Armed Reaction in Muckleneuk Ridge
While we lived in the mansion
in Muckleneuk Ridge
our maid Rose called me at work,
about some people
with two vans at the gate
that said that they were from Telkom
to install telephone lines
and she could not comprehend
what they were doing there
as the telephone was already working.
I told her to let the two dogs loose
in the yard,
to lock the house
and to press the emergency
alarm button
and that trustworthy maid
did just that,
as she was scared
of being raped by the robbers.
Those men were in
for a big surprise
and although they didn’t
enter the premises
they were blocked of
in the pipe-stem driveway
and left their vans
(which were stolen)
just there
and tried to outrun
the armed reaction
jumping some garden fences
rather than shooting it out.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Full of excuses
I didn't telephone a.m.
as you'd be having breakfast then.
I didn't telephone at noon
for fear you might be lunching soon.
I didn't telephone p.m.
I thought you might be sleeping and
I didn't telephone at 8
for dinner in your house is late.
I didn't telephone at 9
for fear this may be T.V. time.
I didn't telephone today
as time just seemed to slip away.
No wonder that we never speak,
perhaps I'll try sometime next week?
poem by Ruth Walters
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Muckleneuk Ridge
We sat between packed boxes
in a sold house
and I made some tea
and while we drank
the hot liquid
I told you that I
cannot afford the mansion
in Muckleneuk Ridge
near Unisa University
of which the rent included
water and electricity.
The two boys
were playing outside
with the dogs
throwing a tennis ball
for them
and we could hear
their laughter and excitement
coming in.
It was a really grand place,
with five bedrooms, a study,
a very big lounge
and had a great modern kitchen.
It had huge rooms
with private entrances,
yellow wood floors,
pine ceilings,
a braai aria at the back
and sprinklers
in a huge garden.
You didn’t want to take
no for an answer,
started crying
and went on you knees
begging me please
and embraced my legs.
That house had caught
your heart,
spoke to something
in your soul
and made you truly
feel like a lady.
I helped you to your feet
drawing you up
by you hands
and we embraced.
There wasn’t much
that I could do, but to agree
and although we cut the finances,
I had to make a plan.
That house was like palace,
it was near to the highway
to Johannesburg
(where I worked) ,
right for the children’s school
right for your work
and just the place for you.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Gypsy Vans
Unless you come of the gipsy stock
That steals by night and day,
Lock your heart with a double lock
And throw the key away.
Bury it under the blackest stone
Beneath your father's hearth,
And keep your eyes on your lawful own
And your feet to the proper path.
Then you can stand at your door and mock
When the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't right that the Gorgio stock
Should live as the Romany do.
Unless you come of the gipsy blood
That takes and never spares,
Bide content with your given good
And follow your own affairs.
Plough and harrow and roll your land,
And sow what ought to be sowed;
But never let loose your heart from your hand,
Nor flitter it down the road!
Then you can thrive on your boughten food
As the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't nature the Gorgio blood
Should love as the Romany do.
Unless you carry the gipsy eyes
That see but seldom weep,
Keep your head from the naked skies
Or the stars'll trouble your sleep.
Watch your moon through your window-pane
And take what weather she brews;
But don't run out in the midnight rain
Nor home in the morning dews.
Then you can buddle and shut your eyes
As the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't fitting the Gorgio ryes
Should walk as the Romany do.
Unless you come of the gipsy race
That counts all time the same,
Be you careful of Time and Place
And Judgment and Good Name:
Lose your life for to live your life
The way that you ought to do;
And when you are finished, your God and your wife
And the Gipsies'll laugh at you!
Then you can rot in your burying place
As the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't reason the Gorgio race
Should die as the Romany do.
poem by Rudyard Kipling
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Gipsy Vans
Unless you come of the gipsy stock
That steals by night and day,
Lock your heart with a double lock
And throw the key away.
Bury it under the blackest stone
Beneath your father's hearth,
And keep your eyes on your lawful own
And your feet to the proper path.
Then you can stand at your door and mock
When the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't right that the Gorgio stock
Should live as the Romany do.
Unless you come of the gipsy blood
That takes and never spares,
Bide content with your given good
And follow your own affairs.
Plough and harrow and roll your land,
And sow what ought to be sowed;
But never let loose your heart from your hand,
Nor flitter it down the road!
Then you can thrive on your boughten food
As the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't nature the Gorgio blood
Should love as the Romany do.
Unless you carry the gipsy eyes
That see but seldom weep,
Keep your head from the naked skies
Or the stars'll trouble your sleep.
Watch your moon through your window-pane
And take what weather she brews;
But don't run out in the midnight rain
Nor home in the morning dews.
Then you can buddle and shut your eyes
As the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't fitting the Gorgio ryes
Should walk as the Romany do.
