Gazing At The Japanese Painting Of Katsushika Hokusai...
the scorpion claws of the
sea
have again claimed the lives
of more than
ten thousand Japanese...
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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If the Advertising Man Had Been Gilbert
Never mind the slippery wet street--
The tire with a thousand claws will hold you.
Stop as quickly as you will--
Those thousand claws grip the road like a vise.
Turn as sharply as you will--
Those thousand claws take a steel-prong grip on the road to prevent a side skid.
You're safe--safer than anything else will make you--
Safe as you would be on a perfectly dry street.
And those thousand claws are mileage insurance too.
--From the Lancaster Tire and Rubber Company's advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post
Never mind if you find it wet upon the street and slippery;
Never bother if the street is full of ooze;
Do not fret that you'll upset, that you will spoil your summer frippery,
You may turn about as sharply as you choose.
For those myriad claws will grip the road and keep the car from skidding,
And your steering gear will hold it fast and true;
Every atom of the car will be responsive to your bidding,
AND those thousand claws are mileage insurance too--
Oh, indubitably,
Those thousand claws are mileage insurance too.
poem by Franklin P. Adams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Turning Japanese
Ive got your picture
Of me and you
You wrote, I love you.
I love you, too
I sit there staring when theres nothing else to do
Oh, its in color
Your hair is brown
Your eyes are hazel
And soft as clouds
I often kiss you when theres no one else around
Ive got your picture, got your picture
Id like a million of em over myself
I want a doctor to take your picture
So I can look at you from inside as well
Youve got me turning up, Im turning down, Im turning in, and Im turning round
Im turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Ive got your picture, Ive got your picture
Id like a million of them over myself
I want a doctor to take your picture
So I can look at you from inside as well
Youve got me turning up, Im turning down, Im turning in, and Im turning round
Im turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder its dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger
Everyone
Thats why Im turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
(think so, think so, think so)
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
Turning japanese, I think Im turning japanese, I really think so
(think so, think so, think so...)
song performed by by Liz Phair
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hermana Alacran
Fool who knows not of Romance Language
There is a language of strength and power
She came out from the dirt covered in jewels
With hips that can leave man in awe
She came with a heart set on grandeur
I come from the scorpion family
I am a Sister Scorpion that is my name
Loyal until the end to my creed
Why is it that in this world I am allowed to do this?
Why do I know exactly what’s wrong with this bliss?
A Utopian Society would be full of secrets and lies
The scorpion sister would know and she would find cries
You see in Spanish there is a saying that goes
You are crazier than a scorpion
Estas más loco que un alacrán!
Here is my bilingual play on words
This is written in orange ink on my heart
I am a Scorpion Sister; I’m the freak in the family
I believe that now there is nothing left to hide
I believe that if you have an ego, you have issues
I believe that I am not a queen, I am only a sister
I am a Scorpion Sister, a darling, and her majesty
The Sister Scorpion who is loyal to the creed forever
Sister Scorpion will attack, bite, and sting you
I have only to say “beware” to anybody who is a traitor
The sister will save you, because I’m the one
The Sister Scorpion keeps fierce in the world
Trust in the wisdom of the ancient scorpion
Tail at arms to always inject my deadly poison
So venomous, I am a scorpion, a creature from dirt
Nobody will know of me when I die later, but dirt
I am a scorpion, a creature of poison and of death
I am a scorpion and if you see me lose your breath
A queen and a sister, I am the new queen
I am the scorpion sister, the queen
Don’t mistake me for a clown
I am a Scorpion Sister
La Hermana Alacran
Bring me a child to baptize
In water from a river of Hell
Because my people have a fire
Strength inside their hearts
That is nowhere else on Earth
The queen dressed in a gown
With a thousand layers
And a meringue made of orange silk
Sings out to traitors and to hatred
She sings out in fierce anger to life
And the new queen is reigning
With strength with peace, and life
May the people know she is so grand
¡Trae me un niño para bautizar!
¡En agua de un rio en infierno!
¡Porque mi gente tienen un fuego!
¡Poder en sus corazones que!
