In a Time of Diminished Expectations
If I should turn ecstatic, slap me. If I babble as do crippled
Souls, your Cranes and Dickinsons, be sure to drown me
In your well, and, if I take to big ideas, the sort which
Seemed so much in vogue about a hundred years ago,
And which, as if to compensate for all the rest of life
Becoming overly accelerated, called for use of foreign
Words and ancient myths and all of that, be sure to
Wrest my pen from me. We've watched the culture
Fall to ruin, fallen for all sorts of cant, and learned,
At least, I think we've learned, that elemental
Declarations, simple thoughts abruptly stated,
Said to be no more than what one mind believes
Its world is, have superceded big ideas. Another
Culture looms, I guess, and, with it, ecstasies and
Schema. I will hew to what I know...and hope
To slip your slap.
poem by Lawrence Beck
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Related quotes
Perhaps You Might Call Me An Old Fashioned Man
Many love poets like Whitman and Eliot and Poe
The first of the moderns from decades ago
But of their sort of poetry I am not a fan
Perhaps in my ways I'm an old fashioned man.
I still love the old ballads I loved when I was young
That on Winter nights by the fire grate were sung
By then ageing men and women who now with the dead lay
But fond memories of them I have with me today.
Us youngsters learned from them the words of many a memorable song
And with the old songsters we used sing along
A love of old culture from them I did gain
And in the ways of the past I am one who remain.
The mentors of my young years much to them I do owe
The love of old culture in my mind they did sow
Songs they learned from their elders to us they passed down
May they rest in peace in their graves in the town.
I do love the songs that I learned as a boy
And memories of what was I still do enjoy
Of modern poets and their poetry I was never a fan
Perhaps you might call me an old fashioned man.
poem by Francis Duggan
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1. One
I am trying to find my poetic rhythm.
Pen my flow of thoughts.
Words running through my mind,
Ideas running through my mind.
Incoherent, Scattered and disjointed
I am trying to make words and ideas one
Create a world of words, in this world of chaos
Words running from one end
Ideas running from one end
On a path of collision
Ideas and words unite, one
One, the beginning
One, the universal beginning
One, the number of the gods
One, my first poem
poem by Anand Dixit
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Racism and the Culture Of Racism
We must be aware…..,
Of the Culture Of Racism….,
It’s a slur and a swear….,
The Culture Of Racism….! ! !
Can’t turn your back….,
On the Culture Of Racism….,
Or you’ll feel the whack…,
Of the Culture Of Racism….! ! !
It’s hard to believe….
The Culture Of Racism….,
That’s why we all grieve….,
The Culture Of Racism…! ! !
We must face the facts….,
On the Culture Of Racism ….! ! !
Cause we’ve seen the attacks…..,
Of the Culture Of Racism….,
It follows us all…,
The Culture Of Racism….,
But we must stand tall….,
Against the Culture Of Racism….! ! !
Can we control or stop it….,
As long as it’s been livin’….? ? ?
That’s the priceless question….,
On the Culture Of Racism…! ! !
poem by Trade Martin
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Slap That Bass
Zoom zoom zoom zoom
The world is in a mess
With politics and taxes
And people grinding axes
Theres no happiness
Zoom zoom zoom zoom
Rhythm lead your ace
The future doesnt fret me
If I can only get me
Someone to slap that bass
Happiness is not a riddle
When Im listening to that
Big bass fiddle
Slap that bass
Slap it till its dizzy
Slap that bass
Keep the rhythm busy
Zoom zoom zoom
Misery, youve got to go
Slap that bass
Use it like a tonic
Slap that bass
Keep your philharmonic
Zoom zoom zoom
And the milk and honeyll flow
Dictators would be better off
If they zoom zoom now and then
Today, you can see that the happiest men
All got rhythm
In which case
If you want a bauble
Slap that bass
Slap away your trouble
Learn to zoom zoom zoom
Slap that bass
(bridge)
Dictators would be better off
If they zoom zoom now and then
Today, you can see that the happiest men
All got rhythm
In which case
If you want a bauble
Slap that bass
Slap away your trouble
Learn to zoom zoom zoom
Slap that bass
Zoom zoom zoom zoom
Zoom zoom zoom zoom
Zoom zoom zoom zoom
song performed by by Ella Fitzgerald
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Culture Of Stupidity
Open your naive eyes…..,
To the Culture Of Stupidity….,
It’s all around you….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! !
