Requiem For The Year 2011
at the last hour
we march toward a common grave
bringing the flowers
and some stones
they year is kept inside
a niche laced with white silk
slowly the men with strong arms
lowered the niche
to the the newly dug hole
seven feet under
the women with long black hair
wept beside their innocent children
the year is buried
as we then throw the final stones
then it is covered
with its soil returned
until it is full
and then we put the flowers
it is over
now
and then we go back to our houses
it is nighttime
we close the doors
and open the windows to see
those beautiful stars
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Related quotes
Migration
Migration
In this rich flat landscape there are no stones they had to
travel to the far mountain and with mule and cart it was
a long arduous journey. Stones were only used as base for
houses and as grave stones, but since these were stolen
so this practice ended, the dead had to do with wooden
crosses which tend to rot when it rains. Farmers buried
their stones under a mass of soil, for safety mounds of
them dotted the flat landscape and made it less monotone.
Modern time, a railway line stretches across the land and
ends in a haze were the mountain begins, stones are now
a common thing, way, all and sundry has one, the poorest
even have gravelled strewn back yards. A clever man decided
to open a rise and sell stones a souvenir as a memory of
the past, when life was idyllic, but he found a mass grave,
not only human skeletons but also household goods, toys
and musical instruments.
poem by Oskar Hansen
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Temporary Poem Of My Time
Hebrew writing and Arabic writing go from east to west,
Latin writing, from west to east.
Languages are like cats:
You must not stroke their hair the wrong way.
The clouds come from the sea, the hot wind from the desert,
The trees bend in the wind,
And stones fly from all four winds,
Into all four winds. They throw stones,
Throw this land, one at the other,
But the land always falls back to the land.
They throw the land, want to get rid of it.
Its stones, its soil, but you can't get rid of it.
They throw stones, throw stones at me
In 1936, 1938, 1948, 1988,
Semites throw at Semites and anti-Semites at anti-Semites,
Evil men throw and just men throw,
Sinners throw and tempters throw,
Geologists throw and theologists throw,
Archaelogists throw and archhooligans throw,
Kidneys throw stones and gall bladders throw,
Head stones and forehead stones and the heart of a stone,
Stones shaped like a screaming mouth
And stones fitting your eyes
Like a pair of glasses,
The past throws stones at the future,
And all of them fall on the present.
Weeping stones and laughing gravel stones,
Even God in the Bible threw stones,
Even the Urim and Tumim were thrown
And got stuck in the beastplate of justice,
And Herod threw stones and what came out was a Temple.
Oh, the poem of stone sadness
Oh, the poem thrown on the stones
Oh, the poem of thrown stones.
Is there in this land
A stone that was never thrown
And never built and never overturned
And never uncovered and never discovered
And never screamed from a wall and never discarded by the builders
And never closed on top of a grave and never lay under lovers
And never turned into a cornerstone?
Please do not throw any more stones,
You are moving the land,
The holy, whole, open land,
You are moving it to the sea
And the sea doesn't want it
The sea says, not in me.
Please throw little stones,
Throw snail fossils, throw gravel,
Justice or injustice from the quarries of Migdal Tsedek,
Throw soft stones, throw sweet clods,
Throw limestone, throw clay,
Throw sand of the seashore,
Throw dust of the desert, throw rust,
Throw soil, throw wind,
Throw air, throw nothing
Until your hands are weary
And the war is weary
And even peace will be weary and will be.
Translated from the Hebrew by Barbara and Benjamin Harshav
poem by Yehuda Amichai
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Modern Love XXXV (Manhattan's white flowers)
I always saw these
beautiful white flowers
blossoming in March,
as I walked the streets
of east Manhattan in my
garden. I strolled
from 77th to 92nd street
and Madison to 3rd avenue
This year, for some
reason it will be
in April,
This year, for some
reason it will be
in April, say the
tiny chickadees.
So, during this winter
let us meet during a storm
and after sitting
and observing
let us go down
to the wall street market
and see if we may sell
the snow we carry
on our hats and coats.
I always saw these
beautiful white flowers
blossoming in March.
This year it will be
in April, the tiny
chickadees remind us.
