May 24, 1980
I have braved, for want of wild beasts, steel cages,
carved my term and nickname on bunks and rafters,
lived by the sea, flashed aces in an oasis,
dined with the-devil-knows-whom, in tails, on truffles.
From the height of a glacier I beheld half a world, the earthly
width. Twice have drowned, thrice let knives rake my nitty-gritty.
Quit the country the bore and nursed me.
Those who forgot me would make a city.
I have waded the steppes that saw yelling Huns in saddles,
worn the clothes nowadays back in fashion in every quarter,
planted rye, tarred the roofs of pigsties and stables,
guzzled everything save dry water.
I've admitted the sentries' third eye into my wet and foul
dreams. Munched the bread of exile; it's stale and warty.
Granted my lungs all sounds except the howl;
switched to a whisper. Now I am forty.
What should I say about my life? That it's long and abhors transparence.
Broken eggs make me grieve; the omelet, though, makes me vomit.
Yet until brown clay has been rammed down my larynx,
only gratitude will be gushing from it.
poem by Joseph Brodsky
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Nitty Gritty /somethings Got A Hold On Me
Oh lets (lets)
Get (get)
Right (right)
On down (down)
To the real (real)
Nitty gritty (nitty gritty)
Some folks know about it some dont (some dont)
Some folks learn to shout it some wont (some wont)
But sooner or later baby
Gonna get right down to the real nitty gritty
Get right down to the real nitty gritty yeah
Cmon and get right down to the real nitty gritty yeah
Get right down to the real nitty gritty yeah)
One two (nitty gritty) three
Get right down to the real nitty gritty
One two three four
Somethings got a hold on me
Yeah must be love
Whoah somethings got a hold on me right now
Yeah must be love
Well I got a feeling and I feel so strange
And everything about me seems to have changed
Step by step I gotta find me a walk
I even sound different when I talk
I said oh (oh) oh (oh) oh (oh) wow
Somethings got a hold on me
And it must be love
Chorus
Well I never felt this way before
Somethings got a hold on me and wont let go
Believe Id fly just a whole day for you
It sounds so strange but it feels so good
I said oh (oh) oh (oh) oh (oh) wow
Somethings got a hold on me
And it must be love
Well now my heart feels heavy and my feet feel light
I shake all over but I feel all right
I never thought this could happen to me
Well Im in heaven when Im in misery
Well I never thought this could be this way
Well I know baby that this is the day
Well I never thought it could be this way
But now youre gone its been a-hurtin on me
I said oh (oh) oh (oh) oh (oh)
Somehtings got a hold on me
And it must be love
You know its like love
Talks like love
Yeah it feels all right
You know I feel all right
Walk like love now
Yeah walks like love
Im talkin about love yeah yeah yeah
Know about love
I feel all right now
Feel all right yeah yeah yeah
Well walks like love
Well talks like love all right
Chorus
I never felt this way before
Somethings got a hold on me and wont let go
Believe Id fly to just a whole day for you
It sounds so strange but it feels so good
I said oh (oh) oh (oh) oh (oh)
Somehtings got a hold on me
And it must be love
Yeah it must be love
Whoa it must be love
song performed by by Hollies
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sight For Sore Eyes
Goin downtown, goin down, goin down
neath the city, eatin ground round
Underground is pretty gritty
I turned the screw she held the light
Thats when I knew she was a
Sight for sore eyes
She was a sight for sore eyes
Playin no fair, sleepin under stairs
Downtowns a pity, takin fair square
Under where its pretty gritty
I turned the screw, she held the knife
Oh, holy jesus, shes a sight for sore eyes
Sight for sore eyes
Shes a nitty grutty
Turnin in style, walk a mile for your titty
Naked foul while under there
Under where its pretty gritty
Hey, dont you know people
Shes a love lust hussy
She left, oh she rust me
Dear old girl
She was a sight for sore eyes
But she was sittin pretty
A sight for sore eyes
She was a nitty gritty
Sight for sore eyes
Peeled back and parted
Even at the start it was delight or demise
I feel like a leopard king
Sight for sore eyes
She was a sight for sore eyes
song performed by by Aerosmith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Devil Inside
(a farriss & m hutchence)
Here come the woman
With the look in her eye
Raised on leather
With flesh on her mind
Words as weapons sharper than knives
Makes you wonder how the other half die
Other half die
Here come the man
With the look in his eye
Fed on nothing
But full of pride
Look at them go
Look at them kick
Makes you wonder how the other half live
The devil inside
The devil inside
Every single one of us the devil inside
The devil inside
The devil inside
Every single one of us the devil inside
Here come the world
With the look in its eye
Future uncertain but certainly slight
Look at the faces
Listen to the bells
Its hard to believe we need a place called hell
song performed by by INXS
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Flower
She dreams of the country
Her eyes go far away.