No way to escape….,
From the Culture Of Stupidity ….,
It haunts and stalks you…,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! !
It’s hard to believe it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….,
That so many can’t see it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity …! !
As liberals keep shying away…..,
From the overwhelming threat…..,
Of radical terrorism today…..,
How long will The Culture Of Stupidity go on….? ?
My answer is as simple as this….,
The Culture Of Stupidity shall live on…..,
As long as humankind and liberalism will exist…! !
poem by Trade Martin
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The Culture Of Stupidity
Open your eyes…..,
To the Culture Of Stupidity….,
It’s all around us….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! ! !
We can’t escape….,
From the Culture Of Stupidity ….,
It haunts and annoys us…,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! ! !
It’s hard to believe it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….,
Why so many can’t see it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity …! ! !
So tell me, The Culture Of Stupidity ….,
How long will it go on….? ? ?
The answer is as simple as this….,
The Culture Of Stupidity shall live…..,
As long as humankind will exist…! ! !
poem by Trade Martin
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Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder” (The Billion-Dollar Question)
We must all stay aware…..,
Of the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder….,
It’s been increasing for years….,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !
Can’t dare turn our backs….,
On the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
It’ll sneak up and kill us…,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !
It’s hard to believe and conceive….
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
That’s why so many are blind….,
To the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder …! ! !
We’ve seen the bloody attacks…..,
Of the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
So we must face the facts….,
On the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !
Yes they’re after us all…,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
Their radical religion condones it….,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !
Can we control it or stop it….,
So it won’t go any further….? ? ?
That’s the billion-dollar question….,
On the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder …! ! !
poem by Trade Martin
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Mood
What can be termed as mood?
Can that be called conducive for good?
Situation may not take you out of wood
You may not even like or prefer food
It is perfect condition to emit ideas
Nothing will be heard even good pleas
Good melody may also fall to deaf ears
Perfection may take longer or even years
Mind may set in and take complete rest
Emergence of constructive but thoughts best
Some times may prove hard or acid test
Right time to strike, write and paste
Don’t attempt when nothing appeals
Thoughts may cross and ideas repeal
Allow normal function with gate closed
Gradual entry with no more ideas forced
It is like child demanding toy
Nothing will convince even if you employ
Good alternatives with submitting to demands
Even if you threaten with severe remands
Childish play with funny acts
Got to know with basic facts
Simply arranging with current scene
Facts to be reflected as never before seen
Poets are whimsical and funny
Care not for any more penny
It is simple presentation of views
May not head to any more clues
It is not magic or creating words
Simple notes and looking too forwards
It may not have head and tales
Poets are many as sea have whales
Poets may create new concept and waves
Beautiful ideas which may produce heroes and braves
It may not be drive powerful wagon
Certainly a sharp and double edged weapon
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
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Thoughts and ideas - (Talking through my hat)
Break and husk
thoughts and ideas that,
without reason,
I smashing them like nuts
into my head – mortar with pig iron pestle.
Lay and hatch
thoughts and ideas,
and younglings,
instead of fly,
I keep them under latch
in my head – cage of neurons,
dendrites and axons.
Knead and raise
thoughts and ideas
but let me tempted,
and without reason,
instead of bake them, I play
“of thieves and bobbies”
with bullets of dough
shot from my head – automatic gun.
Pull kernels out of
thoughts and ideas
but I put not them to spring
and hundredfold harvest to bring,
I chain them necklace
that my poor mind
who walks nomad
through my head – ballad
to put it neck
in a night with moon
and than to catch
in a fairies dance
and hungry of blue
to soar in the stars.
***
Thoughts and ideas
are shrieking through my mind
as lost migratory birds
in an autumn of rains.
Thoughts and ideas
- arrow-shaped cranes with wet wings -
fall all at once
in my head – moorland
of thistle and mud.
