En.Citatepedia^®.ro

The Black Tracker (Or: Why He Lost The Track)

There was a tracker in the force
Of wondrous sight (the story ran):—
He never failed to track a horse,
He never failed to find his man.

They brought him from a distant town
Once more to gain reward and praise,
Nor dreamed the man he hunted down
Had saved his life in bygone days.

Away across the farthest run,
And far across the stony plain,
The outlaw’s horse’s tracks, each one,
Unto the black man’s eyes were plain.

Those tracks across the ranges wide
Right well he knew that he could trace,
And oft he turned aside to hide
The tears upon his dusky face.

Now was his time, for he could claim
Reward and praise if he prevailed!
Now was the time to win him fame,
When all the other blacks had failed.

He struggled well to play his part,
For in the art he took a pride.
But, ah! there beat a white man’s heart
Beneath his old, black wrinkled hide.

Against that heart he struggled well,
But gratitude was in the black—
He failed—and only he could tell
The reason why he lost the track.

poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Short Shrift

‘I’ve failed! ’ How many times have sons
And fathers’ fathers echoed me?
‘I’ve failed! My life was spent in dreams, ’
We said, ‘in shallow misery.
In dreams and steel and soot and grime,
In screams, and what would seem some crime
Of trying to live beyond our need...
Our lives were spent in some black creed! ’

‘Too short, too short, the days we spent
In trying to right the days before,
Too long, too long, the years we struggled
Knowing not what struggled for.
What goal, what aim, what discontent,
What loves we lost, what life we spent
In wondering what such life could be?
Short shrift for you - harsh words for me! ’

‘I’ve failed, my sons, I’ve failed you all
And so my failure tortures me,
As in that innocence divine
Your love loves all the failed in me.
If I could strip this flesh, or tear
These eyes that cried hot fire for you
To save you from the same despair
My father’s father brought me to...’

20 July 1976

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jeane

Jeane
The low-life has lost its appeal
And i'm tired of walking these streets
To a room with its cupboards bare
Jeane
I'm not sure what happiness means
But i look in your eyes
And i know
Oh ...
That it isn't there
Oh, we tried, and we failed
Oh, we tried, and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried
Oh, jeane
There's ice on the sink where we bathe
So how can you call this a home
When you know it's a grave ?
Yet you still have that greedy grace
As you tidy the place
But it will never be clean
Jeane
We tried and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried and we failed
And we tried
Oh ...
Cash on the nail
It's just a fairytale
Oh ...
And i don't believe in magic anymore
Jeane
But i think you know
I really think you know
Oh ...
Oh yes, i think you know the truth
Jeane
Oh ...
No heavenly choirs
Not for me and not for you
Because i think you know
I really think you know
Oh ...
I think you know the truth
Oh, jeane
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried and we failed
We tried

song performed by by Smiths
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Natural miracles

I have never looked around for natural miracles
They are day and night in orbit or circles
Then rise and set without fail
I did not notice so far and miserably failed

How can and in which way I adore sun?
The sky is lit by him without stoppage of any run
Time and again I failed to bow my head
Never had I seen generosity on its part and failed to read

My existence is very much dependent
Still I failed to act as an obedient
How easily I forgot all warm days?
When sun had for many days failed on its way

I enjoyed greenery on earth
Yet failed to see joy beneath
After how much long wait, the shower had pleased
But where had I time to look at when not chased?

I had the life full of glooms
There was no direction and darkness in rooms
Where had I time to look for those shines outside?
When it was given to me hopefully to reside

If I was offered hurdles
There was chance to remove obstacles
Only I had to act and wait for his blessings
Otherwise where was chance anything to go missing?

poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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(Waiting For) The Ghost Train

A straw headed woman, and a barrel chested man,
A pocket full of posies with a hat brim full of sand,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
A dog chasing the tumbleweeds, across the sandy floor,
That drift along the platform, through the ticket office door,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
But don't tell me there's nothing coming, you don't fool me,
I hear the ghost train rumbling along the tracks - set them free,
And I hear them,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
The station master's writing with a piece of orange chalk,
A hundred cancellations, still no one wants to walk,
Keep the hungry children from the skeletons in the back,
Paid to keep an eye out for the gipsy caravan,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
I hear the ghost train rumbling along the tracks - set them free,
And I hear them,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white (don't try),
It's black and white (don't try),
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
And I hear them,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide

song performed by by Madness
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Ghost Train

