Tom Taylor
On pay-day nights, neck-full with beer,
Old soldiers stumbling homeward here,
Homeward (still dazzled by the spark
Love kindled in some alley dark)
Young soldiers mooning in slow thought,
Start suddenly, turn about, are caught
By a dancing sound, merry as a grig,
Tom Taylor's piccolo playing jig.
Never was blown from human cheeks
Music like this, that calls and speaks
Till sots and lovers from one string
Dangle and dance in the same ring.
Tom, of your piping I've heard said
And seen--that you can rouse the dead,
Dead-drunken men awash who lie
In stinking gutters hear your cry,
I've seen them twitch, draw breath, grope, sigh,
Heave up, sway, stand; grotesquely then
You set them dancing, these dead men.
They stamp and prance with sobbing breath,
Victims of wine or love or death,
In ragged time they jump, they shake
Their heads, sweating to overtake
The impetuous tune flying ahead.
They flounder after, with legs of lead.
Now, suddenly as it started, play
Stops, the short echo dies away,
The corpses drop, a senseless heap,
The drunk men gaze about like sheep.
Grinning, the lovers sigh and stare
Up at the broad moon hanging there,
While Tom, five fingers to his nose,
Skips off...And the last bugle blows.
poem by Robert Graves
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Everybody Dance (The Dance Of The Dead)
As the sun sinks upon the horizon,
As the dark night creeps in,
The dead dance.
On the streets they roam,
Silent,
Alone.
Everybody dances,
The saints and the sinners,
Everybody dances,
To the sound of the rhythm,
Everybody dances,
The dance of the dead.
The dance of the dead goes on,
And on,
Never stops,
Never slows,
Time does not matter to the dead.
Everybody dances,
The poor and the rich,
Everybody dances,
To the cries to the babies,
Everybody dances,
The dance of the dead.
As your time goes up,
The dead dance into your room,
Filled with silent movements,
They twirl with grace,
And style
And ease.
They reach out their hands,
And you take it,
And join the dance of the dead.
Everybody dance,
The young and the old,
Everybody dance,
The music is playing,
Everybody dance,
To the dance of the dead.
C’mon,
Everybody dance,
Soldiers and lovers,
Oh,
Everybody dance,
To sound they cry,
So,
Everybody dance,
To the dance of the dead,
The dance of the dead.
Oh,
Everybody dances,
Because the dance never stops.
6/05/06
poem by Charlie F. Kane
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Death Alone
There are lone cemeteries,
tombs full of soundless bones,
the heart threading a tunnel,
a dark, dark tunnel :
like a wreck we die to the very core,
as if drowning at the heart
or collapsing inwards from skin to soul.
There are corpses,
clammy slabs for feet,
there is death in the bones,
like a pure sound,
a bark without its dog,
out of certain bells, certain tombs
swelling in this humidity like lament or rain.
I see, when alone at times,
coffins under sail
setting out with the pale dead, women in their dead braids,
bakers as white as angels,
thoughtful girls married to notaries,
coffins ascending the vertical river of the dead,
the wine-dark river to its source,
with their sails swollen with the sound of death,
filled with the silent noise of death.
Death is drawn to sound
like a slipper without a foot, a suit without its wearer,
comes to knock with a ring, stoneless and fingerless,
comes to shout without a mouth, a tongue, without a throat.
Nevertheless its footsteps sound
and its clothes echo, hushed like a tree.
I do not know, I am ignorant, I hardly see
but it seems to me that its song has the colour of wet violets,
violets well used to the earth,
since the face of death is green,
and the gaze of death green
with the etched moisture of a violet's leaf
and its grave colour of exasperated winter.
But death goes about the earth also, riding a broom
lapping the ground in search of the dead -
death is in the broom,
it is the tongue of death looking for the dead,
the needle of death looking for the thread.
Death lies in our beds :
in the lazy mattresses, the black blankets,
lives a full stretch and then suddenly blows,
blows sound unknown filling out the sheets
and there are beds sailing into a harbour
where death is waiting, dressed as an admiral.
poem by Pablo Neruda
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Dancing On Ice
The compere and his co-host,
Resplendent, caused a stir!
