What I Saw At The Temple...
in the buddhist monastery somewhere
in ho chi minh city
an old tourist who travels alone
though a roman catholic by option
and tradition
lights his incense
buys a blank paper
writes his unfulfilled wishes of his
long gone youth
submits it to the famous Lady of the Sea
the monk in maroon
lights the paper and the the smoke goes up to the sky
as the gods
begin to deliberate whether this old man
deserves it
a young boy left by his mother
(as she busies herself on the altar)
leans on the
300 year-old wall
wondering what is this all about
twitching
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
The Love Letter
She wonders how to begin her letter
She knows he will read each word
Greedily for any hint of love. She knows
He will sniff the paper for any scent of her
She leans an elbow on her writing desk
And clutches her pen tight. She has got
As far as, Dear John, but then the words
Stopped coming. Before she had sat down
To write, the words flowed through her
Mind like a rushing stream, now nothing
She sucks the end of the pen. Say what
You would if you were face to face, her
Mother always said. She tries to imagine
He is there before her and what she would
Say if he was, but still no words will come
He writes to her so fluently when he writes
He always seems to know what to write
And how to put it into words. She tries again
Puts the pen nib onto the paper, gripping
The pen tighter. She reads what she’s written
Dear John. The pen moves, the words begin
To flow, her hand moves across the page
The images come into her mind as she writes
The things that they said last time they met
The things they did, she blushes slightly
That almost being caught out by the maid
In a state of undress. She pauses the pen
And sits gazing at the painting on the wall.
She looks back at the paper and starts again
The words tripping over themselves to be put
Down in ink upon a page; the images open up
In her mind, the colours, the smells, the events
The pen now stops. The love letter is written
The writing done. She looks at the words
Then she seals it in an envelope and writes
His address. She pictures him reading it: in bed
In his room, sleepy, in a state of his usual undress
poem by Terry Collett
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Red Lights
Red lights - on the highway
Headlights - blinding my eye
Red lights - keep me waiting
White lights - drive me insane
Red lights - in the city
Streetlights - high in the night
Searchlights - Im looking for someone
Red lights - young bloods alright
Try as I can but (? )
I cant keep away
No no no no way
Red lights - she knows what Im here for
Headlights - look me in the eye
Red lights - are you looking for danger
White lights - drives me insane
Try as I can but (? )
I cant keep away
No no no, not for one day
Red lights - no questions
Streetlights c youths desire(? )
Red lights - burning desire
White lights c put you to bed (? )
Red lights- in the city
Streetlights - shadow the night
Sunshine - if you need some one
Headlights - that young bloods alright
Try as I can but (? )
I cant keep away
Not today
She brings me to my knees
Try as I can but (? )
I cant keep away
I want you babe(? )
Red lights - oh, I want you
Red lights - I need it
Red lights - you get too heavy
Red lights
song performed by by Uriah Heep
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Not Fitting In Despite All Those Years
sometimes you envy
the monk in maroon peacefully
crossing the street
somewhere in Ho Chi Minh
or even an earthen bowl half-filled with water
with a jasmine flower floating
upon a very still world
you like to take the brush and some water colors
to paint all these
but it is a little crowded world you have there
there is simply no time for wasting
it's a fast paced lifestyle
the lifelessness of the to and fro
the unstoppable flow
trying to accomplish almost everything
without meaning.
somewhere in a dream
you wish you were the monk
or even
the jasmine
and then you hit your chest with your fist
convincing yourself that at a certain hour
you can be so foolish
still not fitting in despite all those years
'how can you be a beautiful jasmine in a concrete wall?