Ah, Federico, one must still
have strong legs to walk
by the butcher shop of the world.
poem by Liberatore Suffoletta
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Stones
Stones
Stones would play inside her head
And where she slept,
They made her bed
And she would ache
For love and get but stones
La la la la la la la la la
Lordy, child
A good days comin
And Ill be there to let the sun in
And bein lost
Is worth the comin home
La la la la la la la la la on stones
You and me, a time for planting
You and me, a harvest granting
The every prayer ever prayed
For just two wild flowers that grow
La la la la la la la la la on stones
Mmmmmmmm.....
song performed by by Neil Diamond
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Widowed Justice...
i,
demand justice
says the widow to the people
who mourn for her
the flowers wilted and
the niche is buried deep
down six feet
under, like a movie of sorts,
the people left her, alone,
headless, veils black and
hairs spangled, like worms
like she is the rotten body
now bare bones
inside her room, sleepless
till dawn
there is no justice, time
is narrow like a door that admits
no one, like a window closed
against any air of
possibilities
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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New Year
WHITE year, white year,
Muffled soft in snow,
A diamond spray whose gems are gone
Before their grace we know,
A crystal-coated spray whose hours
Melt when looked upon,
Hoarfrost stars and hoarfrost flowers,
White year!
Green year, green year,
Sweet with sun and showers,
A windblown spray whose blossoms bright
Are the seven-colored hours,
A dancing spray whose leaves are days,
A spray whose leaves delight
In azure gleam and silver haze,
Green year!
New Year, new year
From rosy leaf to gold,
A shining spray on the Tree of Time
Where myriad sprays unfold,
A spray so fair that God may see
And gather it, bloom and rime,
To deck the doors of Eternity,
New Year!
poem by Katharine Lee Bates
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As The Spring Walks
the spring walks to the trees
to the flowers
to the leaves
the leaves turn to flowers
flowers to whites
slowly and sreadı ly
the restaurants disperse themselves to the streets
even the multi colored gaRDENS
opening to the children
people throw themselves to the pavements
the ugly
yhe good
the best and th dı rty
all together
all of them are walking in the spring
at one moment
hopeful
hopeless
living is drawing from their skirts
as he wishes
on the lips
a little smiles
bitter or ticklı ng
may be a piece of
living remnants
even if he does not want
a littler boy treads to the spring
treads smalls to the spring
his small shoes
caressing the spring
they were saying that
the spring will never come this year
but it came at last
nearer and nearer
closer and closer
use it as you wish
fry it in oven
or soak it with the sea
when the days become wrmer
the birds are happier
turning the pidgeons in the air
crowing the crown harder
there is the magpie
gone mad as ifs
gone crazy or insane
the spring walks to the trees
blossoms
as a turntable the time
dropping leaves in winter
, blossoming in summer
the litle girls playing balls
in the gardens
childish
ı know
the flowers must have bloomed
in my mother's grave wildish
theyt need even a little prayer
father is not known where
as he wanted there
may be that is the best for remembering
did not ı lost my sister in may
i do not even remember
slowly passes time
we are destined to live
as long as we live
blind or half lame
even if we scare
pray or not pray
our end is always in black soil
but the truth is covered with a wall
and one day
we will pass over
and eternalkly live there
fire it drops where
trouble disturbs us
time passing by
one day
we will say to all of you
and the spring googd bye
my rebellingf time has passed
long ago
but ı wonder
from time to time
when will the spring to me
will ever come
poem by Metin Sahin
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The grey monotony of winter
Winter, these days,
reminds me of grey and orange,
of faded mosses and polished stones,
of icy sheen and black sheer,
of falling white leaves and winter flowers,
of the torquiosire sky and fading sunlight,
the dusty windows now covered with snow,
Its the grey monotony of winter that I love!