Bevies of ideas
and useless thoughts
surround my mind
how ravens give wheel
carrions to be
through my head - waste land
by boiling and winds.
Thoughts and ideas
go round
like a pack of wolves
with empty bellies
through my head – winter of frost,
winter of sleet
with my mind
thoroughly frozen
by fright and a biting wind.
Pick
bunches of thoughts and ideas
caressed by the sun of mind
in bacchanal vineyards
planted on encephalic hills.
I squish them
and expect to get wine
and get drunk
in my head – tavern where the smoke
knife just cut it
and air is sourbitter.
Fog of thoughts and ideas
rises from my mind
as darkness on swamps
in late autumn.
Nothing to see
not hear anything
all still is,
just the small brain
flickers in my head – gray curtain
between movement and inertia.
Slacked thoughts and ideas
are resting on benches of mind,
nothing pulling them
with hands and teeth,
I can’t them gather
at work to bring
to get something good
from my head – chaos
where it lacks a poleax
and a stump of elm.
poem by Viorel Petru Trifan
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The most important of my achievements, if you want to call them that, was that I successfully introduced mystical ideas into pop culture, I wanted to save our culture from the stupidity and the bigotry and the ignorance that threatened it.
quote by Donovan
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Ideas For Walls
So many things in my head, Ive always had them before
No reason to be upset, theyre just ideas for walls
Now Im standing inside, outside, which is the right side
Im standing, demanding that the nightlife be called the right life
Like putting paint on my feet & walking sideways in rows
My walls could be so complete, complete with patterns of toes
Now Im standing inside, outside, which is the right side
Im standing the left side, right side, which is the right side
Now-ideas
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
A little m for the mirror, a double u for the wall
To make things perfectly clear, a great big h in the hall
Now Im standing inside, outside, which is the right side
Im standing, demanding that the nightlife be called the right life
Is everybody confused? (no) Im making no sense at all
You want a room with a view you need ideas for walls
Now Im standing inside, outside, which is the right side
Im standing inside, outside, outside, right side
Inside, outside, which is the right side
Now -- ideas
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
Ideas
Theyre just ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
Ideas for walls
song performed by by Men Without Hats
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Mind Always Turning
My mind is like a jet,
ideas I have, hidden away,
not thought of yet.
My mind keeps going, going, fast as a train,
only at rest stops, do I wait
my thoughts, are simple and plain,
of poetry, do I love
sitting down at my desk,
floating along, like a dove
to survive, and to live,
the words shall flow
and to the world, I will give
Ideas
Some of my best ideas come
When I least expect them
When I am without a pen to jot them down
I try to keep them in memory
But they become blurred
They become disjointed and lost
Consigned to frustration
Wanting to remember that spark
Which lit my mind into life
I sometimes find a segment of them
Those ideas which come to me
And fashion something out
Only it never looks right
It doesn’t have the feel I’d like
I guess some things are not to be
I guess I keep talking
Hoping I’d stumble across them
Some of my best ideas come
Then I least expect them
What I have learnt in my short life
Its always good to carry a pen
poem by Matthew Holloway
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I've learned
Ive learned that to love someone doesnt have to involve pain,
Ive learned that to have a friend you must be a friend first,
Ive learned that in time youll see your mistakes and learn from them,
Ive learned that to be alone sometimes is the best thing for you,
Ive learned that in order to love a person you must feel loved,
Ive learned that if your wrong admit it or youll never forgive yourself,
Ive learned that your first love will be a part of you and you may never forget,
Ive learned that in order to move on you must fix what was first wrong,
Ive learned that if you ever mess up, you can always start over again,
Ive learned that to be 'cool' doesnt involve pressure,
Ive learned to accept what I have and be happy,
Ive learned that people will come and go so tell the ones you love how you feel,
Ive learned that to respect yourself you must respect others,
Ive learned that your actions always involve consequences whether it be good or bad,
Ive learned that priceless words can mean the world to someone,
Ive learned that sometimes being silent is the best solution,
Ive learned to expect the unexpected,
Ive learned that healing a broken heart involves tears and pain,
Ive learned to see the world in the eyes of others,
And Ive learned that each new day is a day to touch a life.
poem by Carly Almonde
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Listen
I've lived 70 years and what have I learned?
