Squalor Asylum
The abiding moon collected
my knowing surrenders
basking in the squalidness
of my black heart
and asked in a tone
as mellifluous as the angry tides:
Where does a crow fly?
The nights of scarlet
where the saturnalia
collapsed in a dark secret
and the butterflies perched
over a buried amber
was devoured in famish
as carnage spattered
with burnt colors
and moaning plumage
Watching the astray musings
on a riving remedy
into the pipe and in the fathoms
of the interiorized vault -
the stupor of dancing suns
circling the inverted dome
somersaulting behind the blear
and your reflection in the smoke
These debaucheries never called
for their own hiatus
as the forest met a fire
and breaks upon another
then decadently fold
in a banal slumber
When the grotesque show ended
everyone is alone
lured by the licorice sweating upon
the heat on their palms
and lost inside the mirrors
in the genocide inside
their roofless chasms
The crow perched
in the undulating braches
Chagrined, I stood in the bridge
juxtaposing squalor and morose
and in the verisimilitude
of security and delight
we sunder the propinquity
and burn our bridges
Whilst amidst this flames
I spun to the bottom
of a bottomless pit
looking back
in backwards slits
poem by Norman Santos

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Related quotes
Bird Life
Perched upon an old wheelbarrow-
Scrutinizing Crow,
commentated long, on all he saw.
Feathered friends, who came to wallow,
splashing in the bird-bath hollow
disregarded Crow's bizarre guffaw.
'Are you starling, from the meadow'?
asked the puzzled crow.
'You fit the bill and yet I see a flaw'.
'Tail feathers, long and narrow,
sharp as swallow's twin-pronged arrow,
force me to admit, I'm quite unsure'.
'I'm the Swarling from the plateau',
bird replied, 'Hello'.
'My plumage is unique and furthermore'-
'Meet my friend, the warbling Starlow,
deft in flight as dancing shadow,
blessed with starling beak and swallow claw'.
'Preposterous'! said crow with gusto,
'strange imbroglio'.
'You must be one or other, it's the law'.
To which the enigmatic duo,
chirped a ringing manifesto.
Crow could think of nowt to say, but 'Caw'.
poem by Diane Hine

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Black Licorice
Whooo ... wheee!
You there, comin up the stair, the feelin is ice-blue cold.
Shake, its more than I can take, Im startin to lose control.
Watch out, whats that noise, theres somebody at the door.
It must be black licorice, she come back to make me cry some more.
Time, aint on my side, Im losin it more each day.
Licorice, licorice.
Shes got evil in her eyes, and catnip is her taste.
Licorice, licorice.
She wraps me up in her slender legs, her hot black skin to mine.
Licorice, licorice.
Ple ... ple ...please, dont touch me, oh, I know Im dead this time.
Oh, oh, yeah ... licorice, yeah, black licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, yeah, black licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, black licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, yeah, black licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice, yeah, black licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, yeah, black licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, licorice, black licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, woah, black licorice.
song performed by by Grand Funk Railroad

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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B Yourself
Tides at rise, by high i am the stranded - To become unravelled, lost to the forest, voiced to be undone - Around the turn, flames bridge the fire, i will burn - No way back, the door no more, the gate holds the key in me - By day, i have the less to say - By night, fear is my cure, i still have to fight - Eight, i ate not by my fate - I slumber inside the sweet of dreams - Greener grass you can never find, by the fence, or the other side - Still you seek, rather be yourself -
poem by Unic Cjonr