poem by Amatulla Mohammadi
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The Last Duty
ı t is two days or three
since with soil we covered thee
we gathered here
in your mother city
from all over the country
may be the unı verse
to perform our last duty
in fact you are doı ng your last duty
perfectly
you gathered friiends together
after so many years
a peculı ar thing too
just notified me
they have cut the lonely poplar
that shoot
from the root
which were a friend to me
my friend in winter
in my loneliness..lonelihood
in my all days on foot
but the plum tree
side by side
very very oldy
has blossomed already
adorned with green leaves
with white flowers as bridals
what a peculı ar thing too
lı fe goes on as always
after the death's gloom
like these
even of my relatives
and dear friends
this year
spring has come a little bit earlier
it is may be
two days or three
we gave to the soı l thee
life for me
a turmoı l though
how many beloved
ı have entombed
..buried
ı do not know
ı cannot remember
waiting his turn
someday someone may be me
will be buried too
you lie in a mosque yard
in the coffin covered with our flag
crimson and white
wi th in the middle a crescent
on a white marble stand-bier
your son
your grown up son tall watching
your wife and daughter in black weeds
weeping
first the noon prayer
and then
the funeral prayer in the graveyard
imam asked for the acquı ttal of claim
we have no claim on you
farewell my friend
that is life they say
what we can say too
the last order from above has come
we are accustomed to these day by day
iti is two days or three
20th march 2010
a new life is beginning for me
without you
fires burn in me
may be the new spring
the river sakar will flow without you
the bungalow
near the sinop black sea will miss you
it is two days or there
since we buried you in soil
life is toll moil and pell mell
and turmoil
so long
farewell
my friend
we will miss you
how can we bear this turmoil
without you
never knowing
we are still waiting for you
each day
as the next day you will rise be coming
good my friend..so long
poem by Metin Sahin
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I Breathe Poetry
i confess, i am the master
and i am asleep for years and years
because the curse is there hiding my name
in the tomb of fear and shame
i am the master who has not used the power
of words for years and years because
my tears were frozen
inside my eyes and i have not tasted salt
inside the niche that was built for me
now you come into my life like the winds
of the spring bringing me the flowers
and the rain and the sound of the river
and the songs of the little birds
the hush of your sorrow has given me rebirth
from the deep sleep.
i am the master, and i wake up with words
buried inside my lips. Now i breathe poetry
inside your nostrils, and you too become alive.
come hold my hand, and our shadows fuse as one.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Muscles
the muscles shrink
the fats bloom like fertilized flowers
uglier now
to the brain that does not stop thinking
to the feet that do not know already how to dance
to the abdomen that does not bend
what have you
when you look at yourself in the mirror
you become a denial
of your true nature
a freak ballooning on a baloney of
the future that does not bring you
a tray of fruits
a bouquet of flowers
but it has a gift for your handwork
a niche
and six feet under
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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If Flowers Turn
Flowers for a girl who was placed in the dark
Flowers from a world that had taken her heart
They looked so pretty, but the blood stained them
If flowers turn
Throw them away, throw them away
If flowers turn
Throw them away, throw them away
Pull the braids untie all of the pain from your hair
Don't let the buzzards try or they'll take what's been there
Signs appear, and the worst you fear
If flowers turn
Throw them away, throw them away
If flowers turn
Throw them away, throw them away
Don't look to the dark all of the pain that you want is here
Uncover your heart so the feeling can disappear
The worst winds are calling, they need you they want you
I'm in the dark and I can see a thing for miles
If flowers turn
Throw them away, throw them away
If flowers turn
Throw them away, throw them away
I know, I've seen the pain in your heart
Because I died for us
song performed by by Ours
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lesbos
curiosity drives you to open the door
go outside the fence
and enter a new territory
it is an island of women with breasts
and flowers
with heads and eyes of men
their vocabulary is made of man's terms
the grammar and syntax
muscular, yet deep within upon a close scrutiny
as you see it clearly
their hearts are still soft and fragile
they bleed real blood
when you remind them of their
births, their childhood, and how they grow
to be always alone
they do not show the signs of a sigh &
as you enter their circle you are met with nothing
but their own woes
you speak
and then they throw you stones
definitely, there is no place for you here
the one with the short curly hair
shortsighted and emaciated
makes it very clear
now you are back in your own world
and you realize
things are just perfect
and the air is not as cold as ice.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Joining
Three different women - three different cases
All gave birth to satin and laces.
One black, one oriental, one white
What they had in common was they all
Gave birth the same night.
The BLACK child was six pounds three
Brown eyes and as beautiful as can be.
The ORIENTAL child was five pounds nine
Jet black hair and looking fine.
The WHITE child was eight pounds three
Blue eyes, blond hair, skin fair.
All confined to the same ward and about five feet apart
All loving mothers with the kindest of hearts.
They all talked for hours on end
And made a pact that they would remain friends.
To their surprise they all lived close by.
Every weekend their families would get together
And it seemed that life couldn't get better.