She wishes for flowers
He says, perhaps in may.
The city always was gray
The reflections of his eyes.
And she knows he liked it that way
And that way he shall die, well...
Shes always known,
That there was something more.
Theres this hunger in her belly
Like an instinct it tells her that theres something more.
This living shouldnt be called living
cause its really only half a life.
Shes a flower that grows despite cement holes
And she will survive, she will survive.
Shes a rare breed with violet eyes
And leafy limbs.
In conversations she looks for cracks
To dig her roots deep in.
And her ways come up like daisies,
She pushes her head to the sun.
She says I am content here to grow
Despite the steel frost that consumes everyone.
Shes always known,
That there was something more.
Theres this hunger in her belly
Like an instinct it tells her that theres something more.
This living shouldnt be called living
cause its really only half a life.
Shes a flower that grows despite cement holes.
And she will survive, she will survive.
In the end these steel cages will consume us
And like coffins ignorance will take us in and
Fashion dont mean anything
cause fashion cannot be our friends.
And when all else fades away
And the city falls into its sleep.
Well still have flesh, blood, bones and
Our soul to deal with so we should
Dig our roots deep.
Always known,
That theres something more.
Theres this hunger in our bellies
Its like an instinct it tells us that theres something more.
This living shouldnt be called living
cause its really only half a life.
Shes a flower that grows despite cement holes.
And we will survive, we will survive, we will survive, we will
Survive.
song performed by by Jewel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Long Ago, Far Away
by Bob Dylan
To preach of peace and brotherhood,
Oh, what might be the cost!
A man he did it long ago
And they hung him on a cross.
Long ago, far away;
These things don't happen
No more, nowadays.
The chains of slaves
They dragged the ground
With heads and hearts hung low.
But it was during Lincoln's time
And it was long ago.
Long ago, far away;
Things like that don't happen
No more, nowadays.
The war guns they went off wild,
The whole world bled its blood.
Men's bodies floated on the edge
Of oceans made of mud.
Long ago, far away;
Those kind of things don't happen
No more, nowadays.
One man had much money,
One man had not enough to eat,
One man lived just like a king,
The other man begged on the street.
Long ago, far away;
These things don't happen
No more, nowadays.
One man died of a knife so sharp,
One man died from the bullet of a gun,
One man died of a broken heart
To see the lynchin' of his son.
Long ago, far away;
Things like that don't happen
No more, nowadays.
Gladiators killed themselves,
It was during the Roman times.
People cheered with bloodshot grins
As eye and minds went blind.
Long ago, far away;
Things like that don't happen
No more, nowadays.
And to talk of peace and brotherhood,
Oh, what might be the cost!
A man he did it long ago
And they hung him on a cross.
Long ago, far away;
Things like that don't happen
No more, nowadays, do they?
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Malediction
I am walking in the last rays of the setting sun.
Whistling a hangmans tune with head held high swinging my gun.
I say this little boy is angry, I say this little boy is mad!
This little boy comes to destroy, stone-eyed, cold-faced in swathes of vengeance clad.
And the black cock crows. and a dead wind blows.
In my wake are seven men who tried to steal my soul.
In my belly six wild wolves curse and howl from their foul hole.
I say no earthly will may stop me, I say no earthly will may try.
No earthly will may halt the spill of blood from wounds and tears from craving eyes.
And the black cock crows. and a dead wind blows.
Below me burn the city lights like fires of pearls and jewels.
Im climbling down the city walls, unseen, unfussed - the sentries must be fools.
I say all pleasantries are over, I say all pleasantries are past.
My enemies, you pimps and thieves, prepare to meet your nemesis at last.
And the black cock crows. and the dead wind blows.
song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Salaam Bombay
Tell me of a city not built by its own,
Tell me of a city, which can stand alone.
Talk of a place where the land is scarce
Where people will share more than their own fare.
The common man is the strength of this city
He is a man of steel, gutsy and gritty.
The Spirit of people is the fuel of existence.
No man, No child, No Woman shy of assistance
On a normal day, no one will bother you,
Come crisis, and not one will desert you.
No where in the world are people so selfless,
Call it the rudest city in the world, but not helpless.
What it lacks in Space, It makes up in Spirit
Rain may flood and blasts can rock the city.
Here the lifeline is not blood, or a heartbeat,
The life line is a rack on track.
