A Metaphor Is Easy To Make
a metaphor is easy to make
and so easy to recall
remember the cat's feet like a fog
leaving softly the harbor in the city?
remember a misery that jumps like a flea &
bites you and you cannot sleep
and you say life is like that
a flea
remember
you think of time as a growing child
a man,
a wild man running and chasing
virgins that must make most of their time
because
time is a-flying and
the rose that blooms today
tomorrow
may be dying
remember time in a bottle
remember life like a fruit fly trapped
trying to figure
out how to escape
and you say life is like that
a fruit fly
remember death
like a woman sleeping in her chambers
closing the curtains
and you say
death is like that
a mere closing of a curtain
just like that
remember how
loneliness is like a steel tunnel
you get in there,
some birds hover and fly away from you
you get in there,
and there seems to be no light visible
at the end
loneliness
life is like that
you see
metaphors and dissect every vein
every artery
every bone and
cartilage of
these metaphors that you
say do not exist
in prose
, , , , , , , , , , , that you say do not exist in my prose
mine is not poetry
mine is a poverty of poetry
and you claim
yours is the basket the cornocupia of true poetry
good for you, you are the prima donna
of this
dance
this quibble in poetry
it does not matter
give me some metaphors
about poverty, discrimination, meaninglessness,
purposelessness,
non-being, the metaphysics of early death
a being-in-distress
an addict
a streetchild
a battered wife
a cruel father
a hypocirte priest
an embittered professor
a disgruntled student
give me some metaphors about
corruption, lying presidents, secret killings
you are the master of metaphor
you are the queen of slave
metaphors
so be it.
make me a poem to the strictures of metaphor
give poems a strange face
a hybrid of dog and man
make them read and not understand
delude them
give them illusions
confusions
make them baffled, submissive, uncritical, uncomplaining
complacent,
bewilder them to your secret,
derivative and too personalized
metaphors
and you are happy
they do not understand a thing
and they will believe that you are God.
for those that we do not understand
we call it mystery
we call it metaphor
we call it
unquestionable.
let the oppression stay.
let the discrimination live in the metaphors that
you have made.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
36
a metaphor is easy to make
and so easy to recall
remember the cat's feet like a fog
leaving softly the harbor in the city?
remember a misery that jumps like a flea &
bites you and you cannot sleep
and you say life is like that
a flea
remember
you think of time as a growing child
a man,
a wild man running and chasing
virgins that must make most of their time
because
time is a-flying and
the rose that blooms today
tomorrow
may be dying
remember time in a bottle
remember life like a fruit fly trapped
trying to figure
out how to escape
and you say life is like that
a fruit fly
remember death
like a woman sleeping in her chambers
closing the curtains
and you say
death is like that
a mere closing of a curtain
just like that
remember how
loneliness is like a steel tunnel
you get in there,
some birds hover and fly away from you
you get in there,
and there seems to be no light visible
at the end
loneliness
life is like that
you see
metaphors and dissect every vein
every artery
every bone and
cartilage of
these metaphors that you
say do not exist
in prose
, , , , , , , , , , , that you say do not exist in my prose
mine is not poetry
mine is a poverty of poetry
and you claim
yours is the basket the cornocupia of true poetry
good for you, you are the prima donna
of this
dance
this quibble in poetry
it does not matter
give me some metaphors
about poverty, discrimination, meaninglessness,
purposelessness,
non-being, the metaphysics of early death
a being-in-distress
an addict
a streetchild
a battered wife
a cruel father
a hypocirte priest
an embittered professor
a disgruntled student
give me some metaphors about
corruption, lying presidents, secret killings
you are the master of metaphor
you are the queen of slave
metaphors
so be it.
make me a poem to the strictures of metaphor
give poems a strange face
a hybrid of dog and man
make them read and not understand
delude them
give them illusions
confusions
make them baffled, submissive, uncritical, uncomplaining
complacent,
bewilder them to your secret,
derivative and too personalized
metaphors
and you are happy
they do not understand a thing
and they will believe that you are God.