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Rook
Rook, rook read from your book
Who murders who and where is the treasure hid?
Crow, crow spill all you know
Is that my name on the bell?
Rook, rook gaze in the brook
If theres a secret can I be part of it?
Crow, crow before Ill let go, say is that my name on the bell?
Soar up high, see the semaphore from the washing lines
Break the code of the whispering chimneys and traffic signs
Wheres the message thats written under the base of clouds?
Plans eternal, I know you know, so dont blurt out loud
Rook, rook by hook or by crook
Ill make you tell me what this whole things about!
Crow, crow why cant you show
If thats my name on the bell?
On the wings of night, I fly too, above field and stream
My head bursting with knowledge till I wake from the dream
If I die and I find that I had a soul inside
Promise me that youll take it up on its final ride
Rook, rook gaze in the brook
If theres a secret can I be part of it?
Crow, crow before Ill let go, say is that my name on the bell?
Is that my name on the bell?
song performed by by Xtc

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Casebook Of Oliver Cyriax - Case 1# The Burning Bush (Part 2)
The smoke from his pipe
rose up like a small cloud.
For a long time afterwards, t
he fire in the barn
was referred to as a ghost fire.
The next ghost fire happened
almost six months later to the day
in the midst of the summer sun.
A passing tramp had rested
for a while in a field
and fell asleep against a tree
as the grass around him suddenly came alive
with flames that burnt close to his feet.
The local Constable was riding passed
saw the flames and dismounted from his bike.
Racing into the field,
he tried to beat out the flames with his jacket.
Still the flames danced around the tramp,
whom was asleep and unaware.
The Constable yelled at him,
but the tramp did not arouse from his slumber.
The Constable looked around
and off to his left noticed a stream.
He ran across to it and filled his helmet with water.
Running back he threw the water over the tramp.
The tramp woke up startled and looked around.
He stood up and asked the Constable,
just what he thought he was doing
throwing water over him.
Watch out for the fire
the Constable shouted back.
The tramp scratched his head
and asked what he was talking about.
The fire, the fire, the Constable replied.
What fire? The tramp asked.
It was only then that the Constable realised
that the fire was no longer there.
He was mystified how it disappeared.
It was about six months after that,
another ghost fire occurred
in the very Inn where I was staying.
The bar was crowded
when suddenly against one of the walls
a fire started and seemed to burn ferociously.
The first thing the customers did
was to start throwing their drinks against the wall
in hope to dampen the flames.
They met with little success
and the fire brigade was called.
The bar was evacuated
and the firemen came in with their hoses,
which like the drinks had no success on the flames.
As with all the other incidents
the fire raged for several hours
before dying away of its own accord.
The investigation that followed
found nothing had been burnt or scorched.
There seemed no earthly reason
for the mysterious fires that engulfed things,
but never harmed any of them.
Then last month the burning bush began.
When it was discovered,
an attempt was made to extinguish it,
but failed like the ones before.
Presently each night ever since
the bush ignites itself and burns for several hours
before disappearing again.
Oliver paused for a few moments,
stroked his chin
and puffed a couple of times on his pipe.
To be continued…
poem by David Harris

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The Crow and The Butterfly
Ever wonder why the Crow chases the Butterfly?
Have you ever heard the Crow let out it's cry?
I think I found out why...
It's quite the interesting story, I had to pry..
The Butterfly's beauty, the Crow's will never match.
The Crow's life is nothing compared the the Butterfly's since it's first hatch.
If you are good enough to get a Butterfly, that is quite a catch.
Get a Crow somehow and it gets thrown right back out to the patch.
The Crow has had it so much easier than the Butterfly.
Straight jealousy from the Crow because they have to share the sky.
The Butterfly's flight is reason to stare, the Crow's just reason to cry.
Everyone stops to get a glance of a Buttflies, a few Crows and people pass by.
So if you ever hear a Crow cry,
Or see a Butterfly being chased by a Crow,
Just think how bad that Crow wants to be a Butterfly.....
poem by Joe Gosart

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What The Scarecrow Denied
Vagaries that revealed nothing
but the flames in the viscera
crowing with a murder of crow -
a dark void of ponderous misery
under the dark wings, and bleared
behind the sore caterwauling;
Perched under an erratic weather
waiting to be hauled out, but
ousting every chance with
an arrogant stead for humility.
poem by Norman Santos

