To America
How would you have us, as we are?
Or sinking 'neath the load we bear?
Our eyes fixed forward on a star?
Or gazing empty at despair?
Rising or falling? Men or things?
With dragging pace or footsteps fleet?
Strong, willing sinews in your wings?
Or tightening chains about your feet?
poem by James Weldon Johnson
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Related quotes
Imprisoned
Falling:
Imprisoned, while
Hiding-
Eyes, fixed upon
Mountains of madness-
Chained to the sky,
Yellow hued-
Venus, rising:
Looking;
Shadows,
Reflecting pond-
Angry?
Can you
Believe in
Starlight?
Only when I am
Falling from
Mountains of
Madness
Wishing upon a
Star….
poem by Claudia Krizay
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The Noose
Well our souls are all mistaken in the same misguided way
We all end up forsaken, we're just choosing our own way
The future now incinerates before our very eyes
And leaves us with emptiness of no more tries
Well our visions of glory have spiraled down the drain
The best of our intentions come crashing down in flames
The depths of our despair we are unable to contain
It's shallow living
The noose is falling
And all my friends are crawling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
A truth appalling
Our mak'r comes a calling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
Well the tracers from yesteryear are burning in the dust
Your bruises are reminders of naivete and trust
You're only feeling stronger cause your body's getting numb
Now I lay you down
Put the coins in your eyes
And blow the candles out
The noose is falling
And all my friends are crawling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
A truth appalling
Our mak'r comes a calling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising (x2)
No more!
No more!
Nothing!
No more!
No more!
Ever!
No!
More!
song performed by by Offspring
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Doom Of The Esquire Bedell
Adown the torturing mile of street
I mark him come and go,
Thread in and out with tireless feet
The crossings to and fro;
A soul that treads without retreat
A labyrinth of woe.
Palsied with awe of such despair,
All living things give room,
They flit before his sightless glare
As horrid shapes, that loom
And shriek the curse that bids him bear
The symbol of his doom.
The very stones are coals that bake
And scorch his fevered skin;
A fire no hissing hail may slake
Consumes his heart within.
Still must he hasten on to rake
The furnace of his sin.
Still forward! forward! For he feels
Fierce claws that pluck his breast,
And blindly beckon as he reels
Upon his awful quest:
For there is that behind his heels
Knows neither ruth nor rest.
The fiends in hell have flung the dice;
The destinies depend
On feet that run for fearful price,
And fangs that gape to rend;
And still the footsteps of his Vice
Pursue him to the end:—
The feet of his incarnate Vice
Shall dog him to the end.
poem by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
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At The Scale Of Life I Wait For You
Despair sinking
Hope rising
continue balancing
which breath
will
bring
most
charge
from
this
mornings'
greeting
these words of mine (or notes)
weighing the loads of life
How is your day going?
paving traces
of my tracks
for
I
am
now
waiting (playing)
at
the
Scale of life
lifting
the weights of our lots
Despair versus hopes and vise versa
You decide this moment
tip the scale
One way or the other
Depending
On your leaning
your burden this second
May I lend a hand?
Remove one more ounce
To my preference from the side of despair?
Pulling us with lift instead
I see a ray of light
In your eyes
may I go ahead?
unburden your load
This endorphin rush of hope
Does wonder to our universe
Ignites the suns of our souls
poem by leaking Pen
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Lost Bloom
You are God’s best-kept secret, Li Shaojun,
Your smile lights up the dimmest, darkest day,
And in your eyes, there shines a love so strong
That men are shamed, and look the other way.
For men are shallow, falling at your feet,
Protest undying love, then look a-stare
To see some dark-eyed daughter in the street,
And think that heaven has moved, to your despair.
While you provide what life has left to give,
Though age approaches, nothing turns your head,
Your eyes are fixed on what the elders teach
That love endures, until that love is dead!
Until that love is dead, or walks away,
Your love is faithful, fixed on one alone,
But this was never seen as quite enough
By those, whose feet were always set to roam.
Your culture still dictates the way you live,
The way you cleave to thoughts he may return,
That you may once again fill up his skies,
His one horizon, once he’s come back home.
