The Age
My beast, my age, who will try
to look you in the eye,
and weld the vertebrae
of century to century,
with blood? Creating blood
pours out of mortal things:
only the parasitic shudder,
when the new world sings.
As long as it still has life,
the creature lifts its bone,
and, along the secret line
of the spine, waves foam.
Once more life’s crown,
like a lamb, is sacrificed,
cartilage under the knife -
the age of the new-born.
To free life from jail,
and begin a new absolute,
the mass of knotted days
must be linked by means of a flute.
With human anguish
the age rocks the wave’s mass,
and the golden measure’s hissed
by a viper in the grass.
And new buds will swell, intact,
the green shoots engage,
but your spine is cracked
my beautiful, pitiful, age.
And grimacing dumbly, you writhe,
look back, feebly, with cruel jaws,
a creature, once supple and lithe,
at the tracks left by your paws.
poem by Osip Emilevich Mandelstam
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
For
I
A REMOTE sky, prolonged to the sea's brim:
One rock-point standing buffeted alone,
Vexed at its base with a foul beast unknown,
Hell-birth of geomaunt and teraphim:
A knight, and a winged creature bearing him,
Reared at the rock: a woman fettered there,
Leaning into the hollow with loose hair
And throat let back and heartsick trail of limb.
The sky is harsh, and the sea shrewd and salt:
Under his lord the griffin-horse ramps blind
With rigid wings and tail. The spear's lithe stem
Thrills in the roaring of those jaws: behind,
That evil length of body chafes at fault.
She does not hear nor see—she knows of them.
II
CLENCH thine eyes now,—'tis the last instant, girl:
Draw in thy senses, set thy knees, and take
One breath for all: thy life is keen awake,—
Thou mayst not swoon. Was that the scattered whirl
Of its foam drenched thee?—or the waves that curl
And split, bleak spray wherein thy temples ache?
Or was it his the champion's blood to flake
Thy flesh?—or thine own blood's anointing, girl?
Now, silence: for the sea's is such a sound
As irks not silence; and except the sea,
All now is still. Now the dead thing doth cease
To writhe, and drifts. He turns to her: and she,
Cast from the jaws of Death, remains there, bound,
Again a woman in her nakedness.
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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A silente creature
The silent creature
populates the human
minds
A silent creature
is invisible but
reliable and fizzy
This creature is
silent because she
needs to be
understood, refined and
she wants a
lot of aids
A silent creature
is an explosion
of life
To be a
silent creature is
a fresh and
wonderful sensation
A silent creature
is an angelical
messenger
She is a
happy, ancient, colorful
and vital imagine
A silent creature
tells many different
and interesting stories
Sometimes the silent
creature deceives to
defeat the racism
A silent creature
is defenseless from
the not curious
A silent creature
is a desirable
but desperate and
suspicious person
A silent creature
can be an
alter ego
She is a
guide of dignity
and human values
poem by Laura arwen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Origins
The plaster continues to crumble
It's because of the light!
That blasted light!
I see the floors are sinking in
In the derelict of light.
I am a creature of comfort
Because of the light!
Oh, that blasted light!
Lavish me in the finest of things
Without the curse of the light.
The horror within is now revealed
Why, because of the light.
Oh, that blasted light!
And with the darkness, my beauty is healed.
Because of the light, oh the light.
Do you find I have cause to lie?
Yes, I do.
It's because of the light!
For all that my soul is suffering
And I am a creature of night.
I am a creature of comfort
I am a creature of fright
I'm a creature of sensual pleasure
I'm a creature with just one little bite.
I am a creature of legend
I am a creature of night
I'm a creature that stalks in the shadows
I'm a creature that hides from the light.
I am a creature unwanted
I am a creature with might
I'm a creature seduced by the hunger
I'm a creature of mischief and rife.
I am a creature so sadly
I am a creature, that's right
I'm a creature without soul
As low as it goes
I'm the creature to end your life
poem by Maura Herboldsheimer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Origins
The plaster continues to crumble
It's because of the light!
That blasted light!
