Disgusting Changes Indeed
when i come back to my
old hometown
the creeks where we as
children once fished
are gone,
trees replaced with
tall buildings
playgrounds turning
into commercial districts
markets into
monotonous stalls
they call it progress
i am saying
goodbye.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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We’ve Lost
Things around us change so rapidly
we sometimes forget what we’ve lost
to the call of progress.
The neighbourhoods and streets
where as children we played
replaced by blocks of flats towering tall.
No place for children to play anymore.
Blocks filled with broken lifts and stench laden stairs.
Its progress you know,
the property developers say with big grins.
Dens of iniquity more like.
Slowly eroded are close-knit communities
and the help one another attitude
replaced by isolation, as you grow old.
From a caring society of the past
to an uncaring one of the future.
Isolated in little boxes,
deprived of neighbourly help
as we progress down the road
forgetting all that we’ve lost.
13 January 2009
poem by David Harris
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A Sequel To Mamta's Asking About Sky Scrapers
after the progress
when sky scrapers
stand tall reaching
the moon and the
stars and elbow to
elbow with the sun
the birds may have
asked: where shall we
put our nests?
and the trees may
have asked: where
shall we ever grow
again?
and the brooks may
have asked: where
shall we ever flow?
and yes, mamta, the
children as asking:
do we still have
playgrounds to play?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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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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My Hometown
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
Id sit on his lap in that big old buick and steer as we drove through town
Hed tousle my hair and say son take a good look around
This is your hometown, this is your hometown
This is your hometown, this is your hometown
In '65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown, my hometown, my hometown
Now main streets whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there aint nobody wants to come down here no more
Theyre closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they aint coming back to
Your hometown, your hometown, your hometown, your hometown
Last night me and kate we laid in bed talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
Im thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good
Look around
This is your hometown
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hometown
Whatever place you hang your hat
you call that your home.
Whatever town you live in
you call that your hometown.
My hometown is a naval port
and at any given time,
you will see sailors there.
Men who go out in boats large and small
to face the fury of the tides
wherever they may go.
They face the wind and the lashing seas.
Sometimes they wish
for calm waters where the sun shines,
where the warmth there stills everything.
However, they are always happy
when they come back to shore
and their hometown once more.
15 February 2008
poem by David Harris
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Hurricane
Tall buildings and trees fell flat
Grass blades bounced back
haiku by Sathya Narayana
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Signs Of Spring
The Western Meadowlark
Gone
Replaced with herbicide, fungicide, insecticide and a gas-powered 'Popper' to keep the birds and geese away
Flowers
Gone
Replaced with pavers, concrete and outdoor barbecue grills
Family Farms
Gone
Replaced with huge, multi-owner conglomerates and global positioning satellites to keep the rows straight
Hometown Baseball Teams
Gone
Replaced with co-ops, bussing and poor, retired farmers driving busses to supplement their retirement income
Small Towns
Gone
Replaced with convenience stores along 4-lane highways and signs saying how many miles to the next Wal-mart and all the goods 'Made in China'
The US?
poem by Merle Steinmann
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Jesus, Ect.
Jesus, dont cry
You can rely on me honey
You combine anything you want
Ill be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun
Tall buildings shake
Voices are scared
Singing sad sad songs
Two two chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies
Turning your orbit around
Dont cry
You can rely on me honey
You can come by any time you want
Ill be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun
Tall buildings shake
Voices are scared
Singing sad sad songs
Two two chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies
Turning your orbit around
Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together your voice
Its smoking
Last cigarettes
Are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Our love
Our love
Our love
Is all we have
Our love
Our love
Is all got is money
Everyone is a burning sun
Tall buildings shake
Voices are scared
Singing sad sad songs
Two two chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies
Turning your orbit around
Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together your voice
Its smoking
Last cigarettes
Are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Last cigarettes
Are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Last cigarettes
Are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
song performed by by Wilco
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Jesus Etc.