A straw headed woman, and a barrel chested man,
A pocket full of posies with a hat brim full of sand,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
A dog chasing the tumbleweeds, across the sandy floor,
That drift along the platform, through the ticket office door,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
But don't tell me there's nothing coming, you don't fool me,
I hear the ghost train rumbling along the tracks - set them free,
And i hear them,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
The station master's writing with a piece of orange chalk,
A hundred cancellations, still no one wants to walk,
Keep the hungry children from the skeletons in the back,
Paid to keep an eye out for the gipsy caravan,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
Ooh - waiting for the train that never comes,
I hear the ghost train rumbling along the tracks - set them free,
And i hear them,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white (don't try),
It's black and white (don't try),
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
And i hear them,
It's black and white don't try to hide,
It's black and white don't try to hide...

song performed by by Madness
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Somewhere In Your Heart

They say in time all the truth comes to light
When you can see past the wrong and the right
Theres a feelin inside stronger than pride
Finds me every lonely night
Well I have searched the past in my mind
How we failed to see the danger signs
Well one good reason why we let our love die
Is something that Ive failed to find
Somewhere in your heart
Theres a lonely part that beats for me
Somewhere in your broken heart
Theres a lonely part that beats for me
Well I have cried till my tears have turned cold
Id trade my pride for peace in my soul
Please dont make me pay for the rest of my days
For emotions that ran out of control
Weve all but closed the door on our past
And this one chance may well be our last
So before you decide one last look inside
Is all my shattered dreams can ask
Somewhere in your heart

song performed by by Paul Carrack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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One liter of tears

Its’ not how long we held each others hand
Its’ not the spring that we wish to come
But the verdant flowers that bloom each other’s heart
Like a million smiles that brought in our eyes
Those fade away by one liter of tears

The hours tracks like days across the ages
Like a story in every pages that turns to yellow
While the music will never keep to play
And the songs keep fading to fade
Can’t you see the time is as endless as forever?
Why love been trying in tears to disappear

The falling leaves fly on a windy day
Like these love that was forgotten by time
To my one last cry, one liter of tears
So here was I something I hide inside
I ‘m in the world where I hide my heart

Through a hundred million faces that I see
In this world so narrow and wide
Looking for the reason that things must change
But love would fade like summer into fall
Like a river that flows upstream

Like a million stars sparkling in the sky
One liter of tears glistened in my eyes
And all the hopes was faded in black and white
I cried, I feel alone, I was gone
Frozen inside without your touch, without your smile

poem by Cheryl Aldea
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Tessa's Song

I'm sorry I failed
I'm sorry I fell
Straight from grace
I'm sorry I failed
I'm sorry I lied
Straight to your face

The world you know
Keeps getting bigger
And badder
And all that's true
And all that's good
Doesn't seem to matter

What's good and what's bad
What's right and what's wrong
Is getting harder to comprehend
And just when you think
You've figured it out
The rules are changed again

I'm sorry I failed
I'm sorry you see
All that I lack
I'm sorry I failed
And if I could
I would take it all back

It's hard to believe
This war has gone on
Since before you were born
And I worry
That it will still be raging
When you are grown

The things you see
The drugs and the sex
And you're still so young
I lie awake at night
Hoping I've shown you
Which road is the right one

I'm sorry I failed
I pray that you know
I'm doing the best I can
I'm sorry I failed
I know you will become
So much more than I am

So much time that I've wasted
So many tears that I've tasted
Knowing I'm not the best
But my love for you remains
Untouched by anything
Wondering why I've been so blessed

poem by Sarah Deen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Failure

As we roamed under the star spangled sky,
Sharing many a trivial thought
I failed to voice my clandestine whim
Carefully structured within my mind's alcove

When words got suddenly broken up
With a lump forming in my throat
I failed to convey what I meant
In a language explicit for you to grasp

Gazing at each other, as we stood
Without uttering a word aloud
You failed to notice my saddened eyes
Glistening with tears, about to shed

At the end of a pleasant united jaunt
As our roads diverged in opposite tracks
We failed to say even a parting word
As a gesture of courtesy, due for both

Now in the twilight of the setting sun
When the past has dwindled slowly away
We remain in our own cloistered cells
Failing to forget what has transpired.

poem by Valsa George
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Foolish Life

