The Sonnets To Orpheus: I
A tree ascended there. Oh pure transendence!
Oh Orpheus sings! Oh tall tree in the ear!
And all things hushed. Yet even in that silence
a new beginning, beckoning, change appeared.
Creatures of stillness crowded from the bright
unbound forest, out of their lairs and nests;
and it was not from any dullness, not
from fear, that they were so quiet in themselves,
but from just listening. Bellow, roar, shriek
seemed small inside their hearts. And where there had been
at most a makeshift hut to receive the music,
a shelter nailed up out of their darkest longing,
with an entryway that shuddered in the wind-
you built a temple deep inside their hearing.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
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Whispers of the Wind
The Tree stands tall,
Listening to the Wind,
Whispering its cautionary tales.
The Tree stands tall,
Listening to the Wind,
But does not bend, you see?
You are the Wind,
And so I shall be the Tree,
Never fear, dear friend, I shall listen to thee.
Yet I shall not bend,
To your valiant assumptions,
To your hollow allegations.
Impetuous is the Wind with only it's tales to tell me,
But I shall stand Tall,
For I am the Tree.
poem by Zoe L Mathias
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Evening Song
In the nearly dark tree
out on the bright edge,
he clings to tender leaves,
rides the wind-swayed branch
and sings.
Small bird,
red as the falling sun,
cries his evening song …
to tarried mate?
to fading sky or
guardian tree?
Drawn deep to darkest night,
I cannot ken this creature’s
pure mind; but his breath
leaves my raptured soul
bereft.
poem by Steven Federle
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A Philosophy
it is not how tall the buildings have grown
the presence of three elevators
that is not what progress is all about
you are telling me about how ateneo
has become an ivory tower rising above
the silence of Mt. Apo
so unlike our times
when rooms are crowded when noise
grow like grasses on the wild fields
uninhabited
let me ask you what happened to the playgrounds
of the children
and the chapel where Fr. Dot says mass all day
is the pine tree still there
and the pond beside
where the gold fish are swimming?
let me sense the essence of our lives
not getting much not accumulating power
not really going back to dusty chairs
but just being here
without acquiring
and yet still feeling so whole and complete
in that peace and quiet inside our hearts
under that tree that they have cut
twenty years ago
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Inside me was the stillness
Woven, high between bare branches
rooks nests gather where new growth sprouts,
amidst the stillness inside me.
A tiny blue tit twittering,
flitters towards a coconut,
feeding the stillness inside me
The sky, open, glistening blue,
white clouds sailing, a seagull soaring,
through the stillness inside me.
A purple pansy perfect as the stillness inside me
until............
people came
knocking, ringing, wanting
Then the stillness was gone.
poem by Diana Rosser
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Winter Night
Small creatures shiver in their lairs
While the full moon is strangled by the tree
Whose branches wrestle with the wind,
Scraping, groaning ceaselessly.
In deep discomfort, deprived of sleep,
I get up from my barren bed,
Draw back my curtains
And see the cold night bristle with stars.
poem by John Thorkild Ellison
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Phobia
Everybody got something hidden
In a darkness deep inside
Everybody gotta fatal flaw
Everybody got something to hide
Take a look into my eyes
See the fear and silent cries - phobia
Deep inside, take another look at it - phobia
Everybody got a phobia
Take another look, what you got - phobia
There are alleyways of your psyche
That have gotta be analyzed
Psychological penetration
Of the fear you cannot hide
Theres a key to a door to be opened
And I wanna take a look inside
And in the darkest shadow of your mind
What you gonna find?
Phobia
Out under a technicolor ray
It all disappears on a bright, sunny day
But even on a crowded street
Somebody you might meet
Might trigger a repeat of phobia
Strikes again, fear of fire and being buried alive
Dizzy heights, wire coat hangers
Things that crawl and go bump in the night - phobia
Fear of germs
Creepy crawlies that make you squirm - phobia
Images of long ago, memories that you hardly know
A minor childhood incident
Triggering something deep below
Spiders webs and black cats
Cockroaches and sewer rats
Full moons and witches hats
Creepy crawlies, vampire bats - phobia
Im talking about phobia
Crowded rooms, too many faces
Suffocation, open spaces
Everybody gotta weird sensation
That they wanna keep trapped inside
Maybe its a sexual deviation
Hiding beneath a respectable guise
If you are of this persuasion
There is just one explanation - phobia
Started out a long time ago - phobia
When you were small you may have seen a sight
But you were too young to know - phobia
What you got - phobia
Everybody got phobia, what you got - phobia
Everybody got phobia, take another look, what you got?
Everybody got phobia, what you got?
Phobia
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Carry me on
Carry me on to the forest whose face is
aglow in light.
