Modern Day Mariana (Cavatina Sequence)
At times sinister, other times placid,
just sweeping on
far over the horizon of the flat earth,
all life seems gone
in the arid landscape of the Karoo,
stone upon stone
shimmers in the great scorching noontime heat
while wild pigeons walk the roof with small feet.
Two old rusting wind-pumps guard the kingdom,
they are lifeless
and when the light wind passes they creak to life;
somewhat careless
rusting tools are strewn all around the grange,
quite purposeless
she pages through a very old magazine,
around her life and the world does decline.
Every day she picks a marigold
from the garden,
continually plays the 'he loves me' game,
a passing warden
is at times the only male company,
she does pardon
her fiancé for not coming to visit,
but she does not really understand it.
As time passes she grows somewhat older,
time moves slowly,
the old wooden floor creaks under her feet,
far too lowly
her life seems while old portraits watches her
and gradually
she starts to live in a kind of strange dream,
at night inhuman voices laugh, cry and scream.
[References: 'Mariana in the moated grange' in the play 'Measure for Measure' by William Shakespeare and 'Mariana' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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The Song Of Despair
Somehow you are missing from my memory.
The night falls slowly, coming with tranquillity.
Deserted is our once happy home as you are gone,
my whole life has turned into stone.
You swallowed all our possessions, left an open door,
and only empty spaces on the wooden floor.
In your love I once was lost,
but your betrayal came at an extremely high cost.
You wanted me only for the body’s bliss
and went to a lover and that is the way that it is.
Too many times I had to draw curtains back,
in life and coming death change the ways that you did act.
Too many times as my wife
you were part of me, were too important in my life.
Now what was once ours fades to oblivion,
as life not ending just moves on and on.
This is the time of departure
when birds go to their nests in nature,
when to ashes wood in the fireplace burn,
when you left on a journey of no return.
Much too slowly this night moves on, once happy one.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Mariana
WITH BLACKEST moss the flower-plots
Were thickly crusted, one and all:
The rusted nails fell from the knots
That held the pear to the gable-wall.
The broken sheds look'd sad and strange:
Unlifted was the clinking latch;
Weeded and worn the ancient thatch
Upon the lonely moated grange.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
Her tears fell with the dews at even;
Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;
She could not look on the sweet heaven,
Either at morn or eventide.
After the flitting of the bats,
When thickest dark did trance the sky,
She drew her casement-curtain by,
And glanced athwart the glooming flats.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
Upon the middle of the night,
Waking she heard the night-fowl crow:
The cock sung out an hour ere light:
From the dark fen the oxen's low
Came to her: without hope of change,
In sleep she seem'd to walk forlorn,
Till cold winds woke the gray-eyed morn
About the lonely moated grange.
She only said, "The day is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
About a stone-cast from the wall
A sluice with blacken'd waters slept,
And o'er it many, round and small,
The cluster'd marish-mosses crept.
Hard by a poplar shook alway,
All silver-green with gnarled bark:
For leagues no other tree did mark
The level waste, the rounding gray.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
And ever when the moon was low,
And the shrill winds were up and away
In the white curtain, to and fro,
She saw the gusty shadow sway.
But when the moon was very low,
And wild winds bound within their cell,
The shadow of the poplar fell
Upon her bed, across her brow.
She only said, "The night is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
All day within the dreamy house,
The doors upon their hinges creak'd;
The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse
Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd,
Or from the crevice peer'd about.
Old faces glimmer'd thro' the doors,
Old footsteps trod the upper floors,
Old voices call'd her from without.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
The sparrow's chirrup on the roof,
The slow clock ticking, and the sound
Which to the wooing wind aloof
The poplar made, did all confound
Her sense; but most she loath'd the hour
When the thick-moted sunbeam lay
Athwart the chambers, and the day
Was sloping toward his western bower.
Then, said she, "I am very dreary,
He will not come," she said;
She wept, "I am aweary, aweary,
O God, that I were dead!"