I see the floors are sinking in
In the derelict of light.
I am a creature of comfort
Because of the light!
Oh, that blasted light!
Lavish me in the finest of things
Without the curse of the light.
The horror within is now revealed
Why, because of the light.
Oh, that blasted light!
And with the darkness, my beauty is healed.
Because of the light, oh the light.
Do you find I have cause to lie?
Yes, I do.
It's because of the light!
For all that my soul is suffering
And I am a creature of night.
I am a creature of comfort
I am a creature of fright
I'm a creature of sensual pleasure
I'm a creature with just one little bite.
I am a creature of legend
I am a creature of night
I'm a creature that stalks in the shadows
I'm a creature that hides from the light.
I am a creature unwanted
I am a creature with might
I'm a creature seduced by the hunger
I'm a creature of mischief and rife.
I am a creature so sadly
I am a creature, that's right
I'm a creature without soul
As low as it goes
I'm the creature to end your life
poem by Katherine Clark
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If You Live Like That
You say you want to live for today
Before today is lost
But when the returns come in
Do they balance the cost
I can see your four wheels spin
I can smell smoke from the blaze
But we arent moving anyway
If youre seeing past rose colored shades
If you live like that
Dont look back
cause its cold
And its mighty
It may turn your back
Blood on the tracks baby
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks baby
I said dont look back
I see it all around
People want it good and want it fast
As long as it moves you for the moment
It doesnt matter if it lasts
But our love is sweet
It can drive me to my knees
But we still got troubles you and i
Seeing the forest for the trees
If you live like that
Dont look back
cause its cold
And its mighty
It may turn your back
Blood on the tracks baby
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks baby
I said dont look back
Ive had enough of these two lives
You say youll give to me
Ive had enough of your freedom
You know I want to feel free
Ive had enough gospel
I could spin my head around
I said if youre so caught up in heaven
You dont even see the ground
If you live like that
Dont look back
cause its cold
And its mighty
It may turn your back
Blood on the tracks, baby
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks, baby
I said dont look back
All we need is to take time
(slow down, new way)
See tomorrow in plain sight
(new dawn, new day)
New horizon in plain view
And were oiling up the engine
To put you straight on through
If you live like that
Dont look back
Oh no cause its cold
And its mighty
It may turn your back
Blood on the tracks baby
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks baby
I said dont look back
Blood on the tracks baby
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks baby
I said dont look back
Oh theres blood on the tracks baby
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks baby
Dont look back
Dont look back
If you live like that
song performed by by Indigo Girls
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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South Africa, my country
Could I play like you, like a lion cub,
spending my days inviolate with the world,
when you were innocent, intact
had tried to touch butterflies with deadly paws,
you would have stayed forever in my heart
and I would have found acquiescence in you constantly.
Still your paws had become big, deadly
your jaws had become snapping, had mightily showered blood
when your growth went to maturity,
you did even amaze the biggest, most deadly cats
and from your compulsory service I wasn’t free,
fought for survival in your hunt
but now you are wounded far too badly, too serious,
I cannot stop the destruction anymore,
where you now want to kill your own cubs
and my brothers flee far away from you
while you do not want to know them anymore,
are infatuated by bloodlust, are infatuated to win the fight.
Still I love you far too much
to now want to see your nemesis,
I still try to heal your most serious wounds,
I still try to share my mangled life with you
and I can now smell your breath deadly,
while you use my life selfishly.
poem by Gert Strydom
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And What Is Man
And what is man but animal a descendant of ape
A creature of this Planet earth with monkey build and shape
And what is man but mortal with brief so brief life span?
Like flowers of Spring he live short while the earth born creature man.
And then so why should man the animal with superior powers of mind
Look down on his fellow man on his own fellow kind
And why should man the mortal chose to discriminate
And surrender to jealousy a fore-runner to hate? .
And why should man the animal with ape like hands and feet
Allow himself fall victim of greed and self conceit?