No city in the World like this,
Not Rome, not London, nor Paris,
Hats off to the Land of Dreams,
Salaam Bombay, I hear myself scream.
poem by Ashish Ram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Broken Dreams
I don’t see a long road ahead of me
And my coffee cup, instead of been half full
It’s always half empty
I got no home
I’m on the streets
An in the cold lonely morning
I’m awaken by somebodys cries an screams
All I’ve got left is my broken dreams
My past's erased from my memory
Anyone I knew before
Never cared enough to contact me
I’ve lost my friends
I’ve lost my family
My life’s falling apart
It’s coming loose at the seems
All I’ve got left is my broken dreams
The dreams I used to dream
When I was a kid
Never left my heart
But I never did them, I never lived
So now I cry into my glass
To try an make it full
I’m crying lost rivers an lost streams
All I’ve got left is my broken dreams
poem by Lucy Vernezze
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Aces & Eights
Walked up in the bar sat down on the stool
And got the low down from the guy with the jewel
He was playin' pool and he thought he was good
Cuz he bet me 5 dimes he could sink em with his foot
He grabbed a stick tried to kick it with his heel
Did a sic back flip and ended up full kneel
He didn't squeal but it looked like it hurt
And it did cuz he took me for my cash and my shirt
I got worked but what's worse than that
Just as he was leaving he tipped his hat
Then he laughed and said "i'm sorry 'bout your luck"
When he walked out the door he got hit by a truck
Chorus:
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
That's a dead mands hand
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
That's a dead mands hand
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
That's a dead mands hand
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
How about the guy used to hang in the clubs
Getting all the numbers and getting all the love
He didn't wear gloves he was too hard core
May he rest in peace we don't see him anymore
Lots of stories and old cliches
Small town girl tryin' to make her way
She moved to the city all she wanted was a job
Now she's underneath the desk tryin' to move to the top
It won't stop cuz the circle won't let it
Be careful what you wish for
You might get it
You know the cat got macked by the bees
He was messin' with the honey and the mouse and the cheese
(chorus)
You could beat the system you could beat your girl
But who ya gonna beat come the end of the world
(imagine) everything you ever worked for (strived for)
Suddenly becomin' everything your gonna die for
Now what'd ya live for? nothing anymore right
How could you live your life uptight?
See everything you did and everything you seen
Rolled around in the mud but you couldn't come clean
And that makes you dirty now how does that feel?
Living life like an open cut that won't heal
Sore at the world and you don't know why
You boucned like a ball and that's how you'll die
(chorus)
song performed by by Uncle Kracker
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Backwoods
Someone spilled blood many years ago
someone spilled blood but do you know
that from the backwoods
where the Chuck Berrys grow
come your long tall
daddies of a rock and roll
Take me to your backwoods now
take me to your backwoods now
Spinning' down from the clouds
like a tornado
spinnin' out of control
like a psychedelic soul
with a rhythm hittin' harder
than Larry Holmes
come your long tall
daddies of rock and roll
Take me to your backwoods now
take me to your backwoods now
Mr. Uplift Mofo - my man Bo Diddley
hit sippin' a bottle of nickle ripple
play the lickity split finger licking licks
for all you wicked city slick chicks
and all you nitty gritty hick
we'll make your nipples ripple
make you wanna dip your dipple
make you wanna soak your hickory stick
because my man has a grip on it
and I do mean on it
which brings to mind
a very sinister minister kind of guy
a man named Little Richard
born to make them bitches stir
that's right he'll make the sweet substance drip
from the middle of your hillbilly lips
and like the farmer milk his cow
the Howling Wolf will howl
and since times does allow
you all can
Take me to your backwoods now
Take me to your backwoods now
Take me to your backwoods now
song performed by by Red Hot Chili Peppers from The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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And the Bairns Will Come
So you’ve seen at last what we have seen so long through scalding tears:
You have found what we—the People—we have known for twenty years:
And Australia’s hymn is swelling till the furthest fence-wires hum—
Save your country, Legislators—and the bairns will come.
You would put the blame upon us—we are women, we are men;
And our fathers and our mothers gave the country nine and ten.
They had honest work and wages, and the ways to win a home—
Give us half the chances they had—and the bairns will come.
Try the ranks of wealth and fashion, ask the rich and well-to-do,
With their nurseries and their nurses and their children one and two,
Will they help us bear the burden?—but their purse-proud lips are dumb.
Let us earn a decent living—and the bairns will come.
Young men, helpless in the city’s wheel of greed that never stops,
Tramp the streets for work while sweethearts slave in factories and shops.
