How Do We Speak In Riddles?
how do we speak in riddles?
are we the modern versions of the sphinx
and where can oedipus stand and destroy
us at the crossroads?
come oedipus, slay us with your
wits
and incestuous destiny.
we are supposed not to look straight in the eye
we degenerate and shrink when we do so
we delineate a bit
not for any dramatics but it is simply the reason
why we are born this way,
writing in crooked lines
and burying some meanings on the sand
for the waves to caress and recover
with great patience and love,
we speak and we do not explain
they will say they will understand
and each shall make a stand that
though different each is right to a certain extent,
this is the life of
mystery a prism of colors contrasting
conceding condescending yet
true, well, maybe different when
filtered, light, shadows, images,
meanings, submeanings,
then extract, abstract, and what you find
ultimately from what is written above is
simply this:
riddle.
these are what we poets mean.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Related quotes
The Words That I Have Not Written
for the words i have not written
i accept i have been a coward
the moment these words become transparent
in my mind, i always tell them gently
i have not the strength to write you
you have become subjects beyond
my power and please understand
the consequences of having to write
all of you: waiting to be printed and read
like the Sphinx and its riddle before
Oedipus, if i were to write all of you
i may be able to save a kingdom in distress
but please understand what happens to me next
for like Oedipus i may be compelled to pluck my eyes out
from my face
and i may roam the earth begging for forgiveness
throughout my life
because i have been blind by fate for all those years
writing you is honesty
and it is this honesty that may at the end kill me
and so
i am very sorry
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Images
I think images are worth repeating
Images repeated from a painting
Images taken from a painting
From a photo worth re-seeing
I love images worth repeating
Project them upon the ceiling
Multiply them with silk screening
See them with a different feeling
Images, oh, images
Images, oh, images
Some say images have no feeling
I think theres a deeper meaning
Mechanical precision or so its seeming
Instigates a cooler feeling
I love multiplicity of screenings
Things born anew display new meanings
I think images are worth repeating
And repeating and repeating
Images, oh, images
Images, images
Im no urban idiot savant
Spewing paint without any order
Im no sphinx, no mystery enigma
What I paint is very ordinary
I dont think Im old or modern
I dont think I think Im thinking
It doesnt matter what Im thinking
Its the images that are worth repeating
And repeating, oh, images
Images
If youre looking for a deeper meaning
Im as deep as this high ceiling
If you think technique is meaning
You might find me very simple
You might think that images boring
Cars and cans and chairs and flowers
You might find me personally boring
Hammer, sickle, mao tse tong
Mao tse tong
Ooohhh, images, images
Images
I think that it bears repeating
The images upon the ceiling
I love images worth repeating
And repeating and repeating
Images, images
Oh, images, oh, images
song performed by by Lou Reed
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Oedipus
Oedipus was king of Thebis;
Jacarta was wife of Oedipus.
Oedipus was sincere in his duty.
‘While you suffer, none suffers more than I’,
With this, he resolved to save the city
By finding out the killer of King Lains.
Teiresias, a blind prophet, accused him,
‘You are the cursed polluter of this land.’
‘Terrible things indeed has the prophet spoken.
The killer of King Lains shall be banished’
The tension mounted, the truth revealed.
He was the son of King Lains he killed.
He married the king’s wife, Jacasta,
Without knowing that she was his mother.
Crippled with ignominy for the killing,
Oedipus preferred death but banished himself
As the banishment was the cure of the city.
Jacaste loved Oedipus and believed in chance.
‘Chance rules our life and the future is all unknown.
Best live as best we may, day to day’
She could not allow him to be doomed.
Oedipus must not know about his origin,
Which would reveal her relation to him.
She met her death, a proper end of incest.
