Lest We Forget
As earth roars beneath our feet there’s no place to hide.
Buildings fly and people cry with death on every side.
Dust and rubble now smother everything we see,
Though once again we refuse to be slaves of tragedy.
Nature stole our buildings; it can never take our pride.
Sights, sounds and smells choke senses on every side.
Too long a people subject to every unjust indiscretion;
Help us raise our heads…each a proud, renewed Haitian.
Rich neighbors thrive only a few miles away,
But for us time seems to have held centuries at bay.
Even before this rumbling tore our country apart,
Scourges of thirst and hunger left many a heavy heart.
To lift our spirits as we have done often before,
Mid this maudlin mirage where we’ll never really be poor,
We sing and we chant knowing God will help us carry on.
We thank him for what’s given, not what lament what is gone.
poem by Gregory Huyette
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You Hear Nature's Voice
You hear Nature's voice in the river that ever flows on towards the sea
A voice destined to live forever that has lived for untold centuries
From the foothills of the high country it babbles downhill night and day
By groves and by ditches and hedgerows to saltwater it winds it's way.
You hear Nature's voice in her birdsong their music carrying in the breeze
The sounds that the freshening winds make rustling in the leaves of the trees
Some of the happier sounds of Nature though to Nature there's another side
When Nature she shouts out her anger all others from her seek a safe place to hide.
When Nature she grows very angry the fear of the World is in her cry
She shakes the Earth flattens great buildings she roars and her lightning flashes in the sky
She crackles when her forests burn leaving blackness and smoke everywhere
With the power of Nature in a fury none other can hope to compare.
You hear Nature's voice in all Seasons Winter, Spring and Summer and Fall
And you hear Nature's voice in the night-time when her nocturnal creatures do call
Nature's voice will live on forever 'tis something not destined to die
As Nature herself does not have a time span as such are for mortals such as I.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Humanity In Tragedy - Haiti - Earthquake-January 2010
Sadness weighs heavily upon my heart,
Human tragedy, devastating loss of life;
A struggling nation where poverty is an epidemic,
They faced the wrath of nature yet again.
Haiti, land of sunshine and misery,
Where the rich thrive, and the poor perish.
Mother Earth drew a deep breath,
And as she exhaled, a shuddering groan
Shook all that lay against her bosom.
There was no anger in her deed.
She did not intend to destroy.
Calamity was beyond her control.
With the very earth shaking beneath their feet,
There was nowhere to run.
Palaces and shanties alike reduced to rubble,
Entombing those who could not escape.
Cries from beneath mountains of stone,
Echo through the streets.
Helpless, they weep for those they cannot reach.
Battered and beaten, they are defeated.
They hold the loved ones they can,
And grieve for those that are lost.
Now the wealthy and poor are united at last,
For there is no discrimination when catastrophe strikes.
But out of the destruction, hope will rise,
Like the brilliant sunshine that warms
Their beloved country.
Nations will join together to assist them.
For we hear their cries, and our hearts weep,
We will take their hands and hold them tightly,
Comfort them, and lift them from the dust.
Sometimes I question,
Whether compassion for humanity still exists,
Then at times like this, I see it
In all its splendour!
And my faith is restored once more.
poem by Annabel Sheila
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I Am Not Proud Of My Country
I love my Homeland Country and of it's scenic sights I sing
But I don't say I am proud to be Irish as proud has a patriotic ring
And those who feel proud of their Country often go that step too far
As pride leads to patriotism and patriotism leads to war.
I have never waved my Country's flag at parade or football game
And I am not Proud of my country though I love it just the same
For pride and love are different as different as can be
And pride that leads to patriotism has never appealed to me.
Some people on flag post in their front yard fly their Country's flag
And I am proud of my Country you hear them proudly brag
But others worthiness and cultures they never could embrace
And without saying so they are telling you that ours is a superior race.
I am proud of my Country you will never hear me say
Though many feel that pride and patriotism are good and quite okay
But how many young men have died in wars due to patriotic pride
Love brings people together whilst pride and patriotism divide.
I have never been a soldier or had honours to my name
And I am not Proud of my Country though I love it just the same
And those who feel proud of their Country can take that step too far
For pride leads to patriotism and patriotism can lead to war.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Peace At Last
Another rocket, another bomb issuing yet more smoke
Buildings falling, dust and rubble, shield your face or choke
More incendiaries that heat the earth
The family of man have no value of life and it's worth
Populations expand, more mouths to feed
Less and less land and it produces more weed
At a time in the future when we are all gone
The earth will sigh and say "thankfully that's all done".
poem by Brian Roy Skyers
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Sunburned Country (feat. Keith Urban)
I carry her with me (Ah)
I carry her pride (Yeah yeah)
Whenever I speak her name
My soul it comes alive
She taught me to be strong (oh)
She taught me to fight
And I am who I am today
Because she raised me right
Yes it is
Chorus:
In a sunburned country
Her magic and her mystery (oh)
In a sunburned country
Forever will be home to me
Yeah that's where my heart is truely free
Yes it is
Yeah....Yey,Yey,Yey...
