Erica Jong

His Tuning of the Night

All night he lies awake tuning the sky,
tuning the night with its fat crackle of static,
with its melancholy love songs crooning
across the rainy air above Verdun
& the autobahn's blue suicidal dawn.

Wherever he lives there is the same unwomaned bed,
the ashtrays overflowing their reproaches,
his stained fingers on the tuning bar, fishing
for her voice in a deep mirrorless pond,
for the tinsel & elusive fish
(brighter than pennies in water & more wished upon)-
the copper-colored daughter of the pond god.

He casts for her, the tuning bar his rod,
but only long-dead lovers with their griefs
haunt him in Piaf's voice-
(as if a voice could somehow only die
when it was sung out, utterly).

He finally lies down and drowns the light
but the taste of her rises, brackish,
from the long dark water of her illness
& his grief is terrible as drowning
when he reaches for the radio again.

In the daytime, you hardly know him;
he walks in a borrowed calm.

You cannot sense
his desperation in the dawn
when the abracadabras of the birds
conjure another phantom day.

He favors cities which blaze all night,
hazy mushrooms of light under the blue
& blinking eyes of jets.
But when the lamps across the way go under,
& the floorboards settle,
& the pipes fret like old men gargling-
he is alone with his mouthful of ghosts,
his tongue bitter with her unmourned death,
& the terrible drowning.

I watch from my blue window
knowing he does not trust me,
though I know him as I know my ghosts,
though I know his drowning,
though, since that night when all harmony broke for me,
I have been trying to tune the sky.

poem by Erica JongReport problemRelated quotes
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Deep Water

Is it a crime for me to be feeling this way
I'm going out of my mind and there's
no change from a runaway love
Is it a dream (is it a dream)
That I'm throwing in the wishing well
I'm losing control my body and soul
(body and soul)Standing here waiting
for a train that may never come
I saw the signs I read the books
I should of had a second look
ut you caught me dreaming
nd there were times you'd come around a
we'd agreed to just be friends tell
me who it's fooling oooo
Deep water I'm drowning
Deep water I'm slowly drowning in deeper
Deep water I'm drowning
Deep water I'm slowly drowning in deeper
what do I say(what can I say)
where words have failed me before
what do i do when i'm feeling so blue
and there's no place for me to run and hide
I saw the sun inside your smile and wished
for then just awhile cause boy you caught
me dreaming a giant step into the dark
and we through caution to the wind tell
me who we're fooling oooo
Deep water I'm drowning
deep water i'm slowly drowning in deeper
Deep water i'm drowning
deep water i'm slowly drowning deeper
i'm drowning
deeper deeper i'm drowning in deeper
oh i saw the signs i read the book
i should have had a second look
cause boy you caught me dreaming
and there are times youd come around
and we'd agreed to just be friends tell me who it's fooling
Deep water i'm drowning
deep water i'm slowly drowning in deeper
deep water i'm drowning
deep water i'm slowly drowning in deeper
deeper deeper deeper
i'm drowning in deeper
(drowning in drowning in drowning in)
deeper deeper deeper
so deep is the water
(drowning in drowning in drowning in)
fade out

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The Watcher on the Tower

I
The Voice of a Man

WHAT of the Night, O Watcher?

The Voice of a Woman

Yea, what of it?

The Watcher

A star has risen; and a wind blows strong.

Voice of the Man

The Night is dark.

The Watcher

But God is there above it.

Voice of the Woman

The Night is dark; the Night is dark and long.

II
Voice of the Man

What of the Night, O Watcher?

Voice of the Woman

Night of sorrow!

The Watcher

Out of the East there comes a sound, like song.

Voice of the Man

The Night is dark.

The Watcher

Have courage! There’s To-morrow!

Voice of the Woman

The Night is dark; the Night is dark and long.

III
Voice of the Man

What of the Night, O Watcher?

Voice of the Woman

Is it other?

The Watcher

I see a gleam; a thorn of light; a thong.

Voice of the Man

The Night is dark.

The Watcher

The Morning comes, my Brother.

Voice of the Woman

The Night is dark; the Night is dark and long.

IV
Voice of the Man

What now, what now, O Watcher?

The Watcher

Red as slaughter
The Darkness dies. The Light comes swift and strong.

Voice of the Man

The Night was long.—What sayest thou, my Daughter?