18.02.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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When You Read This
when you read this
poem, i am letting you know
that i still care,
when you continue reading on
the next line
you are letting me know
what i still know
that you still care for me too
and then you are angry
about how presumptuous can i be
and so i make another line
and another line and if you continue reading
more of these lines
in this poem
you are letting me know
that you are still angry about
my untimely departure
that moment when love was
still strong
when desire was at its peak
and then you think things over
how you have been
unwittingly betrayed by my words
and you keep on
reflecting if these lines still
say the same
meanings and i keep on writing
more lines
hoping that you will understand
what i have not said
because i cannot say them
because my self
cannot lie by saying them to
you because i do not wish to
hurt you because i still
love you and then i write lines
that ask
if you still love me but then
i must put an end to all
these useless writing
time has spoken
as the lines of fate and
destiny still have it
we were never meant for
each other
the love is there
the bodies still alive
our hands never reach
till then
perhaps in the next life
at the right moment
perhaps when
our parallel lives meet
at some point
of convergence
and as you read let me put
the last line: goodbye
May God make us
meet and love again.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Heroic exploits told to a child
(after Daleen Enslin)
When I told you about the seven wonders
about the great sphinx,
how Oedipus elucidated those riddles,
how in roguery sly
Odysseus caught Troy with the wooden horse,
there was a lump in my throat
when I had forgotten to tell you about Jesus,
who saves the world - this you must know -
[Reference: "Ek vertel jou" (I tell you) by Daleen Enslin.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows
Hearts which beat to a precise beat
Fading shadows on the wall
We'll cut our cards
Drive out bars
All for one, one for all.
Like teenage heat
And carnival cheats
With your heart on your sleeve
Well you know you wanna run
You won't hide
And you jump like a son of a gun
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Oh alone and lonely
Watching people on my wall
Well Mama and Dadda thought they had me fooled
I was thinking not at all
Well I got out
Not gonna stand
In the dark without a light
Forgetting love if you believe that chance
Sit and wait
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
And now the judge is down feeling
all around yeah
Lifting to a blast this sound
No preachers, teachers
Pick our minds
To the sounds of false alarm
They're here today
And they hear you say
You're alive and you're living with me
So don't try to hide
And don't try to die
In the dark of the night
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
In the shadows, in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
song performed by by Billy Idol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Stand In The Shadows
Hearts which beat to a precise beat
Fading shadows on the wall
We'll cut our cards
Drive out bars
All for one, one for all.
Like teenage heat
And carnival cheats
With your heart on your sleeve
Well you know you wanna run
You won't hide
And you jump like a son of a gun
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Oh alone and lonely
Watching people on my wall
Well mama and dadda thought they had me fooled
I was thinking not at all
Well i got out
Not gonna stand
In the dark without a light
Forgetting love if you believe that chance
Sit and wait
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
In the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
And now the judge is down feeling
All around yeah
Lifting to a blast this sound
No preachers, teachers
Pick our minds
To the sounds of false alarm
They're here today
And they hear you say
You're alive and you're living with me
So don't try to hide
And don't try to die
In the dark of the night
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
In the shadows, in the shadows
Do not stand in the shadows
song performed by by Billy Idol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Two Riddles. -- 1710
Sphinx was a monster that would eat
Whatever stranger she could get,
Unless his ready wit disclosed
The subtile riddle she proposed.
OEdipus was resolved to go
And try what strength of parts would do;
Says Sphinx, on this depends your fate;
Tell me what animal is that
Which has four feet at morning bright,
Has two at noon, and three at night?
'Tis Man, said he, who, weak by nature,
At first creeps, like his fellow-creature,
Upon all four; as years accrue,
With sturdy steps he walks on two;
In age at length grows weak and sick,
For his third leg adopts the stick.
Now, in your turn, 'tis just, methinks,
You should resolve me, Madam Sphinx,
What greater stranger yet is he
Who has four legs, then two, then three;
Then loses one, then gets two more,
And runs away at last on four?
poem by Matthew Prior
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A state of depression
Speak out my dear
Why hath thou in a state of depression?
Speak out my dear
I stand here waiting for thy confession
Depression is not a sign of weakness
Neither an indication of madness
I stand here not to judge you
Simply to take heed to what is true
Depression is not a crime
It only calls for love through time
Depression is a silent voice
Rooted deep inside to stop a crying noise
Speak out my dear
Why hath thou in a state of depression?
