I Am Accused Of Tending To The Past
i am accused of tending to the past
as if i made it,
as if i sculpted it
with my own hands. i did not.
this past was waiting for me
when i came,
a monstrous unnamed baby,
and i with my mother's itch
took it to breast
and named it
History.
she is more human now,
learning languages everyday,
remembering faces, names and dates.
when she is strong enough to travel
on her own, beware, she will.
poem by Lucille Clifton
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Related quotes
Itch, Itch, Itch
should it not annoy me
what comes from single addition sound
itch, itch, itch
scratching my finger point
my heart is like free market
my brain is like full garbage
itch, itch, itch
there's worm army in my back
I get itch in my leg
itch, itch, itch
it's an itch in my mouth
I have sharpen my nail
I want to jump and scream
can I come to scratch you into pieces
the hands that touch me impolitely
the blunt mind that speaks empty
itch, itch, itch
you are just itch for me
poem by Maria Sudibyo
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History Will Teach Us Nothing
If we seek solace in the prisons of the distant past
Security in human systems were told will always always last
Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast
Without a breath of real freedom were getting nowhere fast
If God is dead and an actor plays his part
His words of fear will find their way to a place in your heart
Without the voice of reason every faith is its own curse
Without freedom from the past things can only get worse
Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
History will teach us nothing
History will teach us nothing
Our written history is a catalogue of crime
The sordid and the powerful, the architects of time
The mother of invention, the oppression of the mild
The constant fear of scarcity, aggression as its child
Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Convince an enemy, convince him that hes wrong
Is to win a bloodless battle where victory is long
A simple act of faith
In reason over might
To blow up his children will only prove him right
History will teach us nothing
Sooner or later the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
History will teach us nothing
History will teach us nothing
Know you human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Men And The Women Of The World
When Brahma created human out of lotus,
When the Father created human out of soil,
When the Gods given birth human and mountains,
WE, the human, were let alone naked.
Unpredictable weather,
torturous terrain,
fiercely flowing water,
monstrous animals and birds.
First sign languages,
then spoken languages,
after that written languages,
and now we have thousands of languages.
Who taught us all these?
Have the religions known these?
Hindu's world ended at Himalayas,
Jew's world ended at the rivers.
The love of the fathers,
The love of the mothers,
The love of the siblings.
The love of the relatives,
The love of the community,
The love to have life on earth,
have made it possible and
we will make it to continue.
Happy valentine's day
to each and every one of you.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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Haunted by my past only making me stronger
the more i try to push my past away,
the more i am reminded by it everyday,
it will never be just the past,
alot of things were done to me,
that i will never get back,
nor will i even forget,
the pain of that haunts me,
day by day,
night by night,
no matter what it still finds me,
there really nothing i can do,
but to relive my past,
and try to understand it the best i can,
good people who come into my life,
will always trigger me,
bring up the worse part of the pain,
the closer they get,
but i'm learning that it all not bad,
if the experience is in a safe way,
i will always look back,
and wonder why things can't be different at times,
but for the most part,
it reminds me just how strong i am,
and how strong i am becoming,
these are the proud moments,
i will always remember.
poem by Mona Martinez
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Forget About The Future
I know we got some history
We got some issues that we need to solve
But is it really such a mystery?
It's just the way that the world evolves
Let me ask your forgiveness baby
My heart is ever full of sorrow
We got to move into the future maybe
And think about a new tomorrow
She said you know I used to love you baby
But you're thinking way too fast
So forget about the future
And let's get on with the past
So they called a 'nited nations summit
To negotiate for peace on earth
And it may be idealistic baby
But I know what peace of mind is worth
Everybody aired their grievances
And they threw away the suture
They opened up all the wounds of the past
As they failed to find their way to the future
They said we'd better check the weather chart
Before we tie our colors to this mast
It's just too hard thinking about the future baby
So let's just get on with the past
She said we'd better check the horoscope honey
Just in case this feeling wasn't meant to last
It's just too hard thinking about the future
So let's just get on with the past
How many times you ever hear me say
I'm as flawed as any other human being?
There simply has to be a different way
And a whole new way of seeing
Are we doomed by all our history?
Is our love really beyond repair?
It's getting close to midnight baby
And we ain't got time to spare
Just when I think I'm home and dry
And she's given up the fight
There's an unmistakable optimism
In romantic music and candlelight
There's this lingering perfume
The merest ghost of the past
She says wait a minute baby
You're moving way too fast
Wec1
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Everybody Is Trying To Be My Baby
Well, they took some honey
From a tree,
Dressed it up
And they called it me
And everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby, now.