for those that we do not understand
we call it mystery
we call it metaphor
we call it
unquestionable.
let the oppression stay.
let the discrimination live in the metaphors that
you have made.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Moderns
To many reading modern poetry more interesting the meaning in the metaphors they seek to find
They feel it makes their brains work that much harder that it is good exercise for the mind
Rhyme for their great brains seems that bit too simple it does not test their thinking power at all
'Tis not a poem to them if it seems simple and the meaning in it easy to recall,
Yes rhyme for them it does seem that bit simple and deciphering it to them is not a test
The hidden meaning in the metaphors is something that does seem to try them best
Rhyme poetry to them is too simple and far too easy for to understand
It has to be blank verse with dozens of metaphors for their interest for to command
They look on rhyme and bush poets as inferior their preference in poets and poetry they make known
On literature they air their opinions like it is said to each their own
Their poetry evenings do seem quite exclusive rhyme poets to read they never do invite
Their unmusical lines that are laced with metaphors to each other they do recite
They do not like rhyme or they do not like bush poetry to them it is of another time
And in their poetry evenings there is no place for the men and the women of rhyme.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.
Milan Kundera in The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Poem Is A Metaphor
THE POEM IS A METAPHOR
The Poem is a Metaphor
It means ‘the world’
It means ‘all that there is’
It means ‘the soul’
It means ‘our deepest feeling’.
The Poem is a Metaphor
It is more than what it just appears to be
It takes on a life of its own
It says more than it can define itself as
The Poem is a Metaphor
And it itself does not understand
Where it began and how it will end
And whether or not
It should always be rewritten.
The Poem is a Metaphor
And we too are metaphors
That will vanish one day
When all the real Poems
Pretend to still be here.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Woman And Poetry
writing poems together
with that woman is so much fun
i write mine, (i am much better than that woman)
i ask her to read my poems she obliges with her spectacles
as she opens her mouth to syllabicate
i gulp some saliva to my mouth
this woman is terrible
she makes me giggle
i have her word for word i have her metaphor per metaphor
there is no time to discuss
i like her to undress this time
i'll take the magic of her word
this time i will open my mouth
this time i will read all of her
i will not discuss i will not understand
i will just feel these metaphors
this mouth this tongue this body
this most important poetry
this love this lust this moment
after we have written
our poems together.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Making Of A Poem
What's a poem?
It's a metaphor, it's a metaphor,
What's a metaphor?
'It is a device for seeing something in terms of something else.
It brings out the thisness of that, or a thatness of this.'
How do I write a metaphor?
Think of rain as the cry of the heavens,
Think of love as a rose,
Think of burning candle as the agony of a lonely heart.
How do I piece together metaphors?
On a moonlit night, I see my love reflected in the moon's silvery light,
Holding her tight, I smell the fragrance of jasmine tonight,
Adoring her smile, I see the beauty of monarch butterflies,
Staring in her eyes, I see the oasis of love in my high desert lonely life.
How do I write a poem?
I love her but have not a spoken a word.
You have the inspiration, put in some romantic words.
On a beautiful moon lit night, I wonder who is prettier,
When I look at you, I forget about the moon.
Knit together love, loneliness, fear and tears of heart,
Into a beautiful tapestry of emotions and feelings that mask your heart,
Stitch some metaphors, make it a heartwarming comforter.
poem by Jay P Narain
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate, learn, discover and invent. But metaphor is a way of thought before it is a way with words.
James Geary in Metaphorically speaking (2009)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
Vote! | Copy! | In Spanish | In Italian | In Romanian
Let's Leave The 'Poems' Without Metaphors
LET’S LEAVE THE ‘POEMS’ WITHOUT METAPHORS
Let’s leave the ‘poems’ without metaphors
Bare and stark and original
Quiet and sleeping and still
The soothing poems the calming poems
The poems that even in the middle of the night
Let us sleep.