Ooh
The creaks and the rivers
The dust and the mud (ooh dust and the mud)
All of us understand
This land gets in your blood
Yes it does
The sight of the blue gums
And black cockatoos
White snow Kosciusko
Red rock Uluru
Sing it one more time
In a sunburned country
Her magic and her mystery
In a sunburned country
Forever will be home to me
Yeah that's where my heart is truely free
Yes it is
Yeah....Yey,Yey,Yey...
Oh yeah...
We've always been humble (Oh yeah)
Too scared to be proud (Yes we have)
I think it's time that
We all stand and say that
We love our home out loud
Sunburned country
I'm proud to say that's sweet our home
In a sunburned country
That's always gonna be my home
Yeah
In a sunburned country
Her magic and her mystery
In a sunburned country
Forever will be home to me
Yeah that's where my heart is truely free
Yes it is
I love all the people
I love all the sounds
Sleeping under a tin roof
With a hard rain coming down
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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By Your Side
I wasn't myself for so many years it seemed
Cold and confused my mind lost in the shadows
When I awoke I could see so much clearer
Held high it seems I won't be there to hear her
And I won't be by your side
No way of knowing
And I won't be by your side
Well I'll take my chances
In this place I was left for dead
Held down and mocked by all eyes watching
Now free well I'll be standing much taller
What won't kill me makes me stronger
And I won't be by your side
No way of knowing
And I won't be your side
Well I'll take my chances
And I won't be by your side
I'm free from you chains
And I won't be by your side
There's no time to cry
song performed by by Default from Fallout
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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40 Miles From the Sun
There is nowhere left to hide
There is nothing to be done
No people to be saved
No pets we've never names
40 miles from the sun
As darkness craves the mind
We come undone without our pride
No time on the earth to come
All the pleasures just begun
40 miles from the sun
In our coats beneath the layers
Wash my skin of all the hate
We should sleep late
Everything just kind of grates
40 miles from the sun
40 miles from the sun
40 miles from the sun
I need to lose to make it right
I'll confront the stars tonight
I will babble I will bite
You will never know how much you shine
40 miles from the sun
40 miles from the sun
40 miles from the sun
song performed by by Bush from The Science Of Things
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Girl with the long blonde hair
Girl with the long blonde hair,
you wiped a lost tear
out of your eye
when the jet
made the skyline of Los Angeles
fade away in the distance
and giant buildings
disappeared into naught.
So I wondered if you know
how a green country
with plains
and open spaces of the Karoo looks
and have you looked
at wild game grazing,
or will nature
be strange to you?
I couldn’t wait
to be back in my own country
and your opinions about apartheid,
knowing something
but without comprehension,
for a while
pinched me sore
and it was evident
that you didn’t really understand
and also that my country
are slowly but surely
falling to pieces.
I told you something
about my people,
about a country
where the sun always shine
and that I also
just want a place there
and the break
with your boyfriend in Iraq
had split your heart
in two
and we talked for a long time
and suddenly you comprehended
that Afrikaners are just like
any other people
and you were already half in love
when we had to part,
but it was apparent
that we are living
in two different worlds.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Nothing
Shot down your instincts, turned into a freak
You said this was your first time
How fast changes come for you to finally see
Shallow plains for you to find what you...
There's nothing left!
For me on this ride
There's something left!
With you by my side
There's nothing left!
Noooo nothing left...
Stuck in with no way out a gift for your grief
Shattered your thoughts of a good thing that you never had
Hopelessly knowing whats right or wrong
Can't stop the feeling, it comes so strong
There's nothing left!
For me on this ride
There's something left!
With you by my side
There's nothing left!
Noooo...
Observe nature from a black top view
Left you defenseless hoping for defeat
Built on my fears
Confession of obsession
One day happy place for you to hide
There's nothing left!
For me on this ride
There's something left!
With you by my side
There's nothing left!
There's nothing left!
For me on this ride
There's something left for me!
With you by my side
There's nothing left!
With this ghost on my side!
There's something left
With you in my life!
There's nothing left!
