Under The Bridge
He walks through dark woods in quiet of night,
As bats and barn owls launch into flight
Crickets and frogs beginning to prattle,
Swarming mosquito’s prepare for battle
Night sounds humming a haunting refrain,
Clouds above darken, begins a soft rain
He zips up his jacket, turns up torn collar,
Curses Goodwill jacket that cost but a dollar
A trickle of water runs down his bare neck,
Shuddering, chilled…'My life’s such a wreck'
No money, prospects, no one that cares,
Walks unfriendly streets, ignoring cold stares
How long has it been since he left home, fled?
10 years have gone by without a real bed
Raging Step-Father hurt him in more ways than one,
Treated more like a dog than respected Step-Son
“Some day he'll answer for sins against me, ”
“Excuses won’t help, there will be no place to flee'
Shuddering again, he treads toward the bridge,
A short distance ahead just over a ridge
At long last he’s made it to safety again,
“My shelter, my haven, my best friend”
He gathers dry kindling, gropes for a match,
Patiently waits for a small flame to catch
Campfire roaring, wet clothes will soon dry,
Twists off wine screw-top, it’s time to get high
ROTMS
poem by Ray Lucero

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
The Night Walk
Swiftly yet softly he walks each night
Watching each step he takes
Each step thet takes him further from home
A home that is no longer safe
A home filled with terror and uncertainty
He's only nine
and he's looking for refuge
For a place safer than home
Aplace anyone but the rebels can reach,
for they have a mission,
to kill and to abduct
Each night he walks
Knowing he has to return home tomorrow
'Tomorrow will be different', he says
But alas by night time nothing has changed
and the night walk begins again
poem by Sharon Amayo

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Prison Door (Clangs Open)
the prison door clangs open,
the man in me set free.
with nothing left
but the clothes on my back,
and feet that know
the way home...
rain begins to fall
with the coming of night.
i seek shelter beneath a bridge.
staring into the blackness
i see, i think i see...
one solitary star.
a star that tastes like bread,
and meat scorched by the flame.
that feels like warm blankets,
clean sheets, the bare skin of a woman.
a light that pours, invades a room,
and fills the room with living.
water drips down my face,
mixes with tears...
my fists open and close,
my mind the same.
and all the sounds of the night
become the sounds of breathing.
the prison door clangs open,
the body carried on a stretcher.
the lights flashing turn off,
no more need to hurry.
the driver stares blankly,
tires whisper prayers on wet roads!
poem by Eric Cockrell

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Forty Years Ago/ A Man Took A Small Step For Mankind
July 20 2009 FORTY YEARS AGO/ A MAN TOOK A SMALL STEP FOR MANKIND
Forty years ago
A man took a small step for mankind
On the ground
Like so many others
I wondered
What it meant for me.
The moon is still there
The stars still distant and unkind
An unmanned messenger of ours
Has touched down on Mars
The Universe waits for us
And no one has come calling yet.
My life has been pretty much lived
A quiet distance a small interval
Calling out to God.
But how we will go on
And what will become of us
And what we will be
reshaped to be
Here or there-
I will never know.
The generations to come
And the questions
No one can answer yet.
God here
And in the Distance.
poem by Shalom Freedman

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Long Black Veil
Ten years ago on a cold dark night
Someone was killed beneath the townhall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like me
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me
The judge said son, what is your aliby?
If you were somewhere else, then you wont have to die.
I said not a word, though it meant my life,
For Id been in the arms of my best friends wife.
Oh, she walks these hills in a long black veil.
She visits my grave when the night winds wail.
Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me.
Oh, now the scaffold is high, eternity is near
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
And sometimes at night when the cold winds blow
In a long black veil she cries over my bones.
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me.
Oh, she walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me.
Nobody knows. nobody knows, but me.
Nobody knows but me.
song performed by by Dave Matthews Band

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The flags at the Pretoria news hangs limp
The flags at the Pretoria news hangs limp
hangs limp
while I walk to the bus stop
and a man with a straw hat
with a badge on it
carries a backpack
and is armoured with a leather jacket.
His white smoke clouds
curls into the morning air
and a schoolgirl,
gets a cigarette from him
and a small group
smokes with him.
a Air force officer
with a blue penguin cap
on his head
walks past like on every work day
and I wonder why he
has to be so early on his post.
I buy sweets from a street vendor
who also sells newspapers and cigarettes
and I see his fingers
counting sixteen in the cold,
before he replaces his hand
into the pockets of his coat.
The people are already
forming a hell of a long queue,
to catch a bus to Hatfield
and the air is this morning
rather grey than blue
and I wonder why
a young lady
keeps looking at me.
a Bus that looks like the right one,
stops a away at a short distance
where the driver
changes the sign
and it parks at the right place.
poem by Gert Strydom

