The Man with the Thousand Yard Stare
He sits with a stoic's resistance,
his son in the casket lies there.
No line of a tear mars his visage-
the man with the Thousand yard stare.
He sits in the front row of mourners,
His dear sobbing wife by his side
in silence he keeps his sad vigil
and stares up at Christ crucified.
The mourners pass by him in silence,
touch his hand or say meaningless words,
for his part he stares straight on through them
as if nothings felt, nothings heard.
The Parson commands us to silence
and struggles to lead us in prayer-
but half of the room has forgotten the words
like the man with the thousand yard stare
Death is my race's core competence
dealing with life, we're but fair,
but none living today keeps sorrow at bay
not the man with the thousand yard stare.
poem by John F. McCullagh

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Silence Speaks
Verse 1:
When i asked you
You said nothing was wrong
But i listened to your magical song
All its notes were gone
You sang it, i heard
Silence speaks a thousand words
Verse 2:
You keep telling me
I'll pay the price
For asking you once
And telling you twice
But i paid the day your emotions turned cold
Silence speaks a thousand words
Chorus:
Where do i turn when you turn away
It's never just the things you say
You never ever put me down
But when i speak you turn around
And saying not much is saying a lot
Verse 3:
If you spoke truth
There would be no doubt
But the only words are
"we'll work it out"
Well that's not saying much
You just don't take the time
And that is where i draw the line
Chorus
Bridge:
You're sending signals
First of hope then insecurity
Signals of doubt are everywhere
And subconsciously
You know you wanna break the ties
But you use silence
You use lies
Don't worry
I'll return your song of silence
Silence speaks a thousand words
Silence speaks a thousand words
song performed by by Debbie Gibson

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Silence Speaks (A Thousand Words)
Verse 1:
When I asked you
You said nothing was wrong
But I listened to your magical song
All its notes were gone
You sang it, I heard
Silence speaks a thousand words
Verse 2:
You keep telling me
Ill pay the price
For asking you once
And telling you twice
But I paid the day your emotions turned cold
Silence speaks a thousand words
Chorus:
Where do I turn when you turn away
Its never just the things you say
You never ever put me down
But when I speak you turn around
And saying not much is saying a lot
Verse 3:
If you spoke truth
There would be no doubt
But the only words are
"well work it out"
Well thats not saying much
You just dont take the time
And that is where I draw the line
Chorus
Bridge:
Youre sending signals
First of hope then insecurity
Signals of doubt are everywhere
And subconsciously
You know you wanna break the ties
But you use silence
You use lies
Dont worry
Ill return your song of silence
Silence speaks a thousand words
Silence speaks a thousand words
song performed by by Debbie Gibson

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No-Name The Cat
The cat and I stare at the room
No-name the cat, the cat and I,
She stares at me, I at the gloom
The house lies still as a vaulted tomb.
She sits and waits, No-name the cat,
Sits and waits for a sign from me
But I in the corner chair am sat
And make no sign for No-name the cat.
We’re all alone, alone are we
No-name the cat, the cat and I
Only the two, No-name and me
Yet once in the past we numbered three.
Now on the floor, between us two
No-name the cat, and me, lies you.
Your eyes are staring, your cheek is slack,
Your tongue’s thrust out and your face is blue.
The cat and I stare at the room
No-name the cat, the cat and I,
She stares at me, I at the gloom
The house lies still as a vaulted tomb.
30 June 1999
poem by David Lewis Paget

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This Morning
Nothing left to feel
Nothing more to do
Nothing left to give
Nothing more in you
Nothing else to have or hold
Nothing left, but time to go
Time to go
Years go by
Didn't really say that much at all
And moments just fly
Didn't ever really touch at all
Weeks always run down
Didn't really get that close at all
And days, days fall out
Didn't ever really know at all
And then we're here in a room too clean and too bright
She stares at you for an hour
You stare into the light
For one last hour in the room
So mean and so white
I stare at her in this room as she stares into the night
Nothing left to feel
Nothing more to do
Nothing left to ask
Nothing more of you
Nothing else to share or show
Nothing left but time to go
In his eyes as we turn no eternity of life
In his eyes as we turn no infinity of why
In his eyes as we turn no beautiful goodbye
In his eyes as we turn...nothing but tears
In his eyes as we turn...nothing but tears
(spoken:) I couldn't understand too much of what was being said
In a matter of minutes
Peacefully so slow
I had to think to breathe
My heart burst
We moved in silence really slowly away from the world
As we drove a strange silence
That moment
Nothing will ever be the same
Nothing will ever be the same
Nothing will ever be the same
Days fall out
Weeks always run down
Moments just fly
Weeks go by
And then we're here
And then we're here in a room too clean and too bright
I stare at you for an hour
You stare into the light
For one last hour in the room so mean and so white
You stare at me in this room as I stare into the night
Nothing left to feel
Nothing more to do
Nothing more to take
Nothing more from you
Nothing else to need or know
There's nothing left at all...but time to go
song performed by by Cure

