The Man Splitting Wood in the Daybreak
The man splitting wood in the daybreak
looks strong, as though, if one weakened,
one could turn to him and he would help.
Gus Newland was strong. When he split wood
he struck hard, flashing the bright steel
through the air so hard the hard maple
leapt apart, as it's feared marriages will do
in countries reluctant to permit divorce,
and even willow, which, though stacked
to dry a full year, on being split
actually weeps—totem wood, therefore,
to the married-until-death—sunders
with many little lip-wetting gasp-noises.
But Gus is dead. We could turn to our fathers,
but they help us only by the unperplexed
looking-back of the numerals cut into headstones.
Or to our mothers, whose love, so devastated,
can't, even in spring, break through the hard earth.
Our spouses weaken at the same rate we do.
We have to hold our children up to lean on them.
Everyone who could help goes or hasn't arrived.
What about the man splitting wood in the daybreak,
who looked strong? That was years ago. That was me.
poem by Galway Kinnell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Through The Wood
THROUGH the wood, the green wood, the wet wood, the light wood,
Love and I went maying a thousand lives ago;
Shafts of golden sunlight had made a golden bright wood
In my heart reflected, because I loved you so.
Through the wood, the chill wood, the brown wood, the bare wood,
I alone went lonely no later than last year,
What had thinned the branches, and wrecked my dear and fair wood,
Killed the pale wild roses and left the rose-thorns sere?
Through the wood, the dead wood, the sad wood, the lone wood,
Winds of winter shiver through lichens old and grey,
You ride past forgetting the wood that was our own wood
All our own--and withered as ever a flower of May.
poem by Edith Nesbit
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sonnet: Vie Not With Others
So light is the wood of the willow-tree,
Yet, strong enough for cricket-bats to make;
So hard is the wood of the ebony,
Which heavy trunks of elephants dare take.
The bamboo-shoot, a musical reed makes,
And when ’tis green, elephants eat like cakes;
The paddy-straw is fit for just the cow;
The tallest grass to wind must always bow.
Each flower, frond, plant, tree, creatures on earth,
Has a role to play, predestined from birth;
One need not try to copy the other;
One can do just what one is meant for, brother.
There is nothing to vie with the next man;
Each one must do just whatever he can.
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Can't Turn Back Years
Could've given you everything that you need
but I cannot turn back the years
The perfect love was all you wanted from me
but I cannot turn back the years
So we have to be strong, and I'm finding that hard
we have to move on, but no matter how hard I try
if your heart's in pieces, you look for the truth
and when I look deep down inside I know, it's too bad I love you
Sometimes, hits me in the morning, hits me at night
that I cannot turn back the years
so I look out my window, turn off my light
but I cannot turn back the years
Can't make it seem easy, when you're all that I see
can't live in a dream and I won't serenade the truth
people are huring and they're looking to me
and I look at you there's nothing more to say, it's too bad I love you
But I'm never gonna give it up
All that I lived for, all that I dreamed
but I cannot turn back the years
You're the water I drink, you're the air that I breathe
but I cannot trun back the years
So we have to be strong, and I'm finding that hard
we have to move on, but no matter how hard I try
if your hearts in pieces you look for the truth
and when I look deep down inside I know, it's too bad I love you
But I'm never gonna give it up
song performed by by Phil Collins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The New-England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day
Over the river, and through the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way,
To carry the sleigh,
Through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To grandfather's house away!
We would not stop
For doll or top,
For 't is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river, and through the wood,
With a clear blue winter sky,
The dogs do bark,
And children hark,
As we go jingling by.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play-
Hear the bells ring
Ting a ling ding,
Hurra for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river, and through the wood-
No matter for winds that blow;
Or if we get
The sleigh upset,
Into a bank of snow.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To see little John and Ann;
We will kiss them all,
And play snow-ball,
And stay as long as we can.
Over the river, and through the wood,
Trot fast, my dapple grey!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound,
For 't is Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river, and through the wood,
And straight through the barn-yard gate;
We seem to go
Extremely slow,
It is so hard to wait.
Over the river, and through the wood-
Old Jowler hears our bells;
He shakes his pow,
With a loud bow wow,
And thus the news he tells.
Over the river, and through the wood-
When grandmother sees us come,
She will say, Oh dear,
The children are here,
Bring a pie for every one.
Over the river, and through the wood-
Now grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurra for the fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurra for the pumpkin pie!
poem by Lydia Maria Francis Child
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Cant Turn Back The Years
no matter how much you think you want or need it, the past has to remain just that, the past...