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Over
one over the horizion
one over the ridge take a look a long good look
just look and see a smidge
of trouble just ahead over head just before you took
that step you noticed that
you would fall right after a short chat
how would i know it would lead
here to this abhorred place that is out to feed
the darkness that blankets me
it may try and i may give up willingly
but not today
not today i say
not this day
over the ridge but one storm but one time to fall
once to lose it all
just dont take that step
for kids like me are inept...
poem by David Knox

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The tokkelossie
At night when the sun sets
and the dark night folds around the earth
a short man appears,
who is darker than the night
and he waits for the moon to disappear
before he slyly sneaks into places.
His hands are claws
like those of a baboon
and with his long nails
he draws sparks
out of quarts rocks
and as far as he walks,
it sounds like buck hooves trotting
and in his heart
he’s a demon.
At times the dogs see him
and bark and growl,
but far too fast he passes by,
that anybody
can really see him.
Where he strikes
there’s never another tomorrow
and his works is black like the night
and before Orion appears,
he is long gone
and the life of a woman
with him.
poem by Gert Strydom

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Ghost and Her horse
Everynight in the dark she walks
Everynight in the meadow he neighs
She walks out to her horse
He raises his ghostly head, spots his owner
And neighs
Only true people can hear this frost filled noise
To her ear it sounds of peace and stillness
To people around it sounds spoky filled with wondering souls
Like the wind
Or the soft rain
Everynight in the dark she walks
Everynight in the meadow he neighs
The ghost walks with her silver hair blowing
In the pony tail that shall never change
She carries his halter in one hand her other hand
Hangs open ready to stroke his transparent maine
Down his silver back
Everynight in the dark she walks
Everynight in the meadow he neighs
The horse to his girl
They are still, his head and long neck
Rested on her shoulder, her arms around his neck
Running her fingers through his maine
The ghost and her horse.
poem by Bethany Maxwell

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Voice On The Wind
I
She walks with the wind on the windy height
When the rocks are loud and the waves are white,
And all night long she calls through the night,
'O my children, come home!'
Her bleak gown, torn as a tattered cloud,
Tosses around her like a shroud,
While over the deep her voice rings loud,-
'O my children, come home, come home!
O my children, come home!'
II
Who is she who wanders alone,
When the wind drives sheer and the rain is blown?
Who walks all night and makes her moan,
'O my children, come home!'
Whose face is raised to the blinding gale;
Whose hair blows black and whose eyes are pale,
While over the world goes by her wail,-
'O my children, come home, come home!
O my children, come home!'
III
She walks with the wind in the windy wood;
The dark rain drips from her hair and hood,
And her cry sobs by, like a ghost pursued,
'O my children, come home!'
Where the trees loom gaunt and the rocks stretch drear,
The owl and the fox crouch back with fear,
As wild through the wood her voice they hear,-
'O my children, come home, come home!
O my children, come home!'
IV
Who is she who shudders by
When the boughs blow bare and the dead leaves fly?
Who walks all night with her wailing cry,
'O my children, come home!'
Who, strange of look, and wild of tongue,
With wan feet wounded and hands wild-wrung,
Sweeps on and on with her cry, far-flung,-
'O my children, come home, come home!
O my children, come home!'
V
'Tis the Spirit of Autumn, no man sees,
The mother of Death and of Mysteries,
Who cries on the wind all night to these,
'O my children, come home!'
The Spirit of Autumn, pierced with pain,
Calling her children home again,
Death and Dreams, through ruin and rain,-
'O my children, come home, come home!
O my children, come home!'
poem by Madison Julius Cawein