In China, there’s no heaven, and no hell,
Except the place the lonely woman walks,
Who, long betrayed, seeks only to dispel
Her sadness, and her dreadful sense of loss!
Forget the past, forget the wayward feet,
Look only to the future now, Shaojun,
The best is yet to come, your lover’s fate
Will seek you out, before this life has done.
20 April 2006
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Music At The Villa Marina
FOR some abiding central source of power,
Strong-smitten steady chords, ye seem to flow
And, flowing, carry virtue. Far below,
The vain tumultuous passions of the hour
Fleet fast and disappear; and as the sun
Shines on the wake of tempests, there is cast
O'er all the shattered ruins of my past
A strong contentment as of battles won.
And yet I cry in anguish, as I hear
The long drawn pageant of your passage roll
Magnificently forth into the night.
To yon fair land ye come from, to yon sphere
Of strength and love where now ye shape your flight,
O even wings of music, bear my soul!
Ye have the power, if but ye had the will,
Strong-smitten steady chords in sequence grand,
To bear me forth into that tranquil land
Where good is no more ravelled up with ill;
Where she and I, remote upon some hill
Or by some quiet river's windless strand,
May live, and love, and wander hand in hand,
And follow nature simply, and be still.
From this grim world, where, sadly, prisoned, we
Sit bound with others' heart-strings as with chains,
And, if one moves, all suffer, - to that Goal,
If such a land, if such a sphere, there be,
Thither, from life and all life's joys and pains,
O even wings of music, bear my soul!
poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
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Heavy Load
Orbison/price
At times it seems too rough, things just drag me down
Its hard to find the strength to just one more round
When I need help, I know where to go
cos youre the best friend that I could ever know
Being taught the words from you .... from what is true
Someone to share the pain that Im going through
And its a heavy load that I bear and its a heavy crown that I wear
As I travel down this road, its a heavy load, its a heavy load
Its a heavy load that I bear and its a heavy crown that I wear
So help me one more time, its such an uphill climb
As I travel down this road, its a heavy load
Lord its a heavy load, lord its a heavy load, lord its a heavy load
Lord its a heavy load, lord its a heavy load....
song performed by by Roy Orbison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Falling At Your Feet
Every chip from every cup
Every promise given up
Every reason that's not enough
Is falling, falling at your feet
Every band elastic limit
Every race when there's nothing in it
Every winner that has lost their ticket
Is falling, falling at your feet
I've come crawling, falling at your feet
Everyone who needs a friend
Every life that has no end
Every knee not ready to bend
Is falling, falling at your feet
I've come crawling, now I'm falling at your feet
All fall down
All the manic days
The faces that you pull
All the x-rays not under your control
The graffiti rolling down off of your tongue
And the compromise you make for someone
Every teenage with acne
Every face that's spoiled by beauty
Every adult tamed by duty
Are all falling at your feet
Every foot in every face
Every cop stop that finds the grace
Every prisoner in the Maze
Every hand that needs an ace
Is falling, falling at your feet
I've come crawling, now I'm falling at your feet
All fall down
All the books you never read
Just started
All the meals you rushed
And never tasted
Every eye closed by a bruise
Every player who just can't lose
Every pop star hurling abuse
Every drunk back on the booze
All falling at your feet, all falling at your feet
All fall down
All the information
All the big ideas
All the radio waves
On electronic seas
How to navigate
How to simply be
Don't know when to wait
Explain simplicity
In whom shall I trust?
How might I be still?
Teach me to surrender
Not my will, THY will
song performed by by U2
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Angel Band
(traditional/emmylou harris)
My latest sun is sinking fast, my race is nearly run
My strongest trials now are past, my triumph has begun
Oh, come angel band come and around me stand
Oh bear me away on your snow white wings to my immortal home
Oh bear me away on your snow white wings to my immortal home
Oh bear my longing heart to him who bled and died for me
Whose blood now cleanses from all sin and gives me victory
Oh, come angel band come and around me stand
Oh bear me away on your snow white wings to my immortal home
Oh bear me away on your snow white wings to my immortal home
Oh bear me away on your snow white wings to my immortal home
song performed by by Emmylou Harris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Great Escape
Left alone in a dreary mood,
With none to lean on and look for,
She tethered her soul to sordid gloom,
And chained her fancy, never letting to soar.