Well, half past nine,
Half past four,
Fifty women
Knocking on my door.
And everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby, now.
When out last night.
I didn't stay late.
'Fore I got home
I had ninteen dates.
And everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby, now.
When out last night.
I didn't stay late.
'Fore I got home
I had ninteen dates.
And everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby, now.
Well, they took some honey
From a tree,
Dressed it up
And they called it me
And everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby.
Everybody's trying to be my baby, now
song performed by by Beatles
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Whatever You Need
In what other lives have I known your kiss
And what forgotten moments have I felt like this
The way you touch me I come undone
You know me more than anyone
Whatever you want
In what other lives have I touched your face
And what words did we whisper in a strange forbidden place
To be with you baby is to find myself
Were two of a kind you and i
I couldnt love anyone else
You are my beggining my end
You are my lover my friend
In this life in this time
Whatever you want whatever you need
I will be right here waiting baby baby baby
Whatever you want whatever you need
I will be right here waiting yeah yeah yeah
Yeah in what other lives did I feel your skin
And when exactly did I breathe you in
Feel like Ive known you for a thousand years
Youre so familiar to me and there is no fear
You are my beggining my end
You are my lover my friend
In this life in this time
Whatever you want whatever you need
I will be right here waiting baby baby baby
Whatever you want whatever you need
I will be right here waiting yeah yeah yeah yeah
Watch the sun go down yeah yeah
My past and future in you are bound oh yeah
I watch as time moves on Im alive and strong
And when Im with you theres no right no wrong
Whatever you want whatever you need
I will be right here waiting baby baby baby
Whatever you want whatever you need
Im gonna be right here waiting baby baby
Whatever you want whatever you want whatever you need whatever you need
I will be right here waiting baby baby baby
Whatever you want whatever you need
Whatever you want right here right here waiting right here right here waiting
song performed by by Tina Turner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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See All Her Faces
(jim stratton / alexander ryan)
Here she comes
Here she comes
Ribbons flying from her half-forgotten hair
Look at her run
See what the world and love have done
See all her faces
See all her faces
Look in my eyes
That she is me
I cant disguise
See all her faces
Ah, ha, see all her faces
Im looking for someone
Of the gentle kind
Knowing that looks can lie
Looking for someone
Is he there to find?
Or should I run on by, ah, ha
Here she comes
Here she comes
Shadows sadly chasing
Every step she takes
Look at her now
She needs love so much more somehow
See all her faces
See all her faces
Look at my life
The wasted years
Each a knife
See all her faces, ah-ha
See all her faces
Waiting for someone
Who will set me free
Passing the time too fast
Waiting for someone
Is that where hell be?
Or should I run right past? , hmm
There she goes
There she goes
Somehow making me and all her faces sad, oh, oh
Ba, da, ba, da, ba, da, ba, da......
song performed by by Dusty Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Love of Monuments
for some reason
(somewhy)
I like monuments
hilltop ones
with hundreds of stone steps leading up to them
out of breadth
I reach the top
usually
in a grass patch
below the sculpted form
abstract or realist
i spit out phlegm
i read the inscription
words, moments,
dates, unveilings
buried in the past
a past of creaking wood & iron
references often obscure (to me)
the exclamation mark
of a cobwebbed narrative
then I turn
to face away
to gaze sweepingly
at town, at gown
or
folds and pleats
of mountain ranges
more geography soul
than history man
my eyebrowed eyes
fly to space
to line
monumental delight;
i love
breathless moments
dry lips
the cool wind
on the head
and neck of the long stone stairs
poem by Frank Meintjies
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Faces Of My Past
Just lately for some reason
faces of old, friends
who have passed away
flicker across my memory
constantly day after day.
Sometimes I even dream of them.
Holding conversations
with them there.
I know of late that I’ve been
feeling lonely within myself.
It could be the past
I yean for once more.
A past unattainable,
something that has gone forever.
The more I think of it,
the more the faces I see.
In quiet moments I sit
like I’ve always done
and try to concentrate,
but the faces of the past
begin to reappear again.
It would seem like
the past doesn’t want to let me go
and times then races by.
Before you know, the quiet space
has all but gone.
21 February 2008
poem by David Harris
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Spare your Baby, Lady!
A wee little baby,
Turning in your womb;
In a bag of water,
In slumber unknown.
It has life like your own,
And has emotions;
It is your progeny,
Waiting to be born.
God has sculpted it but
Birth is not its right;
In a world of chaos,
Will it see daylight?
It is your own flesh, blood;
Waiting for your love;
How can you be cruel
To your baby now?
