Universe at Finger-tip
Two or three months back
my little finger caught in a closing hinge;
could have been worse…
since then, the nail’s been
every shade of blackish-brown,
living some ancient, primitive life, of battered claw,
or shellfish, bruised by rock and ocean,
yet preserving, in its shell
such tender life
as heroes live to save..
every day, I watch this primeval drama
as, secretly, beneath the horny shell
so measured in its protectiveness,
dying slowly like a hero who enfolds
a baby life within his arms,
secretly beneath, there grows a new pink life;
its promise makes me look afresh
at its neighbour nails; and marvel
at the delicacy of their shade
from crescent moon to nail so practical..
what lacquer could ever hope to match
this living beauty?
and I fall silent, still; humbled at this scene
that brings the universe’s law and love
here to my finger-end. No name of god,
or evolution, or Intelligent Design,
may encompass my humility;
I who know not my own finger-end;
humility so still, it’s even beyond prayer.
If praise can be one, without form -
then this is praise.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Thumbnails and finger ends
A book of learned scholarship,
open in my hands, at the first page…
and then I saw, to the right of it,
my thumb nail…and marvelled –
at its perfection, at its beauty,
and at my own ignorance –
which strangely, was all part
of that same beauteous perfection…
the thumbnail: curved, as a hollowed claw,
the curve I knew would give it added strength;
sitting as secure as any child of love,
within the folded mystery of skin and flesh;
three-coloured: pale rising moon
emerging from its secret nail-bed
as some goddess might appear;
then the subtle shades of rosy pink,
hinting at blood serving readily
the nail’s demands;
finally, the top (long, shaped, as best to gouge
potato’s eyes, and other kitchen tasks…) :
I looked at it, and marvelled:
the whole creation, conspiring to present
this perfect thing…
Fifty years and more ago, I wrote,
in those years when I despaired
of making sense of so-called ‘adult’ world,
sitting at the desk, to find myself
before setting off to earn my daily bread,
I wrote – in lines that never quite linked up
their visioned moments into complete poems,
on white and yearning pages like a life unwrit:
‘we know not our own finger ends…’
The wrinkled thumb and finger – they have lasted;
the holy mystery - praise God - remains.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Beautiful Mermaid
Walking the beaches of southern earth
A beauty in my eyes gave new beauty birth
A mermaid washed upon the shores of sand
With a purple shell of love in hand
I picked it up and placed it to my ear
I heard the ocean talk and in my soul fear
I dropped the shell and looked down
The mermaid was dead, she most of drown
Her fins wert made of coral reef
And her heart was made for my belief
In her hair emeralds lights shone
On her finger lay one rock alone
Its color was like an ocean sapphire
More brilliant then an land fire
Her finger tips colored a garnet jade
Whitened there as she laid
I couldn't help to become dour
At such beauty dead, dead galore
SO I pick up the purple shell
And its conch I began to plea
‘Give her life and thou can have me
My song and my rhyme and my earthly glory'
I dropped to the sand, and saw my heart leak
Into her hand, when I became weak
She rose from sleep and looked at me
Dying, she smiled and fled back to the sea
I die not in vain but for beauty
As the mermaid lived for an eternity….
poem by Kevin Michael Murphy
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
For Vasant Kothari
Every funeral, cremation, and its rites
may have its grief; yet too,
its celebration of a life well lived;
and call out, too, self-dedication’s vow:
as the crowd of living witness
quietly leave and share their murmured words,
this vow ever calls to me: to celebrate the living:
celebrate them just as if it were
their – our - last day on earth:
celebrate and praise unstintingly;
encourage and enthuse and aid;
form their virtues in the mind and
speak them loud – as if
these whom we praise, were unaware
of their own virtues..
celebrate the living, and their life
shall celebrate the praisers in its life..
Vasant, your sweet, contained humility
hid from strangers, showed your friends,
what you were; and, who we are;
I hope your spirit (which, I’d like to think,
inspired me to the sounds beyond these words)
approves, accepts – in the eternal present tense –
these thoughts of you.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Opening Up To You
Opening up to you,
The night before,
red finger nails!
Dark finger nails!
White finger nails!
Blue finger nails!
To utter it out;
The thoughts of man,
The thoughts of woman,
The thoughts of a child! !
But, holding the torch and to touch you.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The ring and finger
the finger seems a little relieved
the pudgy finger can now breathe at ease
it was bound by an unending ring
decayed was the skin beneath.
years have left a paler skin
where the ring held its unending agony
while the fingers have grown
dark, ugly and chubby.
it had seen better days
when they fit more comfortably
when moments were not measured by the watch
or its worth in worthless pennies
so the eternal question is raised
the ring or the finger to blame
why did the finger grow so fat
why has the ring tried not to change?
poem by Kiran Prasad
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Wrapped Around Your Finger
You consider me the young apprentice
Caught between the Scylla and Charibdes.