Speak out my dear
I stand here waiting for thy confession
What have you lost along the way?
Retrace your steps, I say
Who have you lost?
Take heart, everything in life must rust
What is it you want?
Grant me a permit in your hunt
But first of all let me be blunt
Condemn yourself not for your mistakes
That is what it takes for you to be awake
Life is meant to be messy and greasy
The road is not meant to be easy
Speak out my dear
Why hath thou in a state of depression?
Speak out my dear
I stand here as a friend
My compassionate heart is yours to lend
Merely to give you inspiration
And redeem you of your depression
Thus, speak out my dear!
Why hath thou in a state of depression?
Copyright 2006 - Sylvia Chidi
www.sylviachidi.com
poem by Sylvia Chidi
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It
TO Kiss it, and hug it, and touch it,
To stare at it, to slide my hands beneath it,
To make my lips touch it, and to rub my body against it,
To bring it to life with me, to undress it and caress it,
To kiss its all body with my tongue
To be above it at its center
Of its being,
To sleep with it and wake with it
After a night of love,
To be crazy with it,
To dance with it, and be with it, and leave all that I have
Because, all because of it,
To destroy family ties, and make enemies of all people
Because of it,
Because it is wholeheartedly delicious
Because I can be free
Because my whole being likes to be with it,
Because I am in love with it,
Because I can be whole
Because I can be complete
Simply because
I am not me today
I am
I am still going to be.
IT.
Just it, it cannot love me in return,
It just laughs
And cannot understand,
It is just it,
And it calls me simply
Not even with my name,
That I can die for it,
It
Simply calls me
IT.
It’s crazy, I know
But tell me what I can really do about
IT.
IT IS NOTHING.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Complementary viewpoints for friend Chandra
Philosophy and poetry
are not completely different.
Each represents a way to see
What is not always evident.
Philosophers and poets try
to understand the universe.
The answers which they can supply.
Expressed in turgid prose or verse.
Philosophers can be abstruse
and difficult to understand
Because of how they phrase their views.
I don’t dismiss them out of hand.
I much prefer the poets verse
To endless reams of complex prose.
I do not think I am perverse
Simplicity I must suppose.
Is really what appeals to me.
the poets seek to entertain
and yet express with clarity.
Philosophers try to explain.
Their reasoning in great detail.
They just succeed in boring me
Their efforts are to no avail
I will admit quite openly
I simply cannot spare the time
To plough through densely written prose.
But I find poetry sublime
I like the way it ebbs and flows.
The insight that a poet shows
can entertain and educate.
Philosophers try to impose
their views, discouraging debate.
Which does not sit too well with me.
Folks can’t stand being patronised
and will rebel instinctively.
A fact that poets recognise.
They are content to share their thoughts.
With anyone who chooses to
read the verses they have wrought.
Which may express a different view
To that of the philosophers.
You draw your own conclusions
and choose which version you prefer.
Perhaps your own opinions.
Philosophy and poetry
Are both legitimate attempts
To explain some mystery
By folks of different temperaments.