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Black Crow
He sees the stormy anger of the world
And wants no part of it at all
And as the weeping leaves of autumn curl
He feels the savage winter call
See far below the dust of conflict settles on the hill
Where there was no escape before
And as he spreads his wings and soars up to another level
He brings the icy prophecies of war
Black crow, black crow, tell me where you really go
When you fly into the sunset, high in evening sky,
Black crow, black crow, tell me what you really know
Will we flourish in this hurricane, or will we fall and die?
While children lose their souls and so much more
To ragged armies of the field
A vicious fanfare cries appeasing hungry savages
To trigger that their fate is surely sealed
I wonder where that black crow sleeps as day beckons the night
Or if he even sleeps at all
I wonder what he thinks of all the human traffic far below
Thats struggled on the road so, so long
Tell me black crow, black crow (solely? ) you pass above
Understanding everything but you know nothing at all
Black crow black crow, tell me what you really know
Do you understand the pain that we feel down here at all
song performed by by Jamiroquai

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Eternity
Pearl – drops
on your upper lip:
heat –
of a stand-off
between
inside and outside.
More spiritual
I become
forgetting
the black eye,
I want to go back
with empty hands.
My home
is far away,
doorless,
roofless,
where dark squints at the moon.
poem by Satish Verma

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Crow Black Chicken
(laurence wilson)
Well, I went on the mountain
And I gave my horn a blow
Thought I heard some purty gal say
Yonder come my beau
Crow black chicken and crow for a day
Crow black chicken and fly away
Crow black chicken and-a ...
I like chicken pie
Well, the hardest work that ever I done
Is plowin a field of rye
The easiest work that ever I done
Was eatin chicken pie
Chicken crow for midnight
And chicken crow for a day
Along come an owl, lord, have mercy
And stole my chicken away
song performed by by Ry Cooder

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Girl On Fire
(the margarita horns: bill runge (baritone sax), paul baron & derry byrne (trumpets),
Tom keenlyside (tenor sax & arranger))
I just landed
Girl on fire
I felt the heat
From sydney to london
Well she shut my mouth
With her repartee
I opened hers
With the rest of me
Girl on fire
Baby burn burn burn
Girl on fire
Baby burn burn burn
Outta the shadows
Comes a dirty song
The same old faces
Try to keep you in line
I saw you laughing
At the very first show
You lit up the city
From the twenty-sixth floor
Girl on fire
Baby burn burn burn
Girl on fire
Whats saving her
Baby burn burn burn
Baby burn burn burn
Baby burn burn burn
I just landed
Girl on fire
I felt the heat
From new york to london
Well she shut my mouth
With a repartee
I opened hers
With the things that I say
Girl on fire
Thats the heat that burns
Girl on fire
How the flames make you learn
Girl on fire
Baby burn burn burn
Girl on fire
How the flames make me yearn
Girl on fire
Girl on fire
Girl on fire
Girl on girl on
Flames are rising
Flames are rising
Flames are rising
Flames are rising
song performed by by INXS

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Burn The School Down
She said
I lost my best friend last week at school
He got shot
Someone thought that he was part of something that
He was not
Now I'm watching all the cheerleaders show just how sad they are
When my friend used to come 'round
They used to laugh and egg his car
Now I'm gonna do my part as a concerned citizen
I think we should burn the school down
And start again
Burn it
'Till there's nothing left
Burn it
Just like all the rest
Burn it
Clear up all this mess
Burn it down
Education for the nation
Kids retaliate on each station
Expectation, violation
Pressure increased in each generation
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, she said
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, start again
'Cause now what I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
She says
I want to feel more comfort in my own skin
But everyone around me makes me feel like
I'm worth less than them
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, she said
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, start again
Burn it
'Till there's nothing left
Burn it
Just like all the rest
Burn it
Clear up all this mess
Burn it down
'Cause now what I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, right?
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, right?
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, right?
Burn the school down
Burn the school down
Burn the school down, right
Burn it
'Till there's nothing left
Burn it
Just like all the rest
Burn it
Clear up all this mess
Burn it down
'Cause now what I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Will the eyes inside the back of your mind let it go?
Now all I want to know
Now all I want to know
Now all I want to know
Now all I want to know
song performed by by Zebrahead