Hypnotized by you if I should linger
Staring at the ring around your finger.
I have only come here seeking knowledge,
Things they would not teach me of in college.
I cant see the best in me
That you saw
I'll be wrapped around your finger.
I'll be wrapped around your finger.
Mephistopheles is not your name,
But I know what you're up to just the same.
I will listen hard to your tuition,
And you will see it come to it's fruition.
I'll be wrapped around your finger.
I'll be wrapped around your finger.
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air you'll never find me.
I will turn your face to alabaster,
Then you'll find your servant is your master,
And you'll be wrapped around my finger.
I'll be wrapped around your finger.
You'll be wrapped around my finger.
I'll be wrapped around your finger
song performed by by Underoath
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Poet Dies
I place my hand to the wily winds
and shudder impending adversity
retrieve courage from its own fiery ashes,
cleave hope from negativity splinterings.
All this because of you.
I have walked in darkest night
guided by the slenderest sliver of faintly light
! 've cast my net upon unwelcoming seas
crashed onto rocky shoals
capsized my dingy
lost my compass
drank too much
hurt myself and others
and yet
emerged from the darkest caves here lately
lit only by
your love of me.
I've stood naked dressed only in my own dark resolve,
I've been blinded by my own arrogance,
my own destructive drive
my finger nail clingings
to wild dreams
and depressive drives
yet
surprised my self
when I found a place to stand
here and now given me by you.
Lay me down with gratitude
for gratitude so often
has to be born from Humility's Bludgeonings
and Life's Reckonings
where kindness now has blanked out bad memories
I am better off without.
The Ultimate Folly, and there are many,
is to imagine that life can be lived alone.
So take this battered hand
as you have so often in the past
place upon it that gentle touch
allowing it to receive
my last and final sacrament.
Sorry
it has taken this long
and has to be received
on this my Dying Bed
not sooner
when it could have had
longer life
and more meaningfulness.
poem by Lonnie Hicks
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Lady Grinning Soul
Shell come, shell go. shell lay belief on you
Skin sweet with musky odour
The lady from another grinning soul
Cologne shell wear. silver and americard
Shell drive a beetle car
And beat you down at cool canasta
And when the clothes are strewn dont be afraid of the room
Touch the fullness of her breast. feel the love of her caress
She will be your living end
Shell come, shell go. shell lay belief on you
But she wont stake her life on you
How can life become her point of view
And when the clothes are strewn dont be afraid of the room
Touch the fullness of her breast. feel the love of her caress
She will be your living end
She will be your living end
She will be your living end
She will be your living end
She will be your living end
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Can't Put My Finger On It
Is it alive, does it writhe
Can it survive under the sun?
I can't put my finger on it.
Is it green, is it red
Is it alive or is it dead
I can't put my finger on it
Scathe with a lathe
All the days in the past
I can't put my finger on it
Is it brown, is it white
Is it really outta sight
I can't put my finger on it
Can it squeal, does it squirm
If it's fresh will it burn?
I can't put my finger on it
Can it fly, will it try
If the wings are still wet?
I can't put my finger on it
Can it heal, is it real
Can it feel the threads of time?
I can't put my finger on it
Does it glow, will it shine
Does it leave a trail of slime
I can't put my finger on it
Are you surprised when I touch the dwarf inside?
(Repeat three times)
(Repeat first verse
song performed by by Ween
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Wrapped around your finger
You consider me the young apprentice
Caught between the Scylla and Charibdes.
Hypnotized by you if I should linger
Starring at the ring around your finger
I have only come here seeking knowledge
Things they wouldn't teach me of in college
I can see the destiny you sold
Turn into a shining band of hope
I'll be wrapped around your finger
I'll be wrapped around your finger
Nafostaveles is not your name
But I know what you're up to just the same
I will listen hard to your tuition
You will see it come to it's fruition
I'll be wrapped around your finger
I'll be wrapped around your finger
Devil and the deep blue see behind me
Vanish in the air you'll never find me
I will turn you face to alabaster
Then you'll find you're servant is your master
You'll be wrapped around my finger
You'll be wrapped around my finger
You'll be wrapped around my finger
song performed by by Green Lizard from Identity
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Living Inside Myself
In my life
Ive felt so self assured
But suddenly its all changed
Shes a cloud
That hangs above my world
And I find myself wondring in the rain
And now I cant go on
cause I am lost
Living inside myself
Living inside this shell
Living outside your love
I am lost
Somewhere inside my own dreams
Afraid of what life really means
Living without your love
I need a guiding light
To shine on my darkest days
I was young, and time was on my side
But like a fool I let it slip away
And now those days are gone
And I am lost
Living inside myself
Living inside this shell
Living outside your love
I am lost
Somewhere inside my own dreams
Afraid of what life really means
Living without your love
In my life
Ive felt so self-assured
But oh how all the seasons change
And now Im not that strong
cause I am lost
Living inside myself
Living inside this hell
Living outside your love
I am lost
Somewhere inside my own dreams
Afraid of what life really means
Living without your love
I am lost
Living inside myself
Living inside this shell
Living outside your love
I am lost
song performed by by Gino Vanelli
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Who Am I to Deny It Promise?