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Silence
Silence in the language
Is the absence of speech
Silence in the conversation
Can be so remarkable and rich.
Silence is an atmosphere you make
And it's the situation you break.
Sometimes it tells you more
Than thousand words told before.
Silence is a feeling
Which is very intensive
Poorly created
It can be very offensive.
Silence can be so different
It has a lot of meanings
It's an expression of yourself
It shows your feelings.
There is a silence
That brings you peace
And you feel yourself
Being at your ease.
There is a silence of mystery
Like being in a dark wood.
There is a silence of happiness
When you are loved and understood.
There is a silence that frightens
There is a silence of anniversary dates
This silence reminds you
Of those lost fates.
There is a silence in music
When you listen to it and dream
But...suddenly...it stops.
Then...the sounds come to their extreme.
The prayer in silence
Is your inner world
When you dream in silence
You are just not heard.
Silence is golden
Or so I've heard
But it sometimes hurts more
Than a single told word.
Silence is golden
Or so goes a lie.
This silence of fraud
Do not need a reply.
Silence when you are in love
You do not need words.
Silence when you are fooled
You don't know what to say afterwards.
But...the best moment of silence
When you take my hand
I know you do not pretend
You just look at my eyes and I realize:
It's love, it's happiness.
Larisa R (Odessa, Ukraine)
poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska

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Silence...
Often i stand and stare
into the diminishing light of the day
horizon gradually fading into nothingness
willow and pine piercing the night
the earth ruptures into a song;
accompanied with shrill whistles in the dark
the howling of the wolves and brisk blaring of the wind
Silence enters into the serene beauty of the dusk.
Silence that invites me to come and see
Silence that asks me to reveal
Silence that wants me to make unwanted promises
Silence that does nothing but ruptures a wound deep within
Silence that drags along unwanted pain
Silence that emulsifies unspoken words of love and gain
Silence that was till then pressed within my lips
Silence that now has emerged as a giant affliction.
Silence that comes as a sorrow
Silence that makes me loathe my tommorows
Silence that demads i submit all my emotions
Silence that is eager to make me weak and fragile
Silence that commands i dropp a tear
Silence that dictates me to get lost in the dark
Silence that brings love as a foe
silence that wants to bind hatered deep within my soul
Silence that hurts me for no rhyme and reason
Silence that makes me feel so forlon
Silence that has so much bitterness
Silence that washes away all my hopes and pray
Silence that makes me go week
Silence that unearths agonizing memories
Silence that came so unnvited
Silence that fails to unbreak any Silence.............
poem by Pooja Nepal

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In A Thousand Words
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD TELL YOU MY FEELINGS.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD TELL YOU I'M WILLING.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD EXPLAIN MY PERSONA.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD TALK LIKE MY MAMA.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD SING YOU A LYRIC.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD SELL YOU A GIMMICK.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD TELL YOU IT ALL.
IN A THOUSAND WORDS I COULD SAY NOTHING AT ALL.
poem by LaQuandra Baskin

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In Silence
We talk in silence
We speak in exchanging breath
We argue in silence
We battle with our stare
We think in silence
We travel in our mind
We promise in silence
We create the secret better
We sing in silence
We smile in radiant melody
We enjoy in silence
We move with our body
We share in silence
We stay in each other arms
We love in silence
We grow the hope of warmth
We hate in silence
We shake in every fiber being
We pray in silence
We enchant the words in heart
We long in silence
We drown in loneliness
We break in silence
We flow soundless tears
We walk in silence
We tell our story in footprint
We listen in silence
We could hear numerous voices
poem by Maria Sudibyo

