Down By the Carib Sea
I
Sunrise in the Tropics
Sol, Sol, mighty lord of the tropic zone,
Here I wait with the trembling stars
To see thee once more take thy throne.
There the patient palm tree watching
Waits to say, 'Good morn' to thee,
And a throb of expectation
Pulses through the earth and me.
Now, o'er nature falls a hush,
Look! the East is all a-blush;
And a growing crimson crest
Dims the late stars in the west;
Now, a flood of golden light
Sweeps acress the silver night,
Swift the pale moon fades away
Before the light-girt King of Day,
See! the miracle is done!
Once more behold! The Sun!
II
Los Cigarillos
This is the land of the dark-eyed
gente,
Of the
dolce far niente,
Where we dream away
Both the night and day,
At night-time in sleep our dreams we invoke,
Our dreams come by day through the redolent smoke,
As it lazily curls,
And slowly unfurls
From our lips,
And the tips
Of our fragrant cigarillos.
For life in the tropics is only a joke,
So we pass it in dreams, and we pass it in smoke,
Smoke — smoke — smoke.
Tropical constitutions
Call for occasional revolutions;
But after that's through,
Why there's nothing to do
But smoke — smoke;
For life in the tropics is only a joke,
So we pass it in dreams, and we pass it in smoke,
Smoke — smoke — smoke.
III
Teestay
Of tropic sensations, the worst
Is,
sin duda,
the tropical thirst.
When it starts in your throat and constantly grows,
Till you feel that it reaches down to your toes,
When your mouth tastes like fur
And your tongue turns to dust,
There's but one thing to do,
And do it you must,
Drink
teestay.
Teestay, a drink with a history,
A delicious, delectable mystery,
'Cinco centavos el vaso, señor,'
If you take one, you will surely want more.
Teestay, Teestay,
The national drink on a feast day;
How it coolingly tickles,
As downward it trickles,
Teestay, teestay.
And you wish, as you take it down at a quaff,
That your neck was constructed à la giraffe.
Teestay, teestay.
IV
The Lottery Girl
'Lottery, lottery,
Take a chance at the lottery?
Take a ticket,
Or, better, take two;
Who knows what the future
May hold for you?
Lottery, lottery,
Take a chance at the lottery?'
Oh, limpid-eyed girl,
I would take every chance,
If only the prize
Were a love-flashing glance
From your fathomless eyes.
'Lottery, lottery,
Try your luck at the lottery?
Consider the size
Of the capital prize,
And take tickets
For the lottery.
Tickets,
señor?
Tickets,
señor?
Take a chance at the lottery?'
Oh, crimson-lipped girl,
With the magical smile,
I would count that the gamble
Were well worth the while,
Not a chance would I miss,
If only the prize
Were a honey-bee kiss
Gathered in sips
From those full-ripened lips,
And a love-flashing glance
From your eyes.
V
The Dancing Girl
Do you know what it is to dance?
Perhaps, you do know, in a fashion;
But by dancing I mean,
Not what's generally seen,
But dancing of fire and passion,
Of fire and delirious passion.
With a dusky-haired
señorita,
Her dark, misty eyes near your own,
And her scarlet-red mouth,
Like a rose of the south,
The reddest that ever was grown,
So close that you catch
Her quick-panting breath
As across your own face it is blown,
With a sigh, and a moan.
Ah! that is dancing,
As here by the Carib it's known.
Now, whirling and twirling
Like furies we go;
Now, soft and caressing
And sinuously slow;
With an undulating motion,
Like waves on a breeze-kissed ocean:—
And the scarlet-red mouth
Is nearer your own,
And the dark, misty eyes
Still softer have grown.
Ah! that is dancing, that is loving,
As here by the Carib they're known.
VI
Sunset in the Tropics
A silver flash from the sinking sun,
Then a shot of crimson across the sky
That, bursting, lets a thousand colors fly
And riot among the clouds; they run,
Deepening in purple, flaming in gold,
Changing, and opening fold after fold,
Then fading through all of the tints of the rose into gray,
Till, taking quick fright at the coming night,
They rush out down the west,
In hurried quest
Of the fleeing day.