Couldve given you everything that you need
But I cannot turn back the years
The perfect love was all you wanted from me
But I cannot turn back the years
So we have to be strong, and Im finding that hard
We have to move on, but no matter how hard I try
If your hearts in pieces, you look for the truth
And when I look deep down inside I know, its too bad I love you
Sometimes. hits me in the morning, hits me at night
That I cannot turn back the years
So I look out my window, turn off my light
But I cannot turn back the years
Cant make it seem easy, when youre all that I see
Cant live in a dream and I wont serenade the truth
People are hurting and theyre looking to me
And I look at you theres nothing more to say, its too bad I love you
But Im never gonna give it up
All that I lived for, all that I dreamed
But I cannot turn back the years
Youre the water I drink, youre the air that I breathe
But I cannot turn back the years
So we have to be strong, and Im finding that hard
We have to move on, but no matter how hard I try
If your hearts in pieces, you look for the truth
And when I look deep down inside I know, its too bad I love you
But Im never gonna give it up
song performed by by Phil Collins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Gates of Steel
Gates of hard steel are like a reminder,
Their work is from the elder ones;
Children have trouble understanding the familiar,
What does this gate mean to their emotions?
A guard is given and forgiven, mercy flows
With merciful worlds of the universe,
This universe has taught the children from embryos
So that we can enter the house of commerce.
How do children live among other adults?
When they were given birth, the death arrived
For those who wanted, for God consults
With the angelic powers and contrived.
Gates shall be closed to the warriors,
Gates of strong wood are erected,
They swing open for the journeyers,
Their noise must be connected.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Be Strong!
Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle, face it, ’tis God’s gift.
Be strong, be strong, be strong!
Be strong!
Say not the days are evil—who’s to blame?
And fold the hands and acquiesce—O shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s Name.
Be strong, be strong, be strong!
Be strong!
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day, how long;
Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.
Be strong, be strong, be strong!
poem by Maltbie Davenport Babcock
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Ballad Of El Goodo
(Original by Big Star )
Years ago, my heart was set to live, oh
and I've been trying hard against unbelievable odds
It gets so hard in times like now to hold on
But guns they wait to be stuck by, at my side is God
And there ain't no one goin' to turn me 'round
Ain't no one goin' to turn me 'round
There's people around who tell you that they know
And places where they send you, and it's easy to go
They'll zip you up and dress you down and stand you in a row
But you know you don't have to, you can just say no
I've been built up and trusted, broke down and busted
But they'll get theirs and we will get ours if you can
just hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Years ago my heart was set to live, oh
but I've been trying hard against strong odds
It gets so hard at times like now to hold on
Well, I'll fall if I don't fight, and at my side is God
song performed by by Counting Crows
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Be (Love Poem)
Sometimes it’s hard to be apart
Sometimes it’s hard to be brave
Sometimes it’s hard to be cold
Sometimes it’s hard to be daring
Sometimes it’s hard to be early
Sometimes it’s hard to be friends
Sometimes it’s hard to be good
Sometimes it’s hard to be happy
Sometimes it’s hard to be in-love
Sometimes it’s hard to be just
Sometimes it’s hard to be kind
Sometimes it’s hard to be lovely
Sometimes it’s hard to be mellow
Sometimes it’s hard to be nasty
Sometimes it’s hard to be out
Sometimes it’s hard to be poor
Sometimes it’s hard to be quiet
Sometimes it’s hard to be ready
Sometimes it’s hard to be simple
Sometimes it’s hard to be together
poem by Ian Beckett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sea-Saw (more writing fun)
If I saw a wood boat afloat
Upon the sea,
Would what I see possibly be
The wood I cut from a tree?
For when I saw a tree
I would like to think I see,
What the wood I saw
Could be.
If all I saw in wood from a tree
Was all I saw that there was to see,
Would what I did saw
Be the wood that I now see?
And if the wood I once did saw
Was indeed made into that ship on the sea,
Would it even be possible to know that here what I see
Is the wood once sawed by me?
All I here would dare to share is:
I see what I saw, and I saw what I see,
And therefore the wood I do saw could one day be
The boat I may see, afloat upon the sea.
See?
poem by Smoky Hoss
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Wood-Pile
Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day,
I paused and said, "I will turn back from here.
No, I will go on farther -- and we shall see."
The hard snow held me, save where now and then
One foot went through. The view was all in lines
Straight up and down of tall slim trees
Too much alike to mark or name a place by
So as to say for certain I was here
Or somewhere else: I was just far from home.