Nothing left, nooo...
song performed by by Zug Izland
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Don't cry with eyes wide open
We have seen the power of the oceans
Don't cry with eyes wide open
Our loved ones have all been stolen
Don't cry with eyes wide open
Tsunamis and earthquakes
Buildings shake
Buildings break
And you forever weep with painful heartaches
Asking silently 'Does the earth make mistakes? '
Misery and unspeakable floods
The dead lay buried in pounds of mud
And the sadness in their eyes is not odd
Is this the great power of GOD?
Or is life another big fraud?
For those who have lost it all
Don't cry with eyes wide open
It takes time to recover from a great fall
Don't cry with eyes wide open
We have seen it all before
The brutality of nature is hardcore!
As the media make tragedy a newsbreak
We sit globally in our comfort zones
Watching the people of Japan in distress
As the nuclear episode evolves into a mess
My heart aches with eyes wide awake
People are out there hungry with cold bones
Don't cry with eyes wide open
Perhaps as the earth comes to its senses
We can wrap our tragedies in past tenses
Don't cry with eyes wide open
For there is always hope
Swimming around with waves of positive motions
Copyright 2011 - Sylvia Chidi
poem by Sylvia Chidi
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On The Front Line
I am a fireman here at home
And I put my life on the front line everyday
To save the people from burning buildings
Or from car accidents
Someday I am very lucky because I am able to save people from burning
Buildings and car accidents
But other days I am not so lucky because it depends where the fire is on The building
Sometimes I have to climb all the way to the top of the buildings
Very fast to save the people from the burning buildings here at home
Other times the fire on the buildings happened on the lower floor
Yes there had been times that I could not save the people from the
Buildings here at home because the buildings here at home had been Engulfed with smoke and all the people that live there died
Yes that was a very bad scene to see
At the end of the night I go home for my kids and my wife
When I arrive home my kids and my wife are already sleeping in bed
I don't have very much time to spend with my children
Because of my work
I don't enjoy being a fireman but the pay is good
So I don't have anything to complain about
I never talk about my work at home
At home I talk about different things to my wife and kids
But I know that my day starts very early everyday
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Pride Of Man
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
Can't you see that flash of fire ten times brighter than the day?
And behold a mighty city broken in the dust again,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
Babylon is laid to waste, Egypt's buried in her shame,
The mighty men are all beaten down, their kings are fallen in the ways,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
Terror is on every side, lo our leaders are dismayed.
For those who place their faith in fire, their faith in fire shall be
repaid,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
And shout a warning unto the nation that the sword of God is raised.
Yes, Babylon, that mighty city, rich in treasures, wide in fame,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
The meek shall cause your tower to fall, make of you a pyre of flame,
Oh you who dwell on many waters, rich in treasures, wide in fame.
you bow unto your God of gold, your pride of might shall be a shame,
For only God can lead His people back unto the Earth again.
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
A Holy mountain be restored, and mercy on that people, that people
song performed by by Quicksilver Messenger Service
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Where once a hillock was
Where once a hillock was
I see bulldozers, trucks
and cranes
busy digging
deeper into the earth.
Houses and tower blocks
rise where once
plants had grown green
against that kopje
and from infinity,
were undisturbed
until man’s hand
stretched out.
No one will know
how great it looked before
buildings broke the serenity
and the rich started to dwell
in houses above the cliffs
and nothing will ever mend
the damage done.
Nature is dying,
pines away and disappears
while people
are erecting buildings almost everywhere.
poem by Gert Strydom
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They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse.
quote by Sitting Bull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Another Huge Earthquake
Another huge Earthquake in Java and thousands are missing and dead
Just one angry outburst of Nature leaving millions of people in dread
Of another mighty earth tremor the fear it is real and widespread
Of the destructive power of our Earth Mother so much has been written and said,
Another huge Earthquake to talk of the anger of Nature no human structure can hope to withstand
Once great buildings left in huge piles of rubble as if they were castles of sand
Built by children on the beach at low tide that at high tide were washed out to sea
So great is the power of our Earth Mother and not one as mighty as she,
All of life lives off of Mother Nature and of her power we are aware
And though Nature can kill thousands of people Mother Nature is never unfair
People come and go like the Seasons but Nature she lives on and on
And she will be around forever though all present life forms may be gone
But she will create new life forms and Nature is forever more
And the stream from the hill will flow down to the river that flows to the great ocean shore.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The Chant Has Begun
The spirit of the people
The spirit of the people
The spirit of the people
The rhythm has begun ...