I put down golden words
in the raptness of lovely green
with pure conviction I see the reflection of every
standing tree on wild streams
Carry me on to the forest with a
moonlight-rinsed face, to the cootage of peace
where every moment is enriched by sweet
chirping of birds
I place the footprints of murderous men
on every humble tree
Carry me on to the depth of dense forests
I plant one tall tree of love-laden heart
on the flowing breast of every travelling river
I tear off fruitless human blandishings
Carry me on to the eternal free forest,
to the erect trees growing in a slope
I look for pollens of every season in
every tree which donot know how to stoop down
I sculpture on every tree symbols of
futile human pride
Carry me on.
Translated from the Assamese by Pradip Khataniar
poem by Prem Narayan Nath
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Lodeur Animale
Feel the need to wonder
Inside
Fulfill your basic needs
Deep inside
We wander by the lake of tears
And smell the odor of our fear
Inside
Deep inside
All these creepy things crawling
Deep inside
Feel the urge to grow
Inside
Our world is covered with clouds
Deep inside
We wander by our ocean of tears
We try to hide our frozen fear
Inside
Deep inside
All these creepy things crawling
Deep inside
song performed by by Hooverphonic
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hina (Hawai'ian moon goddess)
The forest doves are quiet now;
Far down the hill, a dog barks in the darkness,
And the long dark forms of mountain-pigs
Pass through the tall Ti plants in the stillness.
She sings to me a siren's song
Far older than these wooded hills.
I step outside the isolation of my tent;
Enveloped in her translucent arms,
My senses are unbound.
The sun is harsh and hot, O Hina,
But you are peace.
poem by John Bliven Morin
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To Music
Music: breathing of statues. Perhaps:
silence of paintings. You language where all language
ends. You time
standing vertically on the motion of mortal hearts.
Feelings for whom? O you the transformation
of feelings into what?--: into audible landscape.
You stranger: music. You heart-space
grown out of us. The deepest space in us,
which, rising above us, forces its way out,--
holy departure:
when the innermost point in us stands
outside, as the most practiced distance, as the other
side of the air:
pure,
boundless,
no longer habitable.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
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Forgive Her, She Knows Not What She Does
You are anger now and have
become anger through anger.
The tight-lipped woman blowing
smoke into my lungs
and soul. It’s foggy now
and sits silently inside me.
You are what I hate and what
I love, a cloud that hints at rain
but never does, a woman with
two mouths and two hearts
to match them, growing
always growing, a small tree
inside me where leaves fall.
Seasons change dear, but the tree’s
still there and so to the anger
quiet as a virgin bullet, I cannot
chop it down myself before
it pushes out and through
eyes, a nose, and a branch splits
the tongue and there’s a knot
growing into a hard heart. You
are the axe, the down swing, the
feeling of letting go, the burning
fire that ate up the anger
in the night.
poem by Ben Paynter
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from A Fallen Tree All Make Kindling' (dutch Proverb)
Whenever I sit under a tree I’m in my grandpas arms
My grandpa was like a tree with his strong and silent charm
He would shelter the world under his shade
And in the harshest storm he just merely swayed
He was like a tree but not the ones with big flowers
For his beauty was endurance it lasted more than mere hours
My grandpa was a tree the kind with big leaves
The kind that when cut down the whole forest grieves
He was like a tree big and gentle
He sat there and listened kind and parental
And though he was the tallest tree all around
He never looked down on the ones on the ground
My grandpa was a tree his love ran deep like roots
So even when cut down we still have loves fruits
Tree by Smritirekha Bhuyan (Translated from Assamese)
Tree by Smritirekha Bhuyan (Translated from Assamese)
I had tried to become a tree.
When I was young my parents had told me
It is absolutely necessary to become a tree,
They still hope that I should be
As patient, as innocent, and as submissive as a tree.
Trees change their raiment in Winters and Summers;
They turn Yellow from Green
As per the the season's taste.
But unlike humans their souls do not change;
Even in their old age the leaves are humble, polite, and energetic.
Matching beats with the breeze
They sway and paint the world red.
(Although) there is no lack of effort on my part
It is very difficult to become a tree
Perhaps I can never be…
(Translated with permission)
poem by Syed Ahmed Shah
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The heart of a tree
With branches reaching out as if for a embrace
The tree may bow to nature with grace.
He stands alone when the wind blows strong.
The leaves may fall, but the tree stands tall.
There are some things that the eyes can't see.
Like the heart of a tree.
In winter's cold chill, You can see the tree stand still.
Leaves are gone but the tree stands strong.
Until winter turns into spring and the birds begin to sing.
The leaves may fall, but the tree stands tall.
There are some things that the eyes can't see.
Like the heart of a tree.
Through storms and the wind. Bowing with a graceful bend,
Until the sun shines again, still standing at the end,
The tree is like a true friend.
The leaves may fall, but the tree stands tall.
There are some things that the eye can't see,
Like the heart of a tree.
The old Tree's secrets
How many lovers sat together under the old tree?
If only the tree could speak.
The stories would be of weary travelers
finding a place of peace, and dreams in their sleep.
Stolen moments of lovers, perhaps a sweet caress.
A young man with a ring, a young girl said yes.
Tree I only imagine, I enjoy the guess.
Gentle breezes that lifted the leaves
to let them gently fall to earth.