Dull were the days and sore were the nights,
Time slouched on in mechanical beats,
Mind devoid of any buoyant thoughts,
Senses shut to every cheery throb of life,
She lay awake, staring on the ceiling above,
Her eyes so lost in a fixed stare,
Never a smile alighted her stony face,
Nor a gleam of hope brightened up her brain.
Inertia crept over from head to foot.
She had long lost her zest for life,
With life saps drained out like an empty well,
She felt nothing but the heat of scorching drought.
Nothing could move her grief laden soul,
None could lift the weight off her back,
Embers of fire sparked from the anvil of her heart,
Heaves of sighs escaped from her parched mouth,
She wriggled and writhed in unspeakable pain,
Her spirits sank deeper into a slithery marsh,
She saw around only a thick pall of gloom,
Or was it a projection of her own self?
Anguish gnawed her nerves and sinews,
Flames of pain danced within her spine,
She felt her head beginning to reel,
And the heavy weight of lead all around her neck.
She felt being pushed down to abysmal depths,
And the octopus tightening its tentacles all around.
Who on earth will set me free?
What on earth can lift me up?
With thundering force the question shook her weary self.
She sprang to her feet and broke loose her chains,
She found she was but in self - exile,
A captive entrapped within boundless space.
She saw the door opening to infinite lengths,
And the arched horizon looming larger than life,
She spread her wings and propelled up,
And darted through the clouds to distant shores.
poem by Valsa George
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The Tar Pit
I'm sinking, I'm sinking,
Deeper and deeper.
Hell is reaching out to me.
I'm clawing. I'm struggling.
I'm screaming nobody hears me.
Nobody sees me.
I'm sinking deeper in to depression.
Hell is calling out to me.
Voices swirl, I hear my name, .
I'm caught in a tar pit.
Sinking to my knees.
Nobody sees. Faces mock me,
I close my eyes;
I hear the devil's roar.
I'm sinking. I'm sinking.
In to depression
I'm sinking fast.
My time has come.
Hell beckons, Hell's calling.
I can see flames.I can feel the fire.
My Body is trapped.
There's no escape,
The tar laps at my knees.
I'm sinking just sinking.
He's dragging me away.
I'm clawing. I'm struggling.
I'm screaming.
Nobody hears me.
Nobody sees me.
Im stuck in the tar pitt.
Please pull me out
poem by Amy Louise Kerswell
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The Big Getaway
I keep running, running
trying to get away
my feet are moving, my heart is pounding
I keep looking back, trying to see if you are behind me
time is an issue here
I'm falling
I'm hurt
but i got to keep on running.
your'e always there,
running behind me
My pace has slowed up
these feet are not sure, if they can make it anymore
running out of reasons to leave
you even memorized them
challenged me, when i named them
sounds kind of cruel now
my energy level has been destroyed
stripped from me
i am not on a high anymore
i'm begining to wonder
if it is me, that is unhappy
Are things all that bad?
bad could be worseconfusion sets in
am i losing my mind?
gotta get out of here
gotta keep up with the pace
pack my things
i must go
loving you shouldn't be painful
I should be running to you, not away from you
don't follow me please
no, not this time
don't ask me any questions
no not this time
i gotta run, keep going
i don't wanna hear the complaints no more
the demands
stay focused!
