American History 101
they came with long rifles and Bibles,
raped your women, stole your lands.
their God devoured....
yours, with open hands!
built the land of the free
atop your teepees and your bones;
and went out to conquer the world,
with eyes of glass,
.....................and hearts of stone!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Long Live America!
you stole their lands
with whiskey and Bibles,
buried their desecrated women
in open graves.
shouted, 'long live Bush,
and weapons of mass destruction'.
grovelling in brick houses,
with chevrolet drives.
sent your sons to executions,
sold your daughters on the block.
and prayed at night for white redemption,
beneath the flag that bore your name.
long live America,
close the borders, patrol the skies.
eating day old bread in empty rooms,
shuddering at the sound of shadows!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Freedom Restoration
Land of the free
Where they know where your car is
Land of the free
Where they know where your cell is
Land of the free
Where they know your credit score
And they know your S.A.T.
Your calls are mapped
In the land of the free
Your Googles are tapped
(Well, you google for free..)
Indentured for life
To your college degree
In debt to your home
Built on pyramid loans
Free to roam the highways
With insurance approved
Free to travel the world
If your passport is not removed
Free to cover children's eyes
Hostage to advertising
Free to roam within your mind
While your soul stays in hiding
Sweet land of liberty
Whose ideals are poetry
Mouthed with no consequence
Or accountability
Built on the emptied lands
Of vanished Indians
What bears your burdens now
Land of the free?
The broken lives of felons
The broken backs of slaves
The immigrant families, torn
The toil of the uninsured.
The fat land chews the cud of lies
While liberty faints from hunger
And freedom is a homeless child
With no security number.
And now what brand of freedom
Is in such burdens found?
Would you consider restoration
At the roots and from the ground?
poem by Frank Bana
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Heart And Bones
(Paul Simon)
One and one-half wandering Jews
Free to wander wherever they choose
Are travelling together
In the Sangre de Cristo
The Blood of Christ Mountains
Of New Mexico
On the last leg of the journey
They started a long time ago
The arc of a love affair
Rainbows in the high desert air
Mountain passes slipping into stones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Thinking back to the season before
Looking back through the cracks in the door
Two people were married
The act was outrageous
The bride was contagious
She burned like a bride
These events may have had some effect
On the man with the girl by his side
The arc of a love affair
His hands rolling down her hair
Love like lightning shaking till it moans
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
And whoa whoa whoa
She said why?
Why don't we drive through the night
And we'll wake up down in Mexico
Oh I
I don't know nothin' about nothin'
About Mexico
And tell me why
Why won't you love me
For who I am
Where I am
He said:
'Cause that's not the way the world is baby
This is how I love you, baby
This is how I love you, baby
One and one-half wandering Jews
Returned to their natural coasts
To resume old acquaintances
Step out occasionally
And speculate who had been damaged the most
Easy time will determine if these consolations
Will be their reward
The arc of a love affair
Waiting to be restored
You take two bodies and you twirl them into one
Their hearts and their bones
And they won't come undone
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
song performed by by Paul Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hearts & Bones
One and one-half wandering jews
Free to wander wherever they choose
Are travelling together
In the sangre de cristo
The blood of christ mountains
Of new mexico
On the last leg of the journey
They started a long time ago
The arc of a love affair
Rainbows in the high desert air
Mountain passes slipping into stones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Thinking back to the season before
Looking back through the cracks in the door
Two people were married
The act was outrageous
The bride was contagious
She burned like a bride
These events may have had some effect
On the man with the girl by his side
The arc of a love affair
His hands rolling down her hair
Love like lightning shaking till it moans
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
And whoa whoa whoa
She said why?
Why dont we drive through the night
And well wake up down in mexico
Oh i
I dont know nothin about nothin
About mexico
And tell me why
Why wont you love me
For who I am
Where I am
He said:
cause thats not the way the world is baby
This is how I love you, baby
This is how I love you, baby
One and one-half wandering jews
Returned to their natural coasts
To resume old acquaintances
Step out occasionally
And speculate who had been damaged the most
Easy time will determine if these consolations
Will be their reward
The arc of a love affair
Waiting to be restored
You take two bodies and you twirl them into one
Their hearts and their bones
And they wont come undone
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
song performed by by Paul Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We Cannot Cease (World Peace)
world peace,
we cannot cease...
miles mean nothing,
as long as, ....