What a foolish life I've lived!
I loved and failed...
and loved again and failed;
I tried to unlove but failed.
And what a foolish life to live!
I looked back to my wasted years
and knew there'd be no wasted tears
from you...from the only one
I tried to unlove but failed.

poem by Jessel Jane Tevar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jessica The Racist Beauty Model

You speak words
Words that pun a knife on the heart
You speak words
Words that destroy unity
You speak words
Words that kill the black generation

I sit and wonder
How proud your ancestors will be of you
that you have once again
Reflected the true hate that boils
In the blood veins of your family
But how cruel,
Because you re-declare a war
That you already defeated already

How disgusting of you
Travelling the world
With pride that you represent
The rainbow nation
But then you intimidate your country
And insult your publicity
All with just a single word
That signify racism to black african generation

And today
You have demoted your dignity
You have failed you success
And you shall never ever in my heart
Be a proud South African
And never will give you the respect you deserve

I know you do not care,
But just like you!
In that way I opt to make my ancestore very happy,
You failed
Yes! You failed South Africa

poem by Anele ''The African Son'' kaPotelwa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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English Lit as it is taught For Sidi Mahtrow

English lit as it is taught.

My daughter was quite fond of Chaucer.
It was her choice I didn’t force her.
She treated Shakespeare with disdain.
Considered him to be pain.
Although her teachers would insist
he was the greatest tragedist.
That England ever had produced.
She refused to be seduced.
By the established point of view.
Though she was forced to listen to
Them singing praise of the bard.
They failed despite their trying hard.
She still considered Will a fraud
a failed exam was her reward.

Monday,08 November 2010
http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers

poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I am a man of black and white

I am a man of black and white,
my name is written on the gates of the sky.
i am a man of black and white
my origin is united, yet two apart.

I speak the language of the whites,
but lost in the language of the blacks.
i am a man of black and white,
my resemblance is same with the blacks.

I am a man of black and white,
i was brought up in the land of the whites.
i am a man of black and white,
my home is in the south-east, in the abode of my black dad.

I am a man of black and white,
i love the aspirations of life.
i am a man of black and white,
although two apart, we are united as one.

poem by Randy Micheal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Destroyed

Destroyed
I did my best to please you
But my best was never good enough
Somehow you're only able to see
All I am not
Did you ever look behind
Aren't you afraid of the pieces you'll find
I have failed you
but you have failed me too
[Chorus]
It's so easy to destroy
and condemn
The ones you do not understand
do you ever wonder if it's justified
It's so easy to destroy
and condemn
The ones you do not understand
in your life why didn't you ever try
I close my eyes as I walk the thin line
between love and hate
For the person with the same blood in his vains
You show no regrets
about all the things you did or said
I have failed you
but believe me
you failed me too
[Chorus 2x]

song performed by by Within Temptation
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Failure

THE BOY went out from the ranges grim,
And the breath of the mountains went with him;
With a song in his heart and a smile on his face,
And a light in his eyes for a foremost place:
And the good green earth, and the salt sea spray,
And the soft blue skies, they were his that day;
And, like Eden, ringed with a golden fire—
Afar rose the Land of His Heart’s Desire.
The boy went down to the city’s strife,
And his face was lost in the surge of life;
But a Power that he did not understand
Had nerved his brain and his fighting hand.
And he strove and failed, and he rose and won—
And he failed again ere the fight was done;
But he battled on when the days were dire
To win to the Land of His Heart’s Desire.

And there, in the heart of the stress and din,
’Mid want and labour and wealth and sin,
The strong man struggled with shining eyes,
And forced a passage, and grasped the prize.
And he cried to the Power who had lent the fire:
“Lo! Fame is the Land of My Heart’s Desire!
Give the cup to me with a beaded brim.”
And the Power that he knew not gave it him.

But the air is keen on the Cliffs of Fame,
And the shafts that fly have a deadly aim!
With a foothold scarce, and a sleepless dread
For the gulfs below and the heights o’erhead,
He cried to the Power who had steeled his hand:
“I am outcast yet from my Fairyland!
For Fame is a land where no strength may tire,
But Love is the Land of My Heart’s Desire!”

Then there came to the man all his dream of Love,
With the brow of snow and the eyes of a dove,
With the glint of the sun on her wavy hair,
And her soul as pure as her face was fair.
Like a living lily to him she came,
Till his eyes were wet and his soul was flame,
And she called to him, with an outstretched hand,
And they entered into the Promised Land.

