The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.
Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass (1855)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Before a Poetry Reading
'Poet! Poet! Poet! Poet! '
I'm feeling nervous but I mustn't show it!
'Poet! Poet! Poet! Poet! '
I hope to heaven that I won't blow it!
'Poet! Poet! Poet! Poet! '
I mustn't reveal that I'm a second-rate poet!
I'm only a rhymer, but they don't know it!
If you've got no talent you'll have to grow it!
'Poet! Poet! Poet! Poet! '
poem by John Thorkild Ellison
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
quote by Jean Chretien
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Poet I Am', And 'The Poet I Am Not
The poet I am, and the poet I am not
‘The poet I am’ says
To ‘the poet I am not’,
‘Why can’t I be more like you? ’
And ‘the poet I am not’ says
‘Because you are not good enough’
And ‘the poet I am’ begins to cry,
And ‘the poet I am not’ says
‘Real poets cry for more meaningful things’
And ‘the poet I am’ says ‘I am who I am and what I will be means so much to me. But still I am not the poet I wanted to be’.
And ‘the poet I am not’ says
‘Exactly. Were you less concerned with who you are and more concerned with others you might be a bit more of a poet than you are now.’
And ‘the poet I am’ is silent.
And ‘the poet I am not’is somewhere else being someone else
That ‘the poet I am and the poet I am not’ cannot see or dream.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Tell The Colors Of Devil!
When happiness is absorbed,
The harmony is not reflected.
When the innocence is stolen and absorbed,
The peace is not reflected.
When all good emotions are absorbed,
The useful actions are not reflected.
When all colors are absorbed to be black,
What goodness can be reflected?
Evils have many colors on the screen,
When colors of cruelty and sadism scream,
the skull and broken bones of human,
have become the symbol to threaten,
and warn the danger, red can flow,
to our minds to scare us to be nymphs,
all these colors have the right effect,
when it is dark and the sun is out.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Nature
Nature is a purifier, a converting machine
If it's not so than life can't be seen
How dirty we are! Rivers are the proof
How selfish we are! Pollution is the proof
How ugly we are! Arms and ammunition is the proof
We are the destroyer a polluting ruffian
If it's not so than power strife can't be seen
How negligent we are! Water level is the proof
How foolish we are! Japan is the proof
How mad we are! War is the proof
O! Nature! Thou art divine providence
poem by Aftab Alam Khursheed
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Bulletproof
Limb by limb and tooth by tooth
It's tearing up inside of me
Everyday, every hour wish that I
Was bullet proof
Wax me
Mould me
Heat the pins and stab them in
You have turned me into this
Just wish that it
Was bullet proof
Was bullet proof
So pay me money and take a shot
Lead-fill the hole in me
I could burst a million bubbles
All surrogate
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
This Poet Is Always Beside You
You are reading my poem but,
This poet is never known;
However, this poet is always beside you.
I am on your lips and,
I am in your mouth;
I am in your heart and,
I am in your mind;
Because, this poet is always beisde you.
This poet writes and others read,
This poet speaks and others listen,
And this poet is always beside you;
But, this poet is never known.
The works of this poet are on the internet,
And, they are being read by many! !
But, this poet is never known;
However, this poet is always beside you.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Poet is free
Poet is free
No grammarian can guide the poet
Do not tell before a poet you are dare
And I know there are so many grammarians
With so many grammars
The poet is one with truth with love
All the grammars old middle modern
Are of no use for a poet
At the time of poet's thought
Poet's love poet's poetry
Nobody can search research poet's history
Nobody can dare to described poet
Poet can create his own language
His own grammar and it does not bother the poet
Whether you like it or not
Leave the poet on his own way
It is better you to read him love him
If you are alive.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Poets! Who Are We / Why Do We Write
Is it our sub conscious seeking recognition?
Is it our search for fortune and fame?
Or is it that we enjoy the word game?
For every question there is an answer
And for every answer there is a question.
Who are we that we love to write?
So many reasons and excuses that we use.
Are we going thru this. Or feeling that,
or heard or read something that inspired us.
I have come to my own conclusion
As to what a poet is.
A poet is the dictionary, the encyclopedia of life.
