Winter Night
Small creatures shiver in their lairs
While the full moon is strangled by the tree
Whose branches wrestle with the wind,
Scraping, groaning ceaselessly.
In deep discomfort, deprived of sleep,
I get up from my barren bed,
Draw back my curtains
And see the cold night bristle with stars.
poem by John Thorkild Ellison
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Train Journey
Glassed with cold sleep and dazzled by the moon,
out of the confused hammering dark of the train
I looked and saw under the moon's cold sheet
your delicate dry breasts, country that built my heart;
and the small trees on their uncoloured slope
like poetry moved, articulate and sharp
and purposeful under the great dry flight of air,
under the crosswise currents of wind and star.
Clench down your strength, box-tree and ironbark.
Break with your violent root the virgin rock.
Draw from the flying dark its breath of dew
till the unliving come to life in you.
Be over the blind rock a skin of sense,
under the barren height a slender dance...
I woke and saw the dark small trees that burn
suddenly into flowers more lovely that the white moon.
poem by Judith Wright
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Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Where did you sleep last night
My girl, my girl, dont lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go?
Im going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
Her husband, was a hard working man
Just about a mile from here
His head was found in a driving wheel
But his body never was found
My girl, my girl, dont lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I will shiver the whole night through
(sing it for me)
My girl, my girl, where will you go?
Im going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, dont lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I will shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will ya go?
Im going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, the pines
The sun, the shine
Ill shiver the whole night through
song performed by by Nirvana
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Where did you sleep last night
My girl, my girl, dont lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go?
Im going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
Her husband, was a hard working man
Just about a mile from here
His head was found in a driving wheel
But his body never was found
My girl, my girl, dont lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I will shiver the whole night through
(sing it for me)
My girl, my girl, where will you go?
Im going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, dont lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun dont ever shine
I will shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will ya go?
Im going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, the pines
The sun, the shine
Ill shiver the whole night through
song performed by by Nirvana
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Wind in the Hemlock
Steely stars and moon of brass,
How mockingly you watch me pass!
You know as well as I how soon
I shall be blind to stars and moon,
Deaf to the wind in the hemlock tree,
Dumb when the brown earth weighs on me.
With envious dark rage I bear,
Stars, your cold complacent stare;
Heart-broken in my hate look up,
Moon, at your clear immortal cup,
Changing to gold from dusky red --
Age after age when I am dead
To be filled up with light, and then
Emptied, to be refilled again.
What has man done that only he
Is slave to death -- so brutally
Beaten back into the earth
Impatient for him since his birth?
Oh let me shut my eyes, close out
The sight of stars and earth and be
Sheltered a minute by this tree.
Hemlock, through your fragrant boughs
There moves no anger and no doubt,
No envy of immortal things.
The night-wind murmurs of the sea
With veiled music ceaselessly,
That to my shaken spirit sings.
From their frail nest the robins rouse,
In your pungent darkness stirred,
Twittering a low drowsy word --
And me you shelter, even me.
In your quietness you house
The wind, the woman and the bird.
You speak to me and I have heard:
"If I am peaceful, I shall see
Beauty's face continually;
Feeding on her wine and bread
I shall be wholly comforted,
For she can make one day for me
Rich as my lost eternity."
poem by Sara Teasdale
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Night Shower.
It rained yesterday night,
Blocking the full moon,
Cooling the hot winds,
Rain dancing on the ocean,
Making the birds shiver,
Wet with the rain,
They huddled together,
The rain making small streams
Seen through rays of noon,
Which stole through dark clouds,
The trees swaying
In we wind, whistling
Through it's branches,
Night rain making ghouls
Not venture out,
Lest they get wet,
The forest animals happy,
That their lakes will be full again,
For their daily drink,
Let the night rain continue
To coll the souls inside,
And the body outside.
Ravikiran Arakkal
poem by Ravikiran Arakkal
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The Shadow
The shadow of your threshold is so full
Of meaning, that the stranger knows what home
Is yours, if peace dwell here, or strife, or restless
Unsatisfied ambition. As the tree's
Deep shadow meaneth rest and comfort, or
Is poison, sleep eternal, such the house
That is a home's sweet shadow or a dark
Abode of sin, of lurking lie and danger.