As man is air breathing creature and air breathing creature's life is brief
He quickly grow and then he fade like frostbit autumn leaf.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The spring of life
Take me there
where life is free from all anxieties
where life springs with full blosson
where the life is not hell
Life manifests the obscure
for fugitive paramour
certain unveil may not lead the life
maladroit perception must not carve the life
Life flows like cascade
the breeze of florescent waves
never stop, never wipe up
it grows ever and ever.
Those who think to smash some one's life
can not be considered as a wise person
life of any creature is a special event
gifted by God for the cause of nature
Each and every life is as precious
as the life of a mankind
Life after death never comes
but death after life always comes
The entire creature is as alive
as the nature is survived
so life must not be an obstacle
for any one's life.
poem by Ramesh Rai
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The Phenomenon Of Life
Take me there
where life is free from all anxieties
where life springs with full blossom
where life is not hell
life manifests the obscure
for fugitive paramour
certain unveil reason may not lead the life
maladroit perception must not carve the life
life flows like the cascade
the breeze of florescent waves
never stop, never wipe up
it grows ever and ever
those who think to smash some one's life
can not be considered as a wise person
life of any creature is a special event
gifted by God for the cause of nature
Each and every life is as precious
as the life of a mankind
life after death never comes
but death after life always comes
the entire creature is as alive
as the nature is survived
so, life must not be an obstacle
for someone's life.
poem by Ramesh Rai
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Sonnet: Save Human Lives
You kill a lamb and yet ’tis not a sin;
You play with dolls but don’t worship them still;
’Tis murder when you kill men, kith and kin;
Man lives a life predestined by God’s will.
‘Though blood is thicker than water’- we say,
Not many care if human blood is lost!
Although man plans, God calls off everyday;
One must save human lives at any cost.
And human life is most precious to God;
And so He gave each man a soul to keep;
Nevertheless, He made all things from clod;
From murder, man most punishment will reap.
We have no right to take another’s life;
God will reward if lives are saved from knife!
21-3-2001
poem by John Celes
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What Creature Is This
What creature is this,
That decides to begin explicit conflicts?
Doing things the opposite...
And spreading contagious disease.
That feeds on hypocrisy,
With such amazing ease!
What creature is this,
Existing in our midst?
Allow to persist with displays of sickness!
Poisonous is the water...
And the air this 'thing' pollutes!
Unsatisfied with its reflection seen...
It destroys anything Mother Nature 'salutes'.
What creature is this,
That can not sit to fit in?
Why is it like a cancer spreading,
With no cure to stop its end!
What creature is this,
With a mind that defines?
And looking for a way,
To slay all goodness that it finds!
What creature is this...
Insisting to plant chaos remembered,
And not to be left behind!
What creature IS this?
Making attempts...
To discourage wishes of peace,
It declines!
What beast is this watched...
As it craves with venom seeking to unwind!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Clearly, it is difficult for us to come to a true understanding of what human sacrifice meant to the sixteenth century Aztec; but it may be observed that every culture possesses its own idea of what is and what is not cruel. At the height of their career the Romans shed more blood in their circuses and for their amusement than ever the Aztecs did before their idols. The Spaniards so sincerely moved by the cruelty of the native priests, nevertheless massacred, burnt, mutilated and tortured with a perfectly clear conscience. We, who shudder at the tales of the bloody rites of ancient Mexico, have seen with our own eyes and in our days civilized nations proceed systematically to the extermination of millions of human beings and to the perfection of weapons capable of annihilating in one second a hundred [times] more victims than the Aztecs ever sacrificed.
Jacques Soustelle in Dances of Anáhuac
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Murdered Lover
Say a mass for my soul's repose, my brother,
Say a mass for my soul's repose, I need it,
Lovingly lived we, the sons of one mother,
Mine was the sin, but I pray you not heed it.
Dark were her eyes as the sloe and they called me,
Called me with voice independent of breath.
God! how my heart beat; her beauty appalled me,
Dazed me, and drew to the sea-brink of death.
Lithe was her form like a willow. She beckoned,
What could I do save to follow and follow,
Nothing of right or result could be reckoned;
Life without her was unworthy and hollow.
