
Lover's Gifts XXXIX: There Is a Looker-On
There is a looker-on who sits behind my eyes. I seems he has seen
things in ages and worlds beyond memory's shore, and those
forgotten sights glisten on the grass and shiver on the leaves. He
has seen under new veils the face of the one beloved, in twilight
hours of many a nameless star. Therefore his sky seems to ache with
the pain of countless meetings and partings, and a longing pervades
this spring breeze, -the longing that is full of the whisper of
ages without beginning.
poem by Rabindranath Tagore

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Try Not To Breathe
I will try not to breathe.
I can hold my head still with my hands at my knees.
These eyes are the eyes of the old, shiver and fold.
I will try not to breathe.
This decision is mine. i have lived a full life
And these are the eyes that I want you to remember. oh.
I need something to fly over my grave again.
I need something to breathe.
I will try not to burden you.
I can hold these inside. I will hold my breath
Until all these shivers subside,
Just look in my eyes.
I will try not to worry you.
I have seen things that you will never see.
Leave it to memory me. I shudder to breathe.
I want you to remember. oh. (you will never see)
I need something to fly (something to fly)
Over my grave again. (you will never see)
I need something to breathe. (something to breathe)
Baby, dont shiver now.
Why do you shiver now? (I will see things you will never see)
I need something to fly (something to fly)
Over my grave again. (I will see things you will never see)
I need something to breathe. oh. oh. oh.
I will try not to worry you.
I have seen things that you will never see.
Leave it to memory me. dont dare me to breathe.
I want you to remember. oh. (you will never see)
I need something to fly (something to fly)
Over my grave again. (you will never see)
I need something to breathe. (something to breathe)
Baby, dont shiver now.
Why do you shiver now? (I will see things you will never see)
I need something to breathe. (something to breathe - I have seen things
You will never see)
I want you to remember.
song performed by by REM

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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September Grass
Well, the suns not so hot in the sky today
And you know I can see summertime slipping on away
A few more geese are gone, a few more leaves turning red
But the grass is as soft as a feather in a featherbed
So Ill be king and youll be queen
Our kingdoms gonna be this little patch of green
Wont you lie down here right now
In this september grass
Wont you lie down with me now
September grass
Oh the memory is like the sweetest pain
Yeah, I kissed the girl at a football game
I can still smell the sweat and the grass stains
We walked home together. I was never the same.
But that was a long time ago
And where is she now? I dont know
Wont you lie down here right now
In this september grass
Wont you lie down with me now
September grass
Oh, september grass is the sweetest kind
It goes down easy like apple wine
Hope you dont mind if I pour you some
Made that much sweeter by the winter to come
Do you see those ants dancing on a blade of grass?
Do you know what I know? thats you and me, baby
Were so small and the worlds so vast
We found each other down in the grass
Wont you lie down with me right here
September grass
Wont you lie down with me now
In this september grass
Lie down
Lie down
Lie down
Lie down
(repeat)
Wont you lie down here right now
In this september grass
Wont you lie down here now
In this september grass
song performed by by James Taylor

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Little Johnny Hooker
Oh, Im gonna tell you a story bout a little boy.
Oh, a sad little boy.
Im talkin bout little johnny hooker.
Little johnny hooker was a sissy on the street all his life --
All his natural born life.
Until his daddy took him aside and said,
Son, now heres your switchblade knife boy.
He said get out in the street boy,
Cut yourself some meat boy.
Get out on your own side of the road,
And lighten my load.
Johnny made a mistake and took his knife down to school one day.
Hey, yeah, yeah.
And, when the bell rang for lunch.
Freddie miller went and got in johnnys way boy.
He took his knife from his pocket, pushed a button on the side.
When he seen the queen steel,
You ought to seen the light in freddys eyes.
Oh, yeah ...
Little johnny hooker learned his lesson from the knife now you see,
(yes he did.)
Because for what he done to fred he spent some time in a penitentiary.
It was a day in the courtroom, exhibit letter a.
When the jury seen the knife they put little johnnys ass away.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Talkin bout jooohhhnnny.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Oh, little johnny boy.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Talkin bout jooohhhnnny.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Oh, little johnny boy.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
He was a young boy,
Hes thinkin the rest of his life,
For what he done with the knife.
Talkin bout jooohhhnnny.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Jooohhhnnny.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Little johnny hooker, he aint a bad looker, he aint a bad man, he aint.
Jooohhhnnny.
(repeat to fade)
song performed by by Grand Funk Railroad