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Old Jim Crow
Ron vander groef, jackie alper, nina simone
Old jim crow
Where you been baby
Down mississippi and back again
Old jim crow dont you know
Its all over now
Old jim crow
Whats wrong with you
It aint your name
Its the things you do
Old jim crow dont you know
Its all over now
Old jim crow
Youve been around too long
Gotta work the devil
til your dead and gone
Old jim crow
Yes, dont you know
Its all over now
Its all over now
Old jim crow
You know its true
When you hurt my brother
You hurt me too
Old jim crow dont you know
Its all over now
Old jim crow
I thought I had you beat
Now I see you walkin
And talkin up and down my street
Old jim crow dont you know
Its all over now
Old jim crow
Youve been around too long
Gotta work the devil
til your dead and gone
Old jim crow dont you know
Its all over
All over
Oh lord, its all over
All over
Its all over
Its all over
Its all over now.
song performed by by Nina Simone

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Seeking Heat!
there is a heat
inside the fire,
friction inside the match.
there are clouds
inside each raindrop,
winter snows inside each bud.
there is a joy
hidden deep in sorrow,
there is touch
inside of the lonely.
there is a need
inside each prayer,
there is a hunger
inside those who take.
there is forgiveness
inside of anger.
there is a freedom
inside each cell.
there is a sameness
inside of difference.
there is a mother
inside each man.
there is a man
inside each body,
a hint of god
inside each soul.
there is a heart
inside of each man...
a heart seeking heat!
poem by Eric Cockrell

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Crow On The Cradle
(from the soundtrack to no nukes; peformed live by jackson browne with graham nash & david lindley)
The sheeps in the meadow
The cows in the corn
Now is the time for a child to be born
Hell laugh at the moon
And cry for the sun
And if its a boy hell carry a gun
Sang the crow on the cradle
And if it should be that this babys a girl
Never you mind if her hair doesnt curl
With rings on her fingers
And bells on her toes
And a bomber above her wherever she goes
Sang the crow on the cradle
The crow on the cradle
The black and the white
Somebodys baby is born for a fight
The crow on the cradle
The white and the black
Somebodys baby is not coming back
Sang the crow on the cradle
Your mother and father will sweat and theyll slave
To build you a coffin and dig you a grave
Hush-a-bye little one, never you weep
For weve got a toy that can put you to sleep
Sang the crow on the cradle
Bring me my gun, and Ill shoot that bird dead
Thats what your mother and father once said
The crow on the cradle, what can we do
Ah, this is a thing that Ill leave up to you
Sang the crow on the cradle
Sang the crow on the cradle
song performed by by Jackson Browne

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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1: From the Void
A rift in the bones ached
To be amongst the quakes
Of the forest's riddling dance
As I sink in fathoms futilely
Gulping ounces of buoyancy,
Aloof in the inert stance,
Siphoned of sporadic chances,
Slurring in the slopes of darkness,
Chagrined in the tranquil motion,
Lost in the stability of perpetual lost:
This malign cycle is a serpent
Chasing its own tail,
Poisoning its own cure.
The pedagogy of the night
Lies in the pitch black, point blank
Despondence buried in the sighs
In the salient grave in these eyes
Imagine the fathoms to brave
To find my core rocking slowly
Assuaging the moribund sways
Of the pendulums and hooks
That slivered the atmosphere
To sequester my soul
From my body
And from yours
And they called this place
Void.
poem by Norman Santos

