Arrivals and Departures
Landing, arrival, homecoming
Taking off, departing, holiday, higher learning.
Some holding out arms to embrace
Others were waving with both hands.
Reunion filled with anticipation
Moist eyes, wistful expressions.
Animated faces, full of devotion
Lips twitching, myriad emotions.
Commotion, as dear ones alight
And others depart to catch a flight.
From the lounge I watched
Anxious faces, on tiptoe search
Some giving last minute instructions
Young, listening with compunction.
Airport lounges and Railway stations
Tell so many stories I thought with fascination.
poem by Mamta Agarwal
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Related quotes
At the Airport
Fingers drumming on his lips
Eyes gazing deep into space
Baggage tucked between legs
Still unsure when the flight will take off
Fellow passenger waits at the airport.
Another one's serious, reading a novel
Adjusting the Nike cap to cover his eyes
Newspaper shuffles with a purring sound
A professional reviews his assignment
What a place to gain some knowledge!
One sips a coke, one takes a bite
Group of three play cards, a world unto themselves
A couple talk to their daughter
While the baby sleeps in mother's arms
Baby bottle and bags packed on the cart.
Behold the few that await an arriving flight
Man and lady developing a dialogue
One looking through the glass window
With all the eagerness on his face
A place filled with all emotions and moods.
Commotion rises as the boarding's announced
Baby and the family enter and then one by one
March through the corridor and fill up the plane
Waiting lounge's empty as the final call is made
I'm early for my flight and await my cycle.
poem by Tirupathi Chandrupatla
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Penciled Faces
She sat at her window everyday
and watched the world go by.
She was engrossed in seeing so many faces
and she often wondered why?
What was it about their differences
that captivated her so?
It must have been the expressions they wore.
Little did any of them know
that without this daily procession of faces
she would simply be lost.
She sat with pencil and paper
and sketched the faces that crossed.
And they became for her a family
for she was quite alone.
She'd set them up on the walls around her,
the names of them unknown.
So she gave them names for she loved them
and so her family grew.
Pretty soon her walls were filled
with people that she knew.
Years went by. She died in her chair
where she watched the world go by.
And all of her family of faces
were there to watch her die.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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The Railroad Man
Your eyes possessed the sunset of tomorrow
And denies the sunrise of today
Your callused hands burnt from the struggles
Yet flimsy with superfluous abandonments
Like empty stations, you futilely wait
To be filled, but in your sleep
You have forgotten the weight
Of your ethereal passengers
Encumbering your peaceful calm
I watched you watch the railroad tracks
But they never altered, do they?
I watched you watch the passing trains
And the faces antagonizing the ferry
For they are the faces of departing,
Faces of the arriving - unstained
Of any rue or purpose, aren't they?
A bloated gloaming came
And I espied you once again
Musing on the shaking ground
And the minutiae pyrotechnics
Bubbling in the railroad track
A resolute ruse upon your fisted hands
And a-letting go upon the other
The babel of voices came with a roar
And the alloy beast was before you
In this bending slope of the track
It decelerated speed while you
Grew stronger to face defeat
Before the last trail fade
You finally moved and morose
Was basking in the shadows you left
As you free-ride and surf the train
And there as a glow upon you:
A flicker of life pawned for a requiem
Is this what makes you safe?
Disentangling tethers that promised forever
Perhaps you knew that forever is a lie
Is this what makes you brave?
Departing the amiable promises
And saving cities from tragedies
Is this your fate?
Or your maneuver against it?
Before the mousetrap closes
I flung myself into the train
Now I come for oblivion
With ten thousand reasons
And ten million footsteps
I will never build a home.
poem by Norman Santos
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I Watched
Pediatric E.R, R.I.P 11/5/09 (Volunteer work can be tough)
I watched…
A heartbreaking scene today
But I couldn’t take
my eyes away
I watched …
I feel shamed to say
I watched
a little girl die today
I watched …
an anguished EMT cry
I watched nurses drawn faces
I watched a little girl die
I watched …
Just outside the doors
The Frantic CPR applied
With frantic, futile force
I watched
Her mother fearfully enter the room
To be seated by her side
To share in her impending doom
I watched
A strange, unsettling scene
Upturned faces as if in prayer
hopefully watch the vitals screen
I watched
A life dissipate and fade
On a bed
That I had newly made
I watched…
At least a half hour they tried
With wondrous machines, marvelous medicines
Yet still, this little girl died
I watched…
Then I heard a small whimpering cry!
But It was only the mother
As she saw her child die
I watched…
Her arms outspread, her mom at her side
Young staring eyes so angelicly appealing
I watched, sadly watched….then I also cried.
poem by David Whalen
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The Wasted Landing. Thoughts from an airport in disarray.
