To Omar Khayyam
Omar – (do I need to insist
that’s the poet, not the terrorist?) –
when I was young and life was frantic
I found your poetry romantic –
a loaf of bread, a jug of wine,
and that non-gender-specific Thou,
about whom, scholars gracefully decline..
but now I’ve weathered the twentieth century
with perhaps a touch of grace
I’m equally content, and grateful too –
chewing on my baguette of chorizo,
the screw-top wine beside me,
in this battered caravan park
where immigrant children play
and TVs flicker in the dark
bringing desert headlines by night and day;
so, not oblivious to fate’s deals
and dust beneath the trailer wheels..
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.
quote by Omar Khayyam
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In the spirit of Rumi: 74: Bliss
and they asked him, master,
tell us about bliss…
and he smiled as if
within himself, he heard the
angels laughing at the blameless
comedy of human life
bliss, he said, is where you find it…
as, when one day, you’re so hungry
that a meal fit for gods and kings
is a loaf of warm, fresh-baked bread;
a jug of wine that doesn't ask a label;
maybe a piece of local cheese, why not,
the meal which in olden times,
was called ‘short commons’ in some tongues,
that every innkeeper would offer free
to the weary, dust-stained traveller
as one would offer to one’s god
in thanks for life and sustenance…
saying, there’s a shady tree out there,
go and sit beneath it in the cool…
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine… and Thou..
Thou who appearest in so many forms
always beside me;
Thou who made the bread, its daily freshness
as if the morning made it from the desert dew;
who made the wine’s slow miracle;
who made the jug – the metaphoric clay of life
made moist with love, fired hard by love…
who made the tree which shades you as you eat;
who, the meal finished, waits for your gratitude
so as to know that all He made, is good…
and who then offers - as silently as sand beneath your feet,
as silently as cool air moves around the tree’s light shade,
as silently as ripening figs blush on the branch above you,
as silently as roses live their scented life,
as still as morning dawns, or evening shades -
Himself, as bliss; where for a moment as you sit,
there is no thing in all His world
to be desired; for All is here..
there in the heart, the sweetest taste of His
so intricate and jewelled simplicity.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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A Book of Verses undeneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness- Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow
quote by Omar Khayyam
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wine (Love Poem)
Wine is for laughing
Wine is for talking all night
Wine is for living life out loud
Wine is for making us beautiful
Wine is for all-night conversations
Wine is for getting together again
Wine is for ‘never again’ tomorrow
Wine is for sleeping like a baby
Wine is for telling the truth
Wine is food for love
Wine is friendship
Wine is fresh
Wine
Can
Be
The
One
Perfe ct
Companion
At the end of a long day
poem by Ian Beckett
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Twentieth Century Fox
Well, shes fashionably lean, and shes fashionably late
Shell never wreck a scene, shell never break a date
But shes no drag, just watch the way she walks
Shes a twentieth century fox, shes a twentieth century fox
No tears, no fears, no ruined years, no clocks
Shes a twentieth century fox, oh yeah
Shes the queen of cool, and shes the lady who waits
Sent to manless school, it never hesitates
She wont waste time, on elementary talk
cause shes a twentieth century fox, shes a twentieth century fox
Got the world locked up, inside a plastic box
Shes a twentieth century fox, oh yeah
Twentieth century fox, oh yeah
Twentieth century fox
Shes a twentieth century fox
song performed by by Doors
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twentieth Century Fox
Written by The Doors
Well, she's fashionably lean
Hey and she's fashionably late
She'll never gonna wreck a scene
She'll never break a date
But now she's no drag
Just watch the way that she walks
She's a twentieth century fox
She's a twentieth century fox
She's got world, she's got the world
All locked up inside a plastic box
She's a twentieth century fox, oh yeah
She's the queen of cool
And she's the lady who waits
Sent to manless school
She never gonna hesitate
Well know she don't waste her time
On all this elementary talk
She's a twentieth century fox
She's a twentieth century fox
She got the world, babe,
Now she got this world
She got it all locked up
Inside some kind of plastic plastic box
She's a Twentieth century fox, oh yeah
She's a Twentieth century fox, oh yeah
She's a Twentieth century fox, oh yeah
She's a Twentieth century fox
song performed by by John Mellencamp
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Neighbours
My neighbour has a field of wheat
And I a rood of vine;
And he will give me bread to eat,
And I will give him wine.
And so we are a jolly pair,
Contentedly unwed,
Singing with supper as we share
Red wine and crusty bread.
Now venison is mighty meat
And so is trout and hare;
A mallard duck is sweat to eat
And quail is dainty fare.
