Excerpt: The Magma
the natives are smelling so badly
saliva dries on their lips
they rub carabao manure on their bodies
and put
a dead beetle on their navels
there is no water in the river where they come from
it was taken by thirsty fish towards the
China sea
they are thin
i mean their children who only eat
buds of
the guava tree
their stomachs are filled with air
their
hairs with lice
i guess you know when this happens
and why this happens
because, it is fiesta time
and there is no more road for us to use
because the more important figures
are busy playing
deaf.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Related quotes
The First Part Of The Misleading Venture
the poor [ i.e. workers of the farm,
pregnant corn husker, the driver of the
pedicab, the smoking tomato gatherer,
the sweet potato washer}
i am lost in the symbols
of humanity, i am trying to decipher again
the meaning of their visit
and they decision here to spend the night
at the second floor of this house
where my father-in-law died because his
son pushed him towards the stair
and hit his head
on the grinding stone
the bolo is sharp, blood flowed from the
pig's neck
after that scream
there is noise, and some magicians are selling
potions
when someone needs love so badly
and then resorts
of spells
the natives are smelling so bad
there is no water in the river where they come from
they are thin
there stomachs are filled with air
hairs with lice
i guess you know when this happens
and why this happens
because, it is fiesta time and there is no more road for us to use.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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We Hated Goodbyes
i too wish of the wine,
the drunkenness, and the togetherness
that night, when we have become
free-willy, no thoughts, just our bodies,
no restraints, nothing about tomorrow,
when we were lost, and yet so happy,
and when we wake up that morning,
we did not really know what we were doing,
we're all wet in dryness, lips cracked,
bruised bodies, strangled hairs,
satisfied navels,
and then, that which we hated,
yes, goodbyes.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Busy Bodies
So you think that you have seen her
When youre lying in between her
And you tell me that you dont care
Busy bodies getting nowhere
Evrybodys getting meaner
Busy bodies
Caught in the concertina
You check her outline
Break her regulations
You watch her legs through several
Service stations
Busy bodies
Very busy
Getting nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere
Now youre ready for the merger
With the company youre part of
And you do the dirty business
With your latest sleeping partner
Youre becoming
Automatic
Busy bodies
Out playing with the traffic
You want attention
You try my patience
With the best intentions you are nothing but a nuisance
Busy bodies
Busy busy
Getting nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere
Now youve given your performance
Though the matinee was idle
And you find that a wave of her right hand
Could seem so tidal
Just a second
Satisfaction
Busy bodies
Temporarily out of action
You wash and brush up
You want to dress up
You want to kiss her
But shes busy with her makeup
Busy bodies
Very busy
Getting nowhere
Nowhere (x6)
song performed by by Elvis Costello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Please Do Not Ask Me How A River Feels
children bathe in the river.
we were children once, we bathe in the river
we float and go with the flow of the river
we lied to mother we were afraid of father
but we were children once and we bathed in the river
we all know how a river felt
throughout our bodies
time runs like a river how many times shall i tell you that
we had mud all over
we were once children we grow to be men
strong arms and swift feet
we caught fish
we claim to be men with responsibilities
we are still children at heart we still feel the rivers running on our skins
i know, i still know how a river feels
time does not know how to kill the feel of rivers
do not ask me then if i have forgotten the river
we are men with responsibilities we have gone away
far from what we are
the river still flows and it will never stop
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Giving the carabao feelings of wings
The carabaos are grazing again
It is summer and
The white herons are teeming
On the green fields
Some take the usual sight
Of friendship
The white heron on top
Of the carabao’s back
They are so close I wonder
If there is this familiarity
Between them
Their friendship has lasted
For centuries
They say the white herons
Feed on carabao's lice
And to repay the kindness
The carabao gives the bird
Its free ground ride
I disagree totally