Spare your baby, lady,
Like your mother did;
God will surely bless you,
For your love of it!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 1-28-2008
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Faces & Names
Faces and names, I wish they were the same
Faces and names only cause trouble for me
Faces and names
If we all looked the same and we all had the same name
I wouldnt be jealous of you or you jealous of me
Faces and names
I always fall in love with someone who looks
The way I wish that I could be
Im always staring at someone who hurts
And the one they hurt is me
Faces and names, to me theyre all the same
If I looked like you and you looked like me
Thered be less trouble you see
Faces and names, I wish theyd go away
Id disappear into that wall and never talk
Talk, not talk
I wish I was a robot or a machine
Without a feeling or a thought
People who want to meet the name I have
Are always disappointed when they meet me
Faces and names, I wish they were the same
Faces and names only cause problems for me
Faces and names
Id rather be a hole in the wall
Looking out on the other side
Id rather look and listen, listen and not talk
To faces and names
If I had a breakdown when I was a kid
I lost my hair when I was young
If you dress older when youre not
As your really age you look the same
If we all looked the same, we wouldnt play these games
Me dressing for you and you dressing for me
Undressing for me
Faces and names, if they all were the same
You wouldnt be jealous of me or me jealous of you
Me jealous of you, me jealous of you
Your face and your name
Your face and your name
Faces and names
Faces and names
song performed by by Lou Reed
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Itch
Ha ha ha (ahh)
Don't wanna hurt you (hurt you baby)
You think you love me, but you don't really know me
Don't wanna hurt you (hurt you baby)
Wanna go ride, not a backseat drive
Ahhhhh ooh - ay ay ay I need
Ahhhhh ohh - something inside that you can't provide
I'm feeling the itch again
I need to get tricked again
I'm starting to twitch again
I feel the itch again
I'm starting to twitch again
I need to get tricked again
I feel the itch again
I feel the itch
i-i-itch, i-i-i-i-itch (ahh)
i-i-itch (ahh), i-i-i-i-itch
Don't want to hurt you (hurt you baby)
You can hug me, but you can't really hold me
what I do, and it's crazy
Don't wanna be cold, but I'm out of control
Ahhhhh ooh - ay ay ay that's true
Ahhhhh ooh - wish I could, but I can't be good
I'm feeling the itch again
I need to get tricked again
I'm starting to twitch again
I feel the itch again
I'm starting to twitch again
I need to get tricked again
I feel the itch
I feel the itch again
i-i-itch, i-i-i-i-itch (ahh)
i-i-itch (ahh), i-i-i-i-itch
Cause I want to go down wanna feel my heart pound
Don't you know that I get restless
You can't reach where I need scratching
So feel the itch again
Itch
Itch
Ahhhhh ooh - ay ay ay I need
Something inside that you can't provide
I'm feeling the itch again
I need to get tricked again
I'm starting to twitch again
I feel the itch again
I'm starting to twitch again
I need to get tricked again
I feel the itch again
I feel the itch
Yeah yeah, I feel the itch again
i-i-itch
song performed by by Vitamin C
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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New Language
Anderson/squire/howe/white/sherwood/khoroshev
I speak from some sort of protection of learning
Even tho I make it up as I go on
A special trait is that Ive tried
To reach all feelings
So I speak a new language of love
Some say that it is written in the circle
Others that it is written in the sun
But I protect myself by seeing this experience
As a metaphor for moving on
Sometimes I check myself
To start to believe in
The horoscopes you read everyday
Theyre telling me somethings
I really ought to know
But then again I like to
Then again I learn to
Then again Im running away
Vision is coming so fast I cant stop myself
Vision forgets who is real
On the city streets, people get lost
Just waiting for history
Pushing the real world away
Taking a chance only once in your life
Only weakness can stop you from hearing
New languages
Translate each word
As they bring you creation
Your voice is the perfect key
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(talk to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing in each spoken word
For some strange reason time just cannot wait a minute
Im chasing every second before I let go
Yesterday my history
Dreams are still a mystery
This living is a gift I should know
Lay it down and let me live the new language
Let me learn at every twist every turn
Lay it down and let me love the further future
Let me know Im running
Let me know Im learning
Let me know Im moving on
Vision is racing so fast I cant stop myself
Chasing the reason
For all kinds of wondering
People embracing these feelings of limbo
Just waiting for some kind of truth
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is it something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Is it something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
song performed by by Yes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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New Language
Anderson/squire/howe/white/sherwood/khoroshev
I speak from some sort of protection of learning
Even tho I make it up as I go on
A special trait is that Ive tried
To reach all feelings
So I speak a new language of love
Some say that it is written in the circle
Others that it is written in the sun
But I protect myself by seeing this experience
As a metaphor for moving on
Sometimes I check myself
To start to believe in
The horoscopes you read everyday
Theyre telling me somethings
I really ought to know
But then again I like to
Then again I learn to
Then again Im running away
Vision is coming so fast I cant stop myself
Vision forgets who is real
On the city streets, people get lost
Just waiting for history
Pushing the real world away
Taking a chance only once in your life
Only weakness can stop you from hearing
New languages
Translate each word
As they bring you creation
Your voice is the perfect key
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(talk to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing in each spoken word
For some strange reason time just cannot wait a minute
Im chasing every second before I let go
Yesterday my history
Dreams are still a mystery
This living is a gift I should know
Lay it down and let me live the new language
Let me learn at every twist every turn
Lay it down and let me love the further future
Let me know Im running
Let me know Im learning
Let me know Im moving on
Vision is racing so fast I cant stop myself
Chasing the reason
For all kinds of wondering
People embracing these feelings of limbo
Just waiting for some kind of truth
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is it something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Is it something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
song performed by by Yes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past; and we must respect the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible.