Unless you come of the gipsy race
That counts all time the same,
Be you careful of Time and Place
And Judgment and Good Name:
Lose your life for to live your life
The way that you ought to do;
And when you are finished, your God and your wife
And the Gipsies'll laugh at you!
Then you can rot in your burying place
As the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't reason the Gorgio race
Should die as the Romany do.
poem by Rudyard Kipling
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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People Like Us
In 1950 when I was born
Papa couldnt afford to buy us much
He said be proud of what you are
Theres something special bout people like us
People like us
(who will answer the telephone)
People like us
(growing as big as a house)
People like us
(gonna make it because)
We dont want freedom
We dont want justice
We just want someone to love.
Someone to love.u
I was called upon in the 3rd grade class
I gave my answer and it caused a fuss
Im not the same as evryone else
And times were hard for people like us
People like us
(who will answer the telephone)
People like us
(growing as big as a house)
People like us
(gonna make it because)
What good is freedom?
God laughs at people like us
I see it coming
Like coming down from above
The clouds roll by and the moon comes up
How long must we live in the heat of the sun
Millions of people are waitin on love
And this is a song about people like us
People like us
(who answe the telephone)
People like us
(growing big as a house)
People like us
(gonna make it because)
We dont want freedom
We dont want justice
We just want someone to love.
Someone to love.
Someone to love.
Someone to love.
song performed by by Talking Heads
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lilian Stewart
I was the daughter of Lambert Hutchins,
Born in a cottage near the grist-mill,
Reared in the mansion there on the hill,
With its spires, bay-windows, and roof of slate.
How proud my mother was of the mansion!
How proud of father's rise in the world!
And how my father loved and watched us,
And guarded our happiness.
But I believe the house was a curse,
For father's fortune was little beside it;
And when my husband found he had married
A girl who was really poor,
He taunted me with the spires,
And called the house a fraud on the world,
A treacherous lure to young men, raising hopes
Of a dowry not to be had;
And a man while selling his vote
Should get enough from the people's betrayal
To wall the whole of his family in.
He vexed my life till I went back home
And lived like an old maid till I died,
Keeping house for father.
poem by Edgar Lee Masters
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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People used what they called a telephone because they hated being close together and they were scared of being alone.
quote by Chuck Palahniuk
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Rinkhals in Muckleneuk Ridge
We were living in the mansion
in Muckleneuk Ridge
when Heinrich wheeled the
rubbish bin out to the street
to leave it for the collectors,
and the red haired neighbour woman
started to shout at him.
I was just getting out of my Volkswagen Polo
and within a minute I was there
like a avenging angel,
telling her to leave the boy alone
and that the pavement
doesn’t belong to her
and that we have got the right
to put out the rubbish bin
for the rubbish collectors.
She got red with anger in her face,
hissed like a snake trying to spit
and cursed me in English
and I told her to get lost.
That woman was aquatically
quite funny and always dressed
in a track suit,
(as if she had no other
type of clothes)
living in a dilapidated house
like a hermit
with rusting sink plate roof
and weeds standing knee high
in her garden
in that rich man’s neighbourhood.
It was when the dogs
tried to catch a half grown coucal
which the wind had blown
out of its nest
and I jumped down the steps
of some terraces
to rescue the poor thing
and I and that wild bird
got to love each other
and it would start to scream
with excitement as soon
as it heard my car
coming near
that Heinrich trapped a venomous
ring-neck spitting cobra
in our garden
and I wanted to kill it
and you said
that even snakes
have a right to live.
I told you that the snake
was apt to kill somebody
as I was leaving for work
and you took the kids
to let it free in the field,
(or so I was told) ,
but a few days later
that utterly rude woman
was really surprised
and screamed for her life
when a snake hissed at her
spitting in her eyes.
[Rinkhals = ring-neck spitting cobra.]
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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One's A Couple
Thanks, but no thanks
I Didn't come here to dance
I'm with somebody, I'm afraid I'll have to pass
Two years ago he left me, now his memory's back around
One's a couple baby,
Two's a crowd
We came in here to be alone
No TV, no telephone
Two old flames out on the town
One still burns, and one's burned out
One's a couple baby,
Two's a crowd
They institutionalize people for actin' like I do
I'm drinkin' with somebody, that ain't in the room
Can't you see we're busy, trying to work our problems out?
One's a couple baby,
Two's a crowd
We came in here to be alone
No TV, no telephone
Two old flames out on the town
One still burns, and one's burned out
One's a couple baby,
Two's a crowd
We came in here to be alone
No TV, no telephone
Two old flames out on the town
One still burns, and one's burned out
One's a couple baby,
Two's a crowd
One's a couple baby,
Two's a crowd
song performed by by Lee Ann Womack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Postcard From The Volcano
Children picking up our bones
Will never know that these were once
As quick as foxes on the hill;
And that in autumn, when the grapes
Made sharp air sharper by their smell
These had a being, breathing frost;
And least will guess that with our bones
We left much more, left what still is
The look of things, left what we felt
At what we saw. The spring clouds blow
Above the shuttered mansion house,
Beyond our gate and the windy sky
Cries out a literate despair.