But such are foods for festal day,
And we will not repine
While on the table we can lay
Crisp bread and rosy wine.
A will to till one's own of soil
Is worth a kingly crown,
With bread to feed the belly need,
And wine to wash it down.
So with my neighbour I rejoice
That we are fit and free,
Content to praise with lusty voice
Bread, Wine and Liberty.
poem by Robert William Service
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To Eat For Three
Seventy palm trees,
Twelve wells of water;
Life is like a romantic night by the fire place.
Oh bread of heaven,
Come up to me on the mountain!
Oh pots of meat,
Come and put me in shape;
Life is like a romantic night by the fire place.
From Ur to Rome,
From Rameses to Succoth,
From Accra to New York,
From Lagos to Bahamas,
I am a stranger in a foreign land.
Fire, wine, husband and wife;
Life is like a romantic night by the fire place.
To eat for three matters to me,
To learn for three matters to you,
I am in a new world learning how to speak!
With my eyes darker than wine,
With my teeth whiter than milk,
Like a strong donkey lying down by two saddles.
This is the joy that i bring to you,
This is the muse of a journey to eat for three;
Life is like a romantic night by the fire place.
Pots of meat,
Bread of heaven,
Of my teeth whiter than snow;
I am a stranger in a foreign land.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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The New Omar
A Book of verses underneath the bough,
Provided that the verses do not scan,
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and Thou,
Short-haired, all angles, looking like a man.
But let the wine be unfermented, Pale,
Of chemicals compounded, God knows how-
This were indeed the Prophet's Paradise,
O Paradise were Wilderness enow.
poem by G.K. Chesterton
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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A book of verses underneath the bough, A jug of wine, a loaf of bread-and thou.
quote by Edward Fitzgerald
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The New Omar
A Book of verses underneath the bough,
Provided that the verses do not scan,
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and Thou,
Short-haired, all angles, looking like a man.
But let the wine be unfermented, Pale,
Of chemicals compounded, God knows how--
This were indeed the Prophet's Paradise,
O Paradise were Wilderness enow.
poem by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
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Twentieth Century
Oh, the Twentieth Century wasn't all that bad
It was a time like no one else has ever had
We learned to drive, we learned to fly
We sent a man into the sky
When he walked on the moon, we were so glad
Yeah, the Twentieth Century wasn't all that bad
Yeah, the Twentieth Century was quite a ride
We had to learn to see the other side
We had demonstrations and liberations
Great depressions and good vibrations
And doors that once were closed were opened wide
Oh, the Twentieth Century was quite a ride
We had movin' pictures and radio
And Broadway, country, rock and roll
In 1900, who'd a bet we'd all be surfing on the internet
Yeah, the Twentieth Century was a heck of a show
We all had our fifteen minutes, don't you know
Assembly lines, celebrities,
the spotlight shined on you and me
And everybody got a standin' O
Yeah, the Twentieth Century was a heck of a show
From blocks of ice to air condition
Telegraph to television
In 1900, who'd a known we all wind up
with pocket phones
The Twentieth Century wasn't all that long
Just a hundred years has come and gone
We can't go back even if we try
So I'll just smile and wave goodbye
To see it leavin' makes me kinda sad
It was a time like no one else has ever had
Oh, the Twentieth Century wasn't all that bad
The Twentieth Century
Bye-bye
The Twentieth Century
Goodbye
song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Crystal Clear
CRYSTAL CLEAR
If home is where the heart is, you and I
new-found may found a haven, there to be
united ever till eternity
engathers all as dust, - why must all die?
Reality links dreams as chains untie,
links through forever think mortality.
‘A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and Thee’
triumphant should Time’s desert tide defy.
Neither til now believed that somehow sky
or starry heavens so ruled Destiny.
Renascent minds find visibility
become tuned crystal, clear, no choice deny.
Souls Life transcend to prosper through Love’s fire
that naught need prove, yet all may move much higher...