But there came a day when he asked his soul,
“Is this the land, and is this the goal?”
In his heart there lay what his lips denied—
The pang of a hunger unsatisfied.
“For Fame,” he said, “and for Love I wrought;
They are not the things that I should have sought:
’Tis to boundless power that my dreams aspire—
And Wealth is the Land of My Heart’s Desire!”

Then the Power that he did not understand
Gave him ships and houses and gold and land,
And the man’s power grew with each passing year;
But his thoughts were vexed with a sleepless fear,
And his hair grew gray with the iron strain
Of the dread of loss and the lust of gain,
And he bowed his head on his hands and said.
“All things are mine, but my heart is dead!”

And he thought of the boy from the ranges grim
With the breath of the mountains over him,
With a song in his heart and a smile on his face,
And a light in his eyes for a foremost place,
And the good green earth and the salt sea spray,
And the soft blue skies that were his that day,
When, like Eden, ringed with a golden fire,
Afar rose the Land of His Heart’s Desire.

Then clear on his startled ear there fell
A voice like the sound of a silver bell:
“To each is the work that he best can do,
But you turned from the work when it called to you.
And you sought instead for the vulgar praise,
For the lips of love, and for prosperous days.
And with all that the world can give you here,
You have lost the thing that you hold most dear.
For who hears the word that the Gods inspire—
In his work finds the Land of His Heart’s Desire.”

poem by George Essex Evans
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Destruction of Hate-Murder the Beast

Brought up in a prejudice dysfunctional household.
Took away the heart that once lived within your soul

Fiery eyes of a demon, a prejudice beast
Live your heart, conjuring up a deploring feast

You’ve hurt, you’ve maimed, took education away.
Took bright eyes and turned them a shade of gray.

Many years took its toile on the likes of you.
Bad heart, failed kidneys, time to pay your dues.

You reside in a room on the other side of town.
No one visits, no one cares, you sit wearing a frown.

Time to think and reflect while your body breaks down
No legacy to leave, you failed all around

The same people you despised, harbored hate for years
are the people who now console, dry your tears.

Why waste your time in this blessed life,
to create heartache, hate and contribute to ones strife.

Remember what you give out, you get back ten times more.
Father time will surely visit, come walking through your door.

Pick yourself up, start now before it’s too late.
Stop the cruelty, the pain, the destruction of hate.

(April 13/2007)

poem by Melvina Germain
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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How Gilbert Died

There's never a stone at the sleeper's head,
There's never a fence beside,
And the wandering stock on the grave may tread
Unnoticed and undenied;
But the smallest child on the Watershed
Can tell you how Gilbert died.
For he rode at dusk with his comrade Dunn
To the hut at the Stockman's Ford;
In the waning light of the sinking sun
They peered with a fierce accord.
They were outlaws both -- and on each man's head
Was a thousand pounds reward.

They had taken toll of the country round,
And the troopers came behind
With a black who tracked like a human hound
In the scrub and the ranges blind:
He could run the trail where a white man's eye
No sign of track could find.

He had hunted them out of the One Tree Hill
And over the Old Man Plain,
But they wheeled their tracks with a wild beast's skill,
And they made for the range again;
Then away to the hut where their grandsire dwelt
They rode with a loosened rein.

And their grandsire gave them a greeting bold:
"Come in and rest in peace,
No safer place does the country hold --
With the night pursuit must cease,
And we'll drink success to the roving boys,
And to hell with the black police."

But they went to death when they entered there
In the hut at the Stockman's Ford,
For their grandsire's words were as false as fair --
They were doomed to the hangman's cord.
He had sold them both to the black police
For the sake of the big reward.

In the depth of night there are forms that glide
As stealthily as serpents creep,
And around the hut where the outlaws hide
They plant in the shadows deep,
And they wait till the first faint flush of dawn
Shall waken their prey from sleep.

But Gilbert wakes while the night is dark --
A restless sleeper aye.
He has heard the sound of a sheep-dog's bark,
And his horse's warning neigh,
And he says to his mate, "There are hawks abroad,
And it's time that we went away."

Their rifles stood at the stretcher head,
Their bridles lay to hand;
They wakened the old man out of his bed,
When they heard the sharp command:
"In the name of the Queen lay down your arms,
Now, Dun and Gilbert, stand!"