doors open, eyes open,
hands and hearts
ready for the plow...
fallow ground, sacred again,
for the hopes of our children....
speak not of God
if you cant speak human!
world peace....
we cannot stop!
hands to the plow,
hearts on fire!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Unconditionally Open
these hands,
that took yours
and walked away from all
we knew.
these hands,
that laid brick,
cut wood,
plowed gardens,
picked up trash
built fences for the dogs,
held the children
when they were small,
held your hands
at the hospital
stroked your body,
touching forbidden places
with gentleness and
passion
wrote the poetry
hidden in your eyes
these hands,
now old and calloused,
sometimes tremble,
sometimes hard as stone
these hands are open,
without fear or trepidation,
unconditionally open
waiting for yours.
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Egypt
(9/15/12)
Stories have been written, movies have been shown
Of this land of mystery the world has known.
"Egypt"
History and bibles tell of the plights
Of pyramids being built for the pharaohs delight.
Stories have been told of an unknown civilization
Who showed them how to build this nation.
It is said they came from out of space
To teach technology to the human race.
Why was these structures built in the desert sands
Where it took thousands of lives
And millions of hands.
The story of aliens is a tale you see
Which was made up for you and me.
Take a trip down the Nile
And visualize that for a while.
© L. RAMS
poem by Louis Rams
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Africa United
Long time mi waiting ole long, waiting waiting ole long
AFRICA united, is part of my plan
Taking charge of the resource to get back the land
Time again, time is now, time is right, Time for God
Look how long I been waiting, look how long I’ve been waiting
AFRICA united, is part of my plan
Taking charge of the resource to getting back our land
Time again, time is now, time is right, use God as your might
I’m African; we are standing here holding on
No deals daag, it either everything or none
I’m African, and so is everyone who comes from Africa
You can not denied your super sub natural complexion
We are powerful, we are black we are black
Mother land, creation, thru the father God
Free the land and bring liberty in our hands
On to the day is can feel the disposition of the wrongs
Free the mother land, free Africa is the ultimate plan
Feel excitement, joy, in the hearts of the land
To see the children moving about and smiling
And to cater to ones that are sad and crying
Time to sacrifice our time our last dime
For the land, for the land, for the land, for the land
Don’t let anyone break the spiritual down
Never give up a fight, never them dem your frown
We go, stop on the top, top of this Game is right
Open up to God, He is the ultimate might
poem by Christopher Blake
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As far as your Rifles Cover
Do you think, you slaves of a thousand years to poverty, wealth and pride,
You can crush the spirit that has been free in a land that's new and wide?
When you've scattered the last of the farmer bands, and the war for a while is over,
You will hold the land – ay, you'll hold the land – the land that your rifles cover.
Till your gold has levelled each mountain range where a wounded man can hide,
Till your gold has lighted the moonless night on the plains where the rebels ride;
Till the future is proved, and the past is bribed from the son of the land's dead lover –
You may hold the land – you may hold the land just as far as your rifles cover.
poem by Henry Lawson
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You Were Never A Little Girl
Your world is fragile glass
Every day breaking like bones
Against the heartless pavement
Of this dingy city where dreams disappear
In the blink of an eye
Like a thousand species
Growing extinct
In the dying rainforest.
Divorce and disintegrating family life
Stole from you a happy childhood
With the malicious hands
Of a marauding thief,
You were never a little girl.
Next time I see you
Stranded on some dirty street
In the hopeless dawn
With no fuel in your tank
To get back home,
Take my twenty free,
I won’t bother you for sex.
poem by Uriah Hamilton
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The Hands That Built America
Oh my love
It's a long way we've come
From the freckled hills
To the steel and glass canyons
From the stony fields
To hanging steel from skies
From diggin in our pockets
For a reason not to say goodbye
These are the hands that build America
Ah ah ah..... America
Last saw your face
In a watercolored Sky
As sea birds argue
A long goodbye
I took your kiss
On the spray of a new lined star
You gotta live in your dreams
Don't make them so hard
And these are the hands that built America
Ah ah ah..... America
Of all of the promises
Is this one we can keep
Of all of the dreams
Is this one still out of reach
???