Shall they marry and bear children to their parents’ martyrdom?
Make the city what it should be—and the bairns will come.
Shall we give you sons and daughters to a life of never-rest,
Sacrificing all for nothing in the desert of the West,
To be driven to the city’s squalid suburb and the slum?
Make the city what it should be—and the bairns will come.
Don’t you hear Australia calling for her children unconceived?
Don’t you hear them calling to her while her heart is very grieved?
Give the best land to the farmers, make the barren West a home,
Save the rainfall, lock the rivers—and the bairns will come.
poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Ain't Gonna Grieve
by Bob Dylan
Well, I ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
And ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
Come on brother, join the band,
Come on sisters, clap your hands,
Tell everybody that's in the land,
You ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
Well, I ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
And ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
Brown and blue and white and black,
All one color on the one-way track,
We got this far and ain't a-goin' back
And ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
Well, I ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
I ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
We're gonna notify your next of kin,
You're gonna raise the roof until the house falls in.
If you get knocked down get up again,
We ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
Well, I ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
I ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
We'll sing this song all night long,
Sing it to my baby from midnight on.
She'll sing it to you when I'm dead and gone,
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more.
Well, I ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
Ain't a-gonna grieve no more, no more
I ain't a-gonna grieve no more
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To a Friend Concerning Several Ladies
You know there is not much
that I desire, a few chrysanthemums
half lying on the grass, yellow
and brown and white, the
talk of a few people, the trees,
an expanse of dried leaves perhaps
with ditches among them.
But there comes
between me and these things
a letter
or even a look--well placed,
you understand,
so that I am confused, twisted
four ways and--left flat,
unable to lift the food to
my own mouth:
Here is what they say: Come!
and come! and come! And if
I do not go I remain stale to
myself and if I go--
I have watched
the city from a distance at night
and wondered why I wrote no poem.
Come! yes,
the city is ablaze for you
and you stand and look at it.
And they are right. There is
no good in the world except out of
a woman and certain women alone
for certain. But what if
I arrive like a turtle,
with my house on my back or
a fish ogling from under water?
It will not do. I must be
steaming with love, colored
like a flamingo. For what?
To have legs and a silly head
and to smell, pah! like a flamingo
that soils its own feathers behind.
Must I go home filled
with a bad poem?
And they say:
Who can answer these things
till he has tried? Your eyes
are half closed, you are a child,
oh, a sweet one, ready to play
but I will make a man of you and
with love on his shoulder--!
And in the marshes
the crickets run
on the sunny dike's top and
make burrows there, the water
reflects the reeds and the reeds
move on their stalks and rattle drily.
poem by William Carlos Williams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Country Aint Country
He was raised on a tractor in overalls and boots
Been to college and then law school since leaving his roots
Came home in a lexus,he left in a ford
Country aint country no more
He told his daddy catch up with the times
He said now a days people trade heifers online
Dad aint selling deals with a handshake like before
Country aint country no more
No,country aint country no more
The back forty was sold to make up for hard times
Then sold by the half acre lot overnight
The houses went up and the trees were cut down
And there went the finest deer hunting around
Lord everyones locking their doors
cause country aint country no more
Now his dad sits in traffic looking round at the change
Watching crews turn the county road into four lanes
The old sunday drive has turned into a chore
Country aint country no more
Lord,country aint country no more
The back forty was sold to make up for hard times
Then sold by the half acre lot overnight
The houses went up and the trees were cut down
And there went the finest deer hunting around
Lord everyones locking their doors
cause country aint country no more
Theres no turning back
And you just cant ignore
That country aint country no more
No,country aint country no more
song performed by by Travis Tritt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Wife's Only Rival
I've stood bathed in the limelight,
Standing listening to the screams.
My guitar and I soared to the heights,
Yes I have lived my dreams.
Up on the stage Robert and I,
Drove all the teeny boppers wild.
While she tried to hide from my brown eyes,
So long ago my woman child.
All over we played, reached number one,
When most of you weren't even born.
And then one day it came undone,
And I was broken and forlorn.
The band broke up, I lost a girl,
One that I never could say was mine.
So I went back home to my little world,
Back with my people, my own kind.
My woman child awaited me,
And she took back this guitar man.
Yes I was back where I needed to be,
Away from the limelight and all my fans.
I never went back on the road,
She never let me leave again.
And she took from me my heavy load,
And gave me love to kill the pain.
It's been a long time forty years,
My woman child one rival had.
My son now has her, and I fight back tears,
When I see her framed above his bed.
For my son J.J. the best guitar player I ever made. I love you gordo.
