The Grown-Up
All this stood upon her and was the world
and stood upon her with all its fear and grace
as trees stand, growing straight up, imageless
yet wholly image, like the Ark of God,
and solemn, as if imposed upon a race.
As she endured it all: bore up under
the swift-as-flight, the fleeting, the far-gone,
the inconceivably vast, the still-to-learn,
serenely as a woman carrying water
moves with a full jug. Till in the midst of play,
transfiguring and preparing for the future,
the first white veil descended, gliding softly
over her opened face, almost opaque there,
never to be lifted off again, and somehow
giving to all her questions just one answer:
In you, who were a child once-in you.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Last Evening
And night and distant rumbling; now the army's
carrier-train was moving out, to war.
He looked up from the harpsichord, and as
he went on playing, he looked across at her
almost as one might gaze into a mirror:
so deeply was her every feature filled
with his young features, which bore his pain and were
more beautiful and seductive with each sound.
Then, suddenly, the image broke apart.
She stood, as though distracted, near the window
and felt the violent drum-beats of her heart.
His playing stopped. From outside, a fresh wind blew.
And strangely alien on the mirror-table
stood the black shako with its ivory skull.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
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Closure and Consequence
I dreamed one day that I awoke and all that I saw was upside down.
The trees reached towards me,
the lake shimmered above me while raindrops flew by my face,
as if I stood in the midst of a fountain.
Looking down, ambling across fields of clouds
Air softly blowing on my face, then still
Light arcing between my feet
Then nothing.
Looking up in fear yet down, I see
A play before that is, was my life
Birth, play, pain, love, loss.....pain
Decision
Then as if speeding I see
Kids in loss, Parents weeping
Lost chances
Darkness....death
poem by Jara Son of Ahaz
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Where is the future?
If we legalize abortion,
if we legalize prostitution,
Not that I'm perfect but I have to know the truth
Where is the future
if we have corrupt police officials
what about government officials?
What went wrong on the taxi industry?
are all drivers violent?
That's the only answer I know 'NO'
Why are our streets full of kids and adults?
Where are they from?
These are the questions without answers.
I couldn't hold my tears when I saw a poor child in the street.
Where is the future of Africa?
we still have racism.
I stand where I stood with my very first question
where is the future?
© reserved
poem by Vusi Chris Venus Malala
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Nurturing trees - I won fight
Nurturing trees
I stood straight
Walking for peace
I stood straight.
Perpetually I struggled
Strangely crossed border
I knew nothing
About the creator.
You sing if you like
You dance if you like
Ask me not what I like
I'm not here to show might.
I'm on the bank of the river
And the river is not running
Running with the river
I stood straight.
I stood straight
Zigzag road called me
Voluntarily I touched the feet
And the sea show its might.
Nurturing trees
I won the fight.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
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Monday's Child
Monday’s child is full of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving
Saturday’s child works hard for its living
And a child that is born on Sabbath day
Is fair and wise and good at play
Wild Child
All right, wild child full of grace
Savior of the human race, your cool face
Natural child, terrible child
Not your mothers or your fathers child
Your our child, screamin wild
An ancient lunatic reigns in the trees of the night
Ha, ha, ha, ha
With hunger at her heels, freedom in her eyes
She dances on her knees, pirate prince at her side
Stirrin into a hollow idols eyes
Wild child full of grace, savior of the human race
Your cool face, your cool face, your cool face
Do you remember when we were in africa?
song performed by by Doors
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Loon Point
Softly the water ripples
Against the canoe's curving side,
Softly the birch trees rustle
Flinging over us branches wide.
Softly the moon glints and glistens
As the water takes and leaves,
Like golden ears of corn
Which fall from loose-bound sheaves,
Or like the snow-white petals
Which drop from an overblown rose,
When Summer ripens to Autumn
And the freighted year must close.
From the shore come the scents of a garden,
And between a gap in the trees
A proud white statue glimmers
In cold, disdainful ease.
The child of a southern people,
The thought of an alien race,
What does she in this pale, northern garden,
How reconcile it with her grace?
But the moon in her wayward beauty
Is ever and always the same,
As lovely as when upon Latmos
She watched till Endymion came.
Through the water the moon writes her legends
In light, on the smooth, wet sand;
They endure for a moment, and vanish,
And no one may understand.
All round us the secret of Nature
Is telling itself to our sight,
We may guess at her meaning but never
Can know the full mystery of night.