Voice of the Woman

The Night was dark; the Night was dark and long.

poem by Madison Julius CaweinReport problemRelated quotes
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Radio Radio

I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial
Doing anything my radio advised
With every one of those late night stations
Playing songs bringing tears to me eyes
I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver
When the switch broke cause its old
Theyre saying things that I can hardly believe.
They really think were getting out of control.
Radio is a sound salvation
Radio is cleaning up the nation
They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they dont give you any choice
cause they think that its treason.
So you had better do as you are told.
You better listen to the radio.
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me.
I wanna bite that hand so badly.
I want to make them wish theyd never seen me.
Some of my friends sit around every evening
And they worry about the times ahead
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference
And the promise of an early death
You either shut up or get cut up;
They dont wanna hear about it.
Its only inches on the reel-to-reel.
And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools
Tryin to anaesthetise the way that you feel
[chorus]
Wonderful radio
Marvelous radio
Wonderful radio
Radio, radio...

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Blue Light

Oh well, here we are again
Lookin 4 something 2 get us in the mood
I tell each and every one of my friends
That the love we make is really pretty rude
But they dont believe me cuz its written all over my face
Like evian and the deep blue sea
U and me got different taste
U like it in the dark but I like a
Blue light
Can u turn on a blue light
Then cuddle up 2 me so tight
Just u and me all night
Alright, blue light
Can u turn on a blue light
Then everything will be alright
Oh, blue light
U say u wish I was shy
I always take a simple thing and push it way 2 far
But baby, thats the problem with u and i
U say not in public but I say in the car
Say, we need to get wild again like it was when we first met
Close your eyes and count 2 ten and when u open em -
Ill be standing naked with nothing but a smile on
Blue light
Can u turn on a blue light
Then cuddle up 2 me so tight
Just u and me all night
Alright, blue light
Can u turn on a blue light
Then everything will be alright
Oh, blue light
Ill be 117
Ull be still sayin baby not 2 nite
Its easy 2 see us on the cover of a magazine
double heart attack, couple both die in a fight
Oh baby! I dont wanna cross that road cuz I love u 2 much
Id do anything just 2 heat up your cold touch
Anything I would do, but up until u tell me 2
Blue light
Can u turn on a blue light
Then cuddle up 2 me so tight
Just u and me all night
Alright, blue light
Can u turn on a blue light
Then everything will be alright
Oh, blue light
Blue light
Can u turn on a blue light (cuddle up 2 me)
So tight
Cuddle up next 2 me baby
U and me all night, alright blue light
Light (u turn on a) blue light
And every thing will be alright
Oooh blue light
Blue light
Blue light
Blue light
Blue light
Blue light

song performed by by PrinceReport problemRelated quotes
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And In The House

And in the house
All is now silent
I rise and grope
In the dark, dark
And lo! Before me
A blue light I
A thin blue light
See I all a-shining
And leading me
And guiding me
Into the dark
In the long night
In to the long night!

Ah! father, father
Where are
You leading me:
The thin blue light
Now veers to here
And then to there
Now up
Now down
It plays:
And in the night
The long lone night
The seconds turn and turn!

And in the house
The lonely house
A soundless sound
Is humming:
The light
The thin blue light
Is leading still leading
And in the night
No time is passing

No hope of dawn
Or day
Is coming:
But dark
And dark:
Yet in the night
This night
Of black
A thrill felt I
And happiness
That never felt!

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Drowning In You (demo)

Lead me to the river of love
Pour a little water and wash my pain away
Leave me in the ocean of joy
Water from below I can feel your glow running through
You know that I do I'm drowning in you
Take me to the tide of your heart
Take me to the shore, babe And hold me close to you
Leave me when the sky's getting dark
Water from behind I can feel a fine line from you
You know that I do I'm drowning in you
Say hello, there's no goodbye
If you can't read between the lines
Found a love that I can't hide Oh I've been drowning in your eyes
Honey, honey, honey yea!
Lead me to the gate of your dreams
Put me on a ship that will sail the Lovers' Seas
Water from the brooks and the streams
Water in my face I can taste the ocean of you
You know that I do I'm drowning in you
Say hello...
It's the ocean of you
You know that's it's true I'm drowning in you

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Drowning In You

Lead me to the river of love
Pour a little water and wash my pain away
Leave me in the ocean of joy
Water from below I can feel your glow running through
You know that I do Im drowning in you
Take me to the tide of your heart
Take me to the shore, babe and hold me close to you
Leave me when the skys getting dark
Water from behind I can feel a fine line from you
You know that I do Im drowning in you
Say hello, theres no goodbye
If you cant read between the lines
Found a love that I cant hide oh Ive been drowning in your eyes
Honey, honey, honey yea!
Lead me to the gate of your dreams
Put me on a ship that will sail the lovers seas
Water from the brooks and the streams
Water in my face I can taste the ocean of you
You know that I do Im drowning in you
Say hello...
Its the ocean of you
You know thats its true Im drowning in you

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Drowning

Everything is so complex
Everyday is like a test full of opsticals
That almost seem impossible

And I'm thinking just another breath not a minute left.
How long have I been drinking?

