINGS TO CARE
FOR THE FRIENDS FOES AND NEIGHBORS
LIVING AS ONE TOGETHER AND FOREVER
BONDING WITH SWEET SOUNDS OF LAUGHTER
OPENING THE HEARTS TO DIVINE TO SURRENDER
BREEZE OF HAPPINESS BLOWING WITH SNOW
SPRINKLING GOODWILL MAKING IT GROW
ALL OVER MAKING THE WORLD GLOW
IN DIVINE SHADOWS IN PEACEFUL MEADOWS
FOR THE FRIENDS AND FOES AND NEIGHBORS
LIVING AS ONE TOGETHER AND FOREVER
BONDING WITH SWEET SOUNDS OF LAUGHTER
OPENING THE HEARTS TO DIVINE TO SURRENDER
RIVER OF UNDERSTANDING MAKING ITS WAY
IN THE SOULS NIGHT AND DAY
EVEN UNDER THE SKIES OF GRAY
EVERYONE TAKING PRECIOUS TIME TO PRAY
poem by Mittur Ramprasad
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Lights
When we come home at night and close the door,
Standing together in the shadowy room,
Safe in our own love and the gentle gloom,
Glad of familiar wall and chair and floor,
Glad to leave far below the clanging city;
Looking far downward to the glaring street
Gaudy with light, yet tired with many feet,
In both of us wells up a wordless pity;
Men have tried hard to put away the dark;
A million lighted windows brilliantly
Inlay with squares of gold the winter night,
But to us standing here there comes the stark
Sense of the lives behind each yellow light,
And not one wholly joyous, proud, or free.
poem by Sara Teasdale
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The Dirge Of The Winds
The four winds of earth, the North, South, East, and West,
Shrieked and groaned, sobbed and wailed, like the soul of unrest.
I stood in the dusk of the twilight alone,
And heard them go by with a terrible moan.
'What is it, O winds! that is grieving you so?
Come tell me your sorrow, and tell me your woe!'
'What is it?' I questioned. They shuddered, and said:
'We mourn for the dead! Oh! we mourn for the dead-
'For the dishonored dead that the wine-cup has slain;
For the wrecks that are lying on hill and on plain;
For the beautiful faces, so young and so fair,
That are lying down under the green grasses there;
For the masterful minds and beautiful souls
That were shattered, and drowned, and debased in the bowls;
For the graves that are scattered broadcast o'er the land,
The graves that were dug by King Alcohol's hand.
For the scenes that we saw, as we came on our way,
The sights and the sounds that degraded the day.
East and West, North and South, the tale is the same-
A tale of debasement, and sorrow, and shame.
And this is our sorrow, and this is our woe:
It is this, it is this, that is grieving us so.'
Three winds hushed their voices. The East wind alone
Told her tale in a moaning and sorrowful tone:
'I came yesterday, from the great Eastern land,
Where the mountains are high and the cities are grand;
But the devil walks there, night and day, in the streets,
And he offers red wine to each soul that he greets.
They drink, and the record of crimes and of sins,
And the record of shame and of sorrow begins.
I sped from the sin-burdened East to the West,
But I find not of balm for my agonized breast.
Wine blackens the West as it blackens the East.'
And the voice of the wind sobbed and wailed as it ceased.
'I come from the West!' another voice cried,
'Where the rivers are broad, and the prairies are wide.
There is vigor and strength in that beautiful land,
But the devil walks there with a bowl in his hand,
And the strongest grow weak, and the mightiest fall,
In the damnable reign of this King Alcohol.'
He ceased, and another came mournfully forth,
And spake: 'I came from the land of the North,
Where the streamlets are ice and the hillocks are snow,
And little of passions in mortal veins flow.
But the devil walks there in that land, day and night,
And he covers his face with a mask that is white;
And he smiles as he pours out the wine for his prey,
Nor counts up the legions he kills every day.'
The voice of the South wind spoke now in a sigh:
'And I, too, can tell of the thousands that die
By the hand of this king, in my soft, southern clime,
Where the sweet waters flow in a musical chime.