But her power of enchantment is on us,
We bow to the spell which she weaves,
Made up of the murmur of waves
And the manifold whisper of leaves.
poem by Amy Lowell
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Evil Woman
I've seen a look of evil in your eyes
You've been filling me all full of lies
Sorrow will not change your shameful deeds
Do well best, someone else has better seen
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Now I know just what you're looking for
You want me to claim that child you bore
Well you know that it must he not be
And you know the way it got to be
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Wickedness lies in your moisten lips
Your body moves just like the crack of a whip
Blackness sleeps on top of your stray bed
Do you whish that you could see me dead
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
song performed by by Black Sabbath
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Calm On The Water
In a dream I was walkin in a beautiful field
I was gathering flowers at the foot of a hill
When a bright light descended and it spread oer the land
Jesus stood on the mountain and he held out his hand
Then he came down from the mountain, headed down to the sea
And the children strowed flowers in the path at his feet
And he was filled with compassion and the beasts from the wild
Came as gentle as lambs and they all walked at his side
Theres a calm on the water, a hush in the crowd
Theres peace in the valley, theres a stillness about
Theres a light in the darkness, theres joy in his love
Aint that a wonderful feelin, let us lift him up
Then he suddenly vanished from the crowd down below
Reappeared on the mountain in a radiant glow
He said your questions are many but the answer is love
Ill draw all men unto me if I be lifted up
Theres a calm on the water, a hush in the crowd
Theres peace in the valley, theres a stillness about
Theres a light in the darkness, theres joy in his love
There is life everlasting, let us lift him up
He said if i
Be lifted up
He said if I be lifted up, what did he say
He said if i
Be lifted up
He said if I be lifetd up
Lets lift him higher and higher
And higher and higher each day
Lets lift him up
He said if i
Be lifted up
Oh if I be lifted up
Theres a calm on the water, a hush in the crowd
Theres peace in the valley, theres a stillness about
Theres a light in the darkness, and joy in his love
Its a wonderful feelin, lift him up
He said if i
Be lifted up
He said if I be lifted up, thats what he said
He said if i
Be lifted up
If I be lifted up
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Stolen Child
(wb yeats)
Come away, human child
To the water
Come away, human child
To the water and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand
Where dips the rocky highland
Of sleuth wood in the lake
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There weve hid our faery vats
Full of berries
And of reddest stolen cherries
Come away, human child
To the water
Come away, human child
To the water and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand
Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light
Far off by furthest rosses
We foot it all the night
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles
While the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in its sleep
Come away, human child
To the water
Come away, human child
To the water and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above glen-car
In pools among the rushes
The scarce could bathe a star
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
We give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams
Away with us hes going
The solemn-eyed:
Hell hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside;
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast
Or see the brown mice bob
Around and around the oatmeal-chest
For he comes, the human child
To the water
He comes, the human child
To the water and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
From a world more full of weeping than he can understand
Human child
Human child
With a faery, hand in hand
From a world more full of weeping than he can understand...
Than he can understand...
He can understand...
song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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World Was In The Face Of The Beloved
World was in the face of the beloved--,
but suddenly it poured out and was gone:
world is outside, world can not be grasped.
Why didn't I, from the full, beloved face
as I raised it to my lips, why didn't I drink
world, so near that I couldn't almost taste it?
Ah, I drank. Insatiably I drank.
But I was filled up also, with too much
world, and, drinking, I myself ran over.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Am The Future
When does a dream become a nightmare?
When do we do what must be done?
When do we stand and face the future?
When there is nowhere left to run?
And you've got to learn
Just how to survive
You've got to learn
How to keep your dream alive
Take a look at my face
I am the future
How do you like what you see?
Take a look at my face
I belong to the future
And you belong to me
When does a dream become a nightmare?
When do we learn to live with fear?
When we cry out for some salvation?
Why is it no one seems to hear?
You've got to learn
It's up to you
If you can learn
That the dream just might come true
Take a look at my face
I am the future
How do you like what you see?
Take a look at my face
I belong to the future
The world belongs to me, yeah
Take a look at my face
I am the future
Now, how do you like what you see?
Take a look at my face
I belong to the future
And the world it belongs to me
It belongs to me
It's all mine
Just take a look at my face
I'm the future, no disgrace
Take a look at my face
This world belongs to... to me
song performed by by Alice Cooper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Again And Again, However We Know The Landscape Of Love
Again and again, however we know the landscape of love
and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names,
and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others
fall: again and again the two of us walk out together
under the ancient trees, lie down again and again
among the flowers, face to face with the sky.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Child
The young child, Christ, is straight and wise
And asks questions of the old men, questions
Found under running water for all children
And found under shadows thrown on still waters
By tall trees looking downward, old and gnarled.