Old men with their protocol
Lead us off to war
Sometimes we dont even know
What were fighting for
Marching to the beat of their drum
Leaders we no longer trust
Told too many lies
The promises they made to us
Were never realised
Hear me now the chant has begun
Nowhere left to turn
No-one left to turn to
Voices raised in anger
They dont have the answer
Our whole worlds in danger
Oil slicks on the ebbing tide
Progress out of hand
Blind men choke on swallowed pride
Heads down in the sand
Dont wanna see the damage theyve done
Trees destroyed by acid rain
Falling from the skies
When our children place the blame
Who will tell them why
Hear me now the chant has begun
Why is love so rare
All this talk of warfare
Voices raised in anger
They dont have an answer
Pass the word along
We can wait no longer
Too much blind destruction
Follow loves instructions
Now the chant has begun
(chant)
Make your choice theres no escape
Add your voice, the chant has begun
song performed by by Level 42
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Worth This Winter
by Ahmed Nakib
And these buildings wearing out this winter’s heart –
each one has long stood like a colossal winter,
limbs of these lie frozen stiff in the fog, their
windowpanes as if chunks of ice – endlessly melting away.
Up on the roof of another, we watch out for all these –
that’s another boulder of winter, too. Overwhelmed,
we all are praising this winter’s loveliness,
with hands deep into pockets, clutching hard
at all of our warm clothes worth any winter.
Down, way down at the basements of these buildings,
people are rushing to the rhythm of insects,
the winter has skidded underneath their feet,
stuck in the ground, in every stride of theirs.
And these buildings wearing out this winter’s heart –
each one has long stood like a colossal winter.
Translated by Sofiul Azam
poem by Sofiul Azam
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South Africa Is Also My Country
From my birth South Africa is my own country
and my people can flee to an island
but my own culture and language stays holy
although this place is not safe,
I still trust on a much higher hand,
from my birth South Africa is my own country.
From my birth South Africa is my own country
even if the struggling government gives me resistance,
do oppress me with unfair laws,
even if nothing can stop the disintegration,
even if I am not safe against the onslaught,
from my birth South Africa is my own country.
From my birth South Africa is my own country,
even if some act with effrontery against my people
I come from a noble heritage,
I am proud on my Afrikaner lineage,
even if people and buildings are set alight,
from my birth South Africa is my own country.
From my birth South Africa is my own country
with no other place I have such a deep bond
and even if here I will never have any job,
I believe in God and a Christian church,
God himself still keeps my ways intact,
from my birth South Africa is my own country.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Nigeria: The slumber
Nigeria, a people that suffer
A people that strive, a people that hunger
A people in a dark, deep and dangerous slumber
A people whose greed, ignorance and corruption linger
Whose deep wound heals on one side
but bleeds on the other
A people dragged into the mud
by those that arise from the mud
A people of democracy
A democracy of mediocrity
A democracy of evil greed
A democracy of rotten seed
A people of careless leadership
A people of spineless followership
Nigeria,
A plastic face
A prideless deep
A shameless she
Of salvage leaders
Nigeria, my country
Drowning in the pool of its blood
Spilled by its children
Nigeria, my country,
Moving in a circle
A cycle of religion
A cycle of tribe
A cycle of corruption
A cycle of destruction
Nigeria, my people
A people that suffer
A people that thirst
A people that hunger
A people in a deep, dark and dangerous slumber
A people whose light grows dimmer
Whose hope grows slimmer
Till eyes rise from the slumber
And greed appreciates hunger
And true voices shout like thunder
And willed feet stump and say no longer! !
Nigeria,
A people that suffer
A people that hunger
A people in a dark, deep and dangerous slumber….
poem by Andrew Ahile
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Where Nature She Loses Her Temper
The dead are past all cares and sorrows the survivors their life's dreams destroyed
'Tis said that in Nature's moment of anger in Kashmir that thousands of people have died
She leaves behind grief and desolation great buildings toppled to the ground
Where Nature she loses her temper death and destruction to be found.
For our disrespect to Mother Nature there has to be some price to pay
When she flies into fits of anger she flattens everything in her way
Her latest earthquake in Asia proves how destructive she can be
Yet us humans are her benefactors since she feeds all of humanity.
We abuse our marvellous Mother Nature when we pollute her land, rivers and sea
Yet without her we would quickly die of thirst and hunger and none quite so generous as she
And despite her odd fits of bad temper to Humankind she is a friend
And her moods are so very natural since she is not one to pretend.
The dead they are now past all feelings from all cares and sorrows they are gone
And the survivors head for refugee camps and life on the Planet goes on
Where Nature she loses her temper destruction and sorrow are rife
And buildings like pancakes are flattened and there is a huge loss of life.
poem by Francis Duggan
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