Let’s leave the poems without metaphors
And go back to the simple words
And let them say all they can by themselves
Until they become metaphors too.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Is letting go a metaphor?
what is letting go -
letting go of grief?
the serenity of letting go?
(must be a bad metaphor)
losing represents letting go of control
I need to understand this 'letting go'
is it a metaphor for facing the inevitable?
breathing as a metaphor for living
'the practice of pruning wine vines'
is that a metaphor for letting go?
surrender. reaching towards the future
if you'll excuse another bad metaphor...
'the last of the sand is pouring...'
onion metaphors are stripped down to the core
letting go is a metaphor for acceptance
is acceptance a metaphor for failure?
'The freedom of letting go'
that does sound grand
letting go is not for the faint-hearted
my hands and heart are tired from letting go
so many times over
examine why metaphor is not
a substitute for the literal
letting go is
a metaphor
for goodbye
110709
poem by Terri Turrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I sleep Poetry
Last night I wrestled with poetry
As if a lion wrestling with its prey
I sleep poetry
I dream poetry
I walk poetry on thin line ropes
binding together steeply slopes
I make love to poetry like a new catch
On heat waiting to be let loose from its latch
So out of ten if I am bad, take a pen
And give me a score of five or a four
I constantly make love to poetry
With dramatic grammatical metaphors
The root of my poetic hunger
Is I starve myself a bit longer
In sleep I twiddle my poetic lines
Sharpen them to be as fine as a riddle
I sleep poetry
I drink poetry
Not just to quench my thirst
But to differentiate amongst
Good, Better and Best
There shall come the day
I have to say
When I will definitely call it a truce
When I have run out of poetic juice
2006 - Sylvia Chidi
poem by Sylvia Chidi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
In the steps of Rumi 88: Metaphor
Simile – what looks like something else –
that’s a fun game for the senses,
for the mind: oh look Dad,
there’s a scarecrow in that field
that looks just like a man, does it
really scare crows?
Oh look Dad, there’s a beggar in the street
who looks just like a scarecrow,
I wonder if the same crows
see him too?
But metaphor – ah, that’s something else:
explanations don’t quite explain it:
you see something; it brings to mind
something very different; maybe
you just forget it, pass on; maybe
you’re a poet, and you think,
that other thing casts a subtle light
on this first thing, I’ll see if others
find the same.. and, sometimes they do,
sometimes they don’t…
Metaphor brings the whole universe,
world upon world, to the mind:
you could write a poem full of metaphor
as long as the circumference of the world,
and when you’d written it out, you’d find yourself
right here again just where you were.. but
what a lot you’d seen on the way…
We’re so used to some metaphors
because by now, they’re shared,
written into language (lucky the people
who inherit languages such as these,
they’re born into poetry…) :
take ‘bread’: you walk past the baker’s shop
in the early morning when the air is clear –
or better, go in to buy your breakfast rolls:
the smell couldn’t be more wonderful,
more promising.. the bread’s so delicious,
and best eaten today..
ah yes, ‘daily bread’ – that becomes a metaphor
for all that each and every day brings –
waking up, new thoughts, new experiences,
all that brings life to life…
that covers so many subtle things…
where does it all come from?
that’s for you to say…
Sometimes it seems that the whole world
is a metaphor for something…
for what? For its own unity,
for its very creation,
for that which we call God,
for our very self?
that’s for you to say…
Metaphor. When you meet it,
does it make you think of
English class, another boring
poem, another boring question
to answer as you chew your pen –
‘What does the poet mean when
he speaks of, lies like oyster shells
to be penknifed for their pearls? ’…
or - does it fill your heart with joy
as if someone had given you
a golden key to a secret garden
which is all you ever hoped for;
more than you could ever imagine…
and yet you recognise
it’s all really just yourself? …
In the corner of your room
there's a little girl curled up
in a large armchair, reading a book.