.
poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson
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Swing Low
The sun is rising in the sky
Here were waiting, standing by
Round in circles, round and round
Pulse is racing, cant sit down
The noise of people fills the air
Search for silence goes nowhere
Time just passes, starts to rain
I look at you and I feel your pain
Day after day watching it grow, counting the time
In each and every way the pleasure is mine
Through all of the high times
Through all of the low times
The farther we reach, the farther we see
The farther we go
Time after time waiting for you, when will you come
Wanting to play the game weve begun
Through all of the high times
Through all of the low times
The more we can give, the more we can keep
The more there will be
Like the man said he was right
bout something coming in the air tonight
Well if its coming, let it be now
I feel its close, I just know somehow
I cant hold on much longer
My head is filled with wonder
But if these things dont come to pass
Ill bring you water and fill your glass
Everyday the stronger it grows, its easy to see
Getting to feel how good it can be
Through all of the high times
Through all of the low times
The more that we teach, the better we learn
The better well be
song performed by by Phil Collins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The World Is Vast
THE WORLD IS SO VAST
The world is so vast-
There are so many things and people in it -
We know there are more stars than people,
And so many times more people than we will ever know-
We know a small part of everything there is
And even that changes
And we know less and more with the years -
What we are is a surprise sometimes
But even then we cannot understand it-
How great God has made the universe or perhaps all the universes
We cannot know –
From our small time in our own small time
Let us love life as best we can
And live as well as we can,
Before our little time in the vastness of time passes
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Man - A Macrocosm Of Nature's Intelligence
this hair
on its own
is no life
this stone
solitary
on the floor
is no life
the air on
the wind
is no life
let it steal
into the man
and the plant
a whole world
starts to churn
and soil with
the stone too
start becoming life
into the plant
into the man
the sun on
its own is no life
take him out
everything
stops to glow
the tree, man and
sun, stone....
this hair
on its own
is dead
throw in the man
throw in the plant
and the air
and the sun
and the stone
everything
starts
to grow
nature seeps,
breathes
through each
and everything
jigsaw puzzle
the man himself
a macrocosm
of its intelligence
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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There Are Times
There are times
when life goes topsy-turvy.
There are times
when we are full of dismay.
There are times
when pebbles dropped in water
can be felt across the bay.
There are times
when life gets a little crazy
and we know not which way to turn.
There are times
when everything is rosy
and in everyone’s life, there is sunshine.
There are times
when you feel lazy
and want the world to roll on by.
There are times
your world is filled with laughter.
There are times
when you want to
just sit down and cry.
There is a time for everything
and it will happen when it wants to.
We can only live from day to day
and take these times when they happen.
11 August 2008
poem by David Harris
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My God Is Great And Kind To Me And He Is Always With Me
My GOD is great and kind to me and He is always with me
My GOD solved all the difficult and danger problems of my life,
My GOD is the best well-wisher of me in my every walk of life,
Some times I pray to my Almighty GOD and some times I forget Him,
But My GOD never forgot me and helped me in my bad position,
I have suffered a lot to cross many difficulties of my life,
Whenever I am in a risk of my life, my GOD gave me immediate solution,
Except my GOD none will help me in my any unfit condition,
Many times in my life my enemies wanted to harm me,
By the grace of my Almighty GOD I have been rescued all the times,
I live in the LOVE of my GOD and I too die in the same LOVE,
My GOD is very merciful and He must surely pardon my all crimes,
If I think of my GOD my all worries will automatically go away,
I am lucky to see my GOD with my minds” eye in a mysterious way.