The devil walks there by King Alcohol's side,
And he pours out the wine till it flows in a tide;
It rushes along with a gurgling sound,
And thousands are caught in the current and drowned.'
Again the four winds cried aloud in their woe:
'It is this, it is this, that is grieving us so.
We see the mad legions go down to the grave,
Unable to warn them, unable to save,
We shriek and we groan, we shudder in pain,
For the souls that are lost, for the youths that are slain;
And the river flows onward, the river wine-red,
And we mourn for the dead, oh! we mourn for the dead.'
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Red, Sparkling Wine
I Have Seen A Sight
Of a Man Falling Down …
… it wasn’t for a Fight
… but it was due to what He’d Found …
… Red Sparkling Wine… Does It Every Time
Red Sparkling Wine… She Should Be A Crime …
Red Sparkling Wine…
She Starts out – Flowing – Smooth
Gets in Your Blood – Then You got Somethin’ to Prove!
You Chase Her Intoxicating Perfume
… must be Brand X … or Lady-Doom …
… Red Sparkling Wine… Does It Every Time
Red Sparkling Wine… Feeling So Sublime …
Red Sparkling Wine…
… Sweet from the Vine, but She ain’t Vintage
Make You Loose Your Mind and Your Hard-Earned Wages
Her Cheap-Thrills… can’t Heal a Heart, that’s Bruised …
You ain’t in Love! … just in a Bottle of Booze …
of Red Sparkling Wine… Once in awhile is Fine
Red Sparkling Wine… Know the Warning Signs ….
of Red Sparkling Wine…
She’s Beautiful, as She Pours
Your Problems – Passed-Out, on The Floor
She’s Crystal-Blood in an Hour-Glass
Her Pity-Promises… just don’t Last…
Red Sparkling Wine… Does It Every Time
Red Sparkling Wine… She’ll have You begging for Dimes …
… to buy … Red Sparkling Wine…
She’ll leave You Broke, You won’t be able to Think
She’s ‘Madam Dope’ … if You Need One More Drink
… of Red Sparkling Wine… Just a Matter of Time
Red Sparkling Wine… Have Another… ‘ Cause I’m …
… Red Sparkling Wine …
poem by MoonBee Canady
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If Wise Women Led Governments
If wise women led Governments it would seem to me
We would not hear of wars and less talk of poverty
For war would become extinct and poverty would be on the decrease
And we would be on our way to a lasting World peace,
The women in Governments play the games of men
To cause division for them is a sure way to win
Support for their power base by their spreading of fear
Of those seen to be different positive things from them we don't hear,
Though no shortage of wise women in the big world out there
Wise women in politics for to say the least rare
Perhaps only cynical women in politics can hope to survive
In a game where negativity and cynicism is very much alive
And if wise women led Governments there would not be wars and terrorism and less of poverty
And far more compassion and understanding that leads to harmony.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Gamblers Roll
Gamblers roll
Words by warren haynes
Music by warren haynes and johnny neal
(c) 1990 music corporation of america, inc.,
Buzzard rock music and song pantry music, inc.
Transcribed by b. luckett
The dealer sits alone in the dark
Cigarette shines on his very last card
Everything he had... watched it come and go
On a gamblers roll
Cold wind blows a young girls world apart
She bet it all she bet it all on the jack of hearts
Gained her freedom but lost her soul
On a gamblers roll on a gamblers roll
You know the gambler he rides... rides on a fools train
Ah tradin silver for gold
Oh but his luck will change... time takes its toll
On a gamblers roll
The dealer knows... its just about his last game
Not even she knows all the sorrow and pain
As the forty-five deals the fatal blow
On a gamblers roll...on a gamblers roll
You know the gambler he rides... rides on a fools train
Tradin silver for gold
Ah but his luck will change... time takes its toll
On a gamblers roll... on a gamblers roll
On a gamblers roll... on a gamblers roll
On a gamblers... gamblers roll
song performed by by Allman Brothers Band
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Please Keep The Pain
please keep the pain
do not attempt to throw pain away
please be patient
do not scream do not tell the neighbors
do not shame pain by running wildly on the streets
screaming about your pain
please do not create a scandal for this
honorable family in pain
please keep the pain for a while and be honorable
there is decency in pain
keep this pain with a clean face on a smooth disposition
let your arms lay there
appease the pain
as though pain is a baby that you want to put to sleep
soon it will go
nothing is permanent in this world
nothing will last forever
the pain may not subside but soon it will have its right time
it decides to go by itself
there is no choice
we will have this pain too
our pains in silence
because we are honorable too
you will never know
we will never tell you we are decently in pain too
we are honorable
we do not make presumptions that we will survive
but we will
these pains that make us decent and honorable
our faces will not show these pains
we will not even tell
we just keep them without complaining
we are decent we are honorable
we are the survivors
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Who Most Honours Jesus Christ?