Then Gilbert reached for his rifle true
That close at hand he kept;
He pointed straight at the voice, and drew,
But never a flash outleapt,
For the water ran from the rifle breech --
It was drenched while the outlaws slept.

Then he dropped the piece with a bitter oath,
And he turned to his comrade Dunn:
"We are sold," he said, "we are dead men both! --
Still, there may be a chance for one;
I'll stop and I'll fight with the pistol here,
You take to your heels and run."

So Dunn crept out on his hands and knees
In the dim, half-dawning light,
And he made his way to a patch of trees,
And was lost in the black of night;
And the trackers hunted his tracks all day,
But they never could trace his flight.

But Gilbert walked from the open door
In a confident style and rash;
He heard at his side the rifles roar,
And he heard the bullets crash.
But he laughed as he lifted his pistol-hand,
And he fired at the rifle-flash.

Then out of the shadows the troopers aimed
At his voice and the pistol sound.
With rifle flashes the darkness flamed --
He staggered and spun around,
And they riddled his body with rifle balls
As it lay on the blood-soaked ground.

There's never a stone at the sleeper's head,
There's never a fence beside,
And the wandering stock on the grave may tread
Unnoticed and undenied;
But the smallest child on the Watershed
Can tell you how Gilbert died.

poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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White Skin Black Heart

Yeah, whatcha gonna do now, now that you started?
Whatcha gonna do now, now that its done?
The words got out there, they float around and are coming right back down.
You gonna leave us lying here
Dealing with the consequences of a bad sound
Of a bad sound.
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
Whatcha gonna do now, that its spoken?
These words of a habit, have not faded away.
.................... it clear, conscious gets opened like a wound.
If you cant concieve a better line and better times,
Then let silence bury you, in the end.
When you feel it, when you feel it
Youre condemned.
You see, youve lost your strangle on the freedom road! you
Think ........................of something a long time ago! you
[spewed it out you were so] insecure! it was like ............. on
The toilet floor! youre a [nine seat] drunk, ............... and
You say you want something, .......... you heard the rednecks
Roaring for blood and then they wanted more! life was so small, you
Couldnt get enough. you made a start.
White skin black heart
Dripping,
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
Drag your eyes from [aurora] black heart!
White skin black heart
Drag your leg, get outta here [my sight]!
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
White skin black heart
You didnt have to start
White skin black heart
White skin black heart

song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black And White

Long before you ever saw your chances
You were going to burn this city down
Tired of the fashions and the dances
Tired of the people standing around
Ticking like a bomb in the night
And you knew you were right
Black and white
Blame it on the time it took to leave here
Blame it on the ones who slowed you down
Blame it on the kind of friends you knew here
Blame it on the sickness going 'round
Going round and round in the night
With your heart out of sight
With your world burning bright
Like a moth 'round a light
Black and white
The pictures of a life in flames
Black and white
The picture of a life remains
And the search you half remember
Setting out on at the start
Is burning like an ember in your heart
Time running out time running out
For the fool still asking what his life is about
Time running out time running out
Time running out time running out
Yeah, beyond a shadow of a doubt
Time running out time running out
Tell them that you've gone to find a person
Someone you lost track of long ago
Tell them that it's someone you need worse than
Anybody else you'll ever know
Ticking like a bomb in the night
You were strong, you were light
You were fast, you were bright
Then you were gone in the light
Black and white
The pictures of a life in flames
Black and white
The picture of a life remains
And the high ideals and the promise
You once dressed the future in
Are dancing in the embers with the wind
Time running out time running out
For the fool still asking what his life is about
Time running out time running out
Time running out time running out
Yeah, beyond a shadow of a doubt
Time

song performed by by Jackson Browne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Some Other Somebody

Somebody's horse has finished his feed,
Somebody's saddle is on;
But never a nigger the tracks can read,
Or know where Somebody's gone.

Over the rails and up the creek,
As soon as the sun goes down:
How is it every night this week
That Somebody's off to town?

Grass is dewy, and overhead
Evening stars are bright;
And startled wallabies hear the tread
Of galloping hoofs at night.

Through the scrub and over the plain
Somebody's galloping fast;
Never a pull on the bridle rein
Till the town lights show at last.

Somebody's horse has whips o' work -
Whips o' work of late -
Since Somebody's brown was seen in town
Tied to Somebody's gate.

But the wherefore why Somebody rides,
And the track that the brown horse goes,
Only his rider (and one besides:
Some other Somebody) knows!

poem by Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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