poem by INDIA Mazid S Kazi
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These Are The Times
I hear voices from beyond the veil
They reverberate in mystery
There are shadows in my heart
And they multiply in memory
And the comrades that I've lost out there
In the scattered ruins still speak to me
If the flickering light of your campfire dims
The world grows smaller
It's closing in
I'm standing here
And I want you to live
I know
These are the times we find out who we really are
This will be when a true friend stands at your side
Someone like me who wants to
Believe in the days of high times and innocence
Drawing the lines and shouting back to the night
Someone like me who wants you to live
And from those who've seen the light beyond
We know the end will bring tranquility
But the voices of the friends they heard
Brought them back to this reality
Tough the beacon of light in your life seems dim
The sun's coming up on the world we're in
There are choices here
And I want you to live
I know
These are the times we find out who we really are
This will be when a true friend stands at your side
One more like me
Who wants to believe in the truth of all we experienced
To live again to jump back into the fight
Someone like me who wants you to live
Pouring light from the sky
Portends you and I
Disappears in the night
I still remember
I hear voices from beyond the veil
Like a faint unfinished symphony
Though the beacon of light in your life seems dim
The sun's coming up on the world we're in
I'm standing here
And I want you to live
I know
These are the times we find out who we really are
This will be when a true friend stands at
song performed by by Styx
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wild Times
Wild times, until the light has gone
Wild, until the rising sun
Let us hear the sigh,
Of all the days gone buy
Wild times
Shine the light, down through the years
Through the fields of yonder, the veil off tears
And well take the time,
That is yours and mine
Wild times
Wild times, into the dawn
These wild times, will not be gone
And the music plays,
To these golden days
Wild times
You can here the sigh,
Of all the days gone by
Wild times
And well take the time,
That is yours and mine
Wild times
Wild times
Wild times
Wild times
Wild times
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Duke Vincentio: Nay, it is ten times strange.
Isabella: It is not truer he is Angelo
Than this is all as true as it is strange:
Nay, it is ten times true; for truth is truth
To the end of reckoning.
line from Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene 1 by William Shakespeare (1604)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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How I Wish I Was 20 Again And Knew What i Know Now
You come into life on a wing and a prayer
With absolutely no idea
You'll go through doubt and dreaded fear
You'll learn to love and love to live
You'll break some heart and hope they'll forgive
You'll want to smile through lonely times
No doubt there will be lonely times
You'll want to cry a rainfall in your life
But laugh a million and one times more
It's a crazy, mad, wild world
Thats for sure
When you love someone small things
Dont seem to matter
You'll feel that you can reach the sky
Then you'll believe life's given you
The world on a platter
And you'll wonder why
But as much as you think about what, where and when
How come and why
You'll be older then you think
And you'll want to go back in time....
To today so just bear that in mind
And don't worry about the little things
And don't forget that those who mind don't matter
And those who matter don't mind! !
poem by Lucy Vernezze
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Better It Would Have Been (Sonnet Corona / Crown Of Sonnets)
I
Without you much better it would have been,
if in this wide world under all the skies
I did not know you, I had never seen
the glimmer, the attraction in your eyes.
Better it would have been if I unseen
at the braking of that particular day
joyous, somewhat sincere like a teen
went on another different kind of way,
I would then have totally missed you
as our love, our joy was sealed in vain.
You would not have opportunity to do
things that leave much heartache and pain
as your heart was set in some treachery,
your blunt rebuke was not sought by me.
II
Your blunt rebuke was not sought by me,
yet you gave it to me as if earned,
as if from it I was not to be free,
its impact did hurt and really burned
right into my depths, my heart's inner core
and still I then very much loved you
every day more and even much more
as something very sincere and true
but my Lord I loved more deeper still
as He always dwelled in everything
and I try to live by His very will,
with your love being at times a cursing
and at times there was water on my glasses;
when the wild wind rushes through the grasses.
III
When the wild wind rushes through the grasses,
it is something that you will never see
nor the beauty of the places were it passes
as you can never be really quite free
from the rich earthly things that embraces
you in wantonness, in deep iniquity
and at many different kinds of places
high up on the hill and down in the lea
diamonds adorn grasses and wild flowers
as if nature cries for you and me
as tears of dew that shines, not from showers
while life is how it's determined to be,
when you had chosen a fresh sort of start;
I did not ask you to return my heart.
IV
I did not ask you to return my heart
you have trampled it again and again
and now it would be really just in vain
as it is broken in every part
but now from each other being apart
we live separate lives of joy and pain
and the simple fact does still remain,
it does not take someone really quite smart
to know that when you do not have me
your whole life becomes somewhat mundane,
then you do not really want to be free
and I know that it sounds very inane
but obviously I cannot anymore be
yours in love's strange painful mystery.