Now above where the tardiest color flares a moment yet,
One point of light, now two, now three are set
To form the starry stairs, —
And, in her fire-fly crown,
Queen Night, on velvet slippered feet, comes softly down.
poem by James Weldon Johnson
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Related quotes
A bitter pill implies where I belong
I signed the back of a lottery ticket, filled the name and address clearly.
The night is sleeping but still I am awake in a Gas station to fulfill the boisterous vehicles.
I hear a whisper in my decaying wallet.
'Hey! Dear this is not the winning ticket exactly but a day would be appeared and bring you the lucky chance soon.' The lottery muttered.
After a lazy yawn I speak to myself;
'Nowadays the papers talk much while the poor people shut their mouths as nothing to put in for digest.'
* To Gheorghe Zamfir!
Your divine magical pan flute's notes impress me how to grab the fleeing life?
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Windfall
the indian lottery man
who walked the length
and breath of brickfields,
the one i usually bought
some lottery from, wishing
for a windfall of its first prize -
a cool US$1 million - where is he?
has he too gotten a windfall?
lying flat and peaceful like the
graves I passed by just now?
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Dancin' With Myself
On the floor of Tokyo
Or down in London town to go, go
With the record selection
With the mirror reflection
I'm dancing with myself
When there's no-one else in sight
In the crowded lonely night
Well I wait so long
For my love vibration
And I'm dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there's nothing to lose
And there's nothing to prove
I'll be dancing with myself
If I looked all over the world
And there's every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself
So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there's nothing to lose
And there's nothing to prove
I'll be dancing with myself
If I looked all over the world
And there's every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself
So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
[Scat]
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
If I looked all over the world
And there's every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself
So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
song performed by by Billy Idol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The soul also must be fed
When others smoke happily in street corners
He too smiles poor fellow!
When passing the dim Pubs
He's very aggressive.
In a narrow path of a starry night
When baby dolls dance
He too dance with a yawn.
He explained to himself
The strange guy;
'Please wait and don't be hurry,
This tricky lottery of life
Does a miracle soon
And I fulfill all your innocent dreams.
I'll buy an expensive grey color metalic painted Hearse
And we do a full-blooded round trip Chum!
*Humbly I dedicate this scribbling to my poet friend Paddy. Martin
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Fire By Night, Smoke By Day
It's fire by night and smoke by day
As we lay in our beds just thinking away
We wake in the morning to do what they say
It's fire by night and it's smoke by day
The sun starts to rise and the birds start to sing
We worry about what to do, what to wear and what to bring
We make a to-do list filled with everything
Just like the summer, the winter, the fall and the spring
Fire by night, smoke by day
There's nothing left to blow it away
Our day carries on as we're stuck to the clock
A slave to the ways of the tic and the toc
We carry a key but there isn't a lock
Trying to discover what is already lost
Fire by night, smoke by day
There's nothing left to blow it away
We wait for the water to wash it away
It's fire by night, smoke by day
Our thoughts start to wander as night settles in
Engaged in a fight we're not ready to win
As we wait for a new tomorrow to begin
The fire starts burning all over again
Fire by night, smoke by day
There's nothing left to blow it away
We wait for the water to wash it away
It's fire by night, smoke by day
poem by Navillus Tam
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Lottery
I have never won the lottery
but if I ever did I'd buy
A lovely little run a round car
something pleasing to my eye
The color of my car would be yellow
it would be nick named The sun
I would drive to all the beaches
having loads of holiday fun
I have never won the lottery
maybe that's because I do not play
but the thought of winning millions
just blows my mind away
By Marie Causey
poem by Marie Causey
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Adventure upon all the tickets in the lottery, and you lose for certain; and the greater the number of your tickets the nearer your approach to this certainty.
quote by Adam Smith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When The Smoke Comes Out
when the smoke comes out
they are there to say that there is fire
on the chimney
when the smoke is black
they all say i have decided
when the smoke is white
they keep on praying since
no one is chosen
to lead the lost flock
without their grazing ground
during winter time
what if the smoke comes out
from my eyes and the smoke is black
and there is no fire in my heart?
what if i am lost? shall you care?