If I am not living my life today...
With the fulness that I should,
To be left feeling betrayed.
Then everyday I have lived my life,
Has been invalidated.
If I can say,
I am not living my life today.
I am dreamless without hope.
I give empty reasons to mope!
I am a vacant shell...
Existing in a hell I've created.
If I am not living my life today!
Where did I store those memories?
When did any happiness come to leave?
Why am I not pleased...
With anything that comes my way?
If I can say,
I am not living my life today!
And I breathe just to witness my breath...
Fade away into a nothingness.
If I am not living my life today...
What is this,
That IS!
And 'who' am I,
To deny 'it' promise?
Like a gift one receives...
Selfishly to leave unwrapped.
Can I honestly believe,
I am not worthy to do that?
If I am not living my life today...
Perhaps I should.
And unpack...
From sorrows deeply stacked.
Trapping my sight in darkness,
Without daylight I alone hold back.
If I am not living my life today...
With the fulness that I should,
To be left feeling betrayed.
Then everyday I have lived my life,
Has been invalidated.
And I know there is 'something' I value,
I can give!
To say 'that' is the reason,
I am here to live!
If I can remove myself...
To cast shadows,
Instead of finding an escape within them.
To live and let my life,
Be the one I have and learn to like!
Unfrightened.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Am
Well fire it up
Chop one out
Somebody's got to know
That I'm two days in
I got two days left to go
Cause I am Georgia
I am Memphis Tennesee
I am everything
Hollywood wants to be
I am love and I am hate
I'm your late night drunk debate
But you'll never put
Your finger on me
Have you ever seen the sun
Over the rocky mountains shinin
Or touched the sands
Of a southern Florida beach
Have you seen a grown man cry
Or a child that's slowly dying
Have you looked inside
To see al that you can see
And I am North and South Dakota
And New York City
I am everything Hollywood wants
To be
I am love an I am hate
And all the critics can debate
But they will never put a finger
On me
No you'll never put a finger on
Have you seen the northern falls
Or the midwest seasons changing
A Montana storm
Or a warm Kentucky rain
Have you heard the love that sings
Over the inner city sidewalks
Have you risen above
All that leads to hate
And I am Boston and D.C.
And all of Detroit city
I am everything
That Hollywood wants to be
I am southern rock-n-roll
Country and hip hop soul
And you'll never put a finger on me
I'm a father and and I'm a friend
I'm your brother till the end
But you'll never put your finger on me
I am only God knows why
Ill be a cowboy till I die
But you'll never put you
Finger on me
You'll never put your finger on me
You'll never put
You'll never put
Put your finger on me
song performed by by Kid Rock
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Requirement
We live by Faith; but Faith is not the slave
Of text and legend. Reason's voice and God's,
Nature's and Duty's, never are at odds.
What asks our Father of His children, save
Justice and mercy and humility,
A reasonable service of good deeds,
Pure living, tenderness to human needs,
Reverence and trust, and prayer for light to see
The Master's footprints in our daily ways?
No knotted scourge nor sacrificial knife,
But the calm beauty of an ordered life
Whose very breathing is unworded praise!--
A life that stands as all true lives have stood,
Firm-rooted in the faith that God is Good.
poem by John Greenleaf Whittier
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Make it life
Life is every where
It is in you now and forever it shall stay
Life is the wind blowing sideways
Life is the winter and the summer
I am Life You are Life We are Life
I love Life and Life loves me
Life and I play beneath the midnight sun
Life and I play beneath the morning moon
Life brings me soup when I am ill
Life kisses me good night and greets me with a smile
Life is sad and it is lonely
Life is evil and Life is blunt
Life is a true friend and never lies
I am Life You are Life We are Life
poem by Jasmine Shipp
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Life In Context
Life is every where
It is in you now and forever it shall stay
Life is the wind blowing sideways
Life is the winter and the summer
I am Life You are Life We are Life
I love Life and Life loves me
Life and I play beneath the midnight sun
Life and I play beneath the morning moon
Life brings me soup when I am ill
Life kisses me good night and greets me with a smile
Life is sad and it is lonely
Life is evil and Life is blunt
Life is a true friend and never lies
I am Life You are Life We are Life
poem by MatthewMartin Campbell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Can't Put My Finger On It
[chanting]
Is it alive, does it writhe
Can it survive under the sun?