And every year on the girls birthday
They'd get together to celebrate.
NOW! The point that I want you to see
Is if they could do it, WHY can't we?
Why can't all nations put aside their bigotry and hate
And join together to celebrate, just what GOD has given
And make this life on earth worth living.
poem by Louis Rams
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Old Ireland
FAR hence, amid an isle of wondrous beauty,
Crouching over a grave, an ancient, sorrowful mother,
Once a queen--now lean and tatter'd, seated on the ground,
Her old white hair drooping dishevel'd round her shoulders;
At her feet fallen an unused royal harp,
Long silent--she too long silent--mourning her shrouded hope and
heir;
Of all the earth her heart most full of sorrow, because most full of
love.
Yet a word, ancient mother;
You need crouch there no longer on the cold ground, with forehead
between your knees;
O you need not sit there, veil'd in your old white hair, so
dishevel'd; 10
For know you, the one you mourn is not in that grave;
It was an illusion--the heir, the son you love, was not really dead;
The Lord is not dead--he is risen again, young and strong, in another
country;
Even while you wept there by your fallen harp, by the grave,
What you wept for, was translated, pass'd from the grave,
The winds favor'd, and the sea sail'd it,
And now with rosy and new blood,
Moves to-day in a new country.
poem by Walt Whitman
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A Rural View Of My Village
today the women wearing buri hats are planting rice
on the muddy rice fields of Katipunan
the sun is up
the petals of white flowers are
still holding on to their dews
the finches are flying low
and hovering on the grass
the buffaloes are grazing on the field
the children are chasing chickens
and playing with the dogs
the amor secos are growing wild still uncut
as the some men are singing songs with their old guitars
a wooden sled filled with wood is hauled by a big spotted cow
the path is covered with stones that grate their sounds in the open air....
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Strong Black Woman
Baby, such a long life, my child
So many stories I have to tell you
Of slavery and of tragedy
Sit down and listen to my tales
Everybody thinks that the strong black woman died
No, she only stood back because she had not cried
She took a minute to rest. She cried. Her heart so heavy
But she’s back, baby. And child, she’s so pretty
I’m a strong black woman, and I am fighting
Don’t mess with me; I’ll leave your eyes shining
I give these children all the love they crave
I’ll beat away any energy that makes life grave
Hallelujah, the strong black woman still lives
Hallelujah, the strong black woman still gives
Hallelujah, can you feel the strength of her?
Hallelujah, this woman is one you can’t deter
Praise the lord’s name and speak in tongues
May all the strong black women live so long
I am a strong black woman, I am here
A strong black woman lives in my heart
Hallelujah, the black woman is so strong
Hallelujah, this has become my favorite song
Hallelujah, the strong black woman prospers
Hallelujah, she is no different than her brothers
The strong black woman never died, she lives
See, no matter what happens she always survives
I am here, I am a strong black woman, in disguise
And this newly strong black woman never dies
Praise the lord’s name the black woman is back
Now the world knows that we survive any attack
Give her all the suffering children or people in despair
Because the strong black woman will return them to air
The strong black woman was not lynched or killed
She gave herself a proud face and lived on so skilled
Praise the lord’s name and know that she lives on
Hallelujah, the strong black woman will never be gone
poem by German Alcala
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What Stones Tell
What stones Tell
I follow a track in the landscape see stones dug up of soil. Clay clings
to them they look unhappy and exposed in the daylight. Need of a good
shower but there will not be rain for a while. Not that it matters this year
they will be churned into grit. They have been in dreamy limbo for eons,
the dream they dreamt will be a whisper in the wind. So walk softly and
listen well. TV, is full of trivial politics, photogenic, men in silk suits, easily
talk, they are our leaders of tomorrow. False promises will be forgotten,
dream time over when stark light of truth beckons. But their mendacity
and false dawns will murmur in the wind...
poem by Oskar Hansen
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Watson at the British Open
The aging champion kissed its stones
and waved to all his fans.
At Swilcan bridge across the burn,
As twilight fast descends.
No claret Jug for Tom this day.
His Open at its end
Just this final hole to play
As twilight fast descends.
Five times past champion and beloved
He'll not play here again.
He'll cross this bridge for one last time
As twilight fast descends.