There is no pecking that I see
And there is no distance
Whatsoever that the carabao gives
This is friendship, this is a picture
Of friendship, the heron is giving
The carabao the feel of its white wings.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Fish Out Of Water
I feel so out of place here
With this high society
These high fallutin people
Dont know what to make of me
I feel like a minnow in a sea of moby dicks
A small fry in a big pan
Theyre caviar -- Im fish sticks
Fish out of water
I know I dont belong
Fish out of water
Everything I do is wrong
My style of hair, the clothes I wear
The way I speak, the things I eat
The way I act, my lack of tact
Nothin seems to fit
Fish out of water
Flounderin round
Out of my element
But Im just as good as they are
Why do I feel second rate
Its like, sorry charlie,
We want only tuna with good taste
I guess you could say wal-mart
Is quite a way from guccis
Im timex, theyre rolex
Im captain ds, theyre sushi
Fish out of water
Ive had it to the gills
Fish out of water
With these yuppie-guppie frills
Yeah, Im a square in a round hole
A catfish in a goldfish bowl
A little fish with lots of soul
Out of my element
Fish out of water
Flounderin round just for the halibut
Save me, save me
S.o.s. somebody
Save me, save me
Somebody rescue me
Fish out of water
Somebody throw me in
Fish out of water
On a scale of one to ten
Im a two, perhaps a three
Compared to the big fish in the sea
Im washed ashore so save me please
Im in an awful fix
Fish out of water
Rescue me
And you better do it quick
Fish out of water
Its such a culture shock
Fish out of water
My stomachs tied in knots
Fish out of water
Fish out of water
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The timetable of four
The golden glows of sunlight hit me
The smell of freshly cut grass reached me
The sight of freedom exhilarated me
The sounds of birds intrigued me
The beauty around me radiated from everything
The long open stretches of grass
The shady woodlands going on and on
The unending number of livening creatures
The cawing raven in the tree branches
The worm busily digging in the soil
The fish swimming idly in the pond
The child playing happily in the park
It is summer now but soon it will change
Soon it will change
Soon it will change into Autumn
I’ll still be in my tree
The children are playing in the heaps of leaves
The leaves have all gone a golden colour
The ravens are searching for bugs in the leaves
The fish are swimming slower in their pond
It is Autumn now but it will soon change
Soon it will change
Soon it will change into Winter
I’ll still be in my tree
There are no children playing
There are no leaves on the trees
The ravens have all gone south
There are no fish in the pond
It is Winter now but it will soon change
It will soon change
It will soon change into spring
I’ll still be in my tree
The children are starting to come back
The ravens are backing cawing in the trees
There is new fish in the pond
There are new buds on the trees
It is Spring now but soon it will change
Soon it will change
Soon it will change into Summer
I’ll still be in my tree
Waiting
Watching
Writing
Thinking
Fears of A Mad Man In The Office
forgive me
i am an unthinking human being
i am exhausted
and feeling like a wall of a house
the roof makes no sense to me
or the stairs
which she finds
to be filled with meaning
i am not that road
i go nowhere
and i do not stretch
to places
forgive me
but i am too tired to think about what you are thinking
now
it is my fingers
simply moving
and not knowing what it is doing
just following the water of the river
without fish
and moss
forgive me
for having wasted your time
i am tense
and i have fears about things that yet to come
i do not even know
i am afraid
and so forgive me
i am contagious and may destroy what ever mood
you may have today
and so forgive
me for taking you to the last line of this poem
it is this
nothingness that attacks me
like a bullet in my head
and so
forgive me
i am dead or
i am just playing dead because i am afraid.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Day Of The Lords
(joy division)
This is the room, the start of it all
No portrait so fine, only sheets on the wall
Ive seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained
Where will it end?
These are your friends,
From childhood through youth
Who goaded you on, demanded full proof
Withdrawal pains hard, it can do you right in
So distorted and thin, distorted and thin
Where will it end?
This is the car at the edge of the road
Theres nothing disturbed,
All the windows are closed
I guess you were right, when we talked in the heat
Theres no room for the weak,
No room for the weak
Where will it end?