please don't. I must tell you i am happier
when left alone.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Without You
Gazing at our sunrise
Reflected in your clear eyes
Misty morning forest smoke fires
Make our way through the broken day
I couldnt stand to stay
Without you
We must keep moving
While the light is clearing
Leaving your dark world behind you
You have to run
Life is just begun
Ill never be alone
Without you
One chilling thought
Come screaming through the dark
I saw a yellow moon at midnight
And now you woke
Glowing in the smoke
Im suddenly alone
Without you
Wanting things the way they used to be
You dont know what that can do to me
One more day, maybe never
Might as well be forever
Outside the light,fading as I write
And another night reminds me
As I sleep, memory that I keep
Its just another night
Without you
It seems so long
Ive been holding on
Since I felt my arms around you
Time will go, both of us will know
Never be a day
Without you
song performed by by Asia
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Lottery Monster
Get you purses out ladies
And rattle your cash
Get along to the ticket-booth
Go have a bash;
Your pounds and your pennies
I'm longing to see
I'm the Lottery monster
So listen to me.
The Lottery monster
He has to be fed
He lives on cold cash
Just as you live on bread;
So throw any caution you had
To the wind
Your jackpotted dreams
To six numbers are pinned.
The holiday money
You keep in that tin
Could net you ten million
'Cause SOMEONE must win;
So search out your cash
In your jackets and jeans
Your husband can diet
The kids can eat beans.
Look it isn't a crime
So go on, have a flutter
Never mind that it's needed
For bread and for butter;
Reduce all the chatting
You do on the 'phone
Let the fire go out
And then go get a loan.
See according to all of
The facts and the data
You're bound to start winning...
Sooner or later;
And there's always next week
If your numbers weren't right
But I won't be skint
On a Saturday night.
Written March 1996
poem by John Carter Brown
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Quinella Holiday
The bar was crowded in the arvo din
And the voices got higher and higher
For the man at the back with the tickets in his hat
He would have to do more than aspire to
A place with some light on the sand near a beach
A place near some green running water
Place on the hill with a view of the sea
And the cooking was done by his daughter
If the quinella comes in today
The day is late and the race is run
A full weeks wages and the lots been done
cos the meeting is over and the crowd has thinned
In the game of chance the dice has rolled its spin
Another long week, lady luck makes it plain
His dreams and his hopes are dashed in vain
In the final shout as they call his name
His tickets lie like scattered leaves out on that asphalt plain
Looking around for the moment thats right
Lottery life well the numbers are tight
As they try one more pull on the handle too late
He thinks of what could be it sticks in his throat
If the quinella...
(garrett/moginie)
song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Big Black Smoke
She was sick and tired of country life.
A little country home,
A little country folk,
Made her blood run cold.
Now her mother pines her heart away,
Looking for her child in the big black smoke,
In the big black smoke.
Frailest, purest girl the world has seen,
According to her ma, according to her pa,
And everybody said,
That she knew no sin and did no wrong,
Till she walked the streets of the big black smoke,
Of the big black smoke.
Well, she slept in caffs and coffee bars and bowling alleys,
And every penny she had
Was spent on purple hearts and cigarettes.
She took all her pretty coloured clothes,
And ran away from home
And the boy next door,
For a boy named joe.
And he took her money for the rent
And tried to drag her down in the big black smoke,
In the big black smoke.
In the big black smoke.
In the big black smoke.
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Without You
Just when Im ready to throw in my hand
Just when the best things in life are gone
I look into your eyes
Theres no smoke without fire
Youre exactly who I want to be with
Without you
What would I do
And when Im willing to call it a day
Just when I wont take another chance
I hold your hand
Theres no smoke without fire
Woman I love you
Without you
What would I do
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lottery tickets are a surtax on desperation.