keep running till i'm safe
strong enough to getaway and stay away
strong enough to free my mind
for 'The Big Getaway'
Adrienne C. Strachn
Dedicated to woman who
wanted to get away but couldn't
4/05
poem by Adrienne Clark Strachn
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Falling Calling
(clarke / sylvester)
Didnt believe in the bible
Didnt believe the good book
Lord, lord please help me, help me take a look
These chains that Im wearing really aint my style
Lord, lord please help me, help me think awhile
I know that I did something wrong
I got into bad ways
Well the judge, yes he put me down, for five thousand days
Falling, falling, falling over you
Calling, calling, I dont know what to do
Falling, falling, falling over you
Calling, calling, I dont know what to do
The cell I am in is only six feet wide
And six feet to the roof
Theres a window thats strung with only three bars
Singing me the truth
Fifty and seventy dont seem right
Seventy aint my age
When I leave this place with a new face
Its to turn another a new page
Falling, falling, falling over you
Calling, calling, I dont know what to do
Falling, falling, falling over you
Calling, calling, I dont know what to do
Didnt believe in the bible
Didnt believe the good book
Well now lord, lord please help me, help me take a look
These chains that Im wearing well they really aint my style
Well now lord, lord please help me, help me think awhile
Falling, falling, falling over you
Calling, calling, I dont know what to do
Falling, falling, falling over you
Calling, calling, I dont know what to do
song performed by by Hollies
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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How Shall I Escape
Allergy symptoms, eyes skew, world upside
down everyone I know is gone, only empty
shells of ourselves left, the iron clamp on my
Hail Mary head still tightening-mea culpa-oh
yes I know full well something is wrong with
my vibrational skills I attract problems like a
magnet today, every choice made is wrought
with great danger-although what will happen
next is Heisenbergian uncertainty
I suspect it will continue the pattern of Unheil
und schmerzhafte Leidenschaft* - my early
morning attempt to change life into a lovely
safe place exploded and now I am lost at my
desk, the iron clamp tightening, tightening,
tightening still - and how shall I make my
escape - get a cup of coffee and regard
the world through a caffeine-induced
clearer eye?
*painful passion
poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Falling Off
I was a young man
Whose intentions were good
Kept my hands in my pockets
The way that I should
I soon found out
They got a mind of their own
Beginning to think
I had a heart
Made of stone
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I try to remember
I try to forget
I┬┤ll keep my promise
Is that what I said
I had your number
But I didn┬┤t call
I got no excuse
I got my back to the wall
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
My eyes don┬┤t want to see
My ears don┬┤t want to hear
The things that make me feel
That keep me so endeared to you
It makes me think
Is that the best I can do
It doesn┬┤t matter
The time that I fall
I'm up for the next one
Like I'm ten feet tall
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
I keep falling off
song performed by by Aerosmith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Man In Chains
Ive only myself to blame,
Now that Im tangled up in chains,
So you say, ooh, so you say
Caught in this human cage,
Trapped, and Im fired up with rage
And somebodys got to pay
I can never talk about it,
I can never say what I want to say
So Ill take your tip and Ill bite my lip
And hope it goes away
You say Im a man of straw
Well, baby, Im gonna break your law
Then its war, ooh, yes its war
Love on a thin white line,
Love that was just a waste of time,
Oh, not anymore
I can feel it coming at me,
I can feel it coming like the wind
But, Im locked away and Im bound to stay,
So no one can get in
Im a man in chains, Im a man in chains
Oh, Im a man in chains, Im a man in chains
I only pray that before I die,
Just like a phoenix I will rise and fly
Tell me whos to blame,
Oh, Im a man, now Im a man in chains
There must be a reason why
Youre pulling the wool down on my eyes
Its a lie, its a lie
Dragging this ball and chain,
Oh, how long can I take this pain?
But somebody has to try, yeah
Oh, I can feel the pressure on me,
I can feel it taking me from the start
Sticks and stones will smash my bones,
But never break my heart
Im a man in chains, Im a man in chains
Oh, Im a man in chains, Im a man in chains
I only pray that before I die,
Just like a phoenix I will rise and fly
Tell me whos to blame,
Oh, Im a man, now Im a man in chains
I can never talk about it,
Oh, I can never say what I want to say
So Ill take your tip and Ill bite my lip
And hope it goes away
Im a man in chains, Im a man in chains
Oh, Im a man in chains, Im a man in chains
I only pray that before I die,
Just like a phoenix I will rise and fly
Tell me whos to blame,
Oh, Im a man, now Im a man in chains
song performed by by Spandau Ballet
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Shadow
Things I have left behind
Within an effort to move forward,
Counting every minute, every second-
Reliving my life through every hour, day and year-
The night time sky is falling before my own eyes
Blocking the pathway before me, blinding me-
I cannot foresee a future-The rain that fell every time
I tried to venture outward,
Rain that transformed to tears
When all hope had ostensibly disappeared.