V
Yours in love's strange painful mystery
were without any tears and full of glee
but left me totally broken hearted
then I noted after more than fifteen years
that you did not take a last kind of kiss,
from me was taking whatever you could,
had totally forgotten our sweet bliss,
maybe I knew this was the way that it would.
I wish time and again not to have know you
in the way that it ended when you were gone,
while then you had been wickedly untrue
had have intimate sex with someone,
it's sometimes hard to be the only one,
when at night in darkness I lie down alone.
VI
When at night in darkness I lie down alone
the golden moon and all the stars are bright
and some of them to me are quite unknown,
Orion and the seven sisters gleam at night
but life does continually carry on
the morning sun seems at times out of sight
and it is stripped from all affection
but can constantly bring back life and light
to what is still left of my kind of world,
as if everything is falling apart
and in all the things that I do behold
you seem to be somehow the crucial part
as if everything was astray leaden,
as you left me, my life did then deaden.
VII
As you left me, my life did then deaden
as if being tied up and underfed,
walking away, not anymore a maiden,
leaving my heart filled with only dread.
In love I saw you as pure and holy
a mother for children, true to the gods,
but with your lover you acted lowly
as you did cast me away to life's odds
and you have lost all the joyful graces
with the very thoughts of you that remain,
images of your many different faces
are filled to the brim with utter pain
and to meet you again I am not keen,
without you much better it would have been.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Requiescat
Fair is her cottage in its place,
Where yon broad water sweetly slowly glides.
It sees itself from thatch to base
Dream in the sliding tides.
And fairer she, but ah how soon to die!
Her quiet dream of life this hour may cease.
Her peaceful being slowly passes by
To some more perfect peace.
poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson
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A Farewell Lay For Minette
I
Minette, the wind now whispers, are sometimes raging
as if its calling your name while I am aging
and forever you will be sweet and young,
sometimes it feels as if around me a war is waging
while I am trying to find my way
in a world where destiny sometimes havoc play
are looking for answers to the questions of life and living
while my life passes without you day after day.
II
Far too happy was the day that we met
as if by some fiddling of destiny it was set
and while I stopped to give you help
with tears your cheeks was wet,
but the smile that came upon your face
said thank you with a kind of amazing grace
while I changed your car's tire
from sudden nervousness my hands felt out of place.
It was as if the morning sun
had suddenly risen before the day had begun
and although we did not say a single word
your company was loads of fun.
In my car's four sharp head lamps your golden hair
was pretty and you were more beautiful than just fair
while on the wind I caught a whiff of your scent
it felt as if your presence was predetermined to be there.
III
That summer was a really lovely one
even the breeze had a joyous tone
while we laughed fell in love almost at a whim
and far too quickly our time together was gone.
You were so part of me you were in my heart and head,
in quick understanding few words were ever said
but our loving, our companionship and understanding was intense
and together we could only see great things lying ahead.
IV
Standing at your grave I saw the wind
turning the red sand into clouds of dust,
coming strong from behind
and at your death broken
there was no answer that I could find.
Maybe we had to much sheer happiness
found a lifetime's joy in our moments of bliss
as we thought that the rest of our lives
would simply be like this.
V
At times I have tried to forget you
have tried to paint my life a different hue,
forget the way it was between us
but some memories always stay true
and memories at times brings everything back
when you return with an uncanny knack
and in lonely evenings
when the sky is black
I dream of you joining me
and like always you look happy and free
while from each other we are separated
and there's an inadequacy
a dividing thing between the living and the dead
and sometimes our meetings come with a kind of dread
while you stay part of me
and it's a strange, strange life to lead.
VI
Minette, the wind howls, there's rain
coming down while lightning bolts flash again and again
and it's almost as if I can touch you, catch your essence
but my heart is full of pain
and maybe its time to say goodbye,
in this rainy, stormy weather
to really again live in a place where the sun shines
when the sky glows within its ether.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Dusk and Dying
Dusk purple trees reach out high,
Gently brushing the Cotton Candy sky,
The nostalgic horizon passes by
And time races toward the time to die.
And I cannot help but wonder “But Why”?