Watched on TV from coast-to-coast
With all male eyes on HER!
She outshone all the stars above,
Gold sequins here and there
And suddenly I fell in love,
All I could do was stare...
I thought that I'd gone deaf a while,
Each time she said a word,
For all she had to do was smile
And nothing then was heard!
I turned the volume up a bit,
To hear her once again,
Returning to my chair to sit
And ogle like most men...
And all at once I heard a sigh
That started from my heart
And watched her till she said goodbye
And sadly saw her part...
Since I'd recorded everything,
I watched her smile once more...
And simply with the joys of Spring,
I heard myself say, 'PHWOAR! '
I've not said that a long, long time!
Yet now it was deserved!
You see, to me, she was sublime
And oh, so sweetly curved!
Of course, I'll tune in next week, too,
I like 'Dancing On Ice'!
Now I'm in love I've got to view
That girl who looks so nice!
poem by Denis Martindale
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Slow Dancing
(jack tempchin)
Its late at night and were all alone
With just the music of the radio
No ones comin, no ones gonna telephone
Just me and him and the lights down low
And were slow dancing, swaying to the music
Slow dancing, just me and my guy
Slow dancing, swaying to the music
No one else in the whole wide world
In the whole wide world
And we just float together when the lights are low
And the shadows dancing across the wall
The musics playing so soft and slow
And the rest of the worlds so far away and small
Slow dancing, swaying to the music
Slow dancing, just me and my guy
Slow dancing, swaying to the music
No one else in the whole wide world
In the whole wide world
Hold me, please hold me
Dont ever let me go
And as we dance together in the dark
Theres so much love in this heart of mine
He whispers to me and I hold him tight
Hes the one I thought Id never find
Slow dancing, swaying to the music
Slow dancing, just me and my guy
Slow dancing, swaying to the music
No one else in the whole wide world
In the whole wide world
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Slow Dancing
My love is cruel as the night
She steals the sun, and shuts out the light
All of my colors, they turn to blue
Win or lose
She does it slow dancing
Slow dancing
She does it slow...dancing
All night long
Scarlet eyes and a see-through heart
She saw me coming right from the start
She picked me up, but had me down on my knees
Just a beggin her, beggin her please
Take me slow dancing
Slow dancing
She took me slow...dancing
All night long
And I dont know a man
Search for himself in his lovers eyes
No I dont know why a man
Sees the truth but needs the lies
My love is restless as the wind
She moves like a shadow across my skin
She left with my conscience, I dont want it back
It just gets in the way
If you wanna go slow dancing
Slow dancing
She took me slow...dancing
All night long
Slow...dancing
Slow...dancing
Slow...
song performed by by U2
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dancing Machine
Dancing, dancing, dancing
Shes a dancing machine
Ah babe
Move it baby
Automatic systematic
Full of color self contained
Tune that shadow to your vibes
Captivating stimulating
Shes such a sexy lady
Filled with space age design
Shes moving grooving
Dancing to the music stop now
Yea
Rythmetic acrobatic
She a dynamite attraction
At the drop of a coin she comes alive, yea
She knows what shes doing
She super bad now
Shes here to really blow your mind
Dancing, dancing, dancing
Shes a dancing machine
Ah babe
Do it baby
Dancing, dancing, dancing
Shes a dancing machine
Ah babe
Move it baby
Shes a dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing machine
Watch her get down, watch her get down
As she do, do, do her thing
Right on the scene
Shes a dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing machine
Watch her get down, watch her get down
As she do, do, do her thing
Right on the scene
Come on babe
Come on babe
Babe
Babe
Shake it baby
Shake it babe
Babe
Babe
Babe
Dance
Dance
Dance
Dance
I like it
I like
I love you
Shes a dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing machine
Watch her get down, watch her get down
As she do, do, do her thing
Right on the scene
Shes a dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing machine
Watch her get down, watch her get down
song performed by by Michael Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Dancing Seal
When we were building Skua Light--
The first men who had lived a night
Upon that deep-sea Isle--
As soon as chisel touched the stone,
The friendly seals would come ashore;
And sit and watch us all the while,
As though they'd not seen men before;
And so, poor beasts, had never known
Men had the heart to do them harm.