Pass the glass pint hit the flash light now break it.
People say I'm a star but I still think ill never make it.

And I'm thinking just another prayer not a second left.
I feel there's something missing

Sometimes I hate that chaos surrounds me when all the answers I see go around me.
Am I drowning?
Am I fading away?
OR am I living up to all your dreams that made me this way?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?

I've been to hell and back looking for the answers to life.
Looking at myself trying to get things right.

And I'm feeling just another breath not a minute left.
I feel the darkness lifting.

There was a time
That I questioned if Id ever be alright.
Running getting high staying trapped by sleepless nights.

And I'm thinking just another breath not a minute left.
I feel there's something missing.

I'm running from myself and all the things I don't like.
Living every night like it's the last night.

And I'm thinking just another prayer not a second left.
I need to stop resisting.

Sometimes I hate that chaos surrounds me when all the answers I see go around me.
Am I drowning?
Am I fading away?
OR am I living up to all your dreams that made me this way?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?

Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.

Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.

Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.

Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.

Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?

Sometimes I hate that chaos surrounds me when all the answers I see go around me.
Am I drowning?
Am I fading away?
OR am I living up to all your dreams that made me this way?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?

Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.

Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.

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Endless Stream Of Tears

I cry awake at night and hug my pillow
And pray that I will die before I wake
No such luck
Another day of cryin
Dont know how much more my old heart can break
Flooded with these memories and emotions
The tears like rain keep on falling down
They say that Ill forget
But my face is just as wet
As it was the day you left this town
Chorus:
Drowning in this endless, endless
Drowning in an endless stream of tears
Its relentless and Im defenseless
Drowning in an endless stream of tears
I cant believe that I can talk about it
I never thought Id live to see this day
But a broken heart wont kill you
You just want to die
But you have to go on livin anyway
I feel it through and through
And Ive never been so blue
And I cried a river over you
Repeat chorus
Oh, Im drowning in this endless, endless
Drowning in this endless, endless
Drowning in this endless, endless
Drowning in this endless stream of tears

song performed by by Dolly PartonReport problemRelated quotes
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Alien

Cuts to the quick, pure emotion a trip
No world of life
Pressed to your lips
We collide, slowly twist, our dance alive
Seeps into the ground, kisses the earth and I am found
Loves young dream could be alien, strange ways I would fly
Tuning love like a radio, whispering goodbye
Just so it seems, softly potent, serene
Vacant and shy
You are everywhere, under my skin and in my hair
Loves young dream could be alien, strange ways I would fly
Tuning love like a radio, whispering goodbye
Seeps into the ground, kisses the earth and I am found
Loves young dream could be alien, strange ways I would fly
Tuning love like a radio, whispering goodbye
Loves young dream could be alien, strange ways I would fly
Tuning love like a radio, whispering goodbye
Loves young dream could be alien, strange ways I would fly
Tuning love like a radio, whispering goodbye
Love some dream could be serene, so alien

song performed by by ErasureReport problemRelated quotes
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Letter From Under The Sea

If you are my friend...
Help me...to leave you
Or if you are my lover...
Help me...so I can be healed of you...
If I knew....
that the ocean is very deep...I would not have swam...
If I knew...how I would end,
I would not have began

I desire you...so teach me not to desire
teach me...
how to cut the roots of your love from the depths
teach me...
how tears may die in the eyes
and love may commit suicide

If you are prophet,
Cleanse me from this spell
Deliver me from this atheism...
Your love is like atheism...so purify me from this atheism

If you are strong...
Rescue me from this ocean
For I don't know how to swim
The blue waves...in your eyes
drag me...to the depths
blue...
blue...
nothing but the color blue
and I have no experience
in love...and no boat...

If I am dear to you
then take my hand
For I am filled with desire...from my
head to my feet

I am breathing under water!
I am drowning...
drowning...
drowning...