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Darkly...As Thru A Cat's Eyes
If you could see what it tis, that cats can see
It would amaze, perplex and astound you
For they can see, most easily
The sights and worlds that swirl around you
Seen by you as a half glimpsed shadow…
A furtive movement from the corner of one’s eye
Unseen by you, behind that sly shadow
Is where the other worlds lie
Cats legs will stiffen, hair stand on end
Wide eyes staring into dark, empty space
At seemingly nothing… but I tell you my friend
They see things and know of, a strange eerie place
The things that we sense, yet elude our meager vision
The things that rustle about and go bump in the night
This is simply the world that exists hard close to ours
Quite real to cats, and to us unseen, out of sight
The frightened manner in which cats react and stare
Could be good reason that we’re not allowed to be…
Endowed with their perception, of what it tis they’re aware
Of the worlds swirling about us…worlds, only cats can see
poem by David Whalen

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All our yesterdays
Dusty shelves within our minds
Dark labyrinth of passageways
Memories stored like aging wine
Where we keep… all our yesterdays
Moments… treasured, … forgotten pleasures
snugly tucked, in private places
Daydream fodder, and even odder
Private portfolio Of forgotten faces
Far off look…into empty spaces
Seeing sights of other days
Tasting memory’s wine, of other places
Divinely, takes your breath away.
Shadow dancers on the wall
memory’s vault in which they lay
Private…inviolate… memory hall
Where are kept… all our yesterdays
poem by David Whalen

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You Swing Your Eyes To Ours
You swing your eyes to ours
And you are astonished
By the things you see
The sights we see
That no one has seen
Or
The sights you do not see
Of green! Of white...
But, what different does it make
The things you do not see?
That is Life....
That is Destiny...
©All Rights Reserved-2009
poem by Romeo Della Valle

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Search & Destroy
(pop/williamson)
Im a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm
Im a runaway son of the nuclear a-bomb
I am a worlds forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys
Honey gotta help me please
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby detonate for me
Look out honey, cause Im using technology
Aint got time to make no apology
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
Honey gotta strike me blind
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby penerate my mind
And Im the worlds forgotten boy
The one whos searchin, searchin to destroy
And honey Im the worlds forgotten boyt
The one whos searchin, searchin to destroy
Forgotten boy, forgotten boy
Forgotten boy said hey forgotten boy
song performed by by Iggy Pop

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ocean's Rose
The ocean's rose The ocean's rose
Is a sight
Is a sprite
Is a playful child
Dancing along the Dancing along the
Shore, Shore,
A lion's roar,
A squeaky door,
Making a sound, a
Difference somewhere, Change in the air,
A change in the air, A difference somewhere,
Pulling and tugging Pulling and tugging at
Your mind,
At your heart,
The feeling you get
When the ocean's waves
Scroll over your feet
Getting you wet.
The ocean's rose The ocean's rose is a
Memory of something
Long forgotten:
A seashell, a clam, a
Boot, nasty and rotten.
Better than a picture,
A souvenir for life,
From the early ages of
Childhood, to the Childhood, to the
Moment when you are
Laying on your deathbed,
And you hand it off to your
Children as you
See the light.
See the light.
-refrain-
And the memory lives And the memory
On. On.
**This poem is a two person poem. While one person reads the right column, the other person reads the left column, **
poem by Alex M.ller

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Commit To Memory
Commit me to memory, like I own you
Like the last of the raindrops in the consequent Summer,
And the foliage anew by Autumn,
Commit me to memory, though I do not own you
For when the darkness and sleaze go astray,
It is never too late to have vied for and pray,
That the remaining hours in one’s life sway
Towards forgetting and not forgetting –
Now what is better, to commit to memory
Or to disregard and go on day by day?
I know this true enough that you’d turn to say,
That certainly, one leaves and one stays,
You are earnest enough to have forged a lie
Contorting a vastly eviscerated sky
Oh, the things we do when we bid good bye,
How thwarting enough to not permit life
In every breath I pledge with strife.
And so I say, I will commit you to memory evermore
Until your ship is moored to my shore –
But then, hope is a loose accolade hanging
Unsteadily by a thread of phase-shifting,
Star blinding, moon kissing and sun quelling –
And so, to commit you to memory under the infinite sky;
With a sigh, the things you make me do when you say good bye
poem by Windsor Guadalupe Jr