They'd little cause to feel alarm
With us, for we were glad to find
Some friendliness in that strange sea;
Only too pleaed to let them be
And sit as long as they'd a mind
To watch us: for their eyes were kind
Like women's eyes, it seemed to me.
So, hour on hour, they sat: I think
They liked to hear the chisels clink:
And when the boy sang loud and clear,
They scrambled closer in to hear;
And if he whistled sweet and shrill,
The queer beasts shuffled nearer still:
But every sleek and sheeny skin
Was mad to hear his violin.
When, work all over for the day,
He'd take his fiddle down and play
His merry tunes beside the sea,
Their eyes grew brighter and more bright,
And burned and twinkled merrily:
And as I watched them one still night,
And saw their eager sparkling eyes,
I felt those lively seals would rise
Some shiny night ere he could know,
And dance about him, heel and toe,
Unto the fiddle's headdy tune.
And at the rising of the moon,
Half-daft, I took my stand before
A young seal lying on the shore;
And called on her to dance with me.
And it seemed hardly strange when she
Stood up before me suddenly,
And shed her black and sheeny skin;
And smiled, all eager to begin . . .
And I was dancing, heel and toe,
With a young maiden, white as snow,
Unto a crazy violin.
We danced beneath the dancing moon
All night, beside the dancing sea,
With tripping toes and skipping heels:
And all about us friendly seals
Like Christian folk were dancing reels
Unto the fiddle's endless tune
That kept on spinning merrily
As though it never meant to stop.
And never once the snow-white maid
A moment stayed
To take a breath,
Though I was fit to drop:
And while those wild eyes challenged me,
I knew as well as well could be
I must keep step with that young girl,
Though we should dance to death.
Then with a skirl
The fiddle broke:
The moon went out:
The sea stopped dead:
And, in a twinkling, all the rout
Of dancing folk had fled . . .
And in the chill bleak dawn I woke
Upon the naked rock, alone.
They've brought me far from Skua Isle . . .
I laugh to think they do not know
That as, all day I chip the stone,
Among my fellows here inland,
I smell the sea-wrack on the shore . . .
And see her snowy-tossing hand,
And meet again her merry smile . . .
And dream I'm dancing all the while,
I'm dancing ever, heel and toe,
With a seal-maiden, white as snow,
On that moonshiny Island-strand,
For ever and for evermore.
poem by Wilfred Wilson Gibson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Miracle Goodnight
Burning up each others love, burning up our lives
Tried all kinds of working out, miracle goodnight
Future full and empty knocking on my door
Ragged limbed and hungry mama
Miracle no more
(skin tell me) turn it around
(head tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing)
Morning star youre beautiful, yellow dime on high
Spins around my little room, miracle goodnight
Even flower all alone, pazanane capeche
Havent got a death wish, just want a little more
(skin tell me) turn it around
(head tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) miracle goodnight
(breath tell me) turn it around
(heart tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) it was only make believe
I wish there was a sailor a thousand miles from here
I wished I had a future, anywhere
I love you in the morning sun, I love you in my dreams
I love the sound of making love, the feeling of your skin
The corner of your eyes, I long forevermore
I never want to say goodnight, miracle goodnight
(skin tell me) turn it around
(head tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) miracle goodnight
(breath tell me) turn it around
(heart tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) it was only make believe
Dont want to know the past, I want to know the real deal
I really dont want to know that
The less we know, the better we feel
Morning star youre beautiful, yellow diamond high
Spinning around my little room, miracle
(skin tell me) turn it around
(head tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) miracle goodnight
(breath tell me) turn it around
(heart tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) it was only make believe
(skin tell me) turn it around
(moon tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) it was only make believe
(eyes tell me)
(judes tell me) nobody dancing
(nobody dancing) miracle
(skin tell me) tonight
(head tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) nobody dancing
(breath tell me) turn it around
(heart tell me) make it alright
(nobody dancing) it was only make believe
(skin tell me) turn it around
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Dance For Relief!
Dancing is an art that makes one forget all worries;
Dancing to a tune relieves one a while from tensions;
Dancing according to music makes one really free!