The shadow of your life, that is so small
In bright midday and summer's burning sun,
Begins to lengthen when your evening comes,
And shows the beauty of the tree in outline,
Its graceful forms, its harmony and power;
And never did its beauty strike before,
As now, when lost in thought, you contemplate
The shadow on the lawn. The golden rays
That flood it, make it higher, nobler, and
Its shadow ever greater, till the night
Calls forth the moon, to make it deep and weird
As if unspoken pain had darkened it,
As if the silvery paleness of the moon
Sharpened its features into hardness almost.
Behold the shadow of thy life! Look well if
It be a threshold that reveals the strong
Unbending will, the height of all your aims,
Your passions' darkness, and the harmony
Of all the branches that were put into
Your care! Look at the shadow when your day
Is done, and winter's moon will draw its line
In naked truth, without the flattering leaves
Upon your windingsheet's unruffled snow.
poem by Carmen Sylva
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Sonnets To Orpheus: I
A tree ascended there. Oh pure transendence!
Oh Orpheus sings! Oh tall tree in the ear!
And all things hushed. Yet even in that silence
a new beginning, beckoning, change appeared.
Creatures of stillness crowded from the bright
unbound forest, out of their lairs and nests;
and it was not from any dullness, not
from fear, that they were so quiet in themselves,
but from just listening. Bellow, roar, shriek
seemed small inside their hearts. And where there had been
at most a makeshift hut to receive the music,
a shelter nailed up out of their darkest longing,
with an entryway that shuddered in the wind-
you built a temple deep inside their hearing.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
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Full Cold Moon
This night
All light
Full still moon
Lamp lit
Silhouette
Full still moon
Many faces
Secret places
Full still moon
Supernal eye
In the sky
Full still moon
Big stone
Cold Alone
Full still moon
In reverie
A memory
Full still moon
Only one
You are
gone
Only night
to dream
upon
Full
Cold
Moon
poem by Ari' Anna Arena
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Let The Night Sleep
Let the night sleep
Sleep for ever deep
With the night I sleep
Beyond the world to peep
Universe will sleep
Plants and trees
Birds and bees
Stars and moon
To sleep very soon!
Fruits and flowers
Joy with showers
Will sleep with me and the night
Not to keep the life very tight!
No dawn of the day
Right upto the dooms day!
Sleep permanent
In the world impermanent
I'll sleep without light
My agonies will sleep
My worries will sleep
My pains will sleep
My sins will sleep!
While in sleep
I am pure
I am peace
I am noble!
While my body is asleep
Awake my soul I keep
Sleep akin to death
Death akin to sleep in mirth?
Let the night sleep
Sleep for ever deep
With night I sleep
Sleep to eternity
Soul to merge in Divinity!
poem by Subbaraman N V
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Where Do You Go?
Where do you go,
When the Moon is full and glows.
As the stars twinkle against clear skies.
Where do you go?
So quickly to vanish from my sight.
I look to the left.
I look to the right.
Where do you go,
When the Moon is full and glows.
And romance is wished...
With your whispers in my ears as we kiss lips.
Where do you go?
So neat from the tree...
Your clothes would hang,
As if something you tease we will do,
Secretly.
And I sit to wonder if...
That wolf I hear howling in the distance,
Knew I waited for you patiently...
In complete nakedness.
Under a tree...
As your clothes hanging from its branches,
Would sway mysteriously...
With the gentle blowing of Summer wind,
Through the rustling leaves.
Each full Moon...
I've noticed how you tease.
Where do you go?
I am...
Freakin' just a little bit.
You freak me out a little bit.
I'm freakin' just a little bit.
I am, I am...
Freakin' just a little bit.
You freak me out a little bit.
I'm freakin' just a little bit.
I am wondering...
Where do you go?
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Moon’s Betrayal
At night the branches and leaves of the nearby trees
cast shadows upon the window blinds.