Misting rain to meet the tree's thirst,
Perhaps two trees inter-twined are
Two lovers that were curst.
poem by Judy Arline Puckett
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The Sonnets To Orpheus: IV
O you tender ones, walk now and then
into the breath that blows coldly past,
Upon your cheeks let it tremble and part;
behind you it will tremble together again.
O you blessed ones, you who are whole,
you who seem the beginning of hearts,
bows for the arrows and arrows' targets--
tear-bright, your lips more eternally smile.
Don't be afraid to suffer; return
that heaviness to the earth's own weight;
heavy are the mountains, heavy the seas.
Even the small trees you planted as children
have long since become too heavy; you could not
carry them now. But the winds...But the spaces....
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
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A Poem Of Syntax
A poet and his bird, his dog, his cat and his tree
A poet and the bird in the tree
A poet and his dog in the tree
A poet and his dog in the tree and the wind and the cloud
The bird in the tree, the dog in the tree, the cat in the tree,
The bird in the tree, the dog on the tree, the cat under the tree,
The bird on the tree, the bird in a tree, a bird in a tree, a bird in the tree,
And the wind and the cloud and the poet and his dog and his cat and the tree
The dog chases the cat the cat chases the bird
And they all arrive in that tree
Where the poet is sitting under that tree
The poet takes the dog and the cat was envious
And the bird looks at them in silence
The silence looks at the poet in the eye
Of the cat and the bird flies away
The poet and the dog is the poem of friendship
The cat and the dog is the poem of the endless natural quarrels
And the bird that flies away against the cat and the dog and the poet and the tree
And flies against the wind that the bird is now fighting
And the clouds that seem so blue and blue
The bird that actually flies away
Is actually me
I was not the poet with the dog
I am not the tree I am not the wind I am not the cloud I am not the poet there who had a dog as friend and I was not the quarrelsome thing from the blue and out of the blue
I am the bird with wings and I always fly away to places
Against the wind to places where I can be as always be the bird with wings in silence
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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I Remember Once When I Was A Little Child
i remember
when i was a little child
i once climbed a tree
to take a look of those
down below me.
i simply sit there
and feast my eyes
on the tall mountain
far away from me.
i see a winding river
flowing to the sea.
i see memories.
i am a little child.
i am the father of
that sadness that
i left behind a rock.
i am the image of
that little boy
behind your face.
i am not noise.
i am the silence
of a very faraway
memory on that
cone mountain over
there with a snow
cap.I am my
small world like
a bird perched on
a twig. A small patch
of green grass. A handful
of clouds drifting on
my shoulder. I am
a silent memory.
I am listening inside
my little corner.
This heart still
of a little boy.
Always wondering.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Come To Me I Pray
(8/17/12)
Sitting in the darkest corner of the room
Hoping that this love would come real soon
So come to me I pray, and that with
Me you will forever stay.
Love may only come once in a lifetime to some
And many loves to others
But to me you are my lifetime love
Sent to me from up above.
You fill the skies with your light
And turn my darkest night bright.
Your love like the ocean beating up
Against the shore, holding me forever more.
So I will tell you of my love the best I can
So that you will understand.
********************************** ***
I am but a small little tree in a large forest
Looking for a ray of light, that will make me
Sing with delight.
A small fish in a pond-where all the other fish have gone.
A little sparrow in the sky- where hawks dare to fly.
The tip of a rainbow with all its colors
Which no one ever seems to find
cause they're Looking way too high.
I am all this rolled into one
And these things I have become.
I am the beautiful rainbow way up high
I am the sparrow - with eagles I fly
I am the fish who has become the whale
And for your love I will not fail.
I am the little tree with the largest roots below the ground
I have grown without a sound.
I am your love -can't you see
A greater love there'll never be.
poem by Louis Rams
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Stronger
See my scars,
See my wounds,
All over the place
Far from perfect;
...Just like everyone.
Cracks and wrinkles
Run all over
Like the trunk of a tree;
Like any tree in any forest,
Battered by rain and wind.
Baby days long lost
Cheated away by the world;
The frost who kills and steals
From every tree and every forest,
But my roots run deep,
Deep in my father's womb
And my leaves are not blind
Fed by the Sun above...
I shall live.
Day, or night,
Stronger with every storm-
Like how it has always been.
Wilson Khor W.H. @ Seymour Nightweaver
poem by Wilson Khor Woo Han
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You And The Tree
As I see you standing there
looking at that tree.
Many a thought come flocking by
deep-down inside of me.
I can't decide whats more beautiful
You or the tree?
I stand flummoxed, captivated
Immersed in deep mystery.
I find you protective as the tree
sheltering me in your arms.
I find you reassuring as the tree
Always believing in me, always firm.
You protect me from life's harsh realities
as the tree shades the rain and light.
You shield me from all misery,
you give me a reason to fight.
Whatever it is, I don't care.
I want both of you here.
The tree for its shade and you as my mate
And then i can spend ages here.
poem by Bistirna Barua
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