Its early fall
There's a cloud in the New York skyline
Innocence...dragged across a yellow line
These are the hands that built America
These are the hands that built America
Ah ah ah..... America
Ah ah ah..... America
song performed by by U2
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Foreign Lands
You may roam the wide seas over, follow, meet, and cross the sun,
Sail as far as ships can sail, and travel far as trains can run;
You may ride and tramp wherever range or plain or sea expands,
But the crowd has been before you, and you’ll not find ‘Foreign Lands;’
For the Early Days are over,
And no more the white-winged rover
Sinks the gale-worn coast of England bound for bays in Foreign Lands.
Foreign Lands are in the distance dim and dreamlike, faint and far,
Long ago, and over yonder, where our boyhood fancies are,
For the land is by the railway cramped as though with iron bands,
And the steamship and the cable did away with Foreign Lands.
Ah! the days of blue and gold!
When the news was six months old—
But the news was worth the telling in the days of Foreign Lands.
Here we slave the dull years hopeless for the sake of Wool and Wheat
Here the homes of ugly Commerce—niggard farm and haggard street;
Yet our mothers and our fathers won the life the heart demands—
Less than fifty years gone over, we were born in Foreign Lands.
When the gipsies stole the children still, in village tale and song,
And the world was wide to travel, and the roving spirit strong;
When they dreamed of South Sea Islands, summer seas and coral strands—
Then the bravest hearts of England sailed away to Foreign Lands,
‘Fitting foreign’—flood and field—
Half the world and orders sealed—
And the first and best of Europe went to fight in Foreign Lands.
Canvas towers on the ocean—homeward bound and outward bound—
Glint of topsails over islands—splash of anchors in the sound;
Then they landed in the forests, took their strong lives in their hands,
And they fought and toiled and conquered—making homes in Foreign Lands,
Through the cold and through the drought—
Further on and further out—
Winning half the world for England in the wilds of Foreign Lands.
Love and pride of life inspired them when the simple village hearts
Followed Master Will and Harry—gone abroad to ‘furrin parts’
By our townships and our cities, and across the desert sands
Are the graves of those who fought and died for us in Foreign Lands—
Gave their young lives for our sake
(Was it all a grand mistake?)
Sons of Master Will and Harry born abroad in Foreign Lands!
Ah, my girl, our lives are narrow, and in sordid days like these,
I can hate the things that banished ‘Foreign Lands across the seas,’
But with all the world before us, God above us—hearts and hands,
I can sail the seas in fancy far away to Foreign Lands.
poem by Henry Lawson
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He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon - Villanelle
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon,
From drops of peridot scattered at sea,
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
His father not caring where or with whom,
Or from what rare ocean his being might be-
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon.
He learnt his letters from a dark winged loon
Who flew where the mountains caress the trees,
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
His speech was a garble of false and truth,
Whistling like a hollow piped reed,
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon.
His eyes a contagion of waters blue
And brackish trunks of underwater trees
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
His normal voice wove a threadless tune,
Brought close the mermaids, hungry to feed;
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon,
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
poem by Patti Masterman
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Even if...you can't be mine
i conquer the world
through smiles and laughter
by the softness of the words
with the honesty of my heart...
i conquer the world
as the sky hugs the stars
as the ocean raise the pearls
as the sea nourishes corals...
i conquer the world
through advance technology
through texts and phones
through probe and satellites...
i conquer the world
but I never own the earth
i conquer the world
but I never own the universe
i conquer the world
but I never own your heart....
poem by Lady Grace
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I Believe.... (Chant Two)
i believe...
in open hands, open minds,
and open hearts.
that the banning of books is wrong.
that we have been
too long owned
by what we own.
that we are all
immigrants on the earth.
that all people are
brothers and sisters.
that we are responsible
for each other.
that animals and trees
and mountains have souls,
and that there is much
that we can learn from them.
in the simple life,
in honesty...
that forgiveness should be
as natural as breathing.
in the right to question, and doubt...
in respect... in words,
thoughts, and actions.
that none are free,
until all are free!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Falsified Claim of the Roofie and the Women
So sorry hear from you again.
Back from another on of your excursions I see.
So how did your sick perversion go.
Oh oh you put on quite a good show.
A hell of a dating scam.
It took ten years from this man.
He went to prison for rape.
A unjustified claim.
He just wanted the money you stole.
He lied to get it back.
It pissed you off when you found out.
With venom you went straight to the hospital.
Pull out the kit.
Check me out.
He fed me a roofie.
The next thing I woke with no clothes.(40 minutes later)
He was pulling up his pants.