I can't put my finger on it
Is it green, is it red
Is it alive or is it dead
I can't put my finger on it
Scathe with a lathe
All the days in the past
I can't put my finger on it
Is it brown, is it white
Is it really outta sight
I can't put my finger on it
Do you know what i'm saying?
Do you know what i'm saying, people?
Can it squeal, does it squirm
If it's fresh will it burn?
I can't put my finger on it
Can it fly, will it try
If the wings are still wet?
I can't put my finger on it
Can it heal, is it real
Can it feel the threads of time?
I can't put my finger on it
Does it glow, will it shine
Does it leave a trail of slime
I can't put my finger on it
I tell you one time...
Are you surprised when i touch the dwarf inside?
(repeat three times)
(repeat first verse)
Ha ha ha...oh yeah, oh yeah!
song performed by by Ween
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Quintetto
[To the tune of "Turning, turning, turning, as wheel goes round."]
RECITATIVE. MR. PAPERSTAMP:
Jack Horner's CHRISTMAS PIE my learned nurse
Interpreted to mean the public purse.
From thence a plum he drew. O happy Horner!
Who would not be ensconced in thy snug corner
THE FIVE:
While round the public board all eagerly we linger,
for what we can get we will try, try, try:
And we'll all have a finger, a finger, a finger,
We'll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
MR. FEATHERNEST:
By my own poetic laws, I'm a dealer in applause
For those who don't deserve it, but will buy, buy
So round the court I linger, and thus I get a finget
A finger, finger, finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
THE FIVE:
And we'll all have a finger, a finger, a finger,
We'll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
MR. VAMP:
My share of pie to win, I will dash through thick and thin
And philosophy and liberty shall fly, fly, fly:
And truth and taste shall know, that their eve Iasting foe
Has a finger, finger, finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
THE FIVE:
And we'll all have a finger, a finger, a finger,
We'll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
MR. KILLTHEDEAD:
I'll make my verses rattle with the din of war and battle,
For war doth increase sa-la-ry, ry, ry:
And I'll shake the public ears with the triumph of Algiers,
And thus I ll get a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
THE FIVE:
And we'll all have a finger, a finger, a finger,
We'll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
MR. PAPERSTAMP:
And while you thrive by ranting, I'll try my luck at canting,
And scribble verse and prose all so dry, dry, dry:
And Mystic's patent smoke public intellect shall choke,
Arld we ll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
THE FIVE:
We'll all have a finger, a finger, a finger,
We'll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
MR. ANYSIDE ANTIJACK:
My tailor is so clever, that my coat will turn for ever,
And take any colour you can dye, dye, dye:
For all my earthly wishes are among the loaves and fishes,
And to have my little finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
THE FIVE:
And we'll all have a finger, a finger, a finger,
We'll all have a finger in the CHRISTMAS PIE.
poem by Thomas Love Peacock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Life Is Just Life
life is neither a heaven nor a hell.
not a puzzle to get displace.
life is life n only life
which we have to live n survive..
life is not a trauma of tumult..
nor of sporadic spryness or sundry sadness
life is living n to live is life
life is not a season of summer or springs..
or of being at shed or scortching heat
life is what it is l-iving i-t f-ullest e-clatically
is the message it gives..
life is not a sea of sorrow or plethora of pleasure
nothing so special nothin to err
life is living n only living..
& the one who defines it, does it for living
life is not a boon nor a bane
& nthng being so estrange
life is to live n to live is life..
& living life makes us suffice.........
poem by Srishti Shrivastava
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Mangroves I Behold You As Child Miracles
mangroves I behold you as child miracles
finger nail of life growing at sea margins
saline coastal sediments hostile habitats
tropics subtropics as medium height trees
or shrubs life roots rise up in harsh muds
brackish water intolerable deals no death
pure death salt seawater is your life drink
water concentrated by evaporation twice
thrice salinity of ocean seawater you sip
sedately 30 to 90 ppt distill measure thirst
saline woodland saline shrubland habitats
miracle life blossoms as treasured forests
mangrove swamp mud shelter miracle lives
mangrove forest or mangal environments
protected from high-energy wave actions
areas of depositional coastal fine sediments
high organic content safe embrace shelters
tidal areas washed hold life harsh secrets
mangrove estuaries line marine shorelines
are finger nail life intertidal miracle shelters
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!