quote by Doug Coupland
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Smokin The Herb Again
Yo yo yo, yo, yo yo what
Smoking
Were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Damn, I really wish I could find my sack man
Must have got eaten by pac-man
If I had it I could smoke again
Smoke with my friends to the very end
But now Im trying to comprehend
Whens the next time that Ill smoke again
I need to know, please tell when will we smoke again
I got a buddy, his name is ted
Hes got a problem going through his head
He doesnt know how to puff puff give
But I like so Ill teach him and Ill let him live
Everyday we teach him right
When he divides, we have to fight
But at the end of the trying day
We says its ok and we puff away
Just the other night, I saw you, you were smokin not sharing and being tight
But thats ok, you are my friend, well smoking until the very end
The lessons that we put out, we order you to try it out
Its nice to smoke, yea thats what were all about
Smoking
Were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Hey, ho, hey ho, hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho
I smoke, you smoke, we smoke, they smoke, smoking everywhere
I smoke, you smoke, we smoke, they smoke, smoking all together
Smoking
Were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
Were smoking, were smoking, were smoking the herb again
song performed by by Incubus
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Smoke And Mirrors
When I was a boy all the books I read
I followed like a blind man
To heed the words my father said
Those golden summers fade into night, words become a dream
The echoes of my childhood and where the path is winding
May God bless you, keep you safe from all harm
I stand by you always
Time and motion hands touch
Lips find a way to heaven on high
Watch the children play, the child becomes a man
And all the tangled webs we weave
You swear it as we live and breath
We stay together death until you part
Winner takes the prize
The futures at your finger tips, right before your eyes
No more sorrow (smoke and mirrors)
No more nights with no end
(I really learned a lot, smoke and mirrors)
I see my tomorrows
And nothing from nothing
And ashes to ashes they say
All the more that you reach out
The more that it runs away
(Smoke and mirrors)
No more goodbyes
(Thats all I ever got, smoke and mirrors)
No lies, you find your way there
(She show me what shes got, smoke and mirrors)
Heaven on high
May god bless you keep you safe from all harm
I stand by you always
Time and motion
(smoke and mirrors)
Hands touch, lips find a way to
(Thats all I ever got, smoke and mirrors)
Heaven on high
No more sorrow
(I really learned a lot, smoke and mirrors)
No more nights with no end
(She show me what shes got, smoke and mirrors)
I rise or I fall
no more goodbyes
(She really makes me hot, smoke and mirrors)
No lies, you find a way there
Heaven on high
song performed by by Bee Gees
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Who Lights The Fire?
Who lights the fire-that forth so gracefully
And freely frolicketh the fairy smoke?
Some pretty one who never felt the yoke-
Glad girl, or maiden more sedate than she.
Pedant it cannot, villain cannot be!
Some genius, may-be, his own symbol woke;
But puritan, nor rogue in virtue's cloke,
Nor kitchen-maid has done it certainly!
Ha, ha! you cannot find the lighter out
For all the blue smoke's pantomimic gesture-
His name or nature, sex or age or vesture!
The fire was lit by human care, no doubt-
But now the smoke is Nature's tributary,
Dancing 'twixt man and nothing like a fairy.
poem by George MacDonald
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The Burning Of The Temple
Fierce wrath of Solomon,
Where sleepest thou ?
0 see, The fabric which thou won
Earth and ocean to give thee-
0 look at the red skies.
Or hath the sun plunged down ?
What is this molten gold-
These thundering fires blown
Through heaven, where the smoke rolled ?
Again the great king dies.
His dreams go out in smoke.
His days he let not pass
And sculptured here are broke,
Are charred as the burnt grass,
Gone as his mouth's last sighs.
poem by Isaac Rosenberg
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Damned
Don't smoke don't fight don't light no cigarettes
Or else you'll wind up in the can
No jokes no rights sit tight don't fool around
You are a guest of Uncle Sam
Stand up look right don't slouch and stand at ease
Allow no sex above the knees
When I snap you jump into the master plan
I'll be damned
Well I'll be damned
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
Damned if I do
Damned if I don't
Don't talk don't fool don't try to mess around
I'll make a monkey outta you
You sign your name right on that dotted line boy
I'll be damned
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
Damned if I do
And damned if I don't
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
I'm damned if I do
I'm damned if I don't
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
I'm damned if I do
I'm damned if I don't
I'll be damned (6x)
song performed by by AC/DC from Stiff Upper Lip
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Granny Used to Smoke
Granny used to smoke,
She had her special cigarette.
Granny used to smoke,
She had her special style to.
Granny used to smoke,
She used to send me to shop.
Granny used to smoke.
She used to smoke this way:
Putting the glowing side,
Inside her mouth cavity,
And hers is to release,
Trains of smoke!
poem by Buyunde Acura Sylivester
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