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Daylight Katy
She walks be the sea where the seaworld is
And she waits for the man to come
She lives in town with her high-heeled friends
And she knows its a long way down
But she doesnt have to get up in the morning
With her hair so soft and long
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
She walks to the sea where the seaweed is
Where the rust and the dirt runs deep
She lives nine lives in her midnight world
While her old mans fast asleep
And she doesnt have to get up in the mornin
With her hair so soft and long
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
She lives by the sea when the summer wind comes
And the sea dont mind at all
She talks to the sea when the sea runs wild
And the waves run steep and tall
And she doesnt have to get up in the mornin
With her hair so soft and long
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
Daylight katy come on
Daylight katy come on
If you cant follow me down
Daylight katy go home
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Law And Poetry
black and white like the point of view of
the cat is the law
hard to deal with
hair splitting and building
fences and trenches
keeping some enemies out
and friends in
keeping the nets catch the smaller one
but letting the sharks go
that is the first law
poetry: it is the hues of rainbow after the rain
flowers that bloom without much explanation
the sounds of her steps wading in the water
kisses without the penalties
making love without the risks of getting inside
some prison walls
the one that makes us so light as clouds and feathers
makes our hearts dance the ballet and do the triple twists and turns
in mid air
the music to our soul
the liberation of our bound spirits
the singing birds and cicadas in symphony
the frogs croaking
celebrating the first long rainy night ahead of me.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Show Tune II
That's the long and short of it
now you know
how I've been waiting all these years
where I'm coming from
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you see
just how hot hot jazz was
how it turned about, my bookcase
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you know
that my arrest record's
not my best record
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you see
how the Past's like a love
you can neither leave nor live
that's the long and short of it
That's the long and short of it
now you know
it was no gun in my pocket
it was a rocket
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
and you're wond'ring dear
how I kept so pure
hull, it was easy
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
now you see
so bounce your head
into bed
that's the long and short of it.
That's the long and short of it
read the blues
in these tattoos
make a song of it
that's the short and long of it.
How I wish
there was a bridge-
then I could burn it;
or the train
of a refrain
then I could board it
but there isn't
no there isn't, so...
poem by Morgan Michaels

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I'm A Small And Lonely Light
The stairs are dark and silent
The morning cold and gray
A last look at the things I knew
And slowly turn away
And as I watch the scenery unwind
My childhood slips a hundred miles behind
Leave the bus in Houston
Walk around the town
But all the strange, unfriendly faces
Seem to get me down
And in the park where little children play
I sit and watch the dying of the day
I'm a small and lonely light
A bird that's lost in flight
And it's too late at night to go home
I'm a tall and weary kite
A face that's out of sight
And it's too late at night to go home
Always had the good life
Never felt unsure
But now the good life's not enough
There must be something more
And so I sit and shiver in the dawn
And watch the world and wait to be reborn
I'm a small and lonely light
A bird that's lost in flight
And it's too late at night to go home
I'm a tall and weary kite
A face that's out of sight
And it's too late at night to go home
Too late at night to go home
But I've talked too long my friend
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Give It To Me While It's Hot
I'm burnin' up
It's time to turn it up
Get in the middle and stir it up
Give it to me while it's HOT (hot hot hot)
Step up your game
Cause I'm too crunk to be tamed
Now that you've sparked the flame
Give it to me while it's HOT
I know that you like it when
I go in and out again
Can't catch my breath
As sweat rolls down my face
I'm lookin' down at you
How you do the thing you do
And I scratch your neck
And my eyes roll back for you (ah)
Oh baby
I'm burnin' up
It's time to turn it up
Get in the middle and stir it up
Give it to me while it's HOT (hot hot hot)
Step up your game
Cause I'm too crunk to be tamed
Now that you've sparked the flame
Give it to me while it's HOT
Don't answer the telephone
Shut the windows
Lock all the doors
Need no interruptions now
Something's 'bout to be goin' down
I want you to focus on
Our body temperature I'm burnin' up
I want you to give me all your love
Till I can't take it no more
I'm burnin' up
It's time to turn it up
Get in the middle and stir it up
Give it to me while it's HOT (hot hot hot)
Step up your game
Cause I'm too crunk to be tamed
Now that you've sparked the flame
Must (must)
We play these games (play these games)
Tell me that you want me more
And I will turn the notches up on high
Lovin' you can't deny
Baby I got that fire
I got (oooh oooh)
Give it to me while it's HOT
Not furious just curious
She saw himself fit
Who better than a boy
The girl grew up with
How 'bout the walks in the park
On the phone all night
Dreams like that she saw in plain sight
To his friends he's urgin'
The simple fact she's a virgin
To her he'll be urgin'
Sexually lets merge
As you can see
There's two different dreams
Her thoughts are so pure
His low as the floor
I'm burnin' up
It's time to turn it up
Get in the middle and stir it up
Give it to me while it's HOT (hot hot hot)
Step up your game
Cause I'm too crunk to be tamed
Now that you've sparked the flame
Give it to me while it's HOT
I'm burnin' up
It's time to turn it up
Get in the middle and stir it up
Give it to me while it's HOT (hot hot hot)
Step up your game
Cause I'm too crunk to be tamed
Now that you've sparked the flame
Give it to me while it's HOT
I'm burnin' up
It's time to turn it up
Get in the middle and stir it up
Give it to me while it's HOT (hot hot hot)
Step up your game
Cause I'm too crunk to be tamed
Now that you've sparked the flame
Give it to me while it's HOT
song performed by by TLC