This is the room, the start of it all
Through childhood, through youth,
I remember it all
Ive seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained
Where will it end?
song performed by by 16 Horsepower
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Dry Land
this used to be a river
filled with fish
we used to catch some here
days and years
lump together and humans
pack up
rivers convert themselves
to cities for need of space
this one shall follow
it is not the sun that has
taken what it has
a tractor builds a dike
and takes all the water here
this is dry land
no fish, no water,
no moss, sand is filled
and rocks
delivered to make
out of this river
a new housing subdivision
at a higher cost
than money
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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This Is What He Said...
here i am
stuck bathing on the same river
wading on the same
early morning water
thinking, thinking
exerting force without
moving
there is no distance
covered
on such a work that
is worthless
got the energy but there is
no place for me
here, here is an earth
without a tree
here, here is a river
without a ripple
there is a fish over there
the only fish i see
i see, i see, it is floating
it is bloating, it is dead.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Water Babies
(lebon, rhodes, taylor, cuccurllo, campbell)
Guess you know, where I wanna go
Got to see the water flow, try to understand
Got me trapped, playing with me like a cat
Scrape your fingers down my back, pin me to the ground
All along the water baby
Take me to your water baby
All along your water babe
(chorus)
Ill get by, cant you see Im burning up
When you come and turn it up, higher every time
If I stay , oh the end is near
Come and get me out of here, come and get me now
(chorus)
(chorus)
(ohh, ohh, ohh, ohhh!)
Tell me is there any left?
I wanna drink it up
Ill drink it up.
Baby, if theres any left
Ill drink it up, drink it up, drink it up!
(chorus)
(chorus)
Thirsty for your water baby,
Spanning from your torture babe,
Take me to your water baby.
(chorus)
(got me trapped)
Thirsty for your water baby,
Sliding on your torso baby,
Take me to your water baby.
(chorus)
Thirsty for your water baby,
Spanning from your torture babe,
Take me to your water babe.
song performed by by Duran Duran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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All Along The Water
(lebon, rhodes, taylor, cuccurllo, campbell)
Guess you know, where I wanna go
Got to see the water flow, try to understand
Got me trapped, playing with me like a cat
Scrape your fingers down my back, pin me to the ground
All along the water baby
Take me to your water baby
All along your water babe
(chorus)
Ill get by, cant you see Im burning up
When you come and turn it up, higher every time
If I stay , oh the end is near
Come and get me out of here, come and get me now
(chorus)
(chorus)
(ohh, ohh, ohh, ohhh!)
Tell me is there any left?
I wanna drink it up
Ill drink it up.
Baby, if theres any left
Ill drink it up, drink it up, drink it up!
(chorus)
(chorus)
Thirsty for your water baby,
Spanning from your torture babe,
Take me to your water baby.
(chorus)
(got me trapped)
Thirsty for your water baby,
Sliding on your torso baby,
Take me to your water baby.
(chorus)
Thirsty for your water baby,
Spanning from your torture babe,
Take me to your water babe.
song performed by by Duran Duran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Thin
Thin, thin was the soup
ladled into the bowl.
It was watered down to make it last
as if it would keep them whole.
Thin, thin were the bodies
that sat 'round the table to eat.
They shared the watery sparseness of soup
with nary a piece of meat.
A time of discontent was here
and stomachs were never full.
This was the time they'd heard about,
stories that seemed so dull.
These stories were told with passion
by those who came before.
They jumped out of windows and stood in lines
saying, 'Please may I have some more? '
Thin, thin are the excuses
given by those in power.
No substance to substantiate the lies
given us hour by hour.
And so where does this leave us,
facing a 3rd world war?
For times become prosporous.
Isn't that what wars are for?
Thin, thin are the hopes now
that sanity will pervade the mind
of those who reap the profits
while our youth again will find
that they have been used as fodder
to bring our economy back.
Thin, thin are the excuses
for us being on the wrong track.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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Dry River
River of Doom
Sad sight dry river, and twenty years ago it was
three metre deep and had trout. We caught some
with nets and, fried them on a small fire and felt
like cavemen. Delicious fish meat we ate with our
fingers. Every year I have seen the river getting
smaller even in the winter when it rains irregularly,
it is no more than a beck. There is no fish not even
the skeleton of children caught by a wall of water,
when it had been raining upland and into the river.