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Tuning In Tuning On

Written by ricky & marty wilde
Cruising round theres a sound with a place to go
Tuning in tuning on like a radio
Fell the sound in your head and you set the seal
I believe its a force of the life you feel - tuning on
Do you know what the sounds that you hear will find
Reach to space to the stars and another time
I believe that they search like a seed to grow
In the end its the same anyway you go
I really cant explain
I really cant explain
Crashing out for the last and the final time
Could a sound and a soul travel on combined
From the womb to the end is it everywhere
Feel the beat of my heart and you know its there
I really cant explain
Spoken
I really believe that sound reaches infinity, do you know what I mean. I think it goes on and on forever, and if thats true and it was linked to the spiritual side of your lives, well, then sou
Ould be alive. can you imagine the possibilities for the future ? linking the soul and the sound and then being able to make a giant spiritual musical machine, actually a part of us and not just
Thing you hear - its fantastic - its just fantastic
I really cant explain

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Jazz night dream

Jazz night blue light
Some Joe's hazy bliss
Our first crazy kiss
As cool sounds drift out to the street.
Our eyes make love whenever they meet.
Your hand that rests in mine
That sax, both chill my spine.

Jazz night two wilting flowers
Smooch in the wee small hours
That great Miles Davies number
Rescues us from slumber.
Two cool cats on the town
Badder than Leeroy Briwn.
No reason for one more drink
No reason for us to think.

Jazz night starlight gives way to a misty dawn
Is this where the blues were born?
Where purest hearts were torn
And the warmth of Ella's voice
Then our lips touch like a feather
Now our hearts just have no choice
Guess we're in for stormy weather.
Jazz night, blue light
Will stay inside our head
We'll lay in love in bed with secret words all said.
Wrapped in rapture, then calm- our satiated bliss
The coolest night of charm
Could only end like this.

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Erica Jong

The Widower

She left him in death's egg,
the bone sack & the gunny sack,
the bag of down & feathers-all black . . .
Somehow he couldn't get back.

It was night,
a night of shark-faced jets
winking brighter than blue stars,
a night of poisoned cities
mushrooming beneath the eyes of jets,
a night of missile silos
sulking in the desert,
a night of babies howling in the alleys,
a night of cats.

She left a death so huge
his life got lost in it.
She left a bloodstained egg
he had to hatch.

poem by Erica JongReport problemRelated quotes
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River Of Tears

Its three miles to the river
That would carry me away,
And two miles to the dusty street
That I saw you on today.
Its four miles to my lonely room
Where I will hide my face,
And about half a mile to the downtown bar
That I ran from in disgrace.
Lord, how long have I got to keep on running,
Seven hours, seven days or seven years?
All I know is, since youve been gone
I feel like Im drowning in a river,
Drowning in a river of tears.
Drowning in a river.
Feel like Im drowning,
Drowning in a river.
In three more days, Ill leave this town
And disappear without a trace.
A year from now, maybe settle down
Where no one knows my face.
I wish that I could hold you
One more time to ease the pain,
But my times run out and I got to go,
Got to run away again.
Still I catch myself thinking,
One day Ill find my way back here.
Youll save me from drowning,
Drowning in a river,
Drowning in a river of tears.
Drowning in a river.
Feels like Im drowning,
Drowning in the river.
Lord, how long must this go on?
Drowning in a river,
Drowning in a river of tears.

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O, water, voice of my heart...

O water, voice of my heart, crying in the sand,
All night long crying with a mournful cry,
As I lie and listen, and cannot understand
The voice of my heart in my side or the voice of the sea,
O water, crying for rest, is it I, is it I?
All night long the water is crying to me.

Unresting water, there shall never be rest
Till the last moon droop and the last tide fail,
And the fire of the end begin to burn in the west;
And the heart shall be weary and wonder and cry like the sea,
All life long crying without avail,
As the water all night long is crying to me.