Who honours most messages purpose of Jesus Christ?
Those who make showy public lip service declarations?
Or those who live the words the wisdom of Jesus Christ?
Jesus Christ lives within hearts souls accepting his sacrifices?
Jesus Christ lives within hearts souls loving God's truths?
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Onward
Don't we all wonder, remotely
- in ways we cannot even fully understand -
'What's this all about? '
Age has invaded our mind
and hearts.
Onward we march.
Life has invaded our spirits
and souls.
As onward we march.
The future flows right on past
behind us.
And yet onward we march.
Living is a passing glance
a long goodbye.
Onward we march.
Where we are bound
no eye has seen
no tongue can tell
no mind does fathom.
Still onward we march.
On the trail of time lost
we take the exit to eternity.
Ever onward we march.
Do we wonder
what a wonder it is
that we're marching into?
We should.
We shall.
We are.
Through it all, onward we march.
Onward...
poem by Smoky Hoss
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Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room
Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, unto which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,
In sundry moods, 'twas pastime to be bound
Within the Sonnet's scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
Should find brief solace there, as I have found.
poem by William Wordsworth
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Mirroring
I looked through the mirrors
And saw my reflection
What I saw was darkness and suffering
It could chase any bright life away.
I looked through the mirror of death
And saw myself burning in hell
Screaming out in sweet torment
Enjoying this immortal condemn.
I looked through the mirror of hate
And saw myself taunting my enemies
I enjoyed my foes pain and smile in shame.
I looked through the mirror of happiness
And saw myself in love; Laughter filled my face with these
With these wrongful feelings.
I looked through the mirror of envy
And saw myself resentencing my friends
Cracking their hearts open with my words.
I looked through the mirror of fears
And saw myself hiding under a hollow tree,
Not even He could shelter me.
I looked through mirror of sorrow
And saw myself buried in pain,
Having a knife at my wrist,
Ready to end this game
poem by C.F Francis
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The Holy Gathering
hear ye
hear ye
gather one, and all
come to this royal ball
satisfaction for you all
they’ll be dancing, romancing, people with glee
one glorious grand party
the king, and all royalty
invites those who live in poverty
they’ll be food, and drink
poets to make you think
a jester to cause laughter
no pain hereafter
from this point forward
this is my final decree
that all this kingdom
shall live like me
no more homeless
no more poverty
if anyone shall deny this
they shall answer to me
all races, all religions in harmony
all angels rise it’s so heavenly
my name is god
believe in me
poem by Keith Ricardo Williams
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The Conumdrum of War
I am on my knees
As I say a little prayer to thee
In my minds eyes I see death
In my heart I feel the pain
Why must we live to the music of war?
That condemns our souls to damnation
Why must lost souls forever be taken from this realm
Just because humanity has the need to say they are right in what they believe
We continue to waste the lives that we are given to lead
We continue to take the unexpected lives of the innocent soul
Why must this be forever a part of humanity?
Where is the harm in giving your heart and soul?
In the right of all that lives in faith and harmony
I have said it before and I will say it again
We must choose the path that will set our souls free
Give up the wars that condemn our societies
Give your heart to thine neighbors, friends, and family
Let the conundrum of war burn out the fire of hatred
Moreover, once more dare I dream?