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Guitar In A Stand
My guitar sits in a stand
rosewood neck
and maple bridge
chrome pegs
and stainless steel frets
six steel & brass strings
silent now
and no songs
for my fingers she longs
without regrets
upon her strings
a part of my heart
but she gives feelings in me wings
But there she sits silently
just an inanimate thing
that comes to life somehow
when I feel alone
and overfilled with the sadness
that life seems to bring
she makes me somehow
want to play and sing
through tears and everything
and in the end she says it's OK
somehow she understands
and now I look at her there
in her stand
and get up and walk across the room
to hold her in my hand
and play a little Bell Bottm Blues
and Little Wing
she allows this weary heart to sing
as if it meant something
I think when I'm dead and gone
this guitar will carry on
the memory of my feelings
and the memory of my hands
to another player
who has a similar feeling
and who understands
and listens to each note that rings
and makes them think of love and things
Or maybe it will have meaning to someone
or sit in a case or upon a wall
I wonder about it all
but me I hear something
between each note
as I bend the string and listen
a blue note
reminds me of you
and how your smokey eyes appear to glisten
and of your soft kind way
and from far away
my heart hesitates
and skips a beat
and dreams
and listens
and makes it's way to you
© James T. Adair
poem by James T. Adair

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To Her Memory
You are abruptly lost
Like a kite
flying on raw threads
Your loss is my memory
Your face hangs in the sky
Against the wind
Oh! your memory!
my words are far away from
The metaphors that could hold on
you to the landscape of my mind
Your memory sings against language
or sounds
You defy my familiar tools
And dimly expose an unknown
familiar to ages
and ages of our species
poem by Bhartendu Second

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Never Can Forget That Memory
Deep in the darkest
Part of my head
There is a memory
Of how I saw you dead
It sits there
Alone
In the shadows of depth
A memory of you
That I have kept
It wants to come out
Of this dark scary place
But it is a memory
I could never erase
It sits there
Alone through day and night
listening to everything
I hear
And say
I want it to leave
And never come back
To leave me alone
The feeling if sadness
To go away
So that I can
Once again
See
The light of day
poem by Broken Hearts

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Grass
Laying on the grass my heart it flares like fire
The way you slap my face just fills me with desire
You play hard to get
cause youre teachers pet
But when the boats have gone
Well take a tumble excuse for a fumble
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
If you fancy we can buy an ice-cream cone
Your mate has gone she didnt want to be alone
I will pounce on you
Just us and the cuckoos
You are helpless now
Over and over we flatten the clover
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
It would shock you too the things we used to do on grass
Grass, grass.
Things we did on grass
song performed by by Xtc

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Grass
Laying on the grass my heart it flares like fire
The way you slap my face just fills me with desire
You play hard to get
cause youre teachers pet
But when the boats have gone
Well take a tumble excuse for a fumble
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
If you fancy we can buy an ice-cream cone
Your mate has gone she didnt want to be alone
I will pounce on you
Just us and the cuckoos
You are helpless now
Over and over we flatten the clover
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
It would shock you too the things we used to do on grass
Grass, grass.
Things we did on grass
song performed by by Xtc

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Requiem (2)
The sun shone brightly on the green
The greenest green I'd ever seen
The air seemed lighter than before
The lakeland hillsides slid to shore
My eyes did see such lovely things
Then closed as my imaginings
Went calmly back to whence they came
Such sights i'd longed to see again.
poem by David Keig

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Somewhere Easily Accessible In My Memory
SOMEWHERE EASILY ACCESSIBLE IN MY MEMORY
Somewhere easily accessible in my memory-
Faces of people I last saw sixty years ago-
The smells of a long lost neighborhood-
My parents in so many ways-
Worlds upon worlds upon worlds
Which only I know,
And which will in a few years disappear.
Waste is the way of the universe
Of Life in which most species vanish from the earth
Of my small experience also-
It will all go
When I go.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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My Strange Land
I hold the memory of us in my hand
and drift away to a distant land
Candy trees and sherbet sand
As I hold the memory in my hand
I close my eyes and drift away
to a better happier day
A day when I could laugh away
The demons of this darker day
I drift away in a sea of dreams
where nothing is quite as it seems
Purple dragons, childhood dreams
Nothing quite as it seems
I embrace the strange new sights
flying candy Christmas lights
It's okay these child like sights
Fireworks explode in bright white light
In my head things are strange
reality is not in range
where everything is fine yet, strange
Gumballs on the firing range
I wish I could understand
Take you to this distant land
where I live each day now understand
Don't be scared of me in my strange land.
poem by Tamsin Burnett

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Dust
Blades of grass
That shiver as I pass
The worlds asleep but I'm awake
I'm walking home again
Morning stars
Left my shoes back at the bar
Didn't know my house was quite this far
So far from anywhere
Strange how the ground
Tips upside down
And morning it starts without me
Did I let you down
Should I come around
Would that make things better baby
You and I
We get along just fine
But oh we both love to be right
Its just not possible
Change your mind or maybe I'll change mine
But either way we don't arrive at something
Plausible
I'll see ya round when you're in town
And you can pretend to hate me
All trace of love
Has turned to dust
Which I've been collecting lately
song performed by by Bic Runga

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Spring and Fall: To a young child
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins

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To a Young Child
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins

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