Exchanging Hats
Unfunny uncles who insist
in trying on a lady's hat,
--oh, even if the joke falls flat,
we share your slight transvestite twist
in spite of our embarrassment.
Costume and custom are complex.
The headgear of the other sex
inspires us to experiment.
Anandrous aunts, who, at the beach
with paper plates upon your laps,
keep putting on the yachtsmen's caps
with exhibitionistic screech,
the visors hanging o'er the ear
so that the golden anchors drag,
--the tides of fashion never lag.
Such caps may not be worn next year.
Or you who don the paper plate
itself, and put some grapes upon it,
or sport the Indian's feather bonnet,
--perversities may aggravate
the natural madness of the hatter.
And if the opera hats collapse
and crowns grow draughty, then, perhaps,
he thinks what might a miter matter?
Unfunny uncle, you who wore a
hat too big, or one too many,
tell us, can't you, are there any
stars inside your black fedora?
Aunt exemplary and slim,
with avernal eyes, we wonder
what slow changes they see under
their vast, shady, turned-down brim.
poem by Elizabeth Bishop
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
My, My, My Crazy Family
My mom and dad, russ, and chris.
My step mom and dads, eidy, richard, marty.
My brothers, micheal, bear and joe.
My sisters, big tiff, little tiff, black head lory, red head lory, kim, betty.
My by marriage brothers, duck, and rick.
My by marriage sisters, amanda, stacey, and tammy.
My gram mothers, mama, and nana,
My grandfathers, Pap(Had 4 brothers all 5 of them fought in world war2) , Papa(also fought in world war2) .
My uncles and aunts, uncle david, aunt cathy, aunt carol, aunt edna, ect.
My family is just so huge I can't list them all
Imagine the dating situation.
The pickings get pretty slim.
Especially when my blood line goes to place I don't even know.
But eh I guess that how every family goes.
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Appreciation
MY muvver's ist the nicest one
'At ever lived wiz folks;
She lets you have ze mostes' fun,
An' laffs at all your jokes.
I got a ol' maid auntie, too,
The worst you ever saw;
Her eyes ist bore you through and through, —
She ain't a bit like ma.
She's ist as slim as slim can be,
An' when you want to slide
Down on ze balusters, w'y she
Says 'at she's harrified.
She ain't as nice as Uncle Ben,
What says 'at little boys
Won't never grow to be big men
Unless they're fond of noise.
But muvver's nicer zan 'em all,
She calls you, 'precious lamb,'
An' let's you roll your ten-pin ball,
An' spreads your bread wiz jam.
An' when you're bad, she ist looks sad,
You fink she's goin' to cry;
An' when she don't you're awful glad,
An' den you're good, Oh, my!
At night, she takes ze softest hand,
An' lays it on your head,
An' says 'Be off to Sleepy-Land
By way o' trundle-bed.'
So when you fink what muvver knows
An' aunts an' uncle tan't,
It skeers a feller; ist suppose
His muvver 'd been a aunt.
poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Upon this paper my life is written
Upon this paper my life is written,
a tree doubled over in pain.
The red ink flows over the skin,
full stops and commas are hair and stars:
eyes of sea left on ships,
destroyed houses, rusting girders.
This paper is as black as the storm,
destroyed villages where there is no fiesta.
This paper burns as reason does,
lightning in the sky flashes in its millions.
This paper is a sky where there is no God,
this paper is alone…
this paper does not fly…
this paper… it is I.