Things I have left behind-
Places where I had been locked inside,
Having lost grounds with all that is real-
Perhaps a few roses in a cracked vase by my bedside,
A mother that did not care and a father that did not believe-
When through my own eyes my world had fallen to pieces.
I left behind many people-
People I did not trust and it was then that I knew
I had to rebuild my foundation,
To build a future for myself that would be mine and mine alone-
Things I have left behind are now
Gone and gone forever-all that is left is time-
Time to move on and to bury the past in my back yard and
Search for hope, a purpose and a new reality.
These things I have left behind are sinking into the ground-
Now I can foresee a future- the flame on my candle is burning
Guiding me as I run forward into a garden of blossoming trees and
A paved pathway upon which to run forward- and a cloudless sky
Where I can lift my wings, once broken and are healing, and fly-
Fly high above looking down below at my newfound veracity-
I know if I were to take a look behind-
All I could see would be a shadow upon a sidewalk-
A shadow of my past and everybody knows that shadows don't last forever, and
All else that I have left behind is gone forever,
Looking forward at the allure of the springtime and
I see clearly now- there is no more rain and as I look above me
I can see trees seemingly touching the sun against a deep blue sky-
I can see clearly now because my eyes are open wide and
There are no tears to cry today and when I glance behind me-
All I see is a shadow- that shadow of my past, vanishing in the late spring's breeze-
poem by Claudia Krizay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Angel Band
My latest sun is sinking fast
My race is nearly run
My strongest trials now have past
My triumph is begin
Oh, come, angel band
Come and around me, stand
Oh, bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
Oh, bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
Oh, bear my longing heart to him
Who bled and died for me
Whose blood now cleanses from all sin
And brings me victory
Oh, come, angel band
Come and around me, stand
Oh, bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
Oh, bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
Oh, come, angel band
Come and around me, stand
Oh, bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
song performed by by Monkees
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On Silent Wings
(t. j. white, j. ralston)
Producer: trevor horn
Album: wildest dreams (96)
Special guest: sting
There was a time when I would have followed you
To the end of the earth
I was willing to share it all with you
The love, the hurt
Ive seen you when your dreams were falling in the dust
But I never stopped believing in you
I always thought our love was strong enough
One you could hold on to
You never see it coming
You just let it fly
On silent wings, silent wings
You cant hide what you you feel inside
And the fire has left your eyes
On silent wings
I see us in our dreams and were dancing
I can almost hear the song
But the prayers, they go unanswered
But we both know, were just hanging on
I feel ashamed, but Ill never know the reason why
The rug was pulled so gently from under my feet
I only know that something good has died
Between you and me, oh its just a memory
You never see it coming
You just go separate ways
On silent wings, silent wings
Theres no more promises to break
Or our love has slipped away
On silent wings
You never see it coming
But you know it has to end
On silent wings, silent wings
I will never be the same again
I feel the whisper of the wind
On silent wings
song performed by by Tina Turner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Times Have Changed
Captain I am sorry that this ship should go a stray
Letting the ocean have it's own way
Lay me down to pass ?to send?, I'll pay for all my sins
Pleading for mercy, my cancel begins
Times have changed, and my vision ain't so strong
For the battle was too long, for me to bear
I don't feel the pain, for my soul is sinking fast
And I know this is the last, the chance for me
In and out of tumor, and in and out of mind
Deeper the ocean, stronger the tide
Stormy seas suround me, no sails to keep me dry
I pray to you captain, but you heard not my cry
Times have changed, and my vision ain't so strong
For the battle was too long, for me to bear
I don't feel the pain, for my soul is sinking fast
And I know this is the last, the chance for me
For me, for my story
Let me lie in peace
I want to say I'm sorry now
Then I'll be on my way
Then I'll be on my way
Then I'll be on my way
Times have changed, and my vision ain't so strong
For the battle was too long, for me to bear
I don't feel the pain, for my soul is sinking fast
And I know this is the last, the chance for me
song performed by by Supertramp
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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