Cardinal Ideograms
A mouth. Can blow or breathe,
be a funnel, or Hello.
A grass blade or a cut.
A question seated. And a proud
bird's neck.
Shallow mitten for two-fingered hand.
Three-cornered hut
on one stilt. Sometimes built
so the roof gapes.
A policeman. Polite.
Wearing visored cap.
O unrolling,
tape of ambiguous length
on which is written the mystery
of everything curly.
A step,
detached from its stair.
The universe in diagram:
A cosmic hourglass.
(Note enigmatic shape,
absence of any value of origin,
how end overlaps beginning.)
Unknotted like a shoelace
and whipped back and forth,
can serve as a model of time.
Lorgnette for the right eye.
In England or if you are Alice
the stem is on the left.
A grass blade or a cut
companioned by a mouth.
Open? Open. Shut? Shut.
poem by May Swenson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
The Second Part: Misleading An Idea Like A Blind Man
my left hand touches the right side of my neck
rubbing it and then slides its fingers to my ear
i open my mouth to signify that i long for sleep
i put my hands on top of my unwashed hair
the day's schedule is hectic like the way a juggler pleases our eyes
i open my mouth letting the wall see my egg white
teeth and then i close my mouth again
sipping air inside my lungs
my eyes are like heavy clouds low to the ground
becoming fog to the grass
i am sleepy
but i do not want to sleep
i am teasing time since it has no
underwear
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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God Save The South
It was a red hot night night in mobile
Sweat glistened on the reverends chin
His mohair suit was shinin
He told us all about sin
It could be wall to wall in wall street
We could be livin hand to mouth
Jesus loved a yankee
But God saved the south
Across the street in the pool hall
Bubba put the eight ball down
Its a high five celebration
They passed the jack around
Its wall to wall in wall street
Were livin hand to mouth
Jesus loved a yankee
But God saved the south
God saved the south
Yankee boy shut your mouth
Yes, God saved the south
Yankee boy shut your mouth
Shut your mouth
Some long haired boys with guitars
Playin behind the chicken wire
Theyre goin up to new york city
Gonna sing about atlantas fire
It could be wall to wall in wall street
We could be livin hand to mouth
Jesus loved a yankee
But God saved the south
And God saved the south
Yankee boy shut your mouth
Yes, God saved the south
Yankee boy shut your mouth
Yes, God saved the south
Yankee boy shut your mouth
And God saved the south
So,yankee boy shut your mouth
And God saved the south
Yankee boy shut your mouth
Yes, God saved the south
So, yankee boy shut your mouth
God saved the south
So, yankee boy shut your mouth
song performed by by Nazareth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Men & Women
I cant see how I can
Turn around what has been done
I was just like a child
With my eyes wide open
History and any cause
And my eyes are still open
But my mouth my mouth is shut
Im closing off the lies
Making my own mind up
When I can I will
How many dirty little secrets
Were kept behind my back
Men and women
Men and women
Men and women
Giving each other the sham
Hungry at any cost
Now my eyes are still open
But my mouth my mouth is shut
Im closing out the lies and promises
Men and women
Men and women
Men and women
Giving me the sham
song performed by by INXS
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Men And Women
I can't see how I can
Turn around what has been done
I was just like a child
With my eyes wide open
History and any cause
And my eyes are still open
But my mouth my mouth is shut
I'm closing off the lies
Making my own mind up
When I can I will
How many dirty little secrets
Were kept behind my back
Men and women
Men and women
Men and women
Giving each other the sham
Hungry at any cost
Now my eyes are still open
But my mouth my mouth is shut
I'm closing out the lies and promises
Men and women
Men and women
Men and women
Giving me the sham
@ALBUM: _Full Moon Dirty Hearts_ 1993
song performed by by INXS
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shut my Mouth
There are those whom wish
I would just shut my mouth.
For my words cut them to
the bone when I speak of
an abuse child. Or a person
drowning in the sea of his or
her own addiction. They real
wish I would shut my mouth when
I speak of equality for all. Also when
talk about suffrage one goes through
from AIDS, Cancer to Death. I done had my
words crumbled in thrown back in my face.