A small bird flew before me. He was careful
To put a tree between us when he lighted,
And say no word to tell me who he was
Who was so foolish as to think what he thought.
He thought that I was after him for a feather --
The white one in his tail; like one who takes
Everything said as personal to himself.
One flight out sideways would have undeceived him.
And then there was a pile of wood for which
I forgot him and let his little fear
Carry him off the way I might have gone,
Without so much as wishing him good-night.
He went behind it to make his last stand.
It was a cord of maple, cut and split
And piled -- and measured, four by four by eight.
And not another like it could I see.
No runner tracks in this year's snow looped near it.
And it was older sure than this year's cutting,
Or even last year's or the year's before.
The wood was gray and the bark warping off it
And the pile somewhat sunken. Clematis
Had wound strings round and round it like a bundle.
What held it though on one side was a tree
Still growing, and on one a stake and prop,
These latter about to fall. I thought that only
Someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks
Could so forget his handiwork on which
He spent himself, the labor of his ax,
And leave it there far from a useful fireplace
To warm the frozen swamp as best it could
With the slow smokeless burning of decay.
poem by Robert Frost
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Let Me Lean Hard
Let me lean hard upon the Eternal Breast;
In all earth's devious ways, I sought for rest
And found it not. I will be strong, said I,
And lean upon myself. I will not cry
And importune all heaven with my complaint,
But not my strength fails, and I fall, I faint:
Let me lean hard.
Let me lean hard upon the unfailing Arm.
I said I will walk on, I fear no harm,
The spark divine within my soul will show
The upward pathway where my feet should go,
But now the heights to which I msot aspire
Are lost in clouds. I stumble and I tire;
Let me lean hard.
Let me lean harder yet. That swerveless force
Which speeds the solar systems on their course
Can take, unfelt, the burden of my woe,
Which bears me to the dust and hurts me so;
I thought my strength enough for any fate,
But lo! I sink beneath my sorrow's weight:
Let me lean hard.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Hard To Believe
(myles goodwyn)
Published by mfg sing sing music/socan - ascap
I believe its never ending
True love could never last too long (long)
To live your life without believin
You still live your life alone
And Im right here beside you
This boy would never let you down
And if youre ever feelin lonesome
Youll find comfort in his arms
And I give my love to you, baby
When its hard to believe, in changes
And when its hard to believe, at all
When its hard to believe
Please believe that I love you
I love you, I love you
I love you, I love you
I want to request, that we never compromise
And when I think about the future
I see forever in your eyes
And I feel the way you do, baby
When its hard to believe, in changes
And when its hard to believe, at all
When its hard to believe
Please believe that I love you, ooh yeah
I love you, I love you
I love you, I love you
So rest your head upon my shoulder
And I win forever, oh how I love you
When its hard to believe, when everything goes wrong
When its hard to believe, together well be strong
When its hard to believe, please believe that I love you
When its hard to believe, everything will be alright
When its hard to believe, come to me girl, hold on tight
When its hard to believe, please believe that I love you
Cause I do love you, cause I do love you, cause I do love you
song performed by by April Wine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hard Rock Kid
(tom lang/additional lyrics by myles goodwyn & mike stone)
Published by goody two tunes, inc./additional publishers - bmi
The boy inside the man, looks hard into the night
The neighborhood cant get to sleep
The stereo is playing something hard and fast
The boy is tough, he plays for keeps
No ones gonna tell him hes too wild
Everybody knows hes a problem child
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Its a hard time, its a fine line, for a hard rock kid
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Leave him alone, hes in a hard rock zone
In the shadows, theres a heart thats beating strong
And through the night, he feels the heat
Hes like a stranger as he dances on the stage
Hes made a promise that he cant keep
But no ones gonna tell the boy hes wild
Everybody knows hes a hungry child
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Its a fine line, its a hard time, for a hard rock kid
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Leave him alone, hes in a hard rock zone
She watches as he turns, pretending not to care
And yet she knows the way he feels
The need for love so strong, together they can win
For now the musics all thats real
But no ones gonna tell the boy hes wild
Everybody knows hes a problem child
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Its a hard time, its a fine line, for a hard rock kid
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Leave him alone, hes in a hard rock zone
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Its a hard time, its a fine line, for a hard rock kid
Hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock, hes a hard rock kid (kid)
Leave him alone, hes in a hard rock zone
song performed by by April Wine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Strong wood is worth more than painted wood.