Time is simply passing by, passing by,
Passing by….
But does it pause for me? Not I.
For me time simply passes by,
Like these leaves that patch this somber sky,
Time simply passes by
Like these leaves that have dried,
Skipping over the concrete, so spry.
“Simply live and let live! ” I try,
But life and living keep passing me by.
So, as my verse so aptly implies,
Whether I live, or whether I die,
I simply bid you fond goodbyes,
Like the sun as it sinks ‘low the cotton candy skies…
poem by Rachel L. Moore
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Bag of Bones
Just a bag of bones
At which life throws its stones
Time passes, I hear them creak
If only they could speak
Ask now! Before it's too late
Of their life and fate
I hear them groan
Against life's pressure
Against others measure
Am I just a bag of bones?
RG
poem by Robert Green
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Mud
Each step I take,
As I trudge forward
Through the muddy landscape,
Collects my feet:
Pulling me deep toward the Earth,
Rooting me where I stand.
I struggle to free my legs.
They sink where I walk
Until I bury myself.
Time passes and the ground grows firm
While I'm underneath
The dusting fossils,
The stone-etched imprints
That suggest which direction I was going,
And where I had been.
poem by Tim Stensloff
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Bumps In The Road
At another bump or roadblock ahead, we turn to the Lord God instead,
For what may be a hindrance to us, is just another opportunity to trust.
In our Lord God’s guiding Hand, in the times that we don’t understand,
As God woos every wandering soul, back to Him, Who reigns over all.
He moves upon unbelievers too, this, through the lives of me and you,
Speaking to a family or to a friend, providing them His light in the end,
When they have a trial of the same, we can lift up high The Only Name,
The One who gives light to every life, in a world riddled by man’s strife.
As many today are sorely mislead, while they continue spiritually dead,
Still spiritually darkened in their sin, without that New Life found in Him,
The life in Christ, God’s Only Son, sent to grant a new life to everyone,
That’s to everyone who will believe, new life from God they will receive.
And with our New Life we become, God’s Light to men, for God’s Son,
His Light for men, as times darken, with a message for them to harken.
Regenerated by The Spirit of God, for His purpose on this earthly sod,
Pointing all from the night to day, to help men find God’s Narrow Way.
So when we see a bump in the road, or get burdened by a heavy load,
Reflect on, to whom we belong, while allowing Him to fill us with song,
As everything shall work out right, for those called to walk in His Light,
While we’re used by Jesus Christ, on a journey from earth to Paradise.
(Copyright ©01/2009)
Unchained Desire
Thunder rumbles, lightnin' flashes closer
Wind picks up bringin' cooler air
Porch swing sways back and forth
Unchained Melody plays on the radio
Unchained desire rattles the heart
Wistful feelin' closes in
No one to sway with
No one to play with
Lyin' to myself sayin'
It could never have been otherwise
This is the way it had to be
This is not a dream
Wavin' me farewell
Crushin' out my life
Stretchin' out in despair
It is not a dream
The reality makes me tremble
As a shadow of what was
Passes over my thoughts
Passes me by
poem by MacGregor Tagliaferro
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The Old Man....
there is this garden that you tend
you put the seeds and they all sprout in time
time waters it
the changes take place
soon the flowers bloom and
you watch all these
with patience
there is this light feeling that comes
like butterfly wings
white against the dusk
there is nothing new in that garden
you are sick and takes the rest
you sit by the window
the same window all these 50 years
time is you boring attendant
independent from your grasp
it can exist without you
you sit and watch the world passing by
like a flower slowly unfolding
and you never notice it
you go out
you have recovered from a disease
you
take a walk
visit some friends
come back in the afternoon
you watch the view from the window
again
this you do perhaps for another 50 years
of your life
setting aside fears of not having to
step upon 60
life is short for those who have no one to love
it is the same field same mountain
bald and brown
same clouds
pale blue and drifting
same fog
fading like a magical show
same window
that you close again
because it is dark
and cold inside
your old wooden bed
that you have
inherited from your
forefathers
as usual
you take your sleep
time passes you by
the room is so silent
as though
it is the home for
the dead
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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