¡En este mundo no existe!
I am the sister scorpion, small but proud
Small for now
I am the queen who calls herself Hermana Alacran
I am the queen who knows she is only the sister
She vanished back into the dirt
After killing the old queen
With a look in her eyes you will be in flames
And know how to dance like a crazed scorpion
She vowed to return as the queen of the world
So the Ancient Mexican Desert Legend says!
poem by German Alcala
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One Hundred Thousand Marching
One hundred thousand marching
One hundred thousand men
One hundred thousand heading
To a place and a time when
One hundred thousand dying
One hundred thousand cold
One hundred thousand praying
Forever young and never old
One hundred thousand lives were lost
One hundred thousand felt the pain
One hundred thousand maimed and slaughtered
And yet those armies march again.
poem by David Keig
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The Scorpion and The Cockroach
It was in a cleanly washed jam jar that Frank put them in,
he wanted to know which would survive, which one would win.
The scorpion wasted no time as it arched its back and struck,
but the cockroach quite unaffected, for a way out it did look.
The roach disliked being attacked and tried to climb the jar’s side,
but the glass was too steep and smooth, and so it couldn’t hide.
Repeatedly it tried to climb the jar, but it fell upon its back
and so the scorpion launched another ferocious attack.
The cockroach tried desperately to become upright once again,
as the scorpion’s venomous tail tried to strike the roach’s brain.
With a flick of its sturdy wings the roach became upright,
but still it didn’t resist attack, or put up a fight.
The battle weary scorpion grew tired of attacking its foe
and ceased hostilities at least for a moment or so.
But then the cockroach became hungry and had a desire to eat,
so approached the scorpion and nibbled at its feet.
This act of war enraged the scorpion and so it attacked again,
but the roach never flinched and gave no sign of pain.
The scorpion was exhausted and couldn’t attack any more,
it collapsed breathing deeply on the glass jar floor.
The roach attacked the tail the part with the deadly sting
and severed off a large piece to show who was king.
As the ravenous roach gorged itself on the fresh food supply
the scorpion panicked and gave escaping another try.
Frantically running around the jar at high speed it went
until it suddenly stopped, all its energy was spent.
Meanwhile the busily eating cockroach paid it no mind
this scorpion was going nowhere until mealtime.
poem by Orlando Belo
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Honor And Courage
In Japan, they write on rice paper,
In America, we write on the sides of buildings.
In Japan they honor their elders,
In America, we rob them on buses,
And abuse them.
In Japan there is great love for their country.
In America, people are refusing to stand,
For the national anthem.
In Japan, men are volunteering to die,
Without a second thought,
To give up their lives,
To save their fellow citizens.
Oh yes, you'll say, the Japanese are great,
At dying, at suicide missions.
But is that the point?
Shouldn't the point be,
The Japanese love their homeland,
The Japanese love their own people,
The Japanese love their way of life,
The Japanese love their traditions,
Love, honor, respect, courage,
Nobody writes on Japanese walls.
Offenders are quickly and severely dealt with.
Wouldn't you volunteer also?
Maybe not.
Honor, and courage,
Seem to be,
In short supply,
Stateside.
3/26/11 Alton Texas
poem by Juan Olivarez
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Fingernails
Babies have fingernails
Children have fingernails
Teenagers have fingernails
Adults have fingernails
Senior Citizens have fingernails
Dead people have decaying fingernails
Kittens have claws
Kitties have claws
Felines have claws
Cats have claws
Seniors Catizens have claws
Dead cats have decaying claws
Hotwheels have wheels
Vespas have wheels
Slugbugs have wheels
Hummers have wheels
Oldsmobiles have wheels
Dead car parts have decaying wheels
But most importantly, I have fingernails, a cat, and a car.
poem by Gerald Flippinhanger
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Surprise in Japan - A sincere apology
our Japanese teacher
starts her lesson bowing to us
and apologises for the war
I was rather surprised this 30's something Japanese teacher apologised for the role Japanese played in the second world war
in the Asia Pacific. All the students in this Japanese school in Ichikawa Japan were from Asia particularly China, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Many Japanese never felt sorry about the ruthlessness they unleashed on their neighbours but there are some who knew of the real situations and are ready to apologise when occasions permits it.