10/09/10 Alton Texas
poem by Juan Olivarez
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Quit
i quit trying to save the world...
and just offered my hand,
and walked beside it.
i quit trying to find the truth,
for it was already within me.
i quit trying to tell anyone anything,
and just listened in perfect stillness.
i quit trying to be religious,
and found the sacred in the common.
i quit trying to stop the wars,
and let the wars within me end!
i quit trying to find god,
and just looked in the mirror.
i quit fighting for freedom,
and found a freedom they couldnt take.
i quit shouting out for justice,
and walked in a way that was just.
i quit wanting to own anything,
and so broke the final bonds.
i quit trying to be what they wanted,
and decided to be myself.
i quit blaming, condemning, and accusing,
and took the responsibility on myself.
i quit trying to make myself a name,
and walked in nobody's shoes.
i quit staring from behind the bars,
that were never really there.
i quit seeking to define and hold,
and just let go and lived.
i quit hiding from death, and opened the door,
and found the light from which darkness
is made!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Can
(m - deris, weikath l - weikath)
May I take you higher
Feed well your desire
We wont be forgotten
Foes left slain and rotten
I will have my way
As once before
Others stand in awe
Cant scorn at all
I can, I can, I can
Make it all again
I dont wanna lose
I dont wanna get drowned
I can, I can I can
Heed the call again
Fulfill my dreams until Im cured
Some will leave here shattred
Wish us tarred and feathered
Show me anyone who doubts our ways
I will laught out loud and I will say
I can, I can, I can
Make it all again
I dont wanna lose
I dont wanna get drowned
I can, I can I can
Make the call again
Can attain evrything to leave you sure
I can
I can, I can, I can
Make it all again
I dont wanna lose
I dont wanna get drowned
I can, I can I can
Heed the call again
Fulfill my dreams until Im cured
Solo: michael
song performed by by Helloween
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Aces Eights
Walked up in the bar sat down on the stool
And got the low down from the guy with the jewel
He was playin pool and he thought he was good
Cuz he bet me 5 dimes he could sink em with his foot
He grabbed a stick tried to kick it with his heel
Did a sic back flip and ended up full kneel
He didnt squeal but it looked like it hurt
And it did cuz he took me for my cash and my shirt
I got worked but whats worse than that
Just as he was leaving he tipped his hat
Then he laughed and said Im sorry bout your luck
When he walked out the door he got hit by a truck
Chorus:
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
Thats a dead mands hand
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
Thats a dead mands hand
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
Thats a dead mands hand
Aces and eights, aces and eights, aces and eights
How about the guy used to hang in the clubs
Getting all the numbers and getting all the love
He didnt wear gloves he was too hard core
May he rest in peace we dont see him anymore
Lots of stories and old cliches
Small town girl tryin to make her way
She moved to the city all she wanted was a job
Now shes underneath the desk tryin to move to the top
It wont stop cuz the circle wont let it
Be careful what you wish for
You might get it
You know the cat got macked by the bees
He was messin with the honey and the mouse and the cheese
(chorus)
You could beat the system you could beat your girl
But who ya gonna beat come the end of the world
(imagine) everything you ever worked for (strived for)
Suddenly becomin everything your gonna die for
Now whatd ya live for? nothing anymore right
How could you live your life uptight?
See everything you did and everything you seen
Rolled around in the mud but you couldnt come clean
And that makes you dirty now how does that feel?
Living life like an open cut that wont heal
Sore at the world and you dont know why
You boucned like a ball and thats how youll die
(chorus)
song performed by by Uncle Kracker
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Fountain
A fountain there is for
you, there is a fountain.
It can't be stopped,
can't be, by any mountain.
They turned their face from,
me, as I keep patience.
I'm patient to your words....
For you do I have tolerance?
They might whisper.
I'll say, 'No, Sir,
I can't rectify him,
can't stand him so far.
But, if I can teach
anyone, how to love,
himself, to make him rich,
at least, in love half,
with him, half with world.
To be rich not by Bread,
or, by earthly gain,
by love's silken thread! '
poem by Nilakshi Das
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Waters of an Oasis
It's clearer than purified water
much expensive than processed water
sweeter than honey jelly
healthier than rain water.
It's scarce than ocean water
plenty than lake water
quenching than well's water
energizing than falls' waters.
Oasis fruits are sweeter
its grass are healthier
its breezes are more lulling
and a unique captivating topography.
Oasis love is more loving.
Oasis air is more fresh
oasis life is worth living
oasis care is more caring
oasis death is more victorious.
poem by Fate Mcfate
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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