His ball arcs up into the sky
And settles on the green
Near Swilcan bridge across the burn
As twilight fast descends
A simple putt for birdie, Tom,
Yours was a fitting end
You went out like a champion
As twilight fast descends.
Tom Watson, a five time winner of the British open played his final round at the old course at St. Andrews this year. While former champions are permitted to play the open until age 65, the Open is not scheduled for St. Andrews again until 2015, when Watson would be 67. The Claret jug is the trophy awarded for winning the British Open. In Scottish, a Burn is a small running creek. Tom Watson failed to make the cut this year but he did Birdie his final hole.
poem by John F. McCullagh
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And the Seventh Dream is the Dream of Isis
1
white curtains of infinite fatigue
dominating the starborn heritage of the colonies of St Francis
white curtains of tortured destinies
inheriting the calamities of the plagues
of the desert encourage the waistlines of women to expand
and the eyes of men to enlarge like pocket-cameras
teach children to sin at the age of five
to cut out the eyes of their sisters with nail-scissors
to run into the streets and offer themselves to unfrocked priests
teach insects to invade the deathbeds of rich spinsters
and to engrave the foreheads of their footmen with purple signs
for the year is open the year is complete
the year is full of unforeseen happenings
and the time of earthquakes is at hand
today is the day when the streets are full of hearses
and when women cover their ring fingers with pieces of silk
when the doors fall off their hinges in ruined cathedrals
when hosts of white birds fly across the ocean from america
and make their nests in the trees of public gardens
the pavements of cities are covered with needles
the reservoirs are full of human hair
fumes of sulphur envelop the houses of ill-fame
out of which bloodred lilies appear.
2
across the square where crowds are dying in thousands
a man is walking a tightrope covered with moths
there is an explosion of geraniums in the ballroom of the hotel
there is an extremely unpleasant odour of decaying meat
arising from the depetalled flower growing out of her ear
her arms are like pieces of sandpaper
or wings of leprous birds in taxis
and when she sings her hair stands on end
and lights itself with a million little lamps like glowworms
you must always write the last two letters of her christian name
upside down with a blue pencil
she was standing at the window clothed only in a ribbon
she was burning the eyes of snails in a candle
she was eating the excrement of dogs and horses
she was writing a letter to the president of france
3
the edges of leaves must be examined through microscopes
in order to see the stains made by dying flies
at the other end of the tube is a woman bathing her husband
and a box of newspapers covered with handwriting
when an angel writes the word TOBACCO across the sky
the sea becomes covered with patches of dandruff
the trunks of trees burst open to release streams of milk
little girls stick photographs of genitals to the windows of their homes
prayerbooks in churches open themselves at the death service
and virgins cover their parents' beds with tealeaves
there is an extraordinary epidemic of tuberculosis in yorkshire
where medical dictionaries are banned from the public libraries
and salt turns a pale violet colour every day at seven o'clock
when the hearts of troubadours unfold like soaked mattresses
when the leaven of the gruesome slum-visitors
and the wings of private airplanes look like shoeleather
shoeleather on which pentagrams have been drawn
shoeleather covered with vomitings of hedgehogs
shoeleather used for decorating wedding-cakes
and the gums of queens like glass marbles
queens whose wrists are chained to the walls of houses
and whose fingernails are covered with little drawings of flowers
we rejoice to receive the blessing of criminals
and we illuminate the roofs of convents when they are hung
we look through a telescope on which the lord's prayer has been written
and we see an old woman making a scarecrow
on a mountain near a village in the middle of spain
we see an elephant killing a stag-beetle
by letting hot tears fall onto the small of its back
we see a large cocoa-tin full of shapeless lumps of wax
there is a horrible dentist walking out of a ship's funnel
and leaving behind him footsteps which make noises
on account of his accent he was discharged from the sanatorium
and sent to examine the methods of cannibals
so that wreaths of passion-flowers were floating in the darkness
giving terrible illnesses to the possessors of pistols
so that large quantities of rats disguised as pigeons
were sold to various customers from neighbouring towns
who were adepts at painting gothic letters on screens
and at tying up parcels with pieces of grass
we told them to cut off the buttons on their trousers
but they swore in our faces and took off their shoes
whereupon the whole place was stifled with vast clouds of smoke
and with theatres and eggshells and droppings of eagles
and the drums of the hospitals were broken like glass
and glass were the faces in the last looking-glass.
poem by David Gascoyne
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