Keep your mouth shut with ears open and you won't get burned.
I often talked thoughtlessly instead of listening well.
All the opportunities that this cost me is hard to tell.
My life would have been broader if I listened to new things said.
But I was too busy coddling old ideas molding in my head.
As for friends and colleagues, I offended more than my share.
With an attitude that my ideas were the only ones that were fair.
So after 70 years there's just one thought I'd like to emphasize…
During your life learn to listen to others, oh please listen, and you'll become wise.
poem by Gregory Huyette
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Culture Shock Thru Auto-Flash Toilet
culture shock
basically not from
shocking culture
for there is no
culture which is
literally shocking
it is just peculiar
unfit to ones
foreign test
this ''shocking'' thoughts
has popped up
before leaving
the censored auto-flash toilet
that's really shocking
leaving the waste unnoticed
poem by Rommel Mark Dominguez Marchan
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Mesh
Below the surface this day I need it light
Inside dimension lies another sacrifice
Once out of reach, we never speak, we never compromise
As they turned to gold the edges froze and seemed to turn to
Ice
All flight departures assembled not returned
Left in these passions I looked but never learned
Theres hope, youve heard theres life in another world
Sometimes youll find that truth is never kind
In the ghost lies a portrait of space that time is never here
In the mind of a fallen man, an easy day in another land
Ship sails out to sea, away from me, I just stand and stare
Assassin clears his hands, I know that, and, I wasnt even
There
One day it came to mind we even leave the rest behind
Some day, I know, you get where you should go
Theres hope, youve heard theres life in another world
Sometimes well find that truth is never kind
One day it came to mind we even leave the rest behind
Some day, I know, we even get where we used to go
Theres hope, youve heard theres life in another world
song performed by by New Order
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In A Certain Culture
In a certain culture,
People do eat and drink blood;
In a certain culture,
People wake up early to eat before they brush their teeth;
In a certain culture,
People eat animals already found dead;
In a certain culture,
People wake up early to eat before they bath;
In a certain culture,
People eat snakes and dogs;
In a certain culture,
People wake up to brush their teeth before eating;
In a certain culture,
People eat monkeys and crocodiles;
Ina certain culture,
People wake up in the morning to bath before they eat;
In a certain culture,
To be naked at the beachside is okay;
In a certain culture,
It is a taboo to be naked at the beachside;
And this is all about life on this earth!
Because what is sweeter on your lips is bitter on mine;
And it is very strange to experience all these facts around the world.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Culture Abyss
I recently with two high-school students conversed
And alarmingly learned they weren’t at all versed
In the musical heritage of our American nation
It was a sorrowful show of their culture isolation
It’s not that these kids were doltish or dumb
They were as a matter of fact bright as they come
After minutes with them, one couldn’t refute
Their learned mastery of the digital compute
They’re well schooled in kilo, giga and megabytes
Consumed with computers in utter delight
But the well rounded person, is one who stands tall
Who knows the tech-world is not the be and end-all
I’m distressed to be the sad news reporter
That these bright kids never heard of Mr. Cole Porter
An American icon of music and wit
It’s a short-fall of ours, I humbly submit
“Duke Ellington, ” they asked, “Who’s that dude”?
And Gershwin, forget about, they hadn’t a clue
That it’s not a requisite to be musically inclined
Is no excuse to be culturally blind
I was fearful so didn’t mention Mozart or Bach
Though I’m sure they knew about Rap and Hard Rock
We’ve a TV, Computer and I-Pod generation
Who have fallen victim to culture deprivation
They’re probably unacquainted with the likes of Van Gogh
Who’s accountable for their lack of exposure I really don’t know
Hopefully they’ll emerge from this culture abyss
There’s so much out there, they deserve not to miss
poem by Stanley Cooper
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I have learned to respect ideas, wherever they come from. Often they come from clients. Account executives often have big creative ideas, regardless of what some writers think.
quote by Leo Burnett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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