I made no scene and didn't even realize I was raped.
Strange don't you think.
I went home.
Then I thought about what must have happen (3 hrs later) .
Oh he rapped me.
Yeah I stole his money.
And I gave it back so that has nothing to do with it.
It is the truth because I am a women.
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
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[Remember the broken soldiers (ANZAC DAY) lest we forget]
Broken soldiers,
Tread with fear
Through this concrete land
Frayed hearts unravel
And slowly fall
Like empty shells
I sacrificed my life
For a world that doesn’t care…
In return for an ounce of peace
To calm this mental head.
When you stare at me,
You see my eyes weakening
Tears foster,
Instead of beaconing
The fire inside,
Burn my memories,
These withered old hands
Shake and start trembling…
Years have passed,
And I can still hear
The children scream
Women were raped
And freedom was just a dream
History pages turned
So fast the warrior
Fades away…
You read so much
You forget the struggle,
We fought to save this land.
Next time when you stare at me,
Remember who I am…
A person who fought for you…
Never gave up on you…
Zealous in battle to fight for your freedom…
And willing to sacrifice my soul for a…
Cause that doesn’t even seem to matter anymore…
poem by Empath In flames
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Written-In-Red
(To Our Living Dead in Mexico's Struggle)
Written in red their protest stands,
For the gods of the World to see;
On the dooming wall their bodiless hands
have blazoned "Upharsin," and flaring brands
Illumine the message: "Seize the lands!
Open the prisons and make men free!"
Flame out the living words of the dead
Written-in-red.
Gods of the World! Their mouths are dumb!
Your guns have spoken and they are dust.
But the shrouded Living, whose hearts were numb,
have felt the beat of a wakening drum
Within them sounding-the Dead men's tongue—
Calling: "Smite off the ancient rust!"
Have beheld "Resurrexit," the word of the Dead,
Written-in-red.
Bear it aloft, O roaring, flame!
Skyward aloft, where all may see.
Slaves of the World! Our cause is the same;
One is the immemorial shame;
One is the struggle, and in One name—
MANHOOD— we battle to set men free.
"Uncurse us the Land!" burn the words of the Dead,
Written-in-red.
poem by Voltairine de Cleyre
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Book Of Brilliant Things
Thank you for the voice, the eyes and the memories shine
Thank you for the pictures of living in the beautiful black and the white
Some say well be together for a very long time
Some say that our first impressions never will lie
I open up to take a look into the bright and shiny book
Into the open scheme of things
Book of brilliant things
Book of brilliant things
I open up to take a look into the bright and shiny book;
Into the open scheme of things
Book of brilliant things
Oh, book of brilliant things
I thank you for the shadows
It takes two or three to make company
I thank you for the lightning that shoots up and sparkles in the rain
Some say this could be the great divide
Some day some of them say that our hearts will beat
Like the wheels of the fast train, all around the world
I open up to take a look into the bright and shiny book
Into the open scheme of things
Book of brilliant things
Book of brilliant things
Some say we can be together for a very long time
Some say our hearts will beat like the wheels of a fast train
All around the world
All around the world
All around the world
Some say our hearts beat like the wheels of a fast train
All around the world
All around, all around, around, around
All around the world
Our hearts beat like the wheels of a fast train
A very long time
All around and all around and all around and all around the world
Some say well be together
Some say
A very long time, some of them will say
A very long time all around the world
Words & music : james kerr, charlie burchill, mel gaynor, derek forbes, michael macneil (c) emi publishing ltd reproduced without permission
song performed by by Simple Minds
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Hurt Ego....
some windows really are kept open
even at midnight
the moon in its fullness has always been
that welcome visitor
that sense of mystery long gone
opening a window has always been considered
a healthy option
and people who pass the street look at you
standing by the window
in openness
you trust that openness being arms that know the value of embrace
can be redeeming
in fact some children who play in the yard
have a way of looking at you as their idol
they clap their hands and dance for you
it happens almost all days of the year
the open window appears like a warm smile on the face of sorrow
not everyone likes it though
there is a crazy old man and he picks a stone and throws it against
your glass window
your window cracks and your smile become a word
with double meaning
what damage must have the old man caused?
you should know, you have too
wisdom still lies with the old
their discipline is still in the stone
that leave a scar
on the shattered glass
the ego, this self.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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