Don't disturb her.
The book she reads with all her self today,
may never read again, doesn't need to -
is a metaphor for
all she needs to know today
about the world, about herself;
she finishes the book,
closes it thoughtfully,
looks up at you;
she knows herself
a little more today.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Saddest Song
Only two more days, until your birthday
Yesterday was mine
You'll be turning five
I know what it's like, growing up without your father in your life
So I pretend, I'm doing all I can
And I hope someday you'll find it in your heart
To understand
Why I'm not around
And forgive me for not being in your life
I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Remember waiting there to find nothing at all
I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Waiting there to find nothing at all
maybe someday
you really get to know me
not just the letters read to you
I pray I get the chance
To make it up to you
We got a lot of catching up to do
So I pretend, I'm doing all I can
And hope someday you'll find it in your heart
To understand
Why I'm not around
And forgive me for not being in your life
I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Remember waiting there to find nothing at all
I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Waiting there to find nothing at all
Forgive me!
I'm so sorry!
I will make it up to you....
song performed by by Ataris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I Don't Know Why I Should Try To Write A Poem Now
I don't know why
I should try to write
A poem now-
There will be other times
When the Metaphors
I ordinarily do not have
Flow not easily in me
Like water lava
Like blood- thinned by aspirin-
All I have to do is
Keep reading enough poetry of others
And exotic metaphors
Will come to me
As if I were another person's voice
And nothing in myself
Real as my own.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come, Please Remember
If tomorrow doesn’t come
Please forget all the fights
But please remember my face.
If tomorrow doesn’t come
Please forget the name calling
But please remember the smiles.
If tomorrow doesn’t come
Please forget the down times
But please remember our laughter together.
If tomorrow doesn’t come
Please forget the lonely nights crying
But please remember the many hugs after those nights.
If tomorrow doesn’t come
Please forget the yelling
But please remember the good talks after.
If tomorrow doesn’t come
Please remember how much I care about you
Even though I don’t show it.
Please remember how much of an impact you have on my life.
Even though I don’t help you to acknowledge it.
Please remember how much I love you
Even though we fight more than we talk to each other.
Please remember that you are apart of what I am today
Even though I don’t ever say anything.
Please remember that I always care about you
Even though I am always in your business or your life too much than usual.
Please remember to smile if tomorrow doesn’t come
Please remember that I tried to make something out of your life and mine too.
Please remember my laughter
Please remember that I think of you everyday
Even though I don’t make contact with you.
So if tomorrow never comes
Please remember the good times more than the bad
Please remember to make the best of life and never be too sad.
poem by Kimberly Santistevan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
For Those Who Still Dream To Write The Best Lines Of Their Lives
you wish to write the best lines of
a poem, something that they will remember
for a lifetime, you want to put the best metaphor,
you like to be deeper than the deepest ocean
(or the bluest sky ever, or the tallest peak
of a mountain with snow caps, you want to
put the gentlest sound of the wind
on top of the Tibetan monastery, you like
to have your lines sound like a tinkering bell
of the meditating monks, you want it holier
than the saints, you want to make an impression
with the moon and the stars, before you die,
before you embrace the darkness and then
take on the glowing robe of light)
you wish to write the wisdom of the ages
in some few lines, you want to put your name
at the bottom, so they may remember you
how human could you still be!
divinity shuns this waste of words!
come to think of the paradox
the best poem is not written at all
it is not even spoken
not even the sweetest song of the bird
not even the flute or the lyre has that note
it is not here, not even in the hearts of men
or of the wise, it does not exist here,
it is not even heard yet, the metaphors still unseen
the rhyme unrevealed, the rhythm unfathomed...
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Poem Is A Metaphor/ Isn't It?
A POEM IS A METAPHOR/ ISN’T IT?
A poem is a metaphor
Isn’t it?
Aren’t we all poems?
Aren’t we all metaphors?
Aren’t we all what we are not?