poem by Menotti Lerro from The Poetry of Menotti Lerro (2011), translated by Andrew Mangham, Maria Rosaria La Marca
Submitted by anonym
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Paper And Pen
Paper and pen
Trying to write a song again
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Trying to write a song again
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Can’t think of anything to say today
Can’t think of anything to do
Can’t think of anything to play today
Minds gone blank
Leaving me here, just sitting here
Listening to my hair grow
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
And I look towards you
For an inspiration or a word or two
I try but I find
Every road only leads me back to these lines
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Piano, guitar
I try but don't get very far
Paper and pen
Piano, guitar
Paper and pen
Trying to write a song again
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Copyright Colin Coplin 1985 / 2010
poem by Colin Coplin
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The Lady Wore Black
On a lonely walk this morning
A light mist in the air
Dark clouds laughing at me in silence
Casting shadows through my hair
In the distance I saw a woman
Dressed in black with eyes of grey
She wore her pain like a shackled spirit
Eternal life was her debt to pay
The lady wore black
Its the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
The wind song whispered a warning
Telling me to beware
Of the quiet shadowed woman
And of the sadness I would share
We sat together for sometime together in silence
Never speaking in words
Of all her thoughts she spoke with her eyes
And I listened remembering all I heard
The lady wore black
Its the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
The words she spoke were of forgotten lives
And of all knowledge gained
Memries I had and didnt know why
With a smile she explained
I should have listened to the winds cold warning
And walked the other way
I touched her soul and now I bear her sentence
But for her love Ill gladly pay
The lady wore black
Its the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
song performed by by Queensryche
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Touch Away
Mother natures been good to me
Thats why Im sittin in this cherry tree
But its alright, its alright
Its not so bad
Im just a touch away
The shady lady
From shady lane
Is lying in my bed again
And its alright
It feels good
Its not so bad
When shes just a touch away
Nothing much
Is all I ask
And its alright, ok yes
Light as a feather, oh yes
Like a rosebud
When the sun is high
She opens up
Before my eyes
And the light falls
On her wet skin
Its alright
Im just a touch away
Nothing much
Is all I know
And its alright, oh yes
Light as a feather,
And just a touch away
Put a finger to her lips again
She cries with pleasure
Cries wih pain
And its alright
It feels good
Its not so bad
Were just a touch away
Nothing much
Is all I know
Not too fast
Not too slow
And its alright
Soft as a feather
And just a touch away
song performed by by Deep Purple
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Professional Judgement
Hating an abhorrent man will judge him,
It is yesterday since the hats of scholars
Were donned, and worn by the scholars.
Followers of a teaching or doctrine find
A simple peace, full of joy and happiness.
They donned their caps for a final time
Since the time of celebration.
The hats of a profession were ornaments
And their professors acted wisely.
poem by Naveed Akram
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My Uncle Gay
I can not say in a way,
That would for anyone be understood.
But I have an uncle named Gayhall,
Who stands for me very tall.
A minister he is,
With a wife Pamela and two adorable kids.
Well...
They are no longer 'kids'.
Two beautiful women I 'should' say.
Nicole and Tiffany...
Each with a uniqueness,
Anyone can see.
Although my Uncle Gay,
Has been sick of late.
I hate the fact that he's like that.
But what can I do,
Besides pray from my Uncle Gay?
I 'see' him getting better,
Each day as I 'visualize'.
I want his health to return to him.
Because he is very special,
In my eyes.
I love my aunts and uncles...
As 'if' they were mine!
And...
Hey,
They are 'mine'!
Well...
Let me define what it is I want God to do!
'God,
I know for a fact...
You are with me all the time!
But...
Will You heal my Uncle Gay?
Right 'now'!
And...
Today! '
Dedicated to:
My Uncle Reverand Gayhall Pertillar.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
'Love you, Uncle Gay...
Pam and 'kids'.'
Nephew Larry
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I have to drink this much to be as unfunny as you.
quote by Patton Oswalt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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God sometimes grants your prayer to punish you....
do not insist. God has a way of punishing
your unreasonable widow
persistence, the Greeks are warned
about Wooden Horses,
and Achilles' heels,
do not insist. Don't you know that sometimes
God grants prayers
purposely to punish
those who are hardheaded?
Pray what God wills you to be.
Do not insist.
God knows better
Before you were born
He knows what is in store for you
Till the last
breath. Till you dropp dead.
So do not insist
Natural laws cannot be compromised.
Legal laws maybe.
Man made ones, those that twist
and pride on
Compromises.
Do not insist. Let God flow inside your
Heart. Let the seeds grow
As he sets the fertile soil
of the mind
As he gives the light in your
Sun.
As he prunes and cuts
and Makes you
The most beautiful tree
within the forest of your tangled
hairs.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Trapped and Needing Air
Slow to wake up!
Too slow,
To awaken to what has been real.
Don't expect me to freeze in place.
Awaiting for you to embrace life,
As it is!
It is to be lived.
Not turned into a quiz...
You just can't get and figure out.
And your pouting is not admired.
It's like a flat tire needing air!
You are just not there!
Slow to wake up!
No one's got time on hold.
To benefit them...
And/or their whims.
When for them time will begin again.
Show or no show folks...
Who poke along,
And make joke of it.
Putting off 'the now'
To live a yesterday today...
Should be left on steps where they sit!
Or wave to them through a window!
Don't stop to visit.
They seek someone to twist into a fit!
Many know such folks,
Who complain about their sorrows.
And they will drain someone's patience.
To stall tomorrow's anticipated taste.