Why not make this dream become real
©Copyright Kaila George 2012
poem by Kaila George
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Happy Friendship-Day,2009
Let friends in life be few but firm;
Let all those few be thick and great;
Let friendship good last for life-time,
And be a satisfying one!
Let friends be precious and worthwhile;
Let friendship grow and stay ev’r-green;
Let friends become true role-models,
And guide our life on earth nobly!
Let friends hold us spell-bound in life;
Let friends share joys and grief as well;
Let friendship’s sway make us better,
And give us moments to be proud!
Let friends be part of earthly lives;
Let friendship stay a boon, not bane;
Let friends be inseparable,
And be like angel guardians dear!
Let friendship fill the world with love,
And dispel gloom and solitude;
Let friends be more than siblings born,
And make our life on earth fruitful!
Let friendship glue a hearty bond;
Let friends bring godliness in life;
Let friendliness perfume the world,
And make our earthly lives worthwhile!
Let love turn foes to be like friends;
Let friends make earth a paradise;
Let friendliness rule hearts and minds,
And fix our gaze to God above!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 8-1-2009
poem by John Celes
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Cold winter night
It was a cold winter night.
All was deadly still.
My guts so tight
I must kill!
The cry of a wolf enters my head
Like a train whistle that echoes far away.
Can it be…something lives on this winter night?
Follow the sound and pray
It does not go away.
My hunger juices flowing; I go.
I and the wolf both now know
Neither is alone in the land of snow.
Oh, how I wish I had his sight
On this cold winter night
The north wind moved in the night before.
The ground all snow and bitter cold…so bitter cold.
The sky filled with stars.
The snow grows old.
My guts so tight
What a cold, cold winter night!
The wolf stays hidden from my sight
With it’s furry coat of gray and white.
He glides across the snow without sound
Like a ballerina tiptoeing over the ground.
My guts so tight
On this bitter cold winter night
I with my blood running slow
My hands burning cold; my face red glow
Driven by the pain in my gut
On this cold-cold bitter winter night
I must kill
To make the night still
So the hunger pains
Will be gone again
I hear nothing on this cold winter night
My hair stands up on the back of my neck
I fear the wolf knows
I turn
Crutch to spring
His fangs showing white; my knife in my hand
We circle like two roosters in a pen.
For one this will be the end.
The pain in my gut is still tight
I will kill but not for the trill
On such a killing bitter cold winter night
With the grace of a cat he springs to flight
My throat his aim on this cold winter night
My knife hits his heart…he hunches in pain;
His fangs rip my throat cutting the jugular vein.
The snows now stain on this cold winter night.
Blood and flesh flung upon the snow
Cries of pain, moans of death…soon will go
From this bitter cold ground
All is still on winter’s playground.
The wolf dances no more
My lips move but there is no sound.
My gut is still tight
I feel alright
No more time to fight
On this bitter cold winter night
Wind and snow now fill the air.
The wolf has an empty den.
The snow will be tracked no more.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
Genocide complete
In a galaxy so far
poem by Ronald Brissette
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Hymn 14
The triumph of faith or, Christ's unchangeable love.
Rom. 8:33ff.
Who shall the Lord's elect condemn?
'Tis God that justifies their souls;
And mercy, like a mighty stream,
O'er all their sins divinely rolls.
Who shall adjudge the saints to hell?
'Tis Christ that suffered in their stead;
And, the salvation to fulfil,
Behold him rising from the dead!
He lives! he lives and sits above,
For ever interceding there:
Who shall divide us from his love?
Or what should tempt us to despair?
Shall persecution, or distress,
Famine, or sword, or nakedness?
He that hath loved us bears us through,
And makes us more than conquerors too.
Faith hath an overcoming power;
It triumphs in the dying hour:
Christ is our life, our joy, our hope,
Nor can we sink with such a prop.
Not all that men on earth can do,
Nor powers on high, nor powers below,
Shall cause his mercy to remove,
Or wean our hearts from Christ our love.
poem by Isaac Watts
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