how can you be the monk in maroon in a public market full of
swindlers and screaming spice vendors? '
amidst the mess, in the middle of the crowd
how can you be a dream?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Paper And Pen
Paper and pen
Trying to write a song again
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Trying to write a song again
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Can’t think of anything to say today
Can’t think of anything to do
Can’t think of anything to play today
Minds gone blank
Leaving me here, just sitting here
Listening to my hair grow
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
And I look towards you
For an inspiration or a word or two
I try but I find
Every road only leads me back to these lines
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Piano, guitar
I try but don't get very far
Paper and pen
Piano, guitar
Paper and pen
Trying to write a song again
Paper and pen
Paper and pen
Copyright Colin Coplin 1985 / 2010
poem by Colin Coplin
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City Lights
Walking the lonely streets of the city during the nights
I look around me and see lights
Lights of skyscrapers touching the sky
And the lights of buildings that don’t stand very high
All around me I see light
That penetrates through the darkness of night
For a moment I forget about my constant companion
The one that makes me feel as if I’m in the bottom of a canyon
Loneliness
I forget for a moment that I am the only one that’s left
That to feed myself, I resort to theft
My family is gone, they left no trace
I close my eyes, and see my mothers face
They died last year, at the peak of the war
My father fought on the oceans shore
My mother and brother were both at home
When they dropped the great bomb, with its shiny chrome
I was at a shelter, far away from the city
But when I returned, there was no welcoming committee
The city was in ruins, my family dead
My heart was filled to the rim with dread
I was alone now, what a pity
Left to look at the lights of the city
poem by Joe Pascale
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Paper
Paper promises, Dunstead said,
paper cups, wallpaper being stuck
up on the wall for the next to last
time, paper tigers, paper to wipe
the ass and best of all paper to
create art, to have it from the heart,
to see it out there, being gazed at,
studied by some bearded guy with
glasses and paper money to buy
the next paper to create and then
if I’m lucky the muse turning up on
time and giving me the big nudge
in the right direction or some paper
picture of some nude dame giving
the long time wished for erection.
poem by Terry Collett
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Lady-oh
Words and music by neil diamond
Lady-oh, lady-oh, I walked the streets again last night.
I saw you in the city light like a vision, lady-oh.
Lady i, lady i, Ive been waitin around such a long long time
Believin I could make you mine, just wanting you lady-oh.
But here I am and there you are, much too far to even hear me.
Hurts a lot, you know it does, it hurts a lot.
Oh, lady-oh, am I gonna ever learn what I never learned before?
City lights, city lights burn so warm and they burn so bright,
But me, I walk the city night to forget you, lady-oh.
But here I am and there you are, much too far to even hear me.
Hurts a lot, you know it does, it hurts a lot.
Oh, lady-oh, am I gonna ever learn what I never learned before?
song performed by by Neil Diamond
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The City Children
Around the city places are particular children
Wandering like cruel expenses during the day,
And only in the night do children sleep in the city,
But the city does not turn off its lights in the deep night.
When do they spin the cars and race in the city?
In the night the children play as if wondering,
When they wonder the lights go out.
What does the mission entail?
A commencement of hostilities, a burning desire,
One of alacrity and higher purpose than any older person.
Those wise men in the whole city rely on the night
To quell the minds of the young, the young who might bite.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Blank Page
Blank page leave me be!
Blank page please stop taunting me,
reminding me of what I have failed to do.
Oh how I long to fill you,
to take up your very last line
with creative, riveting lyrics of mine.
Blank page stop harassing me!
I wish to show you my thoughts,
desires, emotions and all.
How difficult it is to answer your call.
Blank page how sweetly you whisper
tempting my pen to caress your paper.
I immaturely expect the verses to flow
then I realize that my thoughts are much too slow.
Blank page so often you defeat me
teasing and challenging until hours later
all that is left is the tiny dot
where my pen merely touched your paper.
poem by Shaqueena Celestin
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Written in Black Ink
Upon
The tear-stained
Paper
She writes
Writes,
Her story
Her experiences
Her life
Written in
Black ink
Upon
The tear-stained
Paper
She writes
Writes,
Her sorrows
People she lost
People who are gone
Written in
Black ink
She writes for
Days and
Days
Until
At last
Her masterpiece
Is finished
Her eyes Begin to
Close and
Oblivion Takes hold
And when she
Awakens
Her story will be written
Written in black ink
poem by Autumn Winds
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Paper Boy
Roy orbison
I walk down to the blue side of town
Where there's no happiness, no joy
Down at the end of a long dark street
I saw a little paper boy
Paper boy paper boy
I've got bad news for you
Paper boy paper boy
Me and my baby are through
She was my love my one and only
I feel so bad i'm oh so lonely
I'm looking for my love
I've got my own headlines for today
They've been the same since she went away
"one dark haired angel disappears
She's been missing for a million years"
Paper boy paper boy
So long goodbye
Paper boy paper boy
Thanks for listening while i cry
I feel a little better now that someone knows
But i will go on looking forever, i suppose
I'm looking for my love
Extra extra read all about it
My baby's gone and i wanna shout it
I'm looking for my love
I'm looking for my love
I'm looking for my love....
song performed by by Roy Orbison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Three Palinodias - 01
"Incense is hut a tribute for the gods,--
To mortals 'tis but poison."