I have been given looks as if they want to shove
my words back down my throat until I choked on them.
But for all those who want me to shut my mouth I have
got three times as many who want me to speak.
So speak I will. As long as I got something to say I will speak.
And only when I don’t have anymore to say is when I will
Shut My Mouth.
Mawe Mawe
you have your reasons
for disappearing
what they do not want to see
you have covered them all
down to the last word of your mouth
you swallowed it
and keep your mouth
shut, shut, shut
i guess you are happy
on the land of the ice
cold maybe
but the silence inside you
keeps the warmth.
we miss you somehow
and your art of
concealment but where
ever you are now
we wish you the best
if you come back
we are always here to pretend
nothing happened
and nothing happens still
in the bleak future
we are always here to keep our
mouths shut too.
we will always love you somehow.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Poem (‘In The Stump of The Old Tree...’)
In the stump of the old tree, where the heart has rotted out, there is a hole the length of a man’s arm, and a dank pool at the bottom of it where the rain gathers, and the old leaves turn into lacy skeletons. But do not put your hand down to see, because
in the stumps of old trees, where the hearts have rotted out, there are holes the length of a man’s arm, and dank pools at the bottom where the rain gathers and old leaves turn to lace, and the beak of a dead bird gapes like a trap. But do not put your hand down to see, because
in the stumps of old trees with rotten hearts, where the rain gathers and the laced leaves and the dead bird like a trap, there are holes the length of a man’s arm, and in every crevice of the rotten wood grow weasel’s eyes like molluscs, their lids open and shut with the tide. But do not put your hand down to see, because
in the stumps of old trees where the rain gathers and the trapped leaves and the beak and the laced weasel’s eyes, there are holes the length of a man’s arm, and at the bottom a sodden bible written in the language of rooks. But do not put your hand down to see, because
in the stumps of old trees where the hearts have rotted out there are holes the length of a man’s arm where the weasels are trapped and the letters of the rook language are laced on the sodden leaves, and at the bottom there is a man’s arm. But do not put your hand down to see, because
in the stumps of old trees where the hearts have rotted out there are deep holes and dank pools where the rain gathers, and if you ever put your hand down to see, you can wipe it in the sharp grass till it bleeds, but you’ll never want to eat with it again.
Contemporary Poetry and Prose, 7 (Nov. 1936), 129.
poem by Hugh Sykes Davies
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Be Windows To Be Shut
Don't open the windows!
Cold air will rush in.
Don't open the windows!
Hot air will blow in.
Don't open the windows!
Mosquitoes are there.
Don't open my history!
Treacheries will snare.
Don't open my memory!
Debaucheries will slip out.
Don't open my very eyes.
I should not be a witness.
Let the windows be shut;
With that the past buried.
Switch on the air-conditioner.
Spray on the bed perfume.
I must enjoy my night
With the world outside shut.
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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What Comes Around
I hate you. I hate you - shut up
You think that Im the one to blame
Everything I lose is just a piece of what there is
To gain
You think its cool and all is fine
Now is the day when you pay, this is my time
I feel for you nothing but pain
I am what you will be, you are dying in me
I love you, I hate you, I miss you
Youre always thinking youre so perfect
Those thoughts drove me away from home
But if you put me through your tests
Then I will fade
I have nothing to say
But I feel like my mouth is wide open
Everything that is real
Comes around
Comes around
Shut up
Your stupid face just makes me sick
I see you changing every day
To fit into the newest clique
I know you, but everything you do
Is just a part of you, youll never see the truth
I hate the way you make me feel
I hate the way you think youre real
Your one voice it destroys my one choice
Youre always thinking youre so perfect
Those thoughts drove me away from home
But if you put me through your tests
Then I will fade
I have nothing to say
But I feel like my mouth is wide open
Everything that is real
Comes around
Comes around
Tu vida es mia
Your fear is living here in me
Es que no entiendo come en la vida puedes acer
La paz entre nostros cuando no vas a decir
Y la gratitude que tu nunca vas a ver
Has now turned to hate
I have nothing to say
But I feel like my mouth is wide open
Everything that is real
Comes around
Comes around
Shut up!