In the hour of our departure O Lord
In our beginning is our end
To depart is to arrive yet not to arrive
at the same hour and place
in some other time zone
and in our departing is our arrival
and to arrive is to depart from where we have not been
and to depart is to arrive at where we will not go
into the departure hall from where we did not depart
into the arrival hall where we did not arrive
and the end of all our departures is our arrival
that we may arrive at where we did not go
and depart from where we have not been.
now and in the hour of our departure Lord
I Tiresias have foresuffered all
on this self-same divan, or tired banquette
in the departure hall from where we have not departed,
in the arrival hall where we have not arrived,
and all our arrivings are departures
and all our departures are arrivings
departing from where we have not been,
arriving at where we will not go
the sun shines bleakly through the window panes.
into the planes the trim staff come and go,
(they stay at Novotel Michelangelo) ,
laundered into skies we cannot breathe.
'All flights are cancelled';
'Sorry Sir, this ticket is not valid for this flight'.
I Icarus have suffered thus
in Greece, in Rhodes, on all connecting flights,
in Delphi where I was not warned,
in Cumae where I could not go.
Passport Control. Do Not Pass This Point.
Too hot the sun of Greece that day,
the sun I shall not see.
'Arrival Delayed'. 'Flight Cancelled'
A cold coming we had of it:
the baggage heavy, and the escalator steep,
the information scanty and the children fractious,
and the people. Oh the people.
Cans. Packets. Yesterday's papers from yesterday's travellers.
Sandwiches they have not eaten.
Tread softly for you tread on my icecream.
Now and in the hour of our departure Lord
*
(re-edited)
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Piccadilly
Beautiful, tragical faces—
Ye that were whole, and are so sunken;
And, O ye vile, ye that might have been loved,
That are so sodden and drunken,
Who hath forgotten you?
O wistful, fragile faces, few out of many!
The crass, the coarse, the brazen,
God knows I cannot pity them, perhaps, as I should do;
But oh, ye delicate, wistful faces,
Who hath forgotten you?
poem by Ezra Pound
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If We Try
(don mclean)
When I see you on the street
I lose my concentration
And just the thought that we might meet
Creates anticipation
Wont you look my way once before you go
And my eyes will say what you ought to know
Well, Ive been thinking about you day and night
And I dont know if it will work out right
But somehow I think that it just might
If we try
Faces come and faces go in circular rotation
But something yearns within to grow
Beyond infatuation
Wont you look my way once before you go
And my eyes will say what you ought to know
Well, you got me standing deaf and blind
Cause I see love as just a state of mind
And who knows what it is that we might find
If we try
Youre walking a different direction
From most people Ive met
Youre giving me signs of affection
I dont usually get
I dont want you to pledge your future
The futures not yours to give
Just stand there a little longer
And let me watch while you live
cause when I see you on the street
I lose my concentration
And just the thought that we might meet
Creates anticipation
Wont you look my way once before you go
And my eyes will say what you ought to know
Well, Ive been thinking about you day and night
And I dont know if it will work out right
But somehow I think that it just might
If we try
Somehow I think that it just might
If we try
Yes,somehow I think that it just might
If we try
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lines Of My Hands
are we really meant for each other?
let the lines of our hands grow mouths
let them speak about a reunion of hearts
do i see you once again holding hands
with your shadow? or was it me wrapping
my hands with water? or blinding my eyes
with what fairies use in their flights?
the stars of the zodiac, what are they
really talking about? about us? two lips
fusing a rose? promises grasping for
protocols? the jalousies are like tongues
begging for words, and the floors are
empty arms thirsting for an embrace.
the lines of my hands are ants drawing
a destiny. I look at all these, and where
they must all lead me. One furrows for
death, the other delineates for life.
I cup the water of life, and drink.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Wasted Landing - thoughts from an airport strike
In the hour of our departure O Lord
In our beginning is our end
To depart is to arrive yet not to arrive
at the same hour and place
in some other time zone
and in our departing is our arrival
and to arrive is to depart from where we have not been
and to depart is to arrive at where we will not go
into the departure hall from where we did not depart
into the arrival hall where we did not arrive
and the end of all our departures is our arrival
that we may arrive at where we did not go
and depart from where we have not been.
now and in the hour of our departure O Lord
I Tiresias have foresuffered all
on this self-same divan, or tired banquette
in the departure hall from where we have not gone,
in the arrival hall where we have not arrived,
and all our arrivings are departures
and all our departures are arrivings
departing from where we have not been,
arriving at where we will not go
the sun shines bleakly through the window panes.
into the planes the trim staff come and go,
laundered into skies we cannot breathe.