When the moon tells the wind of their state of rest
they’re changed into creatures of a haunting kind.
They tap on the glass as though they want to come in,
then go away for a moment, and then return again.
After a while the wind takes a rest and ceases to blow,
but the creatures are still there, and they refuse to go.
poem by Orlando Belo
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Father Winter
Welcome back home Father Winter
we have waited all year for you.
Your lovely trees, so tall
their branches now bare
they stand there waving you
back home you brought with you
your winter jewels, now they hang
on those naked branches.
The summer flowers, have
now laid down for a long winters
nap their waiting for you to cover
them with your winter blanket.
Your blanket will keep them
warm till spring then they'll
all pop up and sing.
Now all the small animals have
laid their heads down too sweet
dreams every thing will awake to
fresh new season.
You have dressed everything for
Christmas. your ice snow flakes
have landed on our pond it looks
looks like big white frosted glass
mirror it also created beautiful
glass like ornaments that
hang on the ever green trees.
Your cold fluffy snow lays upon
their branches it drapes like a
pearl necklace among their branches
they all look so lovely.
The winter clouds that you have blown
in float beneath the stars so bright
the full moon shines down upon the
hill tops all covered in your beauty.
The fresh snow glistens like stars
and silver gliter it looks like
millions of diamondseen have been
scattered on the beaten paths.
Your winter air smell so crisp
and cold as you speak, you can
see your breath in \the cold air
the only lights are from the new
full winter moon.
As you can see Father Winter has
blown, in with such briskness.
Every where you now look,
now looks bright and fresh.
Little children have started the
count down.To that special
night which is not to far off in sight.
And like ''SANTA'
You'll be gone, in the wink
of an eye.
We thank you for all the beauty
that you have given us, you'll
only last a while upon you I'll
walk a brisk mile.
We'll love you as long as you'll
last..Upon your snow we'll
dance and play.
We'll do this each cold day..
Until you melt away.
and then we'll say a sad good-bye.,
GAYLE ANNE GOFF
DECEMBER
2008
poem by Gayle Anne Goff
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The Sun Is Hidden (Terzanelle)
(after Lewis Turco)
The sun is hidden, huge shadows gather
while the wind rocks branches blow the leaves
and milling dark clouds draw together
this is the moment when thunderbolts cleaves
when rain drizzles, then pours down steadily
while the wind rocks branches blow the leaves
when full of superstition old people speak guardedly
of branches of thunder, sheets of blue-white lightning
when rain drizzles, then pours down steadily
and the bolts of thunder comes down somewhat frightening
when people draw curtains, sit in the semi-darkness, are afraid
of branches of thunder, sheets of blue-white lightning
and without power at candlelight the table is laid
while the acts of nature, its sheer power we cannot ignore,
when people draw curtains, sit in the semi-darkness, are afraid
and we have experienced this kind of weather sometime before.
The sun is hidden, huge shadows gather
while the acts of nature, its sheer power we cannot ignore
and milling dark clouds draw together.
[Reference: 'Terzanelle in Thunderweather' by Lewis Turco.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Early Works - The Night
I lay on my bed on a sleepless night
gaze out my window at the stars bright.
The moon now and then gets hazy
as across the sky clouds drift lazily.
The night is cooled by a gentle breeze
that seems to whisper as if ruffles the leaves
and all creatures large and small
into sleep tenderly fall.
The night is peaceful as sounds subside
and stars now and then behind clouds hide.
The wise old owl perches high at night
gazing down to see if everything is all right.
As along paths trodden many times before
descend the cooing lovers once more
to their own private paradise
rich in tranquillity.
The flowers that in the breeze did bend
close their petals to the night again
and the little birds that flew in the morn
nestle in their nest warm.
Sleep endures all
no matter whether large or small
and so must I do this night
until I’m called by the morning light.
Date unknown.
poem by David Harris
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Symphony for the night
Close your eyes
let me sing you a song of the night
When the sky is dark,
And sweet cold winds blows,
Dream it for me,
let your heart sleep,
To wander in magic,
Flying trough sea of stars that shimmering
Let the moon smiles,
Greeting you trough the sky,
Let the clouds go with you,
Let us sail trough the night!