We knew for long the mansion's look
And what we said of it became
A part of what it is ... Children,
Still weaving budded aureoles,
Will speak our speech and never know,
Will say of the mansion that it seems
As if he that lived there left behind
A spirit storming in blank walls,
A dirty house in a gutted world,
A tatter of shadows peaked to white,
Smeared with the gold of the opulent sun.
poem by Wallace Stevens
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A Man Needs A Maid
My life is changing in so many ways
I dont know who to trust anymore
Theres a shadow running thru my days
Like a beggar going from door to door.
I was thinking that maybe Id get a maid
Find a place nearby for her to stay.
Just someone to keep my house clean,
Fix my meals and go away.
A maid. a man needs a maid.
A maid.
Its hard to make that change
When life and love turns strange.
And old.
To give a love, you gotta live a love.
To live a love, you gotta be part of
When will I see you again?
A while ago somewhere I dont know when
I was watching a movie with a friend.
I fell in love with the actress.
She was playing a part that I could understand.
A maid. a man needs a maid.
A maid.
When will I see you again?
song performed by by Neil Young
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I hated my brief fame. We had TV vans camped outside my house, reporters hounded me... people i'd know for years started treating me differently.
quote by Malcolm Wilson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Skinny Dipping
You told me to go jump in the lake!
And after doing so,
I had a taste to demonstrate...
A desire to learn,
What it was you really wished.
Other than to see me skinny dipping.
You then hinted in pretense to be left alone.
And when I got home...
You called me on the telephone!
And I left it to ring, ring, ring.
You told me to go jump in the lake!
And after doing so,
I had a taste to demonstrate...
A desire to learn,
What it was you really wished.
Other than to see me skinny dipping.
You joined me.
And skinny dipped we did.
Until you got a sight...
Of my increasing appetite.
You left me quick!
Dressed and split.
Screaming as if hit...
That what I had you couldn't fit.
Or could not think...
Of handling,
My thick equipment.
You then hinted in pretense to be left alone.
And when I got home...
You called me on the telephone!
And I left it to ring, ring, ring.
You told me to go jump in the lake!
And after doing so,
I had a taste to demonstrate...
A desire to learn,
What it was you really wished.
Other than to see me skinny dipping.
And when I gathered my thoughts,
After feeling distraught.
I knew then what it was,
You were thinking!
Had I been that obvious?
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Working On It
Oh how Id love it girl, just you and me
Take the day and fly
But oh this job, its got the best of me
Tell you why, tell you why
Somebody above is in a desperate state
Some kind of urgency, the kind that wont wait
I say tomorrow, he say today
And the man in my head well he tell me no way
Keep working
I got eight little fingers and only two thumbs
Will you leave me in peace while I get the work done
Cant you see Im working
Oh, oh Im working on it
Oh, oh Im working on it
Well theyre coming from above me
And theyre coming from below
Yea theyre in there right behind me
Everywhere that I go
And my buddy, hes screaming down the telephone line
He say gimme, gimme, gimme
I say I aint got the time
Oh, oh cant you see Im working on it
Oh, oh Im working on it
Yea, yea, oh tell em
How Id love it girl, just you and me
Take the day and fly
But oh, this job its got the best of me
Tell you why
Well theyre coming from above me
And theyre coming from below
Yea theyre in there right behind me
Everywhere that I go
My buddy, hes screaming down the telephone line
He say gimme, gimme, gimme
I say I aint got the time
Oh, oh cant you see Im working on it
Oh, oh Im working on it
Oh, oh Im working
Oh, oh cant you see Im working on it
song performed by by Chris Rea
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hypnotize
I want to hypnotize you baby
On the telephone
So many times I called your house
Just to hear the tone
And though I knew you werent home
I didnt mind so much cause Im so alone
I want to hypnotize you baby
On the telephone
I want to spin my little watch
Right before your eyes
Youre the kind of girl a guy like me
Could hypnotize
And if this comes as a surprise
Just think of all those guys
Who would tell you lies
I want to spin my little watch
Right before your eyes
I want to hold your little hand
If I can be so bold
And be your right hand man
til your hands get old
And then when all the feelings gone
Just decide if you want to keep holding on
I want to hold your little hand
If I can be so bold
If I can be so bold
If I can be so bold
song performed by by White Stripes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cowardice
Although you deem it far from nice,
And it perchance may hurt you,
Let me suggest that cowardice
Can masquerade as virtue;
And many a maid remains a maid
Because she is afraid.