Jesus, don't cry
You can rely on me, honey
You can combine anything you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun
Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around
Don't cry
You can rely on me honey
You can come by any time you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun
Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around
Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Our love
Out of
Our love is all we have
Our love
Our love is all of God's money
Every one is a burning sun
Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around
Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
song performed by by Wilco
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Deportee
The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting
The oranges are piled in their creosote dumps
You're flying them back to the mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again
Goodbye to my juan, goodbye rosalita
Adios mis a-mi-gos, jesus and maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
Some of us are illegal and some of us are not wanted
Our work contract's out and we have to move on
But it's 600 miles to that mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like theives
Goodbye to my juan, goodbye rosalita
Adios mis a-mi-gos, jesus and maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
My father's own father, waded that river
They took all the money he made in his life
My brothers and sister come work the fruit trees
They rode the truck til' they took down and died
The airplane caught fire over los gatos canyon
A fireball of lightning that shook all our hills
Who are these dear friends all scattered like dry leaves
The radio said they were just deportees
Goodbye to my juan, goodbye rosalita
Adios mis a-mi-gos, jesus and maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
No, all they will call you will be deportee
All they will call you will be deportee
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shadows And Tall Trees
Back to the cold restless streets at night
I talk to myself about tomorrow night
Walls of white protest
A gravestone in name
Who is it now
It's always the same
Who is it now
Who calls me inside
Are the leaves on the trees
Just living disguise
I walk sweet rain tragicomedy
I'll walk home again
to the street melody
But I know, oh no
But I know, oh no
But I know...
Shadows and tall trees
Shadows and tall trees
Shadows and tall trees
Shadows and tall trees
Life through a window
Discoloured pain
Mrs. Brown's washing is always the same
I walk street rain tragicomedy
I'll walk home again
to the street melody
But I know, oh no
But I know, oh no
But I know...
(Out there)
Do you feel in me...
Anything redeeming
Any worthwhile feeling
Is love like a tightrope
Hanging from the ceiling
But I know, oh no
But I know, oh no
But I know...
Shadows and Tall Trees
song performed by by U2
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Deportee (Plaine Wreck At Los Gatos)
The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting
The oranges are piled in their creosote dumps
Youre flying them back to the mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again
Goodbye to my juan, goodbye rosalita
Adios mis a-mi-gos, jesus and maria
You wont have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
Some of us are illegal and some of us are not wanted
Our work contracts out and we have to move on
But its 600 miles to that mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like theives
Goodbye to my juan, goodbye rosalita
Adios mis a-mi-gos, jesus and maria
You wont have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
My fathers own father, waded that river
They took all the money he made in his life
My brothers and sister come work the fruit trees
They rode the truck til they took down and died
The airplane caught fire over los gatos canyon
A fireball of lightning that shook all our hills
Who are these dear friends all scattered like dry leaves
The radio said they were just deportees
Goodbye to my juan, goodbye rosalita
Adios mis a-mi-gos, jesus and maria
You wont have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
No, all they will call you will be deportee
All they will call you will be deportee
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Blackberry Way
Blackberry way absolutely pouring down with rain,
Its a terrible day.
Up with the lark, silly girl I dont know what to say,
She was running away.
But now Im standing on the corner,
Lost in the things that I said.
What am I supposed to do now?
Goodbye blackberry way
I cant see you, I dont need you.
Goodbye blackberry way
Sure to want me back another day.
Flowers in the park overgrowing but the trees are bare
Theres a memory there.
Boats on the lake, unattended now for all to drown
Im incredibly down.
Just like myself they are neglected,
Turn with my eyes to the wall
What am I supposed to do now?
Goodbye blackberry way
I cant see you, I dont need you.
Goodbye blackberry way
Sure to want me back another day.
Run for the train, look behind you for she may be there
Said a thing in the air
Blackberry way, see the battlefield of careless sins
Cast to the winds
So full of emptiness without her,
Lost in the words that I said.
What am I supposed to do now?
Goodbye blackberry way
I cant see you, I dont need you.
Goodbye blackberry way
Sure to want me back another day.
Goodbye blackberry way
I cant see you, I dont need you.
Goodbye blackberry way
Sure to want me back another day.
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mysterious
Key:-a - anita r - ray
A: no way of controlling my body; mysterious
You touch me that way, my souls of above
When we say goodbye
Theres now turning back for love
R: now I think its time to make the floor burn!