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
One Small Step
So many people
Need to go so many miles
How do we move them
To where the answer lies
Reach out to the ocean
Beyond the stars that shine
Weve got to take one small step in time
If we are the dreamers
Then the world must be the dream
Driven to question
All the things weve never seen
We search the horizon
Looking for a sign
Weve got to take one small step in time
One step beyond
All our hopes and our passion
There is the light of the universe flashin
All that it takes is one leap of faith
One small step, (one small step)
One small step in time
Deep in the darkness
(deep in the blackness)
Theres a wind that never dies
(theres a wind that never dies)
Out in the vastness
(out in the vastness)
Theres a road across the sky
(a road across the sky)
Out there is the reason
That we were meant to find
Weve got to take one small step in time
Weve got to take one small step in time
(one small step, one small step)
One small step in time
(one small step, one small step)
One small step in time
(one small step, one small step)
song performed by by Cher

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Feeling At 1: 04am,27/11/10
A night of mares
A night of many stares
A night when you appear hopeless
A night you seem helpless
A night you stand to be hapless
When you are treated like a dog
Noisy and best only in barking
When you are treated like a frog
Assummed cold blooded and best only in frowning
When you are treated like a log
Lifeless and best only in sleeping without a feeling
When you are treated like a criminal in the synagogue
Ruthlessly and left decaying
When you are treated myopic as if in fog
half blind and short of seeing
When you are treated as one who can only jog
slow and lame in running
When you are treated like a bog
With no respect, dirty and best only for waste disposing
When you are treated like a dog, a frog, a log, a bog
Will you stop doubting
Will you be a healthy person to be living?
poem by Julius Lenjatin

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The shadow of you sleeping naked
Your father's eye,
where does it lead?
Listen to the ground,
the earth can't afford anything it wants.
Death like a signal ahead full of warnings and regrets.
Will anyone pull a fast one and get out of here alive?
Can anyone get the best of death?
Out of the grave your loved ones once walked.
The sound is so quiet you had better take a deep breath.
Imagination is like the first day of love, it can have a spell.
The way evenings are heading home with a shovel.
The moon now comparing my love to a war for peace.
Like i would really be ready to betray.
Like there are flashlights looking for me,
and they have been there for such a long time,
i have an ache in my neck from looking up at the stars.
Wondering what is sunken deep there.
What dark water is near the same place i was born?
Where in the shallows you build your little raft,
with candles that have really long wicks
so i can tie your hands together with shadows and cracks.
Let you drift by the dark of the moon, not saying a word.
Listening to where the ashes are hidden in your dreams.
The fact that you will sleep like the middle of the night,
without ever looking at it. The sounds of my nightmares
always like danger without an escort.
Like sitting beside me in the mirror.
Watching so many suitors even the dead will be recognized,
and they only intend to stay for a short while.
Maybe just long enough, to try on each other's thoughts,
like glue for the past but not for so many dreams.
Those nailed to the evenings and advertising to the constellations;
An elegy that will be forgotten, but will long remain.
A fate that knows all the answers, and is still always guessing.
That any son or daughter belongs to the sky,
and yours has made it mine, and i thought it was the end.
When no one cares who will live and die again;
When i lost my way out inside your head,
but i will keep on trying. I'll be there
with hopes to remember.
poem by Gregory Collins

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Fairies
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!
Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music
On cold starry nights
To sup with the Queen
Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back,
Between the night and morrow,
They thought that she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag-leaves,
Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn-trees
For pleasure here and there.
If any man so daring
As dig them up in spite,
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!
poem by William Allingham

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Im A Small & Lonely Light
(farrar/best)
The stairs are dark and silent
The morning cold and gray
A last look at the things I knew
And slowly turn away
And as I watch the scenery unwind
My childhood slips a hundred miles behind
Leave the bus in houston
Walk around the town
But all the strange, unfriendly faces
Seem to get me down
And in the park where little children play
I sit and watch the dying of the day
Im a small and lonely light
A bird thats lost in flight
And its too late at night to go home
Im a tall and weary kite
A face thats out of sight
And its too late at night to go home
Always had the good life
Never felt unsure
But now the good lifes not enough
There must be something more
And so I sit and shiver in the dawn
And watch the world and wait to be reborn
Im a small and lonely light
A bird thats lost in flight
And its too late at night to go home
Im a tall and weary kite
A face thats out of sight
And its too late at night to go home
Too late at night to go home
But Ive talked too long my friend
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Everytime I Look for You
I never found out why you left him
But this answer begs that question
Too blind to see tomorrow
Too broke to beg or borrow
Young and stupid
Left wide open
Hearts are wasted
Lives are broken
One more point of contention
I need some intervention
Approached with vague intentions
Betray my short attention
Span the distance
Bridge the border
Beg forgiveness
Round the corner
Everytime I look for you the sun goes down
And I stumble when this whole thing runs aground
I left another message
song performed by by Blink 182 from Take Off Your Pants & Jacket

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!