Ay, but I wronged thee, my brother, my brother;
Ah, but I loved her, thy beautiful wife.
Shade of our father, and soul of our mother,
Have I not paid for my love with my life?
Dark was the night when, revengeful, I met you,
Deep in the heart of a desolate land.
Warm was the life-blood which angrily wet you
Sharp was the knife that I felt from your hand.
Wept you, oh, wept you, alone by the river,
When my stark carcass you secretly sank.
Ha, now I see that you tremble and shiver;
'T was but my spirit that passed when you shrank!
Weep not, oh, weep not, 't is over, 't is over;
Stir the dark weeds with the turn of the tide;
Go, thou hast sent me forth, ever a rover,
Rest and the sweet realm of heaven denied.
Say a mass for my soul's repose, my brother,
Say a mass for my soul, I need it.
Sin of mine was it, and sin of no other,
Mine was it all, but I pray you not heed it.
poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Since I’ve Been In Jail
Since I've been in jail
the world has turned around the sun ten times
And if you ask the earth, it will say:
'It's not worth mentioning,
a microscopic time.'
And if you ask me, I will say:
'It's ten years of my life.'
I had a pencil
the year I came to jail.
It wore out in a week from writing.
And if you ask the pencil, it will say:
'A whole life.'
And if you ask me, I will say:
'It's nothing, a mere week.'
Osman who was jailed for murder
completed a seven-year stretch and left
since I've been in jail.
He wandered around outside for a while,
and then got jailed again for smuggling.
He served a six-month term and left again,
and yesterday a letter came saying he's married
and a child will be born in the spring.
Now they're ten years old
the children who fell from their mothers' womb
that year I came to jail,
And the colts of that year who had long thin shaky legs
have long since become docile broad-rumped mares.
But the olive shoots are still shoots
and they're still children.
New squares have opened up in my distant city
since I've been in jail.
And our family
is living in a house I've never seen
on a street I don't know.
The bread was pure white, like cotton,
the year I came to jail.
Later it was rationed out,
And we here on the inside beat one another
for a piece of black crust the size of a fist.
Now it's free again,
But brown and tasteless.
The year I came to jail
The Second One had just begun.
The ovens in Dachau Camp were not yet lit,
The atom bomb was not yet hurled upon Hiroshima.
Time flowed like the blood of a child with his throat cut.
Later that chapter was officially closed,
Now American dollars are talking about a Third.
But in spite of everything, the days have brightened
since I've been in jail,
And about half of them
'put their heavy hands on the pavement
and on the edge of darkness
straightened up.'
Since I've been in jail
the world has turned around the sun ten times.
And again I repeat with the same passion
what I wrote for them
the year I came to jail:
'They
whose number is as great
as ants on the earth
fish in the water
birds in the sky
are fearful and brave
ignorant and learned
and they are children,
And they
who destroy and create
it is only their adventure in these songs.'
And for the rest,
for example, my lying here for ten years,
it's nothing...
poem by Nazim Hikmet
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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NEW Breath Of Life
I look has the sun rises to bring the end of a cold night
The breeze of the morning sun wakes up the world
But there are parts that don’t get touched by the sun
The dark figures rest in the shadows
The wait for the night to come alive
Blood thirsty with a moments notice
There are some people that can go into the shadows
They are outsiders of the mortal race
They want to learn about the magic that make up life
The dark figures tell the outsides about the way of the night
They ask an outsider to join their side
The outsider agrees without hesitation
He becomes a creature of both night and day
He gets a new breath of life
The power of love, hate and pain went thought his body
The day sun shined and hurt his eyes
He is becoming a werewolf
With blood boiling in his veins
He thinks what he did to his life
I am a creature of the night he yells to the moon
That this a sound he hears in his ears
He opens his eyes and finds that it was all a dream
Or was it
That night the full moon rise
And fur goes around him and he howls long and loud
Blood lust in his new eyes looking for a kill
He takes on a bear and eats until full
And runs away and wakes up to the sun again
Does not remember anything
Except a new breath of life
poem by Thomas Henderson
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To The Bone
In the back of a record rack
Theres a old double pack
Twelve inches and black
With an old crumpled cover
But every track is stacked
And it takes me back
To the one who caused this melancholy mood
And every single groove
Cuts me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
I took her back to my bachelor flat
While the stereo played for two
She unwrapped her gift
And played me a riff
And said, this old record was just made for you
Then we danced to songs of passion and
The singers velvet tones
On the gramaphone
While the record played
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone
Those those rock n roll romantic songs
Played all summer long
And she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone.