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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They got word that the Japanese planes were coming back, so we sunk her ourselves so the Japanese wouldn't get it. We didn't want the Japanese to get it intact.
quote by Barney Ross
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hateful Hate
[ music: natalie merchant/words: natalie merchant ]
In the dark night a giant slumbered untouched for centuries
til awakened by a white mans cry: this is the eden I was to find.
There were lands to be charted and to be claimed for a crown,
When a hero was made by the length he could stay in this dangerous land of hateful hate.
Curiosity filled the heads of these, there was an upper room they had to see.
Curiosity killed the best of these for a heros hometown welcoming.
Still they moved on and on.
Who came building missions?
Unswerving men of the cloth who gave their lives in numbers untold so that black sheep entered the fold.
Captured like human livestock, destined for slavery.
Naked, walked to the shore where great ships moored for the hellbound journies.
Bought and sold with a hateful hate.
Curiosity filled the breasts of these with some strange ecstasy.
Curiosity killed the best of these by robbing their lives of dignity.
Still they moved on and on.
Calling men of adventure for a jungle bush safari.
Come conquer the, his claws and teeth.
See death in his eyes to know youre alive.
European homesteads grew up in the colonies with civilized plans for wild hinterlands, their guns and God willing.
Such a hateful hate.
Curiosity spilled the blood of these for their spotted skins and ivory.
Curiosity filled the heads of these madmen with the lies of destiny.
Curiosity spilled the blood of these, then blotted their lives from history.
Curiosity filled the heads of these, one man claimed all that he could see.
Curiosity still entices these madmen with a lusting and a greed.
Their legacy, legacy, legacy...
song performed by by 10000 Maniacs
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Every State Line
I got pulled over in west Texas
so they could look inside my car
he said are you an american citizen
I said
yes sir
so far
they made sure I wasn't smuggling
someone in from Mexico
someone willing to settle for america
'cause there's nowhere else to go
and every state line
there's a new set of laws
and every police man
comes equipped with extended claws
there's a thousand shades of white
and a thousand shades of black
but the same rule always applies
smile pretty
song performed by by Ani DiFranco from Imperfectly
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Better be proficient in one art than a smatterer in a thousand.
If one man praises you, a thousand will repeat the praise.
One dog yelping at nothing will set ten thousand straining at their collars.
If you have only two pennies left in the world, with the first penny, you should buy rice to feed your family. With the second penny, say the wise Japanese, you should buy a lily. The Japanese understand the importance of dreaming...
The Scorpion
My life, is everything, that feeds my thirst - like other's sin
My wants, are all I care, no shame or guilt - there's nothing there
Look deep into my face, I sell disease, without a trace
Fear not, but I can do, unless you, want it done to you
As I climb onto your back, I will promise not to sting
I will tell you what you want to hear and not mean anything
Then I treat you like a dog, as I shoot my venom in
You pretend you didn't know, that I am a scorpion
My self, and sentiment, there's nothing else, there's never been
My dream, to be left alone, where does sadness - the madness I'm on my own
Look deep, into my soul, its black as coal - like a bullet hole
Fear not, get off your knees, there's no defense - you'll do what I please
As I climb onto your back, I will promise not to sting
I will tell you what you want to hear and not mean anything
Then I treat you like a dog, as I shoot my venom in
You pretend you didn't know, that I am a scorpion
As I climb onto your back, I will promise not to sting
I will tell you what you want to hear and not mean anything
I will treat you like a dog, as I shoot my venom in
Cuz you knew all along, I am a scorpion
My lies, to rest assure, I agonize - at nothing more
My hopes, to steal away, all that you love - I'll soon betray
Look deep, into my past, the pain I deal - is unsurpassed
I'm not, a lowly scorpion, I'm so much worse - I'm the fall of man
song performed by by Megadeth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Rather ten thousand lanterns from a wealthy man than one lantern from a poor man.
Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.