And what we know we have been and not been?
And what we will be and not be?
Aren’t we all metaphors?
And aren’t we all poems?
And aren’t we all words, just words,
And not?
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
You Know How To Mix The Oil And The Water
between the oil and the water
put the soap
or the common detergent
that is how they do it
in poetry it is not easy
to mix the oily feelings with the watery ones
and it is hard to check
which detergent to use
what is it that is having poetic sense?
between them and you
how do you get well along the lines of poetry?
who is the water and who is the oil?
and who is the detergent among the metaphors
and the similes?
takes time really.
at first we keep on writing these nonsense comparisons
trying to tell which one is best, better and good
which one is worse
but sooner you realize that this has nothing to do with comparisons
it has only something to do with the clicking of the right switch
to give light
to the dark room where we live, to give the sound of the singing bird,
to give that hush, to make us sleep soundly
on a soft pillow, and then dream in another world
where we do not talk but merely observe how the colors float
how they pass us by
and we are nothing but spectators always wanting to have no part
in everything
and that precisely is the light feeling
that makes the click
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Poetry Is A Metaphor
Poetry is a metaphor
For beauty
For deepest feeling
For light
For all kinds of dreams we may not know the name of-
Poetry is a metaphor
For life at its most intense
Poetry is a metaphor for Poetry.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
If This Is The Last Kiss (Let's Make It Last All Night)
I know you're goin'.
I know this is good-bye.
And I can't make you stay.
No matter no matter how I try.
But ooh if you're leaving.
Please grant this one request.
And leave my heart with some happiness.
If this is the last kiss.
Let's make it last all night.
If this is the last time I'm ever, ever gonna bold you.
Let me hold you tight till the morning light.
If this is the last time.
Ooh we'll ever be together.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
If I can't be with you.
Oh baby all my life.
The next best thing.
Is you next to me all through the night.
Pull all the shades down.
Put your heart next to mine.
Tonight give me a chance.
To feel heaven just one more time.
And ooh if you're leaving.
Honey I'll set you free.
Just leave my arms this one sweet memory.
If this is the last kiss.
Let's make it last all night.
If this is the last time I'm ever, ever gonna hold you.
Let me hold you tight till the morning light.
If this is the last time.
Ooh we'll ever be together.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
If I can't be with you.
Ooh baby all my life.
The next best thing.
Is you next to me all through the night.
If this is the last kiss.
Let's make it last all night.
If this is the last time I'm ever, ever gonna hold you.
Let me hold you tight till the morning light.
If this is the last time.
Ooh we'll ever be together.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
Baby give me something, tender to remember you by.
song performed by by Meat Loaf
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
If This Is The Last Kiss
I know your goin'.
Iknow this is good-bye
And i can't make you stay.
No matter no matter how i try.
But ooh if your leaving.
Please grant this last request.
And leave my heart with some happiness.
If this is the last kiss.
Let's make it last all night.
If this is the last time i'm ever, ever gonna hold you.
Let me hold you tight till the morning light.
If this is the last time.
Ooh we'll ever be together.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
If i can't be with you.
Oh baby all my life.
The next best thing.
Is you next to me all through the night.
Pull all the shades down.
Put your heart next to mine.
Tonight give me a chance.
To feel heaven just one more time,
And ooh if your leaving.
Honey i'll set you free.
Just leave my arms this one sweet memory.
If this is the last kiss.
Let's make it last all night.
If this is the last time i'm ever, ever gonna hold you.
Let me hold you tight till the morning light.
If this is the last time.
Ooh we'll ever be together.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
If i can't be with you.
Oh baby all my life.
The next best thing.
Is you next to me all through the night.
If this is the last time i'm ever, ever gonna hold you.
Let me hold you tight till the morning light.
If this is the last time.
Ooh we'll ever be together.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
Kiss me and baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
Baby give me something.
Tender to remember you by.
song performed by by Meat Loaf
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!