Found to the eyes of children alone, untold,
Singing a low song in the loneliness.
And the young child, Christ, goes on asking
And the old men answer nothing and only know love
For the young child. Christ, straight and wise.
poem by Carl Sandburg
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Life Of A Salesman
What's a dad for dad?
Tell me why I'm here dad
Whisper in my ear that I'm growing up to be a better man, dad
Everything is fine dad
Proud that you are mine dad
Cause I know I'm growing up to be a better man
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
What's a dad for dad?
Taught me how to stand, dad
Took me by the hand and you showed me how to be a bigger man, dad
Listen when you talk, dad
Follow where you walk, dad
And you know that I will always do the best I can
I can
Father I will always be (always be)
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me (over me)
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
The same as you
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
When I am a dad, dad x2
I'm gonna be a good dad x2
Do the best you could, dad x2
Always understood, dad x2
Tell me I was right, dad x2
Opened up my eyes, dad x2
Glad to call you my, dad x2
Thank you for my dad x2
song performed by by Yellowcard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life Of A Salesman
What's a dad for dad?
Tell me why I'm here dad
Whisper in my ear that I'm growing up to be a better man, dad
Everything is fine dad
Proud that you are mine dad
Cause I know I'm growing up to be a better man
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
What's a dad for dad?
Taught me how to stand, dad
Took me by the hand and you showed me how to be a bigger man, dad
Listen when you talk, dad
Follow where you walk, dad
And you know that I will always do the best I can
I can
Father I will always be (always be)
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me (over me)
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
The same as you
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
When I am a dad, dad x2
I'm gonna be a good dad x2
Do the best you could, dad x2
Always understood, dad x2
Tell me I was right, dad x2
Opened up my eyes, dad x2
Glad to call you my, dad x2
Thank you for my dad x2
song performed by by Yellowcard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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song - The Lost Road
We stood together on the seven five
Backs to the fields and eyes wide to the light
My thumb hitched high to the random unknown
I didn’t know where and wouldn’t be shown
We’d learn soon enough we couldn’t go home
We sailed straight into yon white water thrill
Down where the furious waves rose and fell
With no going back, and no turning around
We didn’t know if we’d make it or drown
Or if something worse might soon bring us down
(chorus)
When you were the fire, you were the light
And I was a shadow stealing the night
You were the av’rage and I was the pass
I had momentum and you had the class
Out of the seeds of a circular street
I stood on illusion, you stood on your feet
Across the table we sat with our kind
Breaking the bread with our hands full of time
And gulping down the holy water of self
Too eager like chicks we leapt and we fell
From high window dreams down to the cold earth
I stand alone here o’er this city night
But somehow see only your village light
Off in the far distance beside the lost road
Down by the old Beech tree under the crows
Beneath the moon’s light where we used to stroll.
(chorus)
When you were the fire, you were the light
And I was a shadow stealing the night
You were the av’rage and I was the pass
I had momentum and you had the class
Out of the seeds of a circular street
I stood on illusion, you stood on your feet
Welcome To My World
Looking
through
a veil
of tears,
tomorrow
emerges.
my future
is
standing
there.
The
curtain
of time
has
been
lifted.
I now
know
who you
are
why you
are.
The ages
have
rolled
away,
giving
to the
future.
welcome
to my
world...
poem by Heather Burns
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Egrets
Once as I travelled through a quiet evening,
I saw a pool, jet-black and mirror-still.
Beyond, the slender paperbarks stood crowding;
each on its own white image looked its fill,
and nothing moved but thirty egrets wading -
thirty egrets in a quiet evening.
Once in a lifetime, lovely past believing,
your lucky eyes may light on such a pool.
As though for many years I had been waiting,
I watched in silence, till my heart was full
of clear dark water, and white trees unmoving,
and, whiter yet, those thirty egrets wading.
poem by Judith Wright
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The Wind Alive
The wind alive a gentle breeze
It whispers through the elder trees
Which stand so tall so solemn proud
And speak their secrets oft aloud
I know it when I hear it
But why is it I fear it?
Calm now, tranquility devouring
Embrace the warmth and showering
A silver face
A golden grace
A human heart
A human race
poem by David Lacey
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