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I Can See It In Your Eyes
The first time I saw you
I felt weak inside
I search my heart and mind
For words I couldn't find.
Some how you seemed to see
What came over me that night
As a love began to grow
That would last for all time.
And you said, ''I can see it in your eyes
They're the windows to your soul
Sometimes they say more
Than words could ever hope.''
''We could wait a thousand lifetimes
Then never feel like this again
But when you look at me, that way
I can see it in your eyes.''
Later on I asked your hand
And I prayed the time was right
I knelt down on one knee
And said, ''Would you be my bride?''
Then the sound of silence
Filled the air as your tears fell
With mine, you didn't have to say
A word for me to realize.
And I said, ''I can see it in you eyes
They're the window to your soul.''
''I see dreams come alive
And future plans unfold.''
''I could wait a thousand lifetimes
Then not find a perfect love again.''
''When you look at me, that way
I can see it in your eyes.''
Many years have come and gone
And what a life we've made
Now again we search for words
As the heart inside me breaks
Until death do we part
Were the vows we made
And now the time has come
But goodbye's so hard to say.
But I can see it in your eyes
They're the windows to your soul
The light of life is burning but
Soon you're leaving me, I know
But time that's left is precious dear
So please don't shed another tear
You don't have to say a word
I can see it in your eyes.
I've heard you say a thousand times
I'll love you dear, until I die
But you don't have to say a word
I can see it in your eyes...
song performed by by Randy Travis

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Loudest Sound
Side by side in silence
They pass away the day
So comfortable, so habitual...
And so nothing left to say
Nothing left to say
Nothing left to say
Side by side in silence
His thoughts echo round
He looks up at the sky...
She looks down at the ground
Stares down at the ground
Stares down at the ground
Side by side in silence
They wish for different worlds
She dreams him as a boy...
And he loves her as a girl
Loves her as a girl...
And side by side in silence
Without a single word...
It's the loudest sound
It's the loudest sound...
It's the loudest sound i ever heard
song performed by by Cure

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Being Alone
As I walk within my home
Room to room I walk alone
Like a nomad I do roam
And everywhere I go I am known.
I look through my books in my book shelf
Memories I do remember of Passions I felt
And once again there is no one else
As I search alone all by myself.
I sit solemnly upon my comfortable chair
I again look and no one is there
So outside my window I do stare
I wonder for myself if anyone does care.
Outside in my yard I go for a walk
And once again to myself I begin to talk
Then I have a revelation so I had to balk
Is my life but a canvas and I its chalk.
In my yard I pick up a stone
I think to myself what I have I own
And never do I whine or complain or moan
So why I think is it so bad being alone.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave

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Some things are better unspoken
I sit with my silence
Sit down for a talk
Silence dressed in Grey
Does not want to talk
I stare intently into
Her eyes, she looks down
She has something to hide
'Silence why don't you speak'
I persuade, she shakes her
Head from side to side
With tears in her eyes,
'Hush! don't cry my dear,
You will talk only
When you want to, till then
Silence, be as you are'.
poem by Reshma Ramesh

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SSSShhh
In my mind I talk of love, but love does not talk of me
In silence we love, in silence we art free
When there is nothing going on around
That is when there is something sweet in our sound
Silence, silence, is our love
The silence of all secret love
Where charm insinuates
And our words dissipates
Into tender looks of affection
In silence are love is perfection
My love speak forever more
As I sit here and stare and silently adore!
poem by Kevin Michael Murphy

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The Game of Stare
There’s a boy with his fellow
I caught his eyes with a wander
Now the game has been played
Now you have been challenged
You better asked my name
Before anyone came
But you only stare, stare, stare
Like I annoy your safety ring
Like you can’t even think
You only stare, stare, stare
Like I lose you something
Something you can’t even win
There’s boy in the dance floor
I catch his eyes, he comes closer
Now the game is replayed
Now you better watch out
You better take me out
Before someone calls you coward
Cause you only stare, stare, stare
Like you never see me in dress
Like no one else who dares
You only stare, stare, stare
Like I steal you something
Something you can’t even think
There’s a boy in the park
He makes me catch his eyes
Now the game is forward
Now you don’t want to break up
You better have a word
Before you loose your hold
And you only stare, stare, stare
Like a puppy wants a bone
Like you’ll be lost if I’m gone
You only stare, stare, stare
Like I can give you something
Something you think you can’t win
poem by Maria Sudibyo