'All flights are cancelled';
'Sorry Sir, this ticket is not valid for this flight'.
I Icarus have suffered thus
in Greece, in Rhodes, on all connecting flights,
in Delphi where I was not warned,
in Cumae where I could not go.
Passport Control. Do Not Pass This Point.
Too hot the sun of Greece that day,
the sun I shall not see.
'Arrival Delayed'. 'Departure Delayed'
A cold coming we had of it:
the baggage heavy, and the escalator steep,
the information scanty and the children fractious,
and the people. Oh the people.
Cans. Packets. Yesterday's papers from yesterday's travellers.
Sandwiches we have not eaten.
Tread softly for you tread on my icecream.
Now and in the hour of our departure Lord
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Holiday
Well the super models in those magazines
They've been to places that I've never dreamed
Well they look so nice out on some sandy beach
But for me I've always found it out of reach
Ooooooooo take me on a holiday
Ooooooooo I need a holiday
The hotel and life for me would be alright
We could always catch an early mornin' flight
As you treat yourself like in a movie scene
But its just another place I've never been
Ooooooooo take me on a holiday
Ooooooooo I need a holiday
I call you up on your telephone
And leave a message there since your not home
I've got to go I've got to get away
Please come and take me on a holiday
Ooooooooo take me on a holiday
Last nite I dreamed I was in Sante Fe
And then went on a flight to San Jose
Well I know that you don't really like to fly
But to see the world maybe you'd like to try
Ooooooooo take me on a holiday
Ooooooooo I need a holiday
Ooooooooo take me on a holiday
Need a holiday
Holiday
Holiday
Holiday
song performed by by April Wine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Perfectly addressed
You and someone alone
With the hands of an embrace
Said You
With a step of coming close
Said You
Filled with anticipation
Said You
With eyes full of love
Said You
Within which you settle down
With no remains left
Perfectly addressed
poem by Miroslava Odalovic
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If We Try
When I see you on the street, I lose my concentration.
Just the thought that we might meet, creates anticipation.
Won't you look my way, one before you go,
and my eyes will say, what you ought to know.
Well, I've been thinkin' about you day and night
an' I don't know if it'll work out right.
But somehow I think that it just might, if we try.
Faces come and faces go, in circular rotation.
But something yearns within to grow beyond infatuation.
Won't you look my way, one before you go,
and my eyes will say, what you ought to know.
Well, you got me standin' deaf and blind.
'Cause I see love as just a state of mind.
And who knows what it is that we might find, if we try.
You're walkin' a different direction from most people I've met.
You're givin' me signs of affection I don't usually get.
I don't want you to pledge your future, the future's not yours to give.
Just stand there a little longer and let me watch while you live.
'Cause when I see you on the street, I lose my concentration.
Just the thought that we might meet, creates anticipation.
Won't you look my way, one before you go,
and my eyes will say, what you ought to know.
Well, I've been thinkin' about you day and night
an' I don't know if it'll work out right.
But somehow I think that it just might, if we try.
Somehow I think that it just might, if we try.
Yes, somehow I think that it just might, if we try.
song performed by by Don McLean
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Canadian Chronicles 001
A friend once said to me
that he never had the adventures
that I have when I go on holiday.
Maybe he was right.
Today while sitting in the airport
lounge nervously waiting for our flight
when suddenly from the loudspeaker came.
“The fire detector has been activated in your section.
Please go to the nearest emergency exit.”
Now I was already having kittens
just thinking of the flight.
Now with that announcement
I was having puppies as well
and so started my day in the usual Harris style.
They say things can only get better.
All by body parts are crossed
and I hope they are right.
6 June 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Minute By Minute (Dobbie Brothers)
(Michael McDonaldLester Abrams)
Hey, don't worry, I've been lied to
I've been here many times before
Girl, don't you worry, I know where I stand
I don't need this love, I don't need your hand
I know I could turn, blink, and you'd be gone
Then I must be prepared any time to carry on
But minute by minute by minute by minute
I keep holding on
Oh, minute by minute by minute by minute
I keep holding on
You will stay just to watch me, darlin'
Wilt away on lies from you
Can't stop the habit of livin' on the run
I take it all for granted like you're the only one
Livin' on my own
Somehow that sounds nice
You think I'm your fool
Well, you may just be right
'Cause minute by minute by minute by minute
I keep holding on
Oh, minute by minute by minute by minute
I keep holding on
Call my name and I'll be gone
You'll reach out and I won't be there
Just my luck you'll realize
You should spend your life with someone
You could spend your life with someone
Minute by minute by minute by minute
I'll be holding on
Oh, minute by minute by minute by minute
I'll be holding on...