Our poems give words - LIFE, DEFINITION
MEANING, FEELINGS, AND EXPLANATIONS.
Words to us is like food to the stomach
It is taken in, absorbed and then let out
For new food to enter.
For what ever reason that we write
We can or can not touch peoples
Hearts and minds, and we feel a peace sublime.
We become the voices of the voiceless
Who are afraid or too shy to speak.
We become the mothers, father, sisters, and brothers
The lovers, the homeless, and the abused.
But we do not mind being used.
New poets join us every day
From every country in the world
I’m proud to say.
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
What A Country!
For more than an era,
my Country relished the pains I suffer,
watching my banishment in alien lands.
When the vision is blurred by distance,
they spy me through the hole of a binocular,
and roar in peels of laughter;
one forty million of them relish my own holocaust.
Never had my country been like this before,
She had something called Heart,
teeming with humanity.
Now she ceases to be the country I knew.
Now she is all some decrepit rivers only,
some hamlets and towns,
here and there some vegetations;
Some houses, markets and on the grey meadows,
some people who just resemble humans.
Once my country throbbed with life,
My countrymen recited poems.
Now none thinks twice before banishing a poet,
Now at dead of night, the whole country feel free to send a poet to the gallows;
one hundred and fifty million of them,
derive a lucretian pleasure
out of a poet's execution.
Once the country knew how to love.
Now She has learnt violence and frowning.
Sharp swords at her disposal,deadly weapons
tucked into her waist, fatal explosives in hand,
no longer can She sing a song.
Over an age, in search of a country,
I've been ransacking the globe;
Without a wink of sleep, decade after decade,
In my maddening pursuit of a country.
Reaching on the edge of my own country,
I wait with arms outstretched for her.
Alack! I've heard them say:
If my country ever gets me in her grip,
She'll build my sepulchre there.
[Translated by Sujal Bhattacharya]
poem by Taslima Nasrin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Devastation
I see wonders in this country never seen,
I open my vision tonight, in this country.
We are something of grandeur, often delighted
By the lies we acquire and abhor in this dusky nation.
Then dusky nations with bleak landscapes
Carry magnificence, to expend the riches of their soil.
My innocence remains tightly with my soul
As my commune absorbs ill-health, wrong weather
Finding us in rhythm with this poem.
My colony collects burden from magnificence,
The real country condemns the cathedral clad in evil
When the country finds its cavorting of bears
And the devastation of the plant kingdom.
My own landscape will appear jagged
Compared with another land of beauty.
I wonder all the time, with a broken nose
And a broken mind, and I observe the changing times.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Poet
The poet can only utter the word fine
The poet has to bear the sorrow and the sin.
The poet can only say I am happy
The poet can only say I feel no aches no pain
The poet can only say I am not in loss
The poet can only say I am in the side of only gain.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Lovin Proof
(dianne warren)
I know some lovers would be satisfied
With sweet I love yous and some pretty lines
But that wont get you in this heart of mine
No, youll never steal my heart away
With just words, sweet words that you say
It is all in the things that you do
Im telling you
If you want me to believe
That Im the only one you need
I need lovin proof
I need lovin proof
Baby, hold me in your arms
And show me something from the heart
Give me lovin proof
I need lovin proof from you
And if the love you got is strong and true
And if you love me like you say you do
Your tender touch will tell the honest truth
And your kiss could never tell a lie
cause Id see it in your eyes
There is one way to ease any doubt
I tell you now
If you want me to believe
That Im the only one you need
I need lovin proof
I need lovin proof
Baby, I wont be impressed
Unless I get some tenderness
Give me lovin proof
I need lovin proof, oh, oh, from you, oh, oh
(I need lovin proof)
If the love is right
(I need lovin proof)
Prove it, prove it all night
(I need lovin proof)
From you
cause youll never steal my heart away
With just words, sweet words that you say
It is all in the things you do
Im telling you, telling you baby
If you want me to believe
That Im the only one you need
I need lovin proof
I need lovin proof
Baby, hold me in your arms
And tell me something from the heart
I need lovin proof
Give me lovin proof, oh, oh, from you
If you want me to believe
That Im the only one I need
I need lovin proof
Lovin proof
Baby, hold me in your arms
And show me, show me
Give me lovin proof
I need lovin proof
Ooh, baby, baby
Ooh, ooh
Give me, give me, give me
song performed by by Dusty Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Morning Sunshine
This poet is so seductive
This poet is now strange to me
This poet is so bold
This little girl doesn't want to see
The little girl has known this poet
ever since
But the little girl is already
tired of this poet
She just wants to play.
