For Zbigniew Herbert, Summer, 1971, Los Angeles
No matter how hard I listen, the wind speaks
One syllable, which has no comfort in it--
Only a rasping of air through the dead elm.
*
Once a poet told me of his friend who was torn apart
By two pigs in a field in Poland. The man
Was a prisoner of the Nazis, and they watched,
He said, with interest and a drunken approval . . .
If terror is a state of complete understanding,
Then there was probably a point at which the man
Went mad, and felt nothing, though certainly
He understood everything that was there: after all,
He could see blood splash beneath him on the stubble,
He could hear singing float toward him from the barracks.
*
And though I don't know much about madness,
I know it lives in the thin body like a harp
Behind the rib cage. It makes it painful to move.
And when you kneel in madness your knees are glass,
And so you must stand up again with great care.
*
Maybe this wind was what he heard in 1941.
Maybe I have raised a dead man into this air,
And now I will have to bury him inside my body,
And breathe him in, and do nothing but listen--
Until I hear the black blood rushing over
The stone of my skull, and believe it is music.
But some things are not possible on the earth.
And that is why people make poems about the dead.
And the dead watch over then, until they are finished:
Until their hands feel like glass on the page,
And snow collects in the blind eyes of statues.
poem by Larry Levis
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Related quotes
You Hung Me
It's dead, it'd dead you killed it all
you fucked me over, you watched me fall
the life you sucked right out of me
dead you hung me from tree.
My blood spills out onto the ground
it screams, it cries without a sound
there is no victory here for me
dead you hung me from a tree.
You can run but you can't hide
you'll try to say it's suicide
torn apart for all to see
dead you hung me from a tree.
I'll prove to you your world is wrong
your power has gone on way to long
watch my body swing so free
dead you hung me from a tree.
Free from you I find my peace
in a grave that's six feet deep
the cage unlocked, I found the key
dead you hung me from a tree.
poem by CJA Anderson
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Deviance
I embrace the darkness within
Forever serve beneath its hand
Horrid thoughts that surface to me
Ceremony bloods command
I will live through this forever
I have done the things you grieve
As you kneel before its evil
Death is here deep inside your
Skinned alive now naked
Terrorized no humanity
Seek salvation from an mia god
Empty vessels chanting for your death
Walk the streets beneath the shadows
Searching for a cryptic bride
Eat alive the conscience I hate
Without pain I watch you die
I will live through this forever
I have done the things you grieve
As you kneel before its evil
My face is the last you'll see
Soaked in blood the mask you wear
Haunting cries the dead scream for me
Staring eyes invoke no guilt
I can taste your mind your lifeless
Face the dead and dying
Feel your life drain
Through your soul
Seek salvation from an mia god
Empty vessels chanting for the dead
Death is yours
Your veins have dried
Staring eyes of glass now empty
Still you speak with lips so cold
In my head I hear you cry
God is dead can't save me
Taking lives with impunity
Resurrection of a deviant Christ
Feeding hate to capacity - deviance
song performed by by Slayer from God Hates Us All
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When Earth Quaked
Earth uncovered
Two hundred thousand dead
A woman groaned
Stone slabs crushed her head
These are the times
When God weeps
When the earth quaked
I heard His steps
In my pain
I am filled with anger
My blood curls
As I ponder
How many lives slip
In this quake's blunder
This is how earth rage
I am thankful
For the hands He sent
The press
People from every corner
Friends I never knew
This is how you know
He never sleeps
Many dead
But many spared
So I am not mad
New lives conceived
Still lives to be lived
Two hundred thousand dead
But millions breathe
poem by Buxton Shippy
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All Dead, All Dead
Memories, my memories
How long can you stay
To haunt my days
She came without a farthing
A babe without a name
So much ado about nothing
Is what shed try to say
So much ado my lover
So many games we played
Through every fleeted summer
Through every precious day
All dead all dead
All the dreams we had
And I wonder why I still live on
All dead all dead
And alone Im spared
My sweeter half instead
All dead
And gone
All dead...
All dead all dead
At the rainbows end
And still I hear her own sweet song
All dead all dead
Take me back again
You know my little friends
All dead
And gone
All dead and gone
Her ways are always with me
I wander all the while
But please you must forgive me
I am old but still a child
All dead all dead
But I should not grieve
In time it comes to everyone
All dead all dead
But in hope I breathe
Of course I dont believe
Youre dead
And gone
All dead
And gone
song performed by by Queen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Earthly Gifts
Read it yourself and write it yourself,
Say it yourself with the earthly gifts around you;
For the plan is in motion to meet your love.
Mark it on your bathroom mirror and,
Say it to a friend about this love;
For the time is ticking on you!
But fools adn drunkards are not part of our friends.