And many a man is chaste because
He fears the house of sin;
And though before the door he pause,
He dare not enter in:
So worse than being dissolute
At home he plays the flute.
And many an old cove such as I
Is troubled with the jitters,
And being as he's scared to die
Gives up his gin and bitters;
While dreading stomach ulcers he
Chucks dinner for high tea.
Well, we are wise. When life begins
To look so dour and dark
'Tis good to jettison our sins
And keep afloat the bark:
But don't let us claim lack of vice
For what's plumb cowardice!
poem by Robert William Service
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number.
quote by Anna Quindlen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Punk Rock 101
She works at hot topic
His heart microscopic
She thinks that it's love
But to him it's sex
He listens to emo
But Fat Mike's his hero
His bank account's zero
What comes next
Same song, different chorus
It's stupid, contagious
To be broke and famous
Can someone please save us from Punk Rock 101
My Dickies, your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new Vans
Let's throw up our rock hands for Punk Rock 101
She bought him a skateboard, a rail slide, his knee tore
He traded it for drums at the local pawn shop
She left him for staring
At girls and not caring
When she cried cause she thought Bon Jovi broke up
Same song second chorus
It's stupid, contagious
To be broke and famous
Can someone please save us from Punk Rock 101
My Dickies, your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new Vans
Let's throw up our rock hands for Punk Rock 101
Don't forget to delay
On the very last word
Seven years later
He works as a waiter
She married a trucker and he's never there
The story never changes
Just the names and faces
Like Tommy and Gina
They're livin' on a prayer
Did you just say that
I said
It's stupid, contagious
To be broke and famous
Can someone please save us from Punk Rock 101
My Dickies, your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new Vans
Let's throw up our rock hands for Punk Rock 101
It's stupid, contagious
To be broke and famous
Can someone please save us from Punk Rock 101
My Dickies, your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new Vans
Let's throw up our rock hands for Punk Rock 101
It's stupid, contagious
(Same song, different chorus)
To be broke and famous
(Same song, different chorus)
Can someone please save us from Punk Rock 101
My Dickies, your rock hands
(Same song, different chorus)
My spiked hair, your new Vans
(Same song, different chorus)
Let's shoplift some sweatbands for Punk Rock 101
song performed by by Bowling For Soup
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life Line
Ten thousand miles away from someone
Ten thousand miles away from you
Whos your friend on the end of a telephone line
A telephone lines like a life line
You run me cool you run me hot love
You take me where I wanna be
Ship to shore, air to land
Seems its always the same
I always end up with a lame brain
Dont got talkin in your sleep no
Dont go givin it all away
Dont go walkin in your sleep no
Dont go givin it all away
Dont got talkin in your sleep no
Dont go givin it all away
Dont go walkin in your sleep no
Youre ten thousand miles away
Livin it up in the paradise
Dont make it right, dont make it wrong
When you know youve got a friend
Whos at the other end
And a telephone lines like a life line
But a walk on the wire
It dont put out no fire
A telephone lines like a life line
Dont got talkin in your sleep no
Dont go givin it all away
Dont go walkin in your sleep no
Dont go givin it all away
Dont got talkin in your sleep no
Dont go givin it all away
Dont go walkin in your sleep no
Youre ten thousand miles away
When you wake youll find me sleepin
The clock dont stop when youre not here
But you know youve got a friend
Whos at the other end
And a telephone lines like a life line
A telephone line is a life line
song performed by by 10 Cc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As It Was
Ginny loved it
when the time came
For their annual trip
to the seaside
And her father rented
the house with the big garden
that lead onto the sea.
She and her brothers and sister
Looked forward to it
every year and it seemed the sun
shone almost constantly
And the house seemed
as it was the year before
nothing changed nothing new
just the same rooms
and outlook and young Lily the maid
who came each year too
to help their mother
around the house
and watch
the younger children.
Her mother
Was the organiser
the one who seemed most near
to the children who seemed
to know the children’s needs
and wants and tried to keep
her husband happy
and allow him
his space and quiet
which he valued most of all.
Ginny liked it
when the sea was out
and there was plenty of sand
to play on to make a sand castle
with a moat and drawbridge
made from small pieces of driftwood
found on the beach.
But once her mother died
the seaside house
seemed less welcoming
the sea seemed
hardly ever to go out
than it was back again
the sun was less warm
less friendly
and her father
would mope
around the house
moaning and groaning
In his grief and bellowing
at Lily the maid
to do this and do that
making her cry
and only at night
when all were asleep
and Ginny was snuggled
Down in bed did it seem
as it was when her mother
would enter the room
and sit on the bed
and smile and whisper
the words she used to
placing a ghostly hand
on Ginny’s brow
and kiss her cheek.
Ginny remembered the house
By the sea years later
with the yellowy sand
And walking with Lily
the maid
hand in hand.
poem by Terry Collett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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