THE smoke that from thine altar blows,
Can it the gods offend?
For I observe thou hold'st thy nose--
Pray what does this portend?
Mankind deem incense to excel
Each other earthly thing,
So he that cannot bear its smell,
No incense e'er should bring.
With unmoved face by thee at least
To dolls is homage given;
If not obstructed by the priest,
The scent mounts up to heaven.
poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Paper Thin
Rich and wealthy canvas
Clustered up in jewels
Finding all your heavyweights
Are featherweights and fools
Broken all your promises
Broken all your paper plates
Clustered in gold
Crusted in gold
Heavy and hollow
Look at the shape were in
Find us here
Paper thin
Heavy and humble
Look at the shape were in
Find us here
Paper thin
In origami cities
In nations build on sand
Love got bend right outta shape
Things got outta hand
Polystyrene skylines
Papier mch smiles
Rusted and bruised
Tarnished and frail
Heavy and hollow
Look at the shape were in
Find us here
Paper thin
Heavy and humble
Look at the shape were in
Find us here
Paper thin
Stars scrape the moon
And the moon scrapes the sky
We stand beneath
Wondering why
Stars scrape the moon
And the moon scrapes the sky
We stand beneath
Wondering, wondering why
Paper buys the men
The men that make the bomb
The bomb that makes this world
Paper thin!
Money markets crumble
Gentle as a drum
But if you see me stumble, im
Paper thin!
Life is but a fragile thing
So delicate and pure
An accolade bestowed on us
Paper thin!
So contemplate the skull
The skull beneath the skin
One day we all die, were
Paper thin
Bury your destruction
In your last battle hymn
The barriers between us, make em all
Paper thin! paper thin!
Paper thin! paper thin!
Underneath the paper moon
The sky is paper thin
Torn into a thousand shreds
So let the solar system in
Rich and wealthy canvas
Clustered up in jewels
Finding all your heavyweights
Are featherweights and fools
In origami cities
In nations build on sand
Love got bend right outta shape
Nothing ends as planned
And its all-paper thin
Paper thin. paper thin
song performed by by Abc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Upon this paper my life is written
Upon this paper my life is written,
a tree doubled over in pain.
The red ink flows over the skin,
full stops and commas are hair and stars:
eyes of sea left on ships,
destroyed houses, rusting girders.
This paper is as black as the storm,
destroyed villages where there is no fiesta.
This paper burns as reason does,
lightning in the sky flashes in its millions.
This paper is a sky where there is no God,
this paper is alone…
this paper does not fly…
this paper… it is I.
poem by Menotti Lerro from The Poetry of Menotti Lerro (2011), translated by Andrew Mangham, Maria Rosaria La Marca
Submitted by anonym
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If I Could Just Get It On Paper
If I could just get it on paper
By: jimmy buffett
1981
For william faulkner
If I could just get it on paper
The things that have happened tonight
That seems to me to be the big key
Im havin too good a time to ever turn
Out the lights
Go to bed wake up with a clear head
Recallin what made it a ball
Yes if I could just get it on paper
I might make some sense of it all
If I could tell half of the stories
The funny way most things begin
Figure ways to disguise all the half-truths and lies
Find the heart of my song with the point of a pen
Simple words can become clever phrases
And chapters could turn into books
Yes if I could just get it on paper
But its harder than it ever looks
(instrumental)
All alone on the edge of the water
Hidin out by the sea of cortez
With my sketch pads and flairs
Tapes and battery spares
Its just no comprehendo to what everyone says
Time alone seemed to work well for faulkner
Time away seems to work for the kid
Life and ink they run out at the same time
Or so said my old friend the squid
Yes if I could just get it on paper tonight
I could tell you what I think I did
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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White Blank Paper
On a white blank paper
I'm writing the chronicle of a tormented soul
Reality and dream are two different things
Can't achieve the same goal
On a white blank paper
I'm putting the pieces of my broken heart
Vanquished & overpowered by the joy of sorrow
Relinquish to the power of thought of a new start
This white blank paper
Witnessing the commotion of another love story
Love brings tears love creates pain
But only painful love gets the imperial glory
poem by Sourav RCY
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Paper
