In Praise of Dawn
You can keep afternoon and its dwindling mysteries,
twilight with its seedy hauteur. You can have night
with its phony neon and rented motel rooms.
I prefer morning when the air is so quiet the rub
of a cricket's leg sounds like wildness beckoning.
My feet pad along the carpet like bears' paws
along a stretch of furred moss. The cherry tree
catches the first glint of gold in its deep green.
The kitchen is mine, empty and humming.
I am queen of the breakfast room, empress
of a new regime. Ideas sprout from my head
like bursts of startled blue jays. All possibilities
lie before me in the rustle of leaves at the window.
Something extraordinary is about to happen—
I could write an essay on forgiveness,
or construct an altar to Artemis with five red
maple leaves, a fish bone and a snake's rattle.
I have imagined dawn lifting her skirt, the limousine
of night pausing to release debutantes in important
gowns. I have watched schools of light
emerge from a window's shoreline and know that
beginning is always beginning, every midnight open
to a river of mornings, the day a fresh tributary.
Anything is possible: understanding quantum physics,
making plans for an innocent city. Pain could disappear
by sundown. Night could wear a sunlit dress.
We could start a journey to the new Jerusalem,
waving good-bye at the station where the trains pass
and dawn, blank as a newborn, floods each window.
poem by Geraldine Connolly
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Motel Eyes
Her come on was direct and strong
From her question to her kiss
She said shed had a little much to drink
She didnt usually do this
But she was looking for another head to scalp tonight
And she had me right between her sights
I turned to face her as the jukebox clicked off
Playing a favorite song
And she looked pretty in the low lit bar
But something was wrong
I saw a dull red neon sign flashing in her eyes
It said vacancy, she had motel eyes
They were black as the night
And shone like a star
Fueled by the light
From a medicine jar
I looked again but there was nothing there
But ice in her eyes
Theres no disguising motel eyes
She had the angles all down pat
Her average must be high
And though it could have been a pleasure
I just had to say goodbye
Though there was something wicked
bout the way she flexed her thighs
She scared me with her motel eyes
They were black as the night
And shone like a star
Fueled by the light
From a medicine jar
I looked again but there was nothing there
But ice in her eyes
Theres no disguising motel eyes
She started saying something
bout movement versus size
The sign kept flashing in her motel eyes
They were black as the night
And shone like a star
Fueled by the light
From a medicine jar
I looked again but there was nothing there
But ice in her eyes
Theres no disguising motel eyes
Black as the night
Black as the night, motel eyes
song performed by by Rick Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Road
Highways and dancehalls
A good song takes you far
Your write about the moon
And you dream about the stars
Blues in old motel rooms
Girls in daddys car
You sing about the nights
And you laugh about the scars
Coffee in the morning cocaine afternoons
You talk about the weather
And you grin about the rooms
Phone calls long distance
To tell how youve been
Forget about the losses, you exaggerate the wins
And when you stop to let em know
Youve got it down
Its just another town along the road
The ladies come to see you
If your name still rings a bell
They give you damn near nothin
And theyll say they knew you well
So you tell em youll remember
But they know its just a game
And along the way their faces
All begin to look the same
And when you stop to let em know
You got it down
Its just another town along the road
Well it isnt for the money
And its only for a while
You stalk about the rooms
And you roll away the miles
Gamblers in the neon, clinging to guitars
Youre right about the moon
But youre wrong about the stars
And when you stop to let em know
You got it down
Its just another town along the way
song performed by by Jackson Browne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twentyfour Hours
Morning skies of blue,
morning drops of dew,
some overhead,
some beneath my feet,
They both come into view.
Afternoon sun so bright,
afternoon heat so white,
some on my skin
how I feel it burn.
It makes me welcome the night.
Evening sounds I hear,
evening sounds appear
when all is quiet,
no noise of the day
is there to interfere.
Peaceful dark of night,
peaceful with no light.