You are lower than the earth and,
A tenth of the plunder is for you forever!
But the body without the spirit is already dead.
Of goats and calves,
A little fire kindles the forest to him who speaks;
And like the waves of the sea,
But you need to bridle your tongue and listen to the one who speaks!
Slow to wrath is the pen of the writer,
Driven and tossed by the wind in times like this;
But like the things needed by the body.
Earthly things and earthly bodies,
Earthly gifts are part of us;
But the body without the spirit is already dead.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Buried Alive
[Venom cover]
I'm alive but dead, awake but asleep
As friend gather round and mourners they weep
My mind thinks of all the things I have done
My body is cold but my heart beat goes on
And on................and on
As they lower me down into that hole in the ground
I scream out for help but they hear not a sound
I fear at the lid, my fingers they bleed
Is this happening to me or is it just a dream
Summon the dead..........
Baphomets call...........
Blood on my hands........
"Let me out of here"
My bones are decayed, my flesh it doth rot
I'm lying in silk, take the lid off this box
My lungs gasp for air, my eyes scream for sight
I promise the rise of my body this night
Summon the dead..........
Baphomets call...........
Blood on my hands........
Screaming in torment.....
I'm felling you all......
Take heed of my plea.....
Answer my call...........
I'm gonna be free........
song performed by by Obituary
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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An Old Lesson From The Fields
Even as I watched the daylight how it sped
From noon till eve, and saw the light wind pass
In long pale waves across the flashing grass,
And heard through all my dreams, wherever led,
The thin cicada singing overhead,
I felt what joyance all this nature has,
And saw myself made clear as in a glass,
How that my soul was for the most part dead.
Oh, light, I cried, and, heaven, with all your blue,
Oh, earth, with all your sunny fruitfulness,
And ye, tall lillies, of the wind-vexed field,
What power and beauty life indeed might yield,
Could we but cast away its conscious stress,
Simple of heart, becoming even as you.
poem by Archibald Lampman
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Dead inside
I feel dead inside,
Feeling my body shaking,
Feeling the numbness,
Watching my tears fall down,
The fault was my own,
I caused these things to happen,
Can’t believe that I felt this pain I feel along,
I can’t do this alone,
I need someone to help me cope with this feeling I feel,
I never knew the pain I feel for so long,
I wanna feel as if I belong here,
I don’t want to feel dead inside no more,
My body is shaking its aching,
It’s the same way,
Same rhyme,
Same poems I write over and over again,
Some change, some stay the same,
I feel dead inside,
I am all alone,
Facing this pain alone,
No one there to help me.
poem by Jennifer Rondeau
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lost Within
Watch him Empty
Void Within Himself
Solid his faith for nothing
It was too hard to keep
Watch her dead
Dead within herself
Grave her body for free
It was to cheap to sell
And watch us mad
Mad within ourselves
We washed our souls to nothing
They seemed to filthy to you!
So scrutinize my eyes
They've seen so much too much
Plug into my ears
They've heard so much too much
Squeeze my heart
It once felt so much
It used to feel so much too much
song performed by by Yattering
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Checkmate
I look the other way.
To all my friends listen tell me what you hear.
The wind telling your secrets.
Feeding the face of rumors.
Fiction or fact doesn't matter the body is still intact.
A chance to get angry.
A chance to over react.
A chance to truly think back.
What did you do wrong?
What is it what you said, that left the room complete dead?
I could hear the pin hit that hard ground before it ever came.
A prediction of more of the same.
In chess I play this game.
Where one piece is given up for the king.
Almighty and defending.
An opening is but in the making.
And their just waiting take her.
But the right moment decides the game.
And it is all mine with just a pawn.
You have been owned.
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Knock em Dead Kid
In the heat of the night
You went and blackened my eyes
Well now Im back
Im back
Im back
And Im coming your way
Well now Im supercharged
Might just explode in your face
Im black
Im black
Im black
And Im primed for hate
(chorus)
Knock em dead, kid
(knock em dead)
Knock em dead, kid
(knock em dead)
The blade is red, kid
(knock em dead)
Knock em dead, kid
Knock em dead
A star-spangled fight
Heard a steel-belted scream
Now Im black, Im black, Im black
Another sidewalks bloody dream
I heard the sirens whine
My blood turned to freeze
Youll see the red in my eyes
As you take my disease
(chorus)(solo)(chorus)
Knock em knock em knock em
Dead...(scream)
Knock em dead kid
song performed by by Motley Crue
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Eternity, And Such...
eternity, and such...
the stain in the coffee cup,
the holes in the old man's underwear.
the rough tongue of a stray cat,
the shadow moving in the alley.
the trail left by the snail,
paper cups blown by the wind.
the blood left on the highway,
the dog dead in the ditch.
the glass shattered on the floor,
the stink of the body
three days after...
the limb torn from the tree
by the memory of storm.
your pillow, my hat,
a shot of brandy in an empty room.
the sound the heart makes...
when no one can hear!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Murder
Upon the threshold, red-eyed Murder stands,
Fresh from his slaughter-house of human meat,
Blood on his broken teeth and on his hands,
Blood on his nails and on his purple feet.