23 April 1990
robi03_0307_robi03_0000 SXX_LXX
poem by Jonathan Robin
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A Picture Of Greed
on one hand
he carries a
big loaf of bread
on the other
he carries a
basket
of the same
loaf of bread
on his head
is another
basket of
the same loaf
of bread
a little child
spreads his
hands for
a loaf of bread
then he speeds
his way
as he bites
a loaf of
bread in
his mouth
the little child
follows him
and there he
is closing the
door of his
house all
made of bread
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Your life is on a throne
Your life is on a throne
Of dust weathered-stone
A whirlwind battered face
With a mountain to climb
Of the time
Of the time
Of the time
Your voices a busted microphone
Howling, babe I'm losing my mind
I live like a turtle and this is my home
By your side
Your life is on a throne
Of dust weathered-stone
A whirlwind battered face
With a mountain to climb
Of the time
Of the time
Of the time
Darling, and
Sincerity's like a summer's rain
Falling, dripping off the leaf
Off a soul— born old
Dying young
It's not my fault darling
I don't show I care
I'm waking from a snare
Boastful wisps of love
Come crashing down like webs
Clinging still to me
But your voices a busted microphone
Howling, babe I'm losing my mind
Your life is on a throne
Of dust weathered-stone
A whirlwind battered face
With a mountain to climb
Of the time
Of the time
Of the time
And I'm losing my mind…
poem by Mark Heathcote
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City Of Stone
This City is old,
wrapped in the skin of a
maiden whose time is past.
Abandoned by her ghosts
-fled to the countryside
where graves are tended
and people remember.
The buildings speak, no one
listens anymore. The mortar
has memory and stays true.
The stones have integrity and
stand up until young men come
to build new truths and grind the
stone to dust. They are young
men with purpose searching for
the promise of hope fulfilled and
the end of age.
The old men age with wine. No
longer hungry, they have learned
to be full on the only bread worth
eating. Work holds them firmly in
tow, at anchor in the harbor,
content to miss the Sea.
The women are full of grace
except the young and beautiful,
they are full of lust for the dance
and men to hold their hands,
hands that will cradle dreams
keeping them alive in times
of drought. The women of grace
stand in doorways, lean from windows,
hang washing, pasta and dreams.
The children are lost.
Lost to American dreams.
Lost to music, names and the
promise of hope fulfilled, the
end of age.
America where nothing is old, there is
no memory, everyone has purpose,
grace, bread, wine, and truth is green
water flowing from the rock of Moses.
Around the City water recedes
exposing barren mudflats
where even the clams refuse to dig.
And when the wind shifts
instead of salt air what it carries is sand.
The young men age while they sleep.
Women become keepers of dreams.
Old men disappear into the Sea.
Children fly west to purpose,
hope, truth, bearing the torch
they so eagerly lit.
The City will sleep.
Lie dormant with shallow breath
until Her ghosts return,
She sheds Her skin,
is once more the Maiden of old.
poem by Ronald Shields
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Woman Or Wine
It was the night we dine
And I beheld this sight
Desire I cannot fight
Woman or wine
Allure I wont decline
My fingers ran such smoothness
Heavens, what a goodness!
Woman or wine
I thought I was just fine
Till those smoothness touched my lips
And I clinged to the hips
Woman or wine
It was long past nine
As we stumbbled through the door
All I wanted was more
Woman or wine
Oh sorry state of mine
I was drunk with something sweet
And I know not what it is
Woman or wine
poem by Joseph Eli Atisu
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This Bread I Break
This bread I break was once the oat,
This wine upon a foreign tree
Plunged in its fruit;
Man in the day or wine at night
Laid the crops low, broke the grape's joy.
Once in this time wine the summer blood
Knocked in the flesh that decked the vine,
Once in this bread
The oat was merry in the wind;
Man broke the sun, pulled the wind down.
This flesh you break, this blood you let
Make desolation in the vein,
Were oat and grape
Born of the sensual root and sap;
My wine you drink, my bread you snap.
poem by Dylan Thomas
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Heavenly Banquet
I went to the heavenly banquet
The table that Jesus had set.
and broke the bread and drank the wine
nourishing this poor soul of mine.
Then my spirit soared heavenward
as before His table I stood
knowing that He loved me so much
experiencing His tender touch.
I felt complete and satisfied
there with Jesus the crucified.
The wine was rich, the bread so sweet
as I worshipped there at His feet.
My soul fed very well that day
as I journeyed upon my way.
and back into my home I went
my spirit feeling so content.
Wine Me Up
(faron young/billy deaton)
I'm the center of attention in this bar room
Cause i've got teh biggest heartache of the year
And each night those swingin' doors reach out to me and draw me in
'cause they know each night that i'll be back to wine me up again
Chorus:
Wine me up turn me on and watch me cry for you
Lately drinkin' warm red wine is all i want to do
I never know how tight i'll wine me up 'til i walk in
I don't care cause i'll be back to wine me up again
I'd like to thank the folks who raise the grapes way up in california
And i'm hopin this will be their biggest year
'cause scarlet waters all that's left to keep me hangin on
That's why i'll try to wine me up each day and night next year
song performed by by Gary Allan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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