Their father was arrested it was said he had killed
the children, fed them to the pigs, but for a single
button in the sty they sat him free. Terrible rumors
every summer I see him walking along the dry river,
muttering to himself trying to find his children
poem by Oskar Hansen
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A Dream Of The Flesh
we are in the river
naked
our bodies meet
like
one body
missing
another body
and the river
becomes
one warm
water
trickling down
our two bodies
body to body
flesh to flesh
hands
to hands and
arms entwine
like some
chains of
daisies
to our necks
this oneness
that we
finally make
eyes to eyes
closing
and lips to lips
searching
tongues
we dare
search
our souls
if they
are there
too
in this
fusion
for the
meantime
we have no time
to ask
the river
has no name
even
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Hooray! Hooray!
Un lugar halle yo junto al mar
Ali, ali, ho
Si tu quieres ir te llevare
Ali, ali, ho
Hay un manantial que es de cristal
Ali, ali, ho
Tu conmigo ven te escondere
Ali, ali, ho
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Para todos es sensacional
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Tienes que cantar tu ya lo ves
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy la fiesta es
Por el campo vas y correras
Ali, ali, ho
Las estrellas hoy nos guiaran
Ali, ali, ho
Yo contigo ire sin temor
Ali, ali, ho
Al lugar auqel te voy a amar
Ali, ali, ho
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Para todos es sensacional
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Tienes que cantar tu ya lo ves
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy la fiesta es
song performed by by Ricky Martin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hooray! Hooray! Its A Holi-holiday
Un lugar halle yo junto al mar
Ali, ali, ho
Si tu quieres ir te llevare
Ali, ali, ho
Hay un manantial que es de cristal
Ali, ali, ho
Tu conmigo ven te escondere
Ali, ali, ho
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Para todos es sensacional
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Tienes que cantar tu ya lo ves
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy la fiesta es
Por el campo vas y correras
Ali, ali, ho
Las estrellas hoy nos guiaran
Ali, ali, ho
Yo contigo ire sin temor
Ali, ali, ho
Al lugar auqel te voy a amar
Ali, ali, ho
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Para todos es sensacional
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy es, hoy es,
Una fiesta sin igual
Tienes que cantar tu ya lo ves
Hoy la fiesta es
Hoy la fiesta es
song performed by by Ricky Martin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Teach The Gifted Children
Teach the gifted children
Teach them to have mercy
Teach them about sunsets
Teach them about moonrise
Teach them about anger
The sin that comes with dawning
Teach them about flowers
And the beauty of forgetfulness
Then take me to the river (take me to the river)
And put me in the water (and put me in the water)
Bless them and forgive them (take me to the river)
Father cause they just dont know (take me to the river)
All the gifted children
Teach the gifted children
The way of men and animals
Teach them about cities
The history of the mysteries
Their vice and their virtues
About branches that blow in the wind
On the wages of their sins
Teach them of forgiveness
Teach them about mercy
Teach them about music
And the cool and cleansing waters
What do they say, take me to the river (take me to the river)
Take me to the river (take me to the river)
Put me in the water (take me to the river)
And teach the gifted children (take me to the river)
All the gifted children (take me to the river)
(take me to the river)
(take me to the river)
song performed by by Lou Reed
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Agusan marshlands from the lens of Elvi
Crystal clear river not a ripple from your hands
You are inside this boat of art
Sailing on the belly of this peaceful Agusan river
Where the sun and earth meet and become one
In the mirror of their likeness
The dark islands the dark trees
Mirror on the smooth water as you take the pictures
Of this manner of capturing the beauty
Of peace and tranquility
On the background is a native hurling his nets
On a boat his thin child
The river turns to murky brown
The fish swim away in hiding
Disturbed by their hunger
The poverty that grips their bodies
Their souls thirsty for the beauty that they cannot see
Your lens disregarded what should have been more true & real
Overshadowed by your quest to capture
What is not there
I am looking at the background beyond the mirror
On a closer look the native has angry eyes
Red with fury but then the night comes
And your lens was not sensitive enough
The truth was not exposed
Only the man and his boy felt it
In darkness they are the only ones fully seeing
Your boat leaves without saying anything
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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