And squeeze the sweet,
To share their bitterness...
With anyone they meet.
It is to be lived.
This life!
Not turned into a quiz...
You just can't get or figure out,
The wrong from right!
And your pouting is not admired.
It's like a flat tire needing air!
You are just not there...
With determination focused.
But despair you love to wear.
Trapped and getting ragged...
Like a tire needing air.
Addicted like an addict,
And trapped...
Needing air!
Trapped and getting ragged...
Like a tire needing air.
Addicted like an addict,
That's trapped and needing air!
Caged like a rabbit in fear and scared.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Idea of Ancestry
Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
faces: my father, mother, grandmothers (1 dead), grand-
fathers (both dead), brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts,
cousins (1st and 2nd), nieces, and nephews.They stare
across the space at me sprawling on my bunk.I know
their dark eyes, they know mine.I know their style,
they know mine.I am all of them, they are all of me;
they are farmers, I am a thief, I am me, they are thee.
I have at one time or another been in love with my mother,
1 grandmother, 2 sisters, 2 aunts (1 went to the asylum),
and 5 cousins.I am now in love with a 7-yr-old niece
(she sends me letters in large block print, and
her picture is the only one that smiles at me).
I have the same name as 1 grandfather, 3 cousins, 3 nephews,
and 1 uncle. The uncle disappeared when he was 15, just took
off and caught a freight (they say).He's discussed each year
when the family has a reunion, he causes uneasiness in
the clan, he is an empty space.My father's mother, who is 93
and who keeps the Family Bible with everbody's birth dates
(and death dates) in it, always mentions him.There is no
place in her Bible for "whereabouts unknown."
poem by Etheridge Knight
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Love Your Starfish
To hesitate, to reel and stutter in a free fall to eat your grapes
and slow the runner you just need calm
Don't let me down I'm already down
like a rubber band pulled between two hands in a slow defiance
of when it might break then someone laughs,
all left feet and charging rhinos...
unfunny but i know no one here needs your kind of redemption
you came in waves and tired of all this celebration you milked the tree,
fed the starfish and said all is calm
You must get down I'm already down
with the whole event held within your head like old valentines,
just when do you start to fake a love for jazz and blue green oranges...
It's so hieronymus I know no one here needs your kind of redemption
How shallow ponds with the growth of decades carry on or I'll never know
on the whole, I can dig the world's offerings and with the yes parade
on hold it did not lesson me when it was said to me with the elegance
of daybreak that wherever you go take your pride, wherever you go,
there you are that was the birthplace of almost everything sold,
poetic and stoned...
song performed by by I Mother Earth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My pretty Cat
Her eyes always glaze at me
whenever she is hungry
Her eyes always attracts me
whenever she wants me to pick her
She has white double coated fur
But because of dust it has turned into black
She has a doll face
with a pair of whiskers
She likes to play soccer with a paper ball
But sometimes she acts like a dog
She cannot bare another cat in front of her
As she thinks she is the prettiest amoungst all
She sleeps as if she is the maid of the house
with her paws on her eyes
Her face has a natural beauty
As I call her sleeping beauty
She likes to pose here and there
when the camera roll is on..
poem by Haram Fatima
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Woman threads
Maternal aunts over maternal uncles,
Paternal aunts over paternal uncles,
Sisters over brothers command more affinity.
Relation threads through women routs
13.05.2000, Palakkad
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Atlantic City
On a bus I did ride,
to the NJ Seaside.
Ten years earlier I was also there,
with my aunts with golden curly white hair.
That’s when Trump made a splash,
offering old lady a lot of cash.
Madonna was on her Blonde Ambition tour,
dominating all of the world.
Now Great Aunt Mary and Aunt Joanie,
did go with me,
to Trump’s casino in Atlantic City.
Gambling nickels was their bet,
I did not gamble-had to pay the rent.
Tiny little red notebook I did buy,
writing stories by oceanside.
Writing on trains and subways too,
all stories still there, there’s quite a few.
Now in 2000 I when I went there again
visited Long Island to see my friends.
Went to Javits Convention Ctr in NYC
saw licensed characters who were cute and silly.
Yes this was the year I missed my plane,
Year before Twin Towers fell in sadness and pain.
Would visit NYC again and again,
everything has really changed.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum
will open up this year,
residents will remember friends so dear.