22/08/2009
http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Ocean Size
Yeah ah, Yeah
Yeah ah, yeah
I never wanted
I never needed anything but you
Or any dreams come true
I never wished for
I never asked for all your little games
Or all your guilted shame
Now you're acting like you just don't care
Like you could find this one anywhere
It isn't fair
My life is an open book
My feelings and my meanings
Are oceansized
Long before i ever met you
Yeah, my feelings and my meanings
Are oceansized
Long before i ever met you
So now i'm asking to what had happened
To all the words you said
Well now you want me dead
If you were made for
The thing you stayed for
All that time ago
Now you're acting like you lost a friend
Like we were only pretend
Is this the end
Cuz my life is an open book
My feelings and my meanings
Are oceansized
Long before i ever met you
Yeah, my feelings and my meanings
Are oceansized
Long before i ever met you
(long before i ever met you)
Long before i ever met you
I wanted to take back my life
Cuz i gave it all to you
I just want to make it right
So i'm waiting on you
Yeah i'm waiting on you
My feelings and my meanings
Are oceansized
Long before i ever met you
Yeah, my feelings and my meanings
Are oceansized
Long before i ever met you
song performed by by Goldfinger
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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New Language
Anderson/squire/howe/white/sherwood/khoroshev
I speak from some sort of protection of learning
Even tho I make it up as I go on
A special trait is that Ive tried
To reach all feelings
So I speak a new language of love
Some say that it is written in the circle
Others that it is written in the sun
But I protect myself by seeing this experience
As a metaphor for moving on
Sometimes I check myself
To start to believe in
The horoscopes you read everyday
Theyre telling me somethings
I really ought to know
But then again I like to
Then again I learn to
Then again Im running away
Vision is coming so fast I cant stop myself
Vision forgets who is real
On the city streets, people get lost
Just waiting for history
Pushing the real world away
Taking a chance only once in your life
Only weakness can stop you from hearing
New languages
Translate each word
As they bring you creation
Your voice is the perfect key
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(talk to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing in each spoken word
For some strange reason time just cannot wait a minute
Im chasing every second before I let go
Yesterday my history
Dreams are still a mystery
This living is a gift I should know
Lay it down and let me live the new language
Let me learn at every twist every turn
Lay it down and let me love the further future
Let me know Im running
Let me know Im learning
Let me know Im moving on
Vision is racing so fast I cant stop myself
Chasing the reason
For all kinds of wondering
People embracing these feelings of limbo
Just waiting for some kind of truth
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is it something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Is it something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
song performed by by Yes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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New Language
Anderson/squire/howe/white/sherwood/khoroshev
I speak from some sort of protection of learning
Even tho I make it up as I go on
A special trait is that Ive tried
To reach all feelings
So I speak a new language of love
Some say that it is written in the circle
Others that it is written in the sun
But I protect myself by seeing this experience
As a metaphor for moving on
Sometimes I check myself
To start to believe in
The horoscopes you read everyday
Theyre telling me somethings
I really ought to know
But then again I like to
Then again I learn to
Then again Im running away
Vision is coming so fast I cant stop myself
Vision forgets who is real
On the city streets, people get lost
Just waiting for history
Pushing the real world away
Taking a chance only once in your life
Only weakness can stop you from hearing
New languages
Translate each word
As they bring you creation
Your voice is the perfect key
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(talk to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing in each spoken word
For some strange reason time just cannot wait a minute
Im chasing every second before I let go
Yesterday my history
Dreams are still a mystery
This living is a gift I should know
Lay it down and let me live the new language
Let me learn at every twist every turn
Lay it down and let me love the further future
Let me know Im running
Let me know Im learning
Let me know Im moving on
Vision is racing so fast I cant stop myself
Chasing the reason
For all kinds of wondering
People embracing these feelings of limbo
Just waiting for some kind of truth
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is there something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Taking a chance as it comes only once
Only strength can do justice
With words of new languages
Translate creation
To bring you salvation
Your voice is the perfect key
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to see
(speak to me)
Is it something that im
Supposed to feel
Im with you
And I cant help but want to know
(new languages)
(talk to me)
Is there something that
Im supposed to teach
(speak to me)
Is there something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
Is it something that Im supposed to find
As I reach to the healing of each spoken word (new languages)
song performed by by Yes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Meaning Of Life
What is the meaning of life
Is it to be born and then to die
To that question once again I have thought
As once again for that answer I have sought.
Just to understand just why we are here
Is it to bring joy and hopefully not a tear
to live strong each and every day
And then every night to kneel and pray.
Is it to see how far that we can go
Or how much knowledge we can place in our soul
Is it to marry and then take a husband or a wife
Or is it just simply to help others with their strife.
As I look out my window and as I do think
Life can either end or begin with just a wink
We are here and then we can be gone
And after all in the end we are all but just one.
Is it just an accident that we are born
Was it an accident that our world was formed
Are there a reason that we are here to stand
Truly I wish to that question I could just understand.
