When western greed shakes
a billion impatient heirs,
the dragon awakes.
haiku by Jonathan Robin (13 January 1993)
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Ballade Of Dead Republics
Tell me ye King-craft of to-day
Where is Athens, who made men free;
Then sank into stupor by the way,
Subdued by the Spartan tyranny?
And Rome that staggered to death, perdie,
Stabbed by the sword of Hannibal,
And bled by patrician infamy --
The Dragon of Greed destroyed them all!
Cleon and Pericles held sway
O'er the foes of Greek democracy.
The Gracchi brothers struggled to stay
The stress of the Ceasars' stern decree.
And look at Rienzi's passion, he
Who strove the republic to recall!
Slain at last for his perfidy --
The Dragon of Greed destroyed them all!
What of Florence and Venice, say?
And the Netherlands that ruled the sea?
And Cromwell's England more strong than they
Which banished the throne and the bended knee?
Yes, and Savonarola's plea,
And William of Orange's rise and fall?
Yea, though they labored for you and me --
The Dragon of Greed destroyed them all!
ENVOY.
Prince! 'tis the year of your jubilee,
The great republic is in your thrall.
And who will restore her armory?--
The Dragon of Greed destroyed them all!
poem by Edgar Lee Masters
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Chinese History
there is a tightness about the Chinese
a jar of wine, sealed and tied with the
help of one billlion hands
there is a tightness about the Chinese
a star twisting and jostling to win
your fancy among one billion
there is a tightness about the Chinese
a surname the weight of one billion tons
each wishes to shoot through the heavens
there is a tightness about the Chinese
five centuries of the rise and fall of civilisations
a dragon all claws, whiskers and fiery eyes
tidying and polishing its billion scales
so that they dazzle with power and excellence
there is a tightnesss about the Chinese
gunpowder all ready to blast through
crackers in a billion hard foldings
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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The truth, of course, is that a billion falsehoods told a billion times by a billion people are still false.
quote by Travis Walton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Eugene is located in western Oregon, approximately 278 billion miles from anything.
quote by Dave Barry
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We have begun to contemplate our origins: starstuff pondering the stars; organized assemblages of ten billion billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms; tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose.
unknown author
Submitted by Catalin Popescu
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A billion dollars every week for Iraq, $87 billion for Iraq. We can't get $5 billion for childcare over five years in welfare reform.
quote by Jim Wallis
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As I have pointed out, it is the Christian tradition that is the most fundamental element in Western culture. It lies at the base not only of Western religion, but also of Western morals and Western social idealism.
quote by Christopher Dawson
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There Is Always This
greed, that sometimes
rationalizes itself that it
does not exist, and yet
when you sleep at night
when the room is so silent
and it refuses to talk
and tell you the truth
you soon will discover it
to be a part of your being
and then you finally admit
that you belong to the
genealogy of the dragon
spitting fire and taking
territories and damaging
the humanity where you
once belong, this soliloquy
for instance is a manifestation
of greed's guilt,
tomorrow, another war
is done.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
What a dragon is Tibet?
Spirituality raises its trees
from the soil fertile.
Its culture emits breezes
from the north and the south
Then the tiger came
and hunted the dragon.
The tiger who had been
cut into pieces by hunters earlier.
The tiger came.
The tiger bit the tree
that connected heaven and earth.
The tree shakes.
The tree falls into the water
Splash!
The chlidren of gods missed
their school on earth.
The chlidren of earth missed
their school in heaven.
They cried.
The peaceful dragon is angry
It would take a form one day
which would make the tiger
tremble with fear.
The Chinese tiger will tremble with fear.
poem by Denvor fernandez
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Turning Leaf
The nights are growing short once more
As Autumn opens Winters door
And Summer sleeping beauty casts
Into the web of woven pasts
So sleeping there 'til Spring awakes
And from her dreams the Summer shakes.
poem by David Lacey
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Muggy Dragon
muggy day
dragon day
muggy dragon day
in the mud
dragons play
on this muddy, muggy, dragon day
murky water dragon slips
under surface, under ships
rocking them slightly
scaring them wildly
laughing silently
blowing bubbles
surfacing flying
immune to dying
dreading the isolation
that's bound to come
poem by Bonnie Cote
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Our Times
Our Times
13.7 billion years ago
4.5 billion years ago
3.5 billion years ago
200 thousand years ago
10,000 years ago
5000 years ago
3500 years ago
1800 years ago
500 years ago
50 years ago
One hundred years from now
Five hundred years from now
Ten million years from now
Ten billion years from now
We are where we are now
Where are we now?
Who are we now?
What will we be?
When?
poem by Shalom Freedman
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A father and two sons run Adelphia. It's a cable company. And they took from that company a billion dollars. A billion. Three people - three people took a billion dollars. What were they gonna do, start their own space program? 'Let's send the monkey to Mars, Dad!'
quote by Lewis Black
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Red Dragon
Of a great red dragon,
Having seven heads and ten horns;
Of a great red dragon,
Having seven crowns upon her heads;
But, the twenty-four Elders need peace at their seats.
Of the red dragon,
Like the time of the dead!
And there arose a smoke out of the pit,
For she who is with a child is labouringh in pain;
And the red dragon is ready to take up the child!
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Now You're Here
No, we don’t care where you come from
Now you’re here
No, we don’t care where you come from
Have a beer
We don’t care if you are black or white or
Of another hue
Now you’re here in Western Sydney
Now you’re part of Western Sydney
Now all over Western Sydney
We love you.
We are very proud of our diversity
Out on the streets it’s very clear to see
We don’t care if you’re a Christian or a Jew
Or a Bhuddist or Islamic or Hindu
‘Cos we don’t care where you come from
We don’t care where you come from
We don’t care where you come from
Now you’re here.
We’re very proud of long history
And we pay respect to Aborigines
And there’s just one thing I’ll tell ya
Yes, to you and other fellas
That we don’t care where you come from
Now you’re here.
No, we don’t care where you come from
Now you’re here
No, we don’t care where you come from
Have a beer
We don’t care if you are black or white or
Of another hue
Now you’re here in Western Sydney
Now you’re part of Western Sydney
Now all over Western Sydney
We love you.
We’re proud of where we are going
You can see
We’re using all our creativity
To build a better future
And we’ll get there soon we betcha
‘Cos we don’t care where you come from
Now you’re here.
No, we don’t care where you come from
Have a beer
We don’t care if you are black or white or
Another hue
Now you’re here in Western Sydney
Now you’re part of Western Sydney
Now all over Western Sydney
We love you.
Now you’re here in Western Sydney
Now you’re part of Western Sydney
Now all over Western Sydney
We love you.
poem by David Keig
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Greed is Good
“Greed is good! ” they say
Some say “Greed is great! ”
Will they say that when the masses
Are bashing down their gate?
Will they still pray to their god ‘Greed’
When they find that it’s too late?
All the starving children
They don’t think greed is good
They would rather have each day
A sufficiency of food
All the freezing homeless
How great is greed to those?
A bit of tin to shelter in
Would please them (I suppose)
What good is greed to anyone
When it is served with hate?
I’d rather have a shred of humanity
Sitting on my plate
poem by Neil Milliner
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A billion could live off the earth; 6 billion living as we do is far too many, and you run out of planet in no time.
quote by James Lovelock
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A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.
quote by Everett Dirksen
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A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.
quote by Everett Dirksen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A billion here, a billion there - pretty soon it adds up to real money.
quote by Everett Dirksen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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