Now my Great Aunt passed away,
will have to visit the boardwalk once again.
poem by Christina Sunrise
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Oh Africa!
oh! my continent
where my people starve for food,
where my people are suffering,
with extreme poverty.
where things interchange
corruption for the leader,
hopeless for the citizen,
poverty for the people,
street for the lunatic,
Rigging for the election,
jobless for the educative,
fraud for the youth,
expensive cars for the politicians,
laughage film for the white,
crying bitter things for the Black,
should we call this fate?
The fifty_four caps had turned Africa to something else,
The fifty_four caps has now unable to fit us.
poem by Agbaje Samson from Oh Africa! (21 March 2020), translated by Agbaje Samson
Submitted by Talented£
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Flying As She Falls
The leaves have turned and she has known
And she tells me she cant let him go
And she looks to the moon for answers
And she looks inside and she knows
She dresses by the window
Finds reflection in the pane
She looks towards the winter
And her hair falls around her like rain
Shes sighing with september
She would like to run and hide
Shes wrapped up in confusion
She unfolds like paper dolls
But shes flying as she falls
The birds have gone and she has known
For she follows the arc of their flight
And the softness has gone from the daylight
And the shadows have grown into night
Shes sighing with september
She would like to run and hide
Shes wrapped up in confusion
She unfolds like paper dolls
But shes flying as she falls
Soon will come cool october
It will rise all around her like fire
And she gathers her courage like harvest
And she gathers her thoughts and desires
Shes sighing with september
She would like to run and hide
Shes wrapped up in confusion
She unfolds like paper dolls
But shes flying as she falls
She will not run and hide
She will take it all in stride
And she will
She will
She will be flying as she falls
song performed by by Heather Nova
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Paper Flowers
You seem like a girl who likes to tell her bed is made
You seem like a girl who likes to wear her pearls
Well Im not the type who likes to dwell,
Save my money or kiss and tell, yeah
Oh why does she water them, paper flowers?
This girl walks up so graciously,
Slips something in my pocket so secretly,
I said: honey, whats this you gave to me?
Oh nothing, water, wait and see
I said: paper flowers, they cant grow!
Just giveem water and let me know,
Giveem water and let me know, giveem water
And let me know
Oh why does she water them, paper flowers?
Paper flowers...
Oh why does she water them, paper flowers?
Paper flowers...
Shes dressed in black as you can see,
She tries so damn hard to be the enemy,
Shes got big black boots, get outta her way,
She wants to kick tomorrow, punch yesterday,
Kick tomorrow, punch yesterday
Oh why does she water them, paper flowers?
Paper flowers...
Turn a light on, turn a different light on
Turn a light on, turn a different light on now
Turn a light on, turn a different light on
Turn a light on, turn a different light on now!
Oh why does she water them, paper flowers?
Paper flowers...
song performed by by Live
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Will The Real Slim Shady Please Shut Up
may i have your attention please. may i have your attention please. will the
Real slim shady please shut up? i repeat. will the real slim shady please shut
Up?
We're going to have a problem here
You all act like you've never heard a white person before
His rhymes even worse then before
Punk kid trying to be hard core
Marshall mathers is back and worse then before
Making us snore, whining into the microphone
(baby crying)
He's the return of... oh wait. no wait
You fool.
You didn't pay money for this cd, did you?
And dr. dre did (dre laughs).
Everything you idiot, without dre bringing you
You're as good as dead
The world has had enough of eminem.
Jiggy jiggy
Even his girlfriends cheating on him
Look at him. walking around, living off dre
Acting cool, but he's kinda weak though
The little twerp blasted me on his last cd. why?
Cause i turned him down for a date. heehee
As for the question about who came first.
Was it carson daly or was it fred durst?
I'm sorry slim but this is going to hurt
They both came closer then you ever will jerk
Your song is on my nerves. your song is on my nerves
Your lucky because you got more fame then you deserve
That is the message i deliver to little kids
You can become famous and never know what talent is
Of course they love you. of course they do
You are like a cartoon version of rickish roader on silver spoon
You ain't nothing but a produst. a package to be bought up
You know, a year from now, you won't even be thought of
So you write about dead animals and cannibals
Someday you'll stop dating dogs and date higher mammals.
Man there are a million women just like me,
That think like me
That all can see
That slim shady is just a boy going through puberty.
So if you agree,
Scream loudly with me....
Your slim shady
Yes your the real shady.
You sound like peter brady
You get quite irritating.
Will the real slim shady please shut up
Please shut up
Your slim shady
Yes your the real shady.
You sound like peter brady
You get quite irritating.
Will the real slim shady please shut up
Please shut up
song performed by by Christina Aguilera
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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