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Sweet Nothings
(r. seit)
Uh-huh honey
All right
My baby whispers in my ear
Mm, sweet nothings
He knows the things I like to hear
Mm, sweet nothings
Things he wouldnt tell nobody else
Secret, baby
I keep it to myself
Sweet nothings
We walk along hand in hand
Mm, sweet nothings
Yeah, we both understand
Mm, sweet nothings
He certainly takes
The time to read my book
My baby, give me that special look
Sweet nothings
Mm, sweet nothings
Uh-huh honey
Im sitting on my front porch
Mm, sweet nothings
Well, do I love you?
Of course
Mm, sweet nothings
Mama turned on
The front porch light
And said
Come in darling
Thats enough for tonight
Sweet nothings
Mm, sweet nothings
Sweet nothings
Mm, sweet nothings
Sweet nothings
song performed by by Diana Ross

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Vox Silentii
In screaming silence, minds will shatter
And bleed dry the terror of a thousand hearts;
In silence our minds will lock, will warp—
Silence will scream a thousand secrets
That we’ve kept dry, desolate, distressed
For as long as I’ve friended the shade.
And in simple silence sometimes I hear
The words that escape her deepest stores
Of thought, lie, hurt, regret—A fear,
In darkness will scratch the walls raw
With the tear-streaked terror that slits,
Scours, tearing down fatality, facade.
The others—smooth, are rough in thought,
Never brought, silenced in tracks they tread,
Words ringing their piercing shrieks,
Reverberating respites, snuffing silence,
And shunting the ones who hear, but listen,
Who know that talking is unnecessary.
They’ll never know, for they never listen,
Hearing the others in loquacious laughter,
But never listeing, truly, genuine sound,
The purest of sounds and spites,
The echoes and entrails of thought,
The sound of his eyes, of her silence.
poem by Adam Pinheiro

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Across The Universe
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away
Across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on
Across the universe
Thoughts meander like the restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Sounds of laughter, shades of life are ringing through my open ears
Inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love, which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on and on
Across the universe
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
Nothings gonna
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
Nothings gonna
Noth, nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change it
Nothings gonna change it
Hey yeah, nothings gonna change it
Nothings gonna change it
Nothings gonna change it
Nothings gonna change it
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change it (nothings gonna change it)
Nothings gonna change it (no no no no no)
Nothings gonna change my world (nothings gonna change my world)
song performed by by David Bowie

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Marital Agonies
she sits on a rocking chair
but she is not rocking it
her eyes stare at the sea without
a horizon
she spreads her legs looking
for a spot to
rest her toes,
he is out there looking at the sunset
his shadow is consumed
by darkness
he comes home
opens the PC and begins to write some poems
mostly about
funerals
unlike before
there were lots of sunrises everywhere as though
mornings are the only
seasons
he pauses, he hears the rocking of the chair.
the TV is off
he cannot find the letters to form the words.
he stares at the monitor
he is silent.
there is no break in this monotonous sound of silence.
he wishes he were a stone.
she wishes she is a bird.
one refuses to grow further.
the other wants to fly away, no matter where.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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I Like Your Silence
i like your silence
now
it is not like the
silence we had
before
your silence
now is different
it is
reminiscing
it is
refreshing
it is
sensitive
to my presence
it is
reflective of
who i am
enabling me
to hear my
breath
to see and
feel
my very own soul
i like your silence
now
it is the silence
of the memory
that cannot
be forgotten
it is not death
it is life
it is the blossom
of my sorrow
it is the fruit of
my despair
it is the silence
of my silence
it is the peace
within my
solitude
it has become
the center of
my life
the focus of my
scattering
the finding of
my loss
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Late Night with Fog and Horses
They were in the living room. Saying their
goodbyes. Loss ringing in their ears.
They'd been through a lot together, but now
they couldn't go another step. Besides, for him
there was someone else. Tears were falling
when a horse stepped out of the fog
into the front yard. Then another, and
another. She went outside and said,
'Where did you come from, you sweet horses?'
and moved in amongst them, weeping,
touching their flanks. The horses began
to graze in the front yard.
He made two calls: one call went straight
to he sheriff - 'someone's horses are out.'
But there was that other call, too.
Then he joined his wife in the front
yard, where they talked and murmured
to the horses together. (Whatever was
happening now was happening in another time.)
Horses cropped the grass in the yard
that night. A red emergency light
flashed as a sedan crept in out of fog.
Voices carried out of the fog.
At the end of that long night,
when they finally put their arms around
each other, their embrace was full of
passion and memory. Each recalled
the other's youth. Now something had ended,
something else rushing in to take its place.
Came the moment of leave-taking itself.
'Goodbye, go on,' she said.
And then pulling away.
Much later,
he remembered making a disastrous phone call.
One that had hung on and hung on,
a malediction. It's boiled down
to that. The rest of his life.
Malediction.
poem by Raymond Clevie Carver

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