With hollow voice he speaks, and sick'ning breath,
'A way there is, that only way is death!….
The dead will rise no more,-the dead are dead!
The spared will creep behind the sparer's back,
And breathe their plots and stab. The dead are dead!
And lie along the safe triumphal track.
The young-eyed babe, will lisp it's little tales.
The loving girl will slay her main in bed
Kissing his savage mouth, the victor fails
At Mercy's seat. The dead are safely dead'.
poem by Leon Gellert
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Dead Man Walkin'
There's a pale horse comin'
I'm gonna ride it
I'll rise in the morning
My fate decided
I'm a dead man walkin'
I'm a dead man walkin'
In St. James Parish
I was born and christened
Now I've got my story
Mister no need for you to listen
It's just a dead man talkin'
Once I had a job I had a girl
But between our dreams and actions
Lies this world
In the deep forest
Their blood and tears rushed over me
All I could feel was the drugs and the shotgun
And my fear up inside of me
Like a dead man talkin'
'Neath a summer sky my eyes went black
Sister I won't ask for forgiveness
My sins are all I have
Now the clouds above my prison
Move slowly across the sky
There's a new day comin'
And my dreams are full tonight
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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0201 Two skins, one thick, one thin
No, don’t open that door. Don’t try.
It’s locked anyway. Or should be. Some people say
it’s worse than seeing their first dead body
half dead half alive, they never quite forget it.
Me I’m used to them. Them? Well OK,
I shan’t let you look but I’ll tell you.
It’s my two body suits.
Thin skin, thick skin.
When I go out in the thin skin
life’s more exciting but god it’s tiring.
A trip on public transport and I come back finished.
I see things, feel things rather, that are scary.
I see people’s next lives they’re creating for themselves.
There’s this blind school round the corner;
I saw them all on the station platform once and I could see
those who were going to see properly, next time,
those who were making themselves blinder…
then next day I saw an ordinary ‘seeing’ man talking to a friend
without using his eyes, just dead ahead…how could I tell him?
Another time, I sat next to a man
who looked as if he’d slept rough
but the scary thing was, he was giving off such intense heat
that I knew sure as sure, he’d just murdered somebody…
I never knew that was a clue…
I see everybody’s perfection and their present self
simultaneously. You might think it’s wonderful.
Yes and no. Not when you’re wearing your thin skin.
Yes, of course it’s great for poetry…that’s why
I bought it, why I wear it.
The thick skin’s for business, interviews, being fired,
the Editor’s office, the dentist, the doctor,
the mother-in-law, the footfall
in the dark alley, all the times you just
want to be tough, insensitive, eff the lot of them,
guess I don’t need to list all that?
And yes, sometimes you can go out in the wrong one.
A friend tells you of some awful family disaster
and you think, thick-skinned, well that’s their problem,
let them sort it out… and hate yourself for even thinking it.
Or someone looks at you on the wrong day
like you’re looking at me now,
sorta disbelieving, disgusted and pitying..
gotta go. Seeyerlater.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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The Last Breath You Ever Take
Can you feel it.
I'm taking over your body.
Controlling every move you make.
Controlling every breath you take.
You never know when it could be your last.
Crawling in inch by inch.
Do you even notice?
Stealing and murdering your soul.
The absence of life.
Go ahead try my device.
We all have to pay a price.
I already paid mine.
How bout you?
It's long past time.
A dead clock with a living vengeance.
A pattering of the wind and nothing else.
The crows cackle as they know I'm already here.
Only darken hearts have anything to fear.
Can you feel it.
I'm taking over your body.
Controlling every move you make.
Controlling every breath you take.
You never know when it could be your last.
You just never know when it could be your last.
A hurricane coming in so fast.
But it makes a dead stop and destroys.
No escape, no matter where you are.
Battling your demons from afar.
They will eventually catch up.
Keep telling that voice in your head to shut up.
But you can never silence guilt completely.
It's long past time.
A dead clock with living vengeance.
A pattering of the wind and nothing else.
The crows cackle as they know I'm already here.
Only darken hearts have fear.
Can you feel it.
I'm taking over your body.
Controlling every move you make.
Controlling every breath take.
Oh Can you feel it.
I'm taking over your body.
Controlling every move you make.
Controlling every breath take.
Do you realize what is at stake.