Hold the paper up to the light
(some rays pass right through)
Expose yourself out there for a minute
(some rays pass right through)
Take a little rest when the rays pass through
Take a little time off when the rays pass through
Go ahead and mis it up...go ahead and tie it up
In a long distance telephone call
Hold on to that paper
Hold on to that paper
Hold on becuase its been taken care of
Hold on to that paper
See if you can fit it on the paper
See if you can get it on the paper
See if you can fit it on the paper
See if you can get it on the paper
Had a love affair but it was only paper
(some rays they pass right through)
Had a lot of fun, could have been a lot better
(some rays they pass right through)
Take a little consideration, take every combination
Take a few weeks off, make it tighter, tighter
But it was never, it was never written down
Still might be a chance that it might work out (if you)
Hold on to that paper
Hold on to that paper
Hold on because itll be taken care of
Hold on to that paper
Dont think I can fit it on the paper
Dont think I can get it on the paper
Go ahead and rip up, rip up the paper
Go ahead and tear up, tear up the paper
song performed by by Talking Heads
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Brown Paper Bag
Brown paper bag
Squalid incomplete
slumped to the side of the street
Like unwanted sacks of garbage
She left her track her smell
And like the brown paper bag
She had travelled well
She had a whole world in her head
Her first love
The man she wed
And the drink and the smoke
And the four o clock bloke
That returned with a bottle in a brown paper bag
And better days before
When she had carried her first round fruit
When the brown paper bag was waxed new
And he carried his bride to the door
Then the four o clock bloke
Full of stale wine and stale smoke
With a bottle in a brown paper bag
How he called her a hag
And that first punch to the floor
And the brown paper bags fell by her side
Crumpled and stained
And the liquor cans and the four o clock man
Who never spoke
Left her broke
Bones shattered in pieces
Flesh bare to the wind
Body out on the street
Skin tanned dirt brown
Hair matted locks
And two brown paper bags tied with string to her feet
yvette m smith 11.2.09
poem by Yvette Smith
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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When Will Life Begin
Seven A.M., the usual morning line-up
Start on the chores, and sweep 'til the
floor's are
clean
Polish and wax, do laundry and mop and
shine up
Sweep again
And by then
It's, like, seven fifteen
And so I'll read a book
Or maybe 2 or 3 Ill add a few new
paintings
To my gallery
I'll play guitar and knit and cook
And basically
Just wonder, when will my life begin?
Then, after lunch, it's puzzles, and
darts, and
baking...
Paper-mache, a bit of ballet, and
chess....
Pottery and ventriloquy, candle-
making...
Then I'll stretch
Maybe sketch
Take a climb
Sew a dress
And I'll re-read the books
If I have time to spare
I'll paint the wall some more
I'm sure there's room somewhere
And then I'll brush, and brush
And brush, and brush my hair
Stuck in the same place I've always been
And I'll keep wondrin'
And wonderin'
And wonderin'
And wonderin'
When will my life begin?
Tomorrow night...
The lights will appear...
Just like they do on my birthday each
year...What is it like...
Out there where they glow...
Now that I'm older...
Mother might just let me go......
poem by Pawan Kumar 'Meonlafesta'
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Blank Sheet Of Paper
I'm just a blank sheet of paper
This fool's about to write you a letter
To tell you that he's sorry
For the way he did you wrong
To ask for forgiveness
For leaving you alone
He's been looking down at me seems like forever
he takes the top on and off his pen
It's like he can't decide
Just what he wants to say
If he'd just tell the truth
I'd be on my way
Chorus
But he just stares at me
And i just stare at him
He don't know where to start
To say he doesn't want it to end
And now it's one hour later (four hours later)
I am still a blank sheet of paper
Sunlight is shining through the curtains
He's almost asleep pen in hand
There's a tear in his eye
That refuses to fall
If it would land on me
That would say it all
Repeat Chorus
And he just stares at me
And i just stare at him
He don't know where to start
To say he wants it back again
And now one broken heart later
I am still a Blank sheet of paper
song performed by by Tim McGraw
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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