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Night Owl

(james taylor)
Now a fish kinda likes the water
And thats just where he wants to be
And a monkey kinda digs bananas
So he lives in the top of a tree
But my eyes are made for darkness
So the nightime is right for me
cause Im a night owl honey, sleep all day long
Im a night owl honey, sleep all day long
Most folks they like the daytime
cause they like to see the shining sun
Theyre up in the mornin
Off and a runnin till theyre too tired for havin fun
But when the sun goes down
And the bright lights shine
My daytime has just begun
cause Im a night owl honey, sleep all day long
Im a nightowl honey, sleep all day long
Wont you turn out them bright lights baby
Theyre just about to drive me blind
Oh wont you draw then curtains for me papa
Watch and youll see my love light shine
Now there are two sides to this great big world
And one of them is always night
If you can take care of business in the sunshine baby
I guess youre gonna be alright
But dont come looking for me to lend you a hand
My eyes just cant stand the light
cause Im a night owl honey, sleep all day long
cause Im a night owl honey, sleep all day long

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0027 Dreaming truth

Imagine yourself -
yourself, to imagine –
this dream; dream
this imaging:

the water’s so far, far below
it’s beyond this dark imagining, this dream;
all your attention is required
by this rope bridge,
swayed by nature to some immediate, vibrating laws
of this way, that way, more complex
than steel or concrete bear in mind –
five lines of rope, that’s all,
bound from time to time
but only every few and fearful steps
so that they do not part
unless you tread without remembering
all five of them; toe, heel, as you place your foot…

and now it seems, in the illogical
precision of this dream – which is in
league with some dark inner truth
and so, it must be walked – now,
it’s not five ropes, any more,
but five strings of some instrument
vibrating, low and high; while tense, taut mind
looks for firm frets to tune each step;
or can you trust their tuning?
is the tuning now the fingers of your feet?

each fallible or faulty foothold
will send its string’s own warning of uncertainty:
this bass string, booming failure between the valley’s two high cliffs;
this treble string, nerve-searing scream of pain;
ahead, this firm support that holds the strings, now
drops away; the hollow soundbox that’s all space,
all sound, all air, all touch and light and flow of sound;
the sound of judgment’s stern and justly-tempered final chord –

now you awake: relieved, yet with a question,
born of night, to be resolved by day;
what does the dream tell to the waking thought?
what does the waking thought tell of the dream?
some metaphor for life inhabited your dream;
some knowledge passed, wrapped in a metaphor;
you only know, that it was watched – by whom?

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Patrick White

Flowers Adrift On The Fragrance Of Their Own Foregoing

Flowers adrift on the fragrance of their own foregoing.
In the night that takes me under its wing
to shelter me from myself, arrival and passage of spring.

Fish nibble at the wafer of the moon on the tongue of the lake.
The wind bitter as a green apple with an innocent cruel side.
Saturn at dawn, Venus at dusk, things abide in their own good time

without knowing for whose sake they shine until the mind
can't keep a secret anymore and let's the heart know
what the heart has always known. Reason is colour blind.

Everything that's hidden out in the open isn't invisibly camouflaged
to look like God at a quick glance. Flowers don't dance
with their deathmasks on. Things may have changed

since I last walked here, but they haven't aged. Autumn
not an older season than spring, spring not younger than yesterday.
Water's never heard of a virgin birth that ends in a real death.

Silence of time as it appears to the spirit in a deepening sea of awareness.
Nothing disfigured. Nothing restored. Nothing scarred.
Nothing wounded in the moonlight, pleading to be healed.

Earth pungent with the expectations of urgent ghosts.
And dust in the eyes of the stars, the cries of Canada geese
with more longing in their voices than celebration

like the wailing of a train disappearing like smoke in the distance
from a sad fire in danger of going out. Exits and entrances galore
there are as many ways out of here as there is space and time to stay.

Bush wolves on a far hill agonizing over something in the night
like blues harps of blood. And in the heartwood of every leafing tree
I can hear the first violins of a symphony tuning up to the light

as if something sublime were about to begin with the first dropp of rain
pinging like a tintinnabulum beside the kettledrum of thunder at the back.
To speak now would be to conceal what I really feel in words.

Lavish with life, I reveal my voice in a rush of waterbirds
startled off the lake like a mantra of sacred syllables
that nuance the ripples they leave in their wake

with a whole new way of phrasing the light with eyes
that see things musically as they fall away from their wings
like the meaning of things when meaning isn't necessary.

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Water so Deep and Profound

Water so sinuous and devious,
And as mystifying as you.
Water is always hiding its true self,
Never in one form.
Water can be the shimmer,
Reflecting off the light of the pond,
Making the pond seem magnificent.
Water can be the rushing sound,
As it escapes the secretive pond,
And runes down into the vast ocean,
Seeking adventure and unfound dreams.
Water can be the feeling of calmness,
As it sits there, overlooking the pond,
With wonder and seeing how it made it what it is.
Water so supple and wondrous,
The pond is born from the water.
Water so deep and profound,
Just like you,
The pond so incomplete without water,
Just like your family.

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