Ignoring a past mistake.
I'm sorry but I will not hesitate.
You never know when it could be your last.
You just never know when it could be your last.
The last breath you ever take.
A nightmare lying in your wake.
A second and a third chance.
A pasted up glance at a remedy to what I have been dying to.
On the inside an out.
The blood has it's voice.
And it screams for you.
It screams of your name.
What did you do?
From morning till the full moon.
You keep saying sometime to soon.
Closer and closer.
Can you feel it.
I'm taking over your body.
Controlling every move you make.
Controlling every breath take.
You never know when it could be your last.
Crawling in inch by inch.
Do you even notice?
Stealing and murdering your soul.
The absence of life.
Go ahead try my device.
We all have to pay a price.
I already paid mine.
How bout you?
How bout you?
How bout you?
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Water.
Water drips off my body
Red water
Black water
Water that looks like glass as it rolls down my face
Stop the pain
Stop the water
Stop the liquid pouring from my body
Feel the pain
Breathe it in
Taste the hurt flowing
Flowing
Ever so smoothly
Ever so beautifully
Red water
Black water
Water that looks like glass and cuts like a knife
Red water
Looking so pretty
Glistening in the light
Black water
Staining my soul
Streaking my face
Making my pain visible
Water that looks like glass
Falls on my body
Seeps through my pores
I feel nothing inside
So breathe it in
Feel the pain
Let it hurt
And let it heal
Cuz you'll be dead soon enough.
April 5 2010
Copyright by Elaine Cole 2010
poem by Elaine Eatsbabies
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Over The Dead Body
Don’t fight over the dead body
Grudge and ego of people left behind
Could raise the worst world war
Don’t scared over the dead body
Silence and stillness of living human
Is more frightening than the ghost
Don’t keep mourning over the dead body
Sadness and lost of the one we love
Will be replaced by forever peace
Don’t worship over the dead body
Dreams could only be real and achieved
If we open our eyes to the world
Don’t disrespect over the dead body
It once belonged to precious life
Though the evidence corpse severely decayed
poem by Maria Sudibyo
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The Tryst
I raised the veil, I loosed the bands,
I took the dead thing from its place.
Like a warm stream in frozen lands
My lips went wandering on her face,
My hands burnt in her hands.
She could not stay me, being dead;
Her body here was mine to hold.
What if her lips had lost their red?
To me they always tasted cold
With the cold words she said.
Did my breath run along her hair,
And free the pulse, and fire the brain,
My wild blood wake her wild blood there?
Here eyelids lifted wide again
In a blue, sudden stare.
Beneath my fierce, profane caress
The whole white length of body moved;
The drowsy bosom seemed to press
As if against a breast beloved,
Then fail for weariness.
No, not that anguish! Christ forbid
That I should raise such dead! I rose,
Stifled the mouth with lilies, hid
Those eyes, And drew the long hair close,
And shut the coffin lid.
My cold brow on the cold wood laid,
Quiet and close to-night we lie.
No cruel words her lips have said.
I shall not take nor she deny.
The dead is with the dead.
poem by Muriel Stuart
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Die Dead Enough
[Solo-Poland]
Its twilight and I wake up hot
My body's soaked in a cold, cold sweat
I reenact the lurid scenes
And clawed engravings in my head
Oh, I can't punch hard enough and I run
I can't kick high enough and I run
I can't shoot straight enough and I run
I can't hold on enough and I run
Oh, I can't stay down enough and I run
I can't take pain enough and I run
I can't bleed fast enough
I can't die dead enough
The air is thick, but the oxygen's thin
My heart is beating like a drum, boom!
And ice is flowing through my veins
Explosives on my lips and in my lungs
Oh, I can't punch hard enough and I run
I can't kick high enough and I run
I can't shoot straight enough and I run
I can't hold on enough and I run
Oh, I can't stay down enough and I run
I can't take pain enough and I run
I can't bleed fast enough
I can't die dead enough
I don't know what I'm running from
And I don't know where I'm running to
There's something deep and strange inside of me I see
I don't know what I'm running from
And I don't know where I'm running to
Something's compelling me to run into the dark
And now I am more driven than before
And now I live just to settle score
And now I feel the nearness of your breath
Now I introduce you to your death
[Solo-Poland]
[Solo-Mustaine]
[Solo-Poland]
I am more driven than before
I live just to settle score
I feel the nearness of your breath
I introduce you to your death
I can't punch hard enough
I can't kick high enough
I can't shoot straight enough
I can't hold on enough
I can't stay down enough, die dead enough
I can't take pain enough, die dead enough
I can't bleed fast enough, die dead enough
I can't die dead enough, die dead enough
[End -solo- fills Poland]
song performed by by Megadeth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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