song performed by by Michael Mcdonald
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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Swing Time
You were with Janice
in Jail Park
two kids
looking for kicks
and Janice said
Can you push me
on the swings?
and you said
Sure if you like
and got behind her
as she sat on the swing
her hands holding
the small steel rings
that held the wooden seat
of the swing in place
her legs kicking outward
like some young bird
about to take flight
for the first time
and you heaved
the seat of the swing forwards
you then let it go
and off she went
upwards and downwards
her cry of exhilaration
filled your ears
and you pushed her
more higher and higher
to her cries of
Higher and higher
then you stood back
and walked around
the front of her
as she rose up
her legs pushing
into the sky
her black shoes
touching the cloud's skin
and you called out to her
Don't let go
or you'll fall
and she gripped
the small steel rings tighter
with her whitening hands
and her eyes
were wide
and her mouth opened
in a small O
and as her body
went by you
you pushed her once more
your hands pushing against
her summer dress
covered butt
and you sensed
the warmness of her
and the air
and her flying
like some young bird
way up there.
poem by Terry Collett
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Forever Yours
It feels like
keeping and holding a star in the sky
born to be born again with you
the days of thunder cry their goodbye
and for the first time I know what to do
I just keep on being one with you
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
loving and fighting the mirror I need
dearest I'm down on the ground
waitind to see whereto the storm leads
it's my blood that bleeds from your wounds
dearest you're all that I need
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
and when I kiss you
your lips are the onla food I need
your fingertips open
spaces that make me complete
dearest you're all that I need
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever
loving - fighting
holding - losing
giving - taking
wanting forever you
loving - fighting
holding - losing
giving - taking
song performed by by Xandria
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Forever Yours
It feels like
keeping and holding a star in the sky
born to be born again with you
the days of thunder cry their goodbye
and for the first time I know what to do
I just keep on being one with you
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
loving and fighting the mirror I need
dearest I'm down on the ground
waitind to see whereto the storm leads
it's my blood that bleeds from your wounds
dearest you're all that I need
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
and when I kiss you
your lips are the onla food I need
your fingertips open
spaces that make me complete
dearest you're all that I need
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever yours, forever yours
I'm here to stay
cause in your arms, in your arms
I feel so save
forever
loving - fighting
holding - losing
giving - taking
wanting forever you
loving - fighting
holding - losing
giving - taking
song performed by by Xandria
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Face With No Future
I look in the mirror,
and what do I see?
A face with no future,
stares out at me.
On the table, a glass and a bottle,
of my favourite poison.
When I was young,
I drank to be alive.
Now all I do,
is drink to survive.
My eyes bloodshot,
filled with vacant stare.
My face goes unshaven,
but what do I care?
My bottle is now empty,
quickly replace with one full.
Soon it will be empty,
just like this fool.
Family and friends fled.
My eyes were blind.
All they could see,
was another drink,
in front of me.
My legs get unsteady.
I stagger instead of walk.
A bottle wrapped in paper,
gripped tightly by my hand.
My clothes grow dirty,
as days and nights combine.
A smile is frozen,
on this face of mine.
My arm flex out,
when I stumble to the ground.
Faces look down at me,
expressions display my waste.
I just hold my smile,
as I lay there in their midst.
At least my bottle,
didn’t break,
on my fall from grace.
Time for another drink,
raise bottle to my lips.
Liquid trickles down my throat,
and still my smile remains,
as silly as it can be.
The faces disappear.
Everyone has gone now.
Like family and friends,
they all desert.
I lay there on my own.
For no one wants to take,
a drunk home.
25 Jan 2007
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Empty Stations
Orbs of light drifted in the window
Along with coffee spells and smoke
The cold comes down with the dark
Quietly rippling the engine's roar
And sleep struggles to tranquilize
The hysteric sea resurging inside
In this transitory life I have waited
To be filled like an empty station
Marauded by forlorn passengers
Looking for right doors, numbers,
And tickets and vacancies;
I watched them mordantly
Remembering how hopeless
It is to search and stay,
Our feet are made for departing
Our arms for their arrival
And we can only waltz
To an inconsistent forever
In the plenitude of doors
And sleeping stations
Knocks would always arrive
Like a meaningless song
And some would come in,
Some would come out,
Tired, uninspired; searching
Hopeful, open; found
In this groaning repose,
Veiled by tobacco scent and
Shielded by a sooty window,
I held my ticket waiting to be torn
As I futilely wait for my own peace
When sleep heralds the night
And shifting unconscious states
Where you remained alive.
poem by Norman Santos
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