quote by George Santayana
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The History of Now
The recording of culture is history;
but our culture is more than that.
It's the world of human action,
and the myths we make of the fact.
The recording of history is culture,
but our history is more than that.
It informs a hidden agenda.
Unconscious of motive we act.
It's the history of now, the history of now.
It's only the present that exists as endowed.
It's the history of now. The moment - KAPOW!
That knocks you right over and muddies your brow.
Through the prism of language, we know what we know.
We carry our baggage and stories of woe.
Victor and vanquished pride cannot budge,
the dead weight of hatred and ancestral grudge.
We fight our good fights with our hand on our heart;
the music is swelling as loved ones depart.
As sheep to the slaughter, the script cannot chart,
a course more ignoble: the propagandist's art.
The recording of history is culture,
but our culture is more than that.
More than the great individuals,
the scholars so love in their tracts.
The recording of culture is history;
but our history is more than that.
Not simple dates or statistics,
the full horror and gore still attracts.
It's the history of now, the history of now.
A strange contradiction that makes sense somehow.
It's the history of now, a mystery and shroud.
The past and the future: best fiction allowed.
poem by David SmithWhite
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Remember Your Past
Try to remember our past,
Remember who made you what you are today;
try to remember your past in times like this.
You dumped me like a trash,
You lied to me like a thief,
You treated me like a fool,
You sold me like a baby,
But do remember the past always.
I have made you what you are today,
Like another client on the Libyan Desert;
Do give credit wher it is due,
Do remember my love for you;
I thought you were my friend but,
Today i am your enemy.
Many are dead and gone,
Many are still waiting to learn;
But, do remember your past.
In this life,
Some may like you and others may hate you;
But, some medicines are easier taken than others.
I thought you were my friend but,
Today i am your enemy.
Now you are against me,
You've turned away from me to another;
You've really disappointed me.
My heart is very sad,
But my mind will always remember you;
You've stolen my trust to marry another man.
Try to be righteous for once,
Try to learn for the better;
Do remember your past at all times.
In the greatest time of trouble,
In the finals of love;
You've really disappointed me.
In the finals of history,
That is when you will look for me;
In the finals of trust,
Money is not everything;
First impressions do matters a lot.
One day,
The bells will ring down on you;
One day,
You will surely remember me for all my love;
You are a grown up woman,
But you've stolen my trust to marry another man.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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The Past
Looking back, looking at you
Loving you alone not even a few,
Waiting there, waiting for you,
Like a man in a long queue
I knew my love was due,
I sworn not to love a few,
But to love only you
The moments we had did last,
Looking at you, looking at the past,
It was love, it was never lust,
The wonderful momentss in the dust,
And the dances in the grass,
The kisses in the mist,
Yes those I do miss,
The moments of laughter and peace,
With great precision and bliss,
Its the past, never did it last
Thinking you, seeing the past
By then we thought it could last,
The love just pure and vast,
In my mind you were the first,
Among the loved you were the most,
Its a phase, its the past
You made us damp and we had rust,
In my mind you are now the last,
It was love by then, it is the past
poem by Gaylord Munemo
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Multicultural Melbourne
Melbourne Immigration Museum
I stroll,
Past history,
Past lives,
Past stories.
I see for the first time MY nation’s history,
My nations courage,
My nations suffering,
My eyes glaze over
And realisation creeps up on me.
I see stories of the past and present,
Played out before me,
The lives of Australia’s people,
Australia’s history
poem by Katie Anne
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