Not any passing minute
She hasn't have
any word of
allegory
metonymy and
simile
Take me away from this poet yet
the little girl must empty first
the words of this poet
Before she is free to play
in the morning sunshine
and go away from this busy poet
Do you think I'm too young to see?
Do you agree?
This poet won't let me
play out in the middle of the rain
This poet won't let me
see the afternoon sway
This poet won't let me
see the morning gay
Let me see the Morning Sunshine
Let me see!
But this poet
Won't let me
I'll just watch t.v
and sing
her poetry
poem by Mary Jesusa Villegas
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Am Not The Poet's Poet But Perhaps The Would- Be- Poet's Would-Be Poet
I AM NOT THE POET’S POET BUT PERHAPS THE WOULD- BE- POETS WOULD – BE –POET
I am not the poet’s poet-
The one poets of name and fame admire-
But perhaps the would- be- poets would be – poet-
Who tries to be a poet
And tries to understand what it means
To love poetry and live by writing it
Even when the world does not recognize me..
.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof.
The Poet Who No Longer Believes In Himself
THE POET WHO NO LONGER BELIEVES IN HIMSELF
The poet who no longer believes in himself
And writes on anyway-
The poet who is too weak to stop writing-
The poet who has died as a poet,
Before he has as a person-
The poet who may never have lived as a poet-
The old old old schnook,
Still trying to write a poem
And believing he has done it once again.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
True Love at Last
The handsome and self-absorbed young man
looked at the lovely and self-absorbed girl
and thrilled.
The lovely and self-absorbed girl
looked back at the handsome and self-absorbed young man
and thrilled.
And in that thrill he felt:
Her self-absorption is even as strong as mine.
I must see if I can't break through it
And absorb her in me.
And in that thrill she felt:
His self-absorption is even stronger than mine!
What fun, stronger than mine!
I must see if I can't absorb this Samson of self-absorption.
So they simply adored one another
and in the end
they were both nervous wrecks, because
in self-absorption and self-interest they were equally matched.
poem by David McKee Wright
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
60% Proof
alcoholic drinks
are measured by their
percent proof,
For example,
a 'six proof' beer
would have 3% alcohol,
barely any,
while a strong liqueur
that advertised it was 80 proof
would have
40% alcohol.
It isn't, however, quite that simple...
there are other
complications, but that
is not my point
here,
what about poetry?
what kind of
proof is this
poetry that makes
you drunk?
or do you want
something to make
you sober?
you get high?
you want to?
ah, try putting
alcohol in your
words,
give it the
kind of proof
needed,
then say, ahh,
this is real poetry
this certain relief
from the harsh
realities of our lives,
this ahhh,
ahhhh, ahhhh
oh God!
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Whose Country Is This?
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of snakes;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of many waters;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of thieves! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of people;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of oil;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of earthquakes!
Whose country is this?
it is a land full of lovers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of volcanoes!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of beautiful flowers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of hansome men;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of beautiful women;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of roses;
Whose country is this?
it is a land ruled only by men;
Whose country is this?
It is a land without rainfall;
Whose country is this?
It is a land ruled by a woman;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of corruption!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pirates! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land ruled by law;
Whose country is this?
It is a land controlled by rebels!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of ice;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pregnant women;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of singers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of troubles;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of war! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land with the biggest cemetery in the wolrd!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of desert;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of trees;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pregnant teenagers!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of timber;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of hatred;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of love;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of care;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of peace;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of smokers!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of businesses;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of harlots;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of wise people;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of idiots!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of gold;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of cocoa;
Whose country is this?
It is a alnd full of crabs;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of evil;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of rainfalls;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of ants;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of horses;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pigs;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of statues;
Whose country is this?
it is a land full of birds;
And so on, and so forth!
Because nature had made them so as we see them around us,
But the wise and fool live together on this earth.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!