song performed by by Ill NiO
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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What Comes Around
I hate you. I hate you - shut up
You think that Im the one to blame
Everything I lose is just a piece of what there is
To gain
You think its cool and all is fine
Now is the day when you pay, this is my time
I feel for you nothing but pain
I am what you will be, you are dying in me
I love you, I hate you, I miss you
Youre always thinking youre so perfect
Those thoughts drove me away from home
But if you put me through your tests
Then I will fade
I have nothing to say
But I feel like my mouth is wide open
Everything that is real
Comes around
Comes around
Shut up
Your stupid face just makes me sick
I see you changing every day
To fit into the newest clique
I know you, but everything you do
Is just a part of you, youll never see the truth
I hate the way you make me feel
I hate the way you think youre real
Your one voice it destroys my one choice
Youre always thinking youre so perfect
Those thoughts drove me away from home
But if you put me through your tests
Then I will fade
I have nothing to say
But I feel like my mouth is wide open
Everything that is real
Comes around
Comes around
Tu vida es mia
Your fear is living here in me
Es que no entiendo come en la vida puedes acer
La paz entre nostros cuando no vas a decir
Y la gratitude que tu nunca vas a ver
Has now turned to hate
I have nothing to say
But I feel like my mouth is wide open
Everything that is real
Comes around
Comes around
Shut up!
song performed by by Ill NiO
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Baby Blues
(bth australian version)
I wonder whats happening to me
Things are changing so dramatically
Ill search for you, youre not really there
Still I wonder knowing that you do care
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up, I shut up
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up now
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up, I shut up
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up now
I shut up now, I shut up now
I shut up now, I shut up now
He is the best thing to come my way
Perfect picture baby blues in my day
He is the best thing to come around
Sleeping in his cradle safe and sound
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up, I shut up
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up now
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up, I shut up
I shut up, I shut up, I shut up now
I shut up now, I shut up now
I shut up now, I shut up now
Baby blues, baby blues
Baby blues, baby blues
Baby baby, baby blues
Baby baby, baby blues
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
song performed by by Cranberries
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Word Of Mouth
Ive been trying to get a message to you,
But the operator cant put me through,
Because the vandals went and wrecked all the telephones.
And all my enemies are spreading bad news,
You wont call me, thats why Im calling you,
To put you straight about the rumors theyre spreading about me back home.
I should have known, sooner or later,
Youd get the news, sooner or later,
The word of mouth will get right back to you.
Somehow we lost communication,
My only chance in my situation,
Is that the word of mouth gets my message through.
The word of mouth,
The word of mouth,
But who are they to say the things they do?
The word of mouth says that Ive gone insane,
That wine and women have affected my brain.
Well whos the big mouth spreading the news again?
The word of mouth says Im round the bend,
Its all over, this is the end.
Exaggeration sure gets the better of people who send[? ].
The word of mouth,
The word of mouth,
But who are they to say the things they do?
The word of mouth said I should be put in my place.
The word is out Im in disgrace -- a waste of space.
But if they say it, say it to my face.
People talking, trying to dig up the dirt,
There are so many lies around.
They spread their gossip and the rumors around this town.
Word of mouth, face to face,
My word of mouth has stated my case,
And Im saying Im coming back home to you.
You should have know sooner or later,
Youd get the news sooner or later,
The word of mouth will get right back to you.
The word of mouth,
Shut your mouth,
Shut your face!
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Catch The Shadow
I crawl through the back door
Catch the shadows
Wake up from my depression to hear the gamelan sounds
Flute, drum, ending,
Saw the puppets shadows
Which able to open the spirit traveling
Behind the suffering of meal
From the historical stage of man
When I went home, my father were angry
And my father ask why I saw the puppet shadows
Through the back door
Like a thief
I shut my mouth, no answer
When I answer this question, am not polite and get angrier
I recognize, it is dangerous to left the door
Left the door unlocked
But the God could came like the thief
Through the back door which unlocked
Or the locked in front of the door
At that time, I really did not know
Why my father always looking me
When I saw the puppets shadows
Although I crawled into the mass
My father always found me
In addition, ask me to go home
In the middle of the show
And then to live over my worry
Leave some question, what kind of the end of the story
To echo in my ear and to pound on
In my hearth wall
Then flow and crawled in my blood
To the whole my body
Became my life story
And leave the big question who always
Remainder me
Every step in my life
Always remained me to the sound
Of gamelan music where
Fluid, drum and xylophone like
Sturdy
Become dreams
In my slept
Until my life regarding
To pursue the shadows
Prasetya Utama
Bogor, Friday, January 13,2006
poem by Prasetya Utama
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The Art Of Giving....