Nothing overhead
tucked up in my bed,
I've nothing but dreams in my sight.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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An Afternoon Poem Is Rare
AN AFTERNOON POEM IS RARE
An Afternoon Poem is rare-
Afternoon is long after the first light-
Afternoon is a time of heaviness and quiet
A time of rest-
Afternoon is after the morning work has been done-
Afternoon is the weight of the day-
Afternoon is the time after the day has lost its freshness-
Still there must be afternoon poems-
There must be a beauty that emerges
In its own way,
Perhaps from where lovers meet
Perhaps from ‘ripeness is all’
Perhaps from the anticipation of evening
Perhaps from winter where it is the warmest time of day.
There must be afternoon poems-
Poems that celebrate all that warmth can bring-
Poems of rest poems of sleep-
Poems of waiting to believe
That in the evening
A new day and a new world
Will make life easier again.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Afternoon Tea
Tea time wont be the same without my donna
At night I lie awake and dream of donna
I think about that small cafe
Thats where we used to meet each day
And then we used to sit a while
And drink our afternoon tea
Ill take afternoon tea (afternoon tea)
If you take it with me (afternoon tea)
You take as long as you like
cause I like you, girl
I take sugar with tea (afternoon tea)
You take milk if you please (afternoon tea)
Like you talking to me
Because you ease my mind
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (afternoon tea)
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (afternoon tea)
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (afternoon tea)
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (afternoon tea)
Tea time still aint the same without my donna
At night I lie awake and dream of donna
I went to our cafe one day
They said that donna walked away
Youd think at least she might have stayed
To drink her afternoon tea
Ill take afternoon tea (afternoon tea)
If you take it with me (afternoon tea)
You take as long as you like
cause I like you, girl
I take afternoon tea (afternoon tea)
Every day of the week (afternoon tea)
Please come along if you like
Because I like you, girl
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (afternoon tea)
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (afternoon tea)
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Neon Shuffle
Hey - what you going to do now
Youre standing there and wondering how
Youve got to make some noise
Just like one of the girls
Or even one of the boys
When you do it
It aint no disgrace
I can see it written all across your face
Neon shuffle and shuffle into outer space
I said - neon shuffle is a dance for the human race
I said - neon shuffle is gonna pull you outta your place
You - you put your hands together
Better make up a storm
Or some electricky weather
Now that the powers stop
Can you click your heels
Can you finger pop
Neon shuffle
Neon shuffle its going to do it to me
Neon shuffle its going to do it to you
Neon shuffle its going to do it with red
Neon shuffle its going to do it with blue
Neon shuffle its going to run you right through
Neon shuffle with a stick of bamboo
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Road Ode
Ive been on this lonely road so long
Does anybody know where it goes
I remember the last time
The signs pointed home a month ago
Rented cars and empty motel rooms
Lead you everywhere but home
Crowds of people shouting
How they love the show
They dont know
(*) the endless crowds of faces
Just keep on wearing a smile
The countless times and places lead me back
Please take me back home
(**) I wonder if these feelings ever change
How many times Ill lift this load
Come tomorrow Ill be gone again
Roads of sorrows coming to an end for me
Repeat (*)
Repeat (**)
song performed by by Carpenters
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The studio rented a house for my wife in Los Angeles under a phony name to keep reporters away. Whenever I wanted to visit her and my children, I would have to sneak in the back door after dark.
quote by Max von Sydow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat.
quote by Naguib Mahfouz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hotel Rooms
'Hotel rooms constitute a separate moral universe.'
-Tom Stoppard
A bed, a telephone, the cord
to the world
beyond the womb . . .
Here lovers meet, have met,
will meet again behind different faces
while the icy picures
look on,
seeing nothing.
Hotel rooms see nothing.
Business transacted,
prostitutes killed,
marriages silently shaken;
what happens here
is off the record;
there is no record
when the sheets
are changed
every night
for other guests.
& you my darling
my lover, my reader,
ultimately
myself,
why are you hungering so,
why are you opening
abysses in yourself
before you rush off
to the next appointment?