A: no way of controlling my body; mysterious
You touch me that way, my souls of above
When we say goodbye
Theres now turning back for love
R: cant you see now what I am saying
The beat is rough and I aint playing
Mysterious things we like to know
Secret things that you never showed
A vision of something youre driving for
You gave me the key and I opened the door
Theres something between us, you and me
cause your love is like a unsolved mystery
A: a mystery is what you are to me
R: you keep me guessing, I feel like stressing
All the time yeah you blow my mind
I dont know what I am searching for
Everytime youre around, youre asking for more
Im interested to know what you are all about
Youre the only on without a doubt
Youve got me acting so delirious
Everything about you girl; mysterious
R: something you want to figure out but you dont know how? mysterious
R: you move mysterious
You look mysterious
You are mysterious
So mysterious
A: no way of controlling my body; mysterious
You touch me that way, my souls of above
When we say goodbye
Theres now turning back for
No way of controlling my body; mysterious
You touch me that way, my souls of above
When we say goodbye
Theres now turning back for
R: love
song performed by by 2 Unlimited
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Very Wars They Inflict Upon Us
history remembers names
sculpted on white marbles
of soldiers who died
in their own valor
the very wars they inflict upon
us perhaps history too must not forget
the civilian, the innocent children, the crying women,
the mosques, and churches in ashes, the playgrounds missing,
the markets all blown up,
the trails erased one day, the forest flaming, the art museums gone
they planted the mines
and those who may have not forgotten
still clearly remember
on some days while they sleep on bed
some explosions still come alive
the dead still keep on dying
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Killing Of The Children!
the killing of the children continues,
their cries muffled by 'holy' hands.
you speak of bringing God back,
as if He were in retirement.
in the name of liberty you march,
the price of oil screams and soars.
build more prisons, dig more graves,
call on morality and justice.
still, the bodies of the children
testify on your back streets.
you spray the winds with chemical death!
and turning the pages of
your bloodstained Bible,
you call on the God whose
name you invented...
and He turns away in horror!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Turning Time Around
She says, what do you call love
Well I call it harry
Oh, please Im being serious
What do you call love
Well I dont call it family and I dont call it lust
And as we all know marriage isnt a must
And I suppose in the end, its a matter of trust
If I had to Id call love time
She says, what do you call love
Cant you be more specific
What do you call love
Is it more than the hearts hieroglyphic
Well for me time has no meaning, no future, no past
And when youre in love, you dont have to ask
Theres never enough time to hold love in your grasp
Turning time around
Turning time around
That is what love is
Turning time around
Yes, that is what love is
My time is your time when youre in love
And time is what you never have enough of
You cant see or hold it, its exactly like love
Turning time around
Turning time around
Turning time around
Turning time around
Turning time around
Well I gotta have it
I gotta-gotta-gotta have it
Turning, turning time around
Gotta have it, turning time around
Turning, turning time around
Turning time around
song performed by by Lou Reed
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Seasons End
(music: marillion lyrics: steve hogarth & john helmer)
O come, o come, emmanuel
And ransom captive israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appears
Getting close to seasons end
I heard somebody say
That it might never snow again
In england
Snow flakes in a newborn fist
Sledging on a hill
Are these things well never see
In england
Well tell our childrens children why
We grew so tall and reached so high
We left our footprints in the earth
And punched a hole right through the sky
Well tell them how we changed the world
And how we tamed the sea
And seasons theyll never know
In england
So watch the old world melt away
A loss regrets could never mend
You never miss it till its gone
So say goodbye
Say goodbye
Well tell our childrens children why
We grew so tall and reached so high
You never miss it till its gone
So say goodbye
Say goodbye
To seasons end
So watch the old world melt away
A loss regrets could never mend
You never miss it till its gone
So say goodbye
Say goodbye
song performed by by Marillion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Long Tall Shorty
They call me the long tall shorty
cause I know what love is all about
They call me long tall shorty
cause I know what love is all about
Well I can tell you where the lights go
Oh, when they go out
Girls, if you get lonely
Dial 4-2-4-6-8-9
Well, girls, if you get lonely
Dial 4-2-4-6-8-9
And your troubles will be over
Ill even give you back you dime
Oh yeah
I like em long, I like em tall
I like em short, and that aint all
Now when I die, dont bury me deep
Just put some women to my head, to my feet
Tell all the world now, to come and peep
Long tall shorty now has gone to sleep
Whoa now
I like em long, I like em tall
Oh yeah
They call me long tall shorty
cause I know what love is all about
They call me long tall shorty
cause I know what love is all about
Well I can tell you where the lights go
Oh, when they go out
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The system that had grown up in most states is that wealthy districts with an affluent population can afford to spend a lot more on their public school systems than the poorer districts.
quote by William Weld
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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