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Why the Jackass Laughs
The Boastful Crow and the Laughing Jack
Were telling tales of the outer back:
"I've just been travelling far and wide,
At the back of Bourke and the Queensland side;
There isn't a bird in the bush can go
As far as me," said the old black crow.
"There isn't a bird in the bush can fly
A course as straight or a course as high.
Higher than human eyesight goes.
There's sometimes clouds -- but there's always crows,
Drifting along for a scent of blood
Or a smell of smoke or a sign of flood.
For never a bird or a beast has been
With a sight as strong or a scent as keen.
At fires and floods I'm the first about,
For then the lizards and mice run out:
And I make my swoop -- and that's all they know --
I'm a whale on mice," said the Boastful Crow.
The Bee-birds over the homestead flew
And told each other the long day through
"The cold has come, we must take the track."
"Now, I'll make you a bet," said the Laughing Jack,
"Of a hundred mice, that you dare not go
With the little Bee-birds, by Boastful Crow."
Said the Boastful Crow, "I could take my ease
And fly with little green birds like these.
If they went flat out and they did their best
I could have a smoke and could take a rest."
And he asked of the Bee-birds circling round:
"Now, where do you spike-tails think you're bound?"
"We leave tonight, and out present plan
is to go straight on till we reach Japan.
"Every year, on the self-same day,
We call our children and start away,
Twittering, travelling day and night,
Over the ocean we take our flight;
And we rest a day on some lonely isles
Or we beg a ride for a hundred miles
On a steamer's deck,* and away we go:
We hope you'll come with us, Mister Crow."
But the old black crow was extremely sad.
Said he: "I reckon you're raving mad
To talk of travelling night and day,
And how in the world do you find your way?"
And the Bee-birds answered him, "If you please,
That's one of our own great mysteries".
Now these things chanced in the long ago
And explain the fact, which no doubt you know,
That every jackass high and low
Will always laugh when he sees a crow.
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson

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Dixie Fire
Im not a stranger to passion,
Ive seen a lot of love in my time
Felt that physical attraction,
From the touch in the heat of the night
Been all over the country,
Started my share of new flames
But after all is said and done,
Theres only one that remains
Dixie fire burnin down in my soul
Dixie fire it never leaves me whole
It took a hometown girl to show me
How cruel these hot summer nights can be
Now theres a Dixie fire burning in the heart of me
Burning in the heart of me
Searching for some kind of direction,
Looking for a guiding light
Needed to see a lighthouse,
Like a ship on a stormy night
Somehow you heard my music,
You felt the sadness in me
You took the words that were so cold,
And added a warm melody
Dixie fire burnin down in my soul
Dixie fire it never leaves me whole
It took a hometown girl to show me
How cruel these hot summer nights can be
Now theres a Dixie fire burning in the heart of me
Burning in the heart of me
(Burn it down now)
Burn, burn, burnin
Burn, burn, burnin (Cant you see that Im)
Burn, burn, burnin (Theres a Dixie fire)
Burn, burn, burnin (Dont you know that Im)
Burn, burn, burnin
Burn, burn, burnin
song performed by by Alabama

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black Nocturne
Black nocturne
The vacuum that confiscates
The entirety of the city
That was incinerated
By the flames of incarcerated
Musings
Black nocturne,
You are an omen.
A shattered glass,
A howling moon,
A glass house on fire,
A submerged knight
On a grotesque chariot.
Black nocturne,
You are the fire
In the shriveled waters.
You are the air
That shrills the eviscerated
Noon time breath.
You are the water
That taints the fire cerulean
You are the blundering monsoon
That splinters me.
poem by Windsor Guadalupe Jr

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Gargoyles
We gargoyles are perched on high
not to scare you as you enter,
but to protect you from the demons
who may want to get inside.
We are perched here only coming alive
if a demon tries to enter and hurt anyone inside.
The demon’s curses will not work on us
because once a long time ago
we were demons too.
Their magic cannot hurt us,
but we have the powers to drive them back
into the darkness where from
the daylight they must hide.
24 February 2011
poem by David Harris

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