To understand our life and our being
Many have said that research is never ending
As there is no true answer just why we are here
And if there was would our hope and wonder disappear.
As I think to myself could life itself be just a test
To see how far we make it in life's quest.
Where our soul and conscience is the preacher
And then GOD himself is our Teacher.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
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On Understanding
if a cliche
can be used for you to understand, by all means
i will use it
without much ado, whatever that serves the purpose
to build this bridge of peace
between u & me
i will do it at once,
without much thought
there is no need of a degree supposedly
to understand
the basics of truths, one must simply be a man
or a woman to
understand and be understood
no need to
high falutinizations
factoring of meanings like some algebraic equations
to unveil the identities of numbers
or discover metaphors here and there
nothing Frenchy
or Latiny, just say what is in your mind
make it simple
say what you feel
if you really love me
say it
plain and simple
and if
it is really true from the bottom of your heart
you do not even say
it
i do not need words
please
just do it
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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What is the love of a woman
What is the love of a woman
that I simply don't understand
for when I speak she captures my breath
and her heart flutters deeply inside her chest
like a small bird that trembles inside the nest
What is the love of a woman
What is the love of a woman
that I simply cannot work out
for when I kiss her my senses she grasps
and her body feels faint for the want of a gasp
like a butterfly wishing the summer would last
what is the love of a woman
What is the love of a woman
that I simply wont be without
for when I caress her she captures my mind
with a passion and fire of a volcanic kind
like a bee in a rapture of honey he finds
what is the love of a woman.
poem by Charles M. Moore
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Mr. Riddle
I like riddles,
how about you.
I can say this,
can you too?
I like riddles,
how about you?
colors.
white and black.
you had tack.
I like riddles.
you play the fiddle.
i have a book,
you have a nook.
I like riddles,
how about you?
guess my answer
to your question.
If you don't know
my answer to this riddle,
I'll make you a deal,
But remember,
all deals come with a price.
10/14/12
poem by Regan Galloway
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Train In Vain
Ohh
Ohh
You say you stand, by your man
Tell me something, I dont understand
You said you loved me, and thats a fact
The you left me, said you felt trapped
Well, some things you cant explain away
And the heartaches with me till this day
You didnt stand by me
No, not at all
You didnt stand by me
No way
All the times, when we were close
Ill remember, these things the most
I see all my walls come tumblin down
I cant be happy, without you around
So alone, I keep the wolves at bay
And theres only one thing I can say
You didnt stand by me
No, not at all
You didnt stand by me
No way
You must explain...why this must be
Did you lie...when you spoke to me?
Did you stand be me?
No, not at all
Now I got a job, but it dont pay
I need new clothes, I need somewhere to stay
But without all of these things I can do
But without your love, I wont see it through
But you dont understand my point of view
I suppose there nothing I can do
You didnt stand by me
No, not at all
You didnt stand by me
No way
You didnt stand by me
No, not at all
You didnt stand by me
No way
You must explain...why this must be
Did you lie...when you spoke to me?
Did you stand be me?
No, not at all
Did you stand by me?
No way
No way
No way
No way
No way
Go...
song performed by by Third Eye Blind
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pardon My English
Please pardon my English
sorry I did not understand?
It is not your English
which is not at fault.
These native speakers
are speaking in idioms.
Idioms are fixed expressions
with nonliteral meanings.
A natural way of using language.
A natural way for native speakers to speak.
Your problem arises
because a fixed
distinctive expression
whose meaning
cannot be deduced
from the combined
meanings of its
actual spoken words
is not directly translatable.
Jargon and accents
betray speakers
places of origins
social background
and educational
class privileges
intonation inflection
betray mood character.
Note a
greater stress
emphasis
in pronouncing
a syllable
within a word
or a word
within a phrase.
An aspect
of situation
or issue
that is
emphasized
reveals
each speakers
main emphasis.
The best
speakers
are employing
contrasting
detail because
contrasting
decorative
features used
adds interest.
However
the most
persuasive
speakers
weight
their argument
with
lateral thinking
outside
the box
revealing
themselves
to be
master
orators
par excellent.
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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