In The Shade Of The Green Wood
In the shade of the green wood
The holly does grow,
While in soft rays of sunlight
The wild roses glow,
And I smell their sweet perfume
That gently floats by,
Past trees strong and mighty
That reach to the sky,
The pathway of gold autumn
Leaves still remain,
As I walk through the green wood again.
In the shade of the green wood
This bright sunny morn,
That's so cool in the shadows
A new day is born,
All the birds in the treetops
Are singing for me,
Sweet songs of the summer
Which fill me with glee,
And know from its beauty
I never shall part,
For the green wood does live in my heart.
In the shade of the green wood
A soft gentle breeze,
Now caresses the branches
And whispers through trees,
A sound reassuring
Shall carry me to,
All the scenes that exist
In each marvellous view,
It's here that my spirit
Shall always now stay,
And the green wood is guiding my way.
poem by Andrew Blakemore
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Hard Times
Well, I recall days in the city
And I think back, oh what a pity
Rememberin how it wasnt pretty
Every day life in the city
Out in the street we had to take it
With friends around, couldnt it
What wasnt there, we had to make it
Hangin out down in the city
The hard times are dead and gone
But the hard times have made me strong
And the hard times have made me see
That the hard times aint where I wanna be
We had to fight to be accepted
It wasnt right and I protested
For hangin out we got arrested
Every day life in the city
Wed go to school and then wed cut out
Go to the park and space our heads out
We called it fun but there was some doubt
Hangin out down in the city
The hard times are dead and gone
But the hard times have made me strong
And the hard times have made me see
That the hard times aint where I wanna be
I dont wanna be there or even think back
I dont wanna be there, now Im on the right track, yeah
The hard times are dead and gone
But the hard times have made me strong
And the hard times have made me see
That the hard times aint where I wanna be
I dont wanna be there or even think back
I dont wanna be there, cause Im on the right track
Now Im on the right track
Im finally on the right track
Im finally on the right track
song performed by by Kiss
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Wood Song
The thin horizon of a plan is almost clear
My friends and I have had a tough time
Bruising our brains hard up against change
All the old dogs and the magician
Now I see were in the boat in two by twos
Only the heart that we have for a tool we could use
And the very close quarters are hard to get used to
Love weighs the hull down with its weight
But the wood is tired and the wood is old
And well make it fine if the weather holds
But if the weather holds well have missed the point
Thats where I need to go
No way construction of this tricky plan
Was built by other than a greater hand
With a love that passes all out understanding
Watching closely over the journey
Yeah but what it takes to cross the great divide
Seems more than all the courage I can muster up inside
Although we get to have some answers when we reach the other side
The prize is always worth the rocky ride
But the wood is tired and the wood is old
And well make it fine if the weather holds
But if the weather holds well have missed the point
Thats where I need to go
Sometimes I ask to sneak a closer look
Skip to the final chapter of the book
And then maybe steer us clear from some of the pain it took
To get us where we are this far yeah
But the question drowns in its futility
And even I have got to laugh at me
No one gets to miss the storm of what will be
Just holding on for the ride
The wood is tired and the wood is old
Well make it fine if the weather holds
But if the weather holds well have missed the point
Thats where I need to go
song performed by by Indigo Girls
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Knock On Wood
I dont want to lose the good thing that Ive got
If I do, I will surely, I will lose a lot
For your love is better than any love other Ive know
Its like thunder, lightning
The way you love me is frightening
I better knock on wood
Baby
I got superstitious about you, but I cant take change
You got me spinning, baby, spinning in a trance
But your love is better than any other love Ive known
Its like thunder, lightning
The way you love me is frightening
You better knock on wood
Its no secret, but that woman fills my lovin cup
She sees, so ready, that I get enough
And her love is better than any other love Ive known
Its like thunder
Its like lightning
The way you love me is frightening
I better knock on wood
Baby
Better, yes, better
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) yes, I better
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) oh, knock on wood
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) you know I would, would
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) its no secret
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) no, oh, better
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) hangin above me
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) I cant leave her
(yes you better knock, knock, knock on wood) oh no, baby
Knock on wood, woo!
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Counting-Out Rhyme
Silver bark of beech, and sallow
Bark of yellow birch and yellow
Twig of willow.
Stripe of green in moosewood maple,
Colour seen in leaf of apple,
Bark of popple.
Wood of popple pale as moonbeam,
Wood of oak for yoke and barn-beam,
Wood of hornbeam.
Silver bark of beech, and hollow
Stem of elder, tall and yellow
Twig of willow.
poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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