AS stressed
the right hand must give
without the left
hand even knowing when and how
and what...
by said secrecy
giving has become a high form of art
the mouth is shut
the eyes are blind
and there seems to be a distrust
between the left
and the right
of course in the middle of these states
the heart will always be at the center
of our universe
always beating....
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Why Can't I Come From The Bay Of The Mouth
most ignorantly I ask
it's a wonderful bay and it's got a lot to say
and you don't even have to put it big letters
the sardines almost extinct would not mind
and even if they did
they would be silent about that
yes, I come from the bay of the mouth
I openly say and if it's a crime
one should say it aloud
or keep their mouth shut
and do nothing about my place of origin
poem by Miroslava Odalovic
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Leave It Open
With my ego in my gut,
My babbling mouth would wash it up.
(but now Ive started learning how,)
I keep it shut.
My door was never locked,
Until one day a trigger come cocking.
(but now Ive started learning how,)
I keep it shut.
Wide eyes would clean and dust
Things that decay, things that rust.
(but now Ive started learning how,)
I keep em shut.
I keep em shut.
Harm is in us.
Harm is in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
(leave it open!)
Harm is in us, but power to arm.
Narrow mind would persecute it,
Die a little to get to it.
(but now Ive started learning how.)
I leave it open.
I kept it in a cage,
Watched it weeping, but I made it stay.
(but now Ive started learning how.)
I leave it open.
I leave it open.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
(leave it open!)
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
(leave it open!)
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Har in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us--
Harm in you and in me!
What you letting in?
Tell me what youre letting in.
Say what were gonna let in!
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
song performed by by Kate Bush
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a human being?
Carl Sagan in Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
Submitted by Catalin Popescu
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To us also, through every star, through every blade of grass, is not God made visible if we will open our minds and our eyes.
quote by Thomas Carlyle
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Don't Feel Very Receptive Today
This door has been shut for days
And it's all too familiar
Can't I just crack a window
Can't I just shake it off?
I'm sure I've tasted this before
Everything is out of reach
And I just want to see outside
The air has been getting thin
I feel like cutting it open tonight
And falling on the floor
There's nothing left unused in here
There's nothing left to say
I haven't talked in days
and I'm really not too sure
What I sound like anymore
My vision has gone and my mouth is full of sores
I feel like dripping it dry tonight
Over and over again
It's time to open up the door
song performed by by Underoath
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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1STP KLOSR ( One Step Closer )
Break...
I'm about to break!
I need room to breathe... (x3)
I cannot take this anymore
Saying everything Ive said before
All these words, they make no sense
I found bliss in ignorance
Less I hear, the less you say
But you'll find that out anyway
I find the answers aren't so clear
Wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts, they make no sense
I found bliss in ignorance
Nothing seems to go away
Over and over again (x5)
Just like before...
Everything you say to me
And I'm about to break!
I need a little room to breathe
I'm about to break!
Everything you say to me
And I'm about to break!
I need a little room to breathe
And I'm about to break!
Break!
These are the places where I can't feel
Torn from my body, my flesh it heals
During this ride we can cut up what we like
Waiting alone I can not resist
Feeling this hate I have never missed
Please someone give me a reason to rip off my face
Blood is a pouring and pouring and pouring..
Shut up when I'm talking to you!
Shut up! (blood is pouring)
Shut up! (blood is pouring)
Shut up! (blood is pouring)
Shut up when I'm talking to you!
Shut up! (blood is pouring)
Shut up! (blood is pouring)
Shut up! (blood is pouring)
Shut up! Im about to break!
Everything you say to me
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
I'm about to break
Everything you say to me
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
And Im about to..
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to..
song performed by by Linkin Park
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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