Eternity is just
a hotel room-
deluxe or seedy
as the fates allow,
lonely as the loneliest
one-night stand,
& with no telephone.
Or is it the body?
Is the body the hotel room after all?
O let us inhabit it amply, crying
& screaming & embracing
before we
check out.
poem by Erica Jong
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Neon Lights
Neon lights
Shimmering neon lights
And at the fall of night
The city is made of light
Neon lights
Shimmering neon lights
And at the fall of night
The city is made of light
I dream of you
With me tonight
Were all alone
Under the neon lights
And walking home
Youre by my side
The neon lights
Are in our eyes
Neon lights
Shimmering neon lights
And at the fall of night
The city is made of light
Neon lights
Shimmering neon lights
And at the fall of night
The city is made of light
song performed by by Omd
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In The Morning
I can't stop myself from calling
Calling out your name
I can't stop myself from falling
Falling back again
In the morning
Baby, in the afternoon
Dark like the shady corner
Inside a violin
Hot like to burn my lips
I know I can't win
In the morning
Baby, in the afternoon
I try to quit you but I'm too weak
Waking up without you
I can hardly speak at all
My girlfriend tried to help me
Get you off my mind
She tried a little tea and sympathy
To help me to unwind
In the morning
Baby, in the afternoon
Funny how my favorite shirt
Smells more like you than me
Bitter traces left behind
In stains no one can see
In the morning
Baby, in the afternoon
You're gonna put me in an early grave
I know I'm your slave whenever you call
I can't stop myself from calling
Calling out your name
I can't stop myself from falling
Falling back again
Falling back again
In the morning
Baby, in the afternoon
song performed by by Norah Jones
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Underneath The Neon Sign
Our hero leaves the pub his head still
Swimming with alcohol, his head
Buzzing with facts, figures and
Computers. night is descending as he
Wearily makes his way home through
The traffic jams and neon lights of the
Great metropolis.
Underneath the neon sign
All I see is imitation
And theres no earth beneath my feet.
There are no trees or fields in front of me
Only slabs of concrete.
Skyscrapers reaching up to the clouds,
Dont give the moon a chance to shine,
And Ive got imitation moonlight
Standing underneath the neon sign.
Is it real or just illusion?
Can there be a time when its night?
Is it merely my delusion
Or my senses telling me lies.
Is it just hallucination?
Have I been drinking too much wine?
I dont know if its day or night,
When Im underneath the neon sign.
Underneath the neon sign.
Electronic nature made by man with robots in mind.
Big city lights guide my way into the night, darkness shines
When Im standing underneath the neon sign.
If there isnt any sunshine
Well some-day buy the neon sign
And if we cant see any stars at night
Well sit and watch the traffic lights.
If there isnt any day-time
Ive got an imitation dawn,
Ive got a simulated sunshine
Standing underneath the neon sign.
Is it an illusion?
Have I been drinking too much wine?
Can there be day-time when its night
Underneath the neon sign.
Underneath the neon sign.
Is it mother nature
Playing tricks with my eyes
For darkness shines
When Im standing underneath the neon sign.
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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But I can also write in crappy motel rooms, while standing in line, or sitting in the dentist's chair.
quote by Augusten Burroughs
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Whitewash
(bill leen, robin wilson)
This night never happened
If its all right with you
Not a word of our weakness
So much as a clue
Theres a place outside
Im glad to play no part
The fairest arms can tally up the faintest stars
Wash away my weekend
Shatter my sight
Cmon sweet amnesia
Youre needed here tonight
Take a seat in the shadows
Forget it as it goes
Dissipate in the morning air
All you know
If you find out
Youll find every lie you might
I was nowhere near last night
Whitewash everything in sight
These suspicions have been long drained dry
Our persistence holds them here
A maze of bars and rented rooms remain
Enough to make you almost look away
This night never happened
If its all right with you
Another for the collection of things we didnt do
That private party is over
Thank God we get new starts
The fairest arms still tally up the faintest stars
When it comes down
In a clear and certain light
I was nowhere near last night
I was nowhere near last night
Whitewash everything in sight...