Let them,
Let the stars, blanketing your night sleep
Let the wind, blowing for your dreams
Let the symphony in, filling your heart,
Putting you, a good sleep trough the night,
Lei it be,
Dream, oh dream it for me,
Till the dawn, let you sleep.
An Old Tree Listens To The Tumult Of Distant Storms?
'And the days are not full enough
And the nights are not full enough
And life slips by like a field mouse
Not shaking the grass.'
-Ezra Pound, American,1885-1972
That flamboyant tree
gave us shade,
Remember once
Under the burning Sun.
But now the branches
fall often?
Flowers never bloom,
So how do you expect
sweet fruits?
Birds changed their usual route
for better orchards.
And the hollow tree shivers
even to a small drizzle.
Though the tree dreams of a refuge
unless the friendly termites
does anybody interests of an old barren tree?
to my West bengal poet friend Pranab!
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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~~It was May, The Summer of my 12th Year~~
My fathers' field
acre upon acre of hay
barren in May
from winters blight
perfect for me to play
~~
Flat land
as far as I could see
except for one huge pine tree
a young boy, idealistic still
I thought this tree was grown for me
~~
I climbed the tree most every day
climbing right to the very top
branches formed a perfect seat
magically sitting there
time would stop
~~
Wind would blow, branches creaked
the tree and I swaying with the breeze
protected in my tree
ignorant of life's confusion...
its little ambiguities
~~
Now I wonder, as I sit
in these my twilight days
if only I could travel back
to that my 12th year in May
to hear the wind, smell the pine
and feel the boughs as they sway
~~
I would love to whisper one more time
to my very special tree
thank you so for keeping me safe
and all the memories
but most of all for the excitement
and the passion for feeling free
poem by Peter Shea
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Cover Me
Let your arm’s cover me
And protect me
From the high part of the
Day
Your branches leafless in
In the winter''s sun
But, can I rest beneath
Your branches of skeleton
Frame.
Through the gusty wind
That blow so strong
Winter cold wind
Even thou the sunshine is
High
The color is gray
The moon is rising
With a icy smile
The hostile wind is
Blowing with vengeance
Looking for retribution
Will you
Cover me with your skeleton
Fingers
Hide me from that angry wind
Clashing with that frosty moon
Cold, freezing cold
I’ll make me a home within
The layer of your wood to keep
Me warm
Until spring blossom''s out and
All
Love bloom''s in may
To
Blossom in June and end in
July
Even the tree’s sprout’s out
Again to become anew
With bloom''s ablaze in the spring
A coming
Blossom with a beauty of a deep
Rich green hue
Cover me within your walls so my off
Springs may grow
Warm and cuddley my off spring''s
Grow for our new generation
Cover me from the icy angry wind
Blowing on me
On and around me
I don’t wanna freeze and snap, pop
And crack
I wanna to be cover and warm where
My wings will grow..
poem by Carolyn Sears
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One Tree
Against a clear and deep blue sky,
One tree stretched tall, its branches high,
And stiffly they, of movement none,
Stood true and straight, their course to run.
The wind it whistled strong, and shrilled
Between those branches, stiff and chilled,
But not one twig could it but sway,
And having tried, swept on its way.
Against a clear and deep blue sky,
One tree stretched tall, its branches high,
And with great dignity, it kept its stance,
No wind would ever make it dance.
poem by Ernestine Northover
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A Different Tune
In the silence of the night
when whispers do not stir
you can see their shadows
slip quietly across the wall.
A cold shiver runs down your back
because you know no one is there.
They dance in the moonbeams
cascading through the curtains gap
leaving behind a fragrant perfume,
the only evidence they were there.
Two fleeting shadows
of lovers long gone away
coming back briefly
to celebrate some anniversary.
In your sleep you can see them,
open your eyes and they are gone.
Were they real or imaginary?
Best we not judge and let them be
to come back and dance another day
to a different tune.
4 August 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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