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
In dreams shes smiling in slow motion
Devouring all of my emotion
Angels singing rock n roll
While demons take away my soul
Voices sound, her image fades
Every time that record plays
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone
In my back room theres an old 45
That we played all summer long
Shakin the beams so loud it covered up the screams
When lovers harmony went oh so wrong
And in every word emotion is torn
And blood flows down the drain
Like she opened up a vein
And cut me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
And now Im just a prisoner
In that stereo hi-fi jail
The needle pierced just like a nail
As she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone
Do do do do do do do
She rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Today... 'Our Passover Lamb
Blood from the lamb was on the lintel spread
and the people waited in fear and dread.
They could all hear the people outside cry
but the Angel of Death just passed them by.
Because a lamb had been slain and had died
and its blood upon the doorpost applied
Death did not visit them that dreadful day
but passed over them and went on its way.
**********
His life was given and His blood was shed
when He died that awful day in my stead.
The pure unspotted Lamb of God was He.
God saw the blood and then passed over me.
He gave His life to pay sins dreadful price
and offered Himself as a sacrifice.
Crying 'Father forgive' with His last breath
He snatched me from the very jaws of death.
(see also the additional information in the Poet's notes box below)
A Gift of Lovers' Red Rose!
Lovers exchange red roses for Valentine's Day;
Why only Red Rose and Red Heart greeting cards?
Red is colour of blood vital for human survival!
Impure, used, blue blood turns pure red blood
By vital heart of body of flesh and bone in all!
Blood circulating all over in the body brings air
Fresh, pure and life supporting oxygen for man
Pumped and purified by heart ever till all life!
Red heart and rose denote vital heart, red blood
To keep this human body of flesh, bone and blood
Ever healthy, happy and hopeful of joy in all life!
Heart with Red Rose greets lovers with joy long
On Valentine's Day to celebrate love in life ever
Starting from Lovers' Day on all round the year!
poem by Ramesh T A
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Creature
A shadow glides above my plate
And all I see is birds migrate
Going south, remember me
When you fly above the sea
Autumn dies serene and slow
The lamp stands in a gentle glow
The silence rules, the evening grows
And the moon is far below
In me twist a sudden cramp
In my heart I hear it stamp
Marrow and blood encircle me
My blood stream chokes on gall and spleen
What will become of you
Since you have forsaken me
Not one tear I have in me
I am numb to my memory
Ill believe than that youre dead
First I felt bitter, I made amends
But I see you in a new light
You only have my contempt
So Ill believe than that youre dead
Second youre a loser, I spit on pretence
And I begin to wonder, and I begin to understand
That, youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds and kind of dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Dies.
song performed by by Xymox
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Creature
A shadow glides above my plate
And all I see is birds migrate
Going south, remember me
When you fly above the sea
Autumn dies serene and slow
The lamp stands in a gentle glow
The silence rules, the evening grows
And the moon is far below
In me twist a sudden cramp
In my heart I hear it stamp
Marrow and blood encircle me
My blood stream chokes on gall and spleen
What will become of you
Since you have forsaken me
Not one tear I have in me
I am numb to my memory
Ill believe than that youre dead
First I felt bitter, I made amends
But I see you in a new light
You only have my contempt
So Ill believe than that youre dead
Second youre a loser, I spit on pretence
And I begin to wonder, and I begin to understand
That, youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds and kind of dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Youre a creature that breeds its kind and dies
Dies.
song performed by by Xymox
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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