song performed by by Gin Blossoms
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If you like to read, sometimes it's interesting just to go and see what the reality is, of the word, of the seedy or not so seedy fiction writer, the drunk or sober poet... Sometimes you can go looking for illumination.
quote by Harold Brodkey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Neon Forest
Im sliding like a lizard on my belly and back
Its a miracle I havent fallen through any cracks
The life on display is trouble for sure
The drugs that I took have made me impure
The neon forest is lighting up
The neon forest is lighting up
My brain
Ive learned some nasty lessons so Im shutting
My mouth
A fury in my gut is spinning me round
And round
To be a total phony is the winning design
When the fabric of life is a horny goldmine
The neon forest is my home
And like a cartoon cat I roam
Where only kids are still alive
And anyway theyre gonna fry
My brain
You can get a weird prize for being adored
You can join the in crowd for being a whore
Although you are lonely you wish for a fence
America takes drugs in psychic defense
You can say what you want but nobodys there
Have you got any money?
Are you anybody?
song performed by by Iggy Pop
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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So Quiet In Here
Foghorns blowing in the night
Salt sea air in the morning breeze
Driving cars all along the coastline
This must be what its all about
Oh this must be what its all about
This must be what paradise is like
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here
The warm look of radiance on your face
And your heart beating close to mine
And the evening fading in the candle glow
This must be what its all about
Oh this must be what its all about
This must be what paradise is like
So quiet in here. so peaceful in here
So quiet in here, yeah, so peaceful in here
All my struggling in the world
And so many dreams that dont come true
Step back, put it all away
It dont matter, it dont matter anymore
Oh this must be what paradise is like
This must be what paradise is like
Its so quiet in here, so peaceful in here
Its so quiet in here, so peaceful in here
A glass of wine with some friends
Talking into the wee hours of the dawn
Sit back and relax your mind
This must be, this must be, what its all about
This must be what paradise is like
Oh this must be what paradise is like
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here
Big ships out in the night
And were floating across the waves
Sailing for some other shore
Where we can be what we wanna be
Oh this must be what paradise is like
This must be what paradise is like
Baby its so quiet in here, so peaceful in here
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here
So quiet in here, you can hear, its so quiet
song performed by by Van Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Stories We Could Tell
By: john b. sebastian
1974
Talkin to myself again
Wonderin if this travellin is good
Is there somethin else a doin
Wed be doin if we could
Chorus:
But ah, the stories we could tell
And if it all blows up and goes to hell
I wish that we could sit upon a bed in some motel
Listen to the stories we could tell
Stared at that guitar in that museum in tennessee
Nameplate on the glass brought back twenty melodies
Scars upon the face told of all the times he fell
Singin all the stories he could tell
Chorus:
Ah, the stories he could tell
And Ill bet you it still rings like a bell
I wish that we could sit upon a bed in some motel
And listen to the stories it could tell
So if youre on the road trackin down your every night
Playin for a livin beneath brightly colored lights
And if you ever wonder why you ride the carousel
You do it for the stories you can tell
Ah, the stories we could tell
And if it all blows up and goes to hell
I wish that we could sit upon a bed in some motel
Just listen to the stories we could tell
Coda:
Yes, I wish that we could sit upon a bed in some motel
Listen to the stories it could tell
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Poem Of The Afternoon Quiet Before Shabbat
THE POEM OF THE AFTERNOON QUIET BEFORE SHABBAT
The poem of the afternoon quiet before Shabbat
Is a peaceful poem -
Waiting and already resting
I try to remember those days
When Shabbat was Shabbat
In greatest joy and happiness-
But I am older now than I want to know
Shabbat has a quiet and music of a different kind
God can be served in old age also-
Let the family gather and the guests come
Let prayer be our music -
Joy is rest and quiet and peaceful family love also.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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