Dancing and singing make one enjoy pleasure fine.
Dancing, singing and playing music makes one divine!
Shaking of body, hands and legs beautifully is dance;
Sake dance, break dance, clap dance are all real fun!
Dancing makes one healthy and beautiful life long!
Dancing is a balancing art as the Stars do in the Universe!
Dancing for balance is beauty that attracts all to dance
And make the company joyous to forget time and worries.
So, man visualized God as Divine Lord of Dance to dance!
Dancing, singing and playing music is a wonderful art
Poetry has prompted man to visualize and realize in life!
poem by Ramesh T A
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Water
Now everybody tells me youre the dogs best friend
Im the cats meow since I dont know when
Im an instigator from a dead mans town
So when did the whole world turn upside down
When did you change your mind, when did you lose the juice
Now where did you get your attitude
When did you give it away, what did the old man say
And how many babies did you kick today
Now how many nights can the full moon shine
How many bottles of water can you turn to wine
When the blood has flowed against the tides of time
And the water flows forever
Hey hey hey!
Now Im gonna build a boat, Im gonna make it float
cause Im getting the chase for a faraway place
Gonna set the sail, gonna catch some wind
And the big red skys gonna be my only friend
With a boat for two, just me and you
You can be my teacher, I can teach you too
Gonna try a few things that Ive never done
Maybe talk to the fishies, maybe have some fun
Maybe shake my pale fist at the angry stars
While I dance a jig under the eyes of mars
When we get to an island where no ones ever been
We can get down and dirty in our animal skins
And I stand with my thing hanging out in the wind
Where the waters sweet like honey
Hey hey yeah hey hey yeah!
Ive been feeling a chill, from the east wind blue
Its been creeping up slow, have you felt it too?
Have you noticed the look? have you felt the feel?
Did it make you blush when the piggy squealed
Have you heard what they say, did you read the news
Said the old mans coming home a-singing the blues
Gonna whack your fanny, gonna tan your hide
Make your ears turn red, make you gonna cry
Now how many children gonna lose their minds
How many crying girls will be left behind
When the dead start walking and the full moon shines
When the dead start walking and the full moon shines
When the dead start walking and the full moon shines
When the dead start walking and the full moon shines
When the dead start walking... yeah
Now everybody sing to the heavens above
And everybody dance to the sounds of love
Wont you clack your teeth, wont you smack your hands
Wont you dig your little heads right out of the sand
Wont you jiggle your butt, wont you wave your arms
Wont you look like you just came off of the farm
Wont you stop your fighting for a second or two
Wont you help your neighbors, wont you do the do
Wont you taste the sugar, wont you eat the cake
Wont you get your ugly mug right out of my face
Wont you tell your brothers and your sisters tonight,
That you tasted the water and the water was right
Wont you taste the sugar, wont you dance the dance
Wont you wake up please, come on out of your trance
Everybody make believe that you disappear
For a second or two, gonna feel so queer
And you left behind all your rage and fear
And it made you feel like water
song performed by by Oingo Boingo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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They Dance Alone
Why are there women here dancing on their own?
Why is there this sadness in their eyes?
Why are the soldiers here
Their faces fixed like stone?
I can't see what it is that they dispise
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone
It's the only form of protest they're allowed
I've seen their silent faces scream so loud
If they were to speak these words they'd go missing too
Another woman on a torture table what else can they do
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
Ellas danzan con los muertos
Ellas danzan con amores invisibles
Ellas danzan con silenciosa angustia
Danzan con sus pardres
Danzan con sus hijos
Danzan con sus esposos
Ellas danzan solas
Danzan solas
Hey Mr. Pinochet
You've sown a bitter crop
It's foreign money that supports you
One day the money's going to stop
No wages for your torturers
No budget for your guns
Can you think of your own mother
Dancin' with her invisible son
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
They're anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Music For Lovers
There is music for lovers
that resounds
in the sound
of a sigh.
And there's music for lovers
in the hush-a-bye dreams
of a child.
When the whole world discovers
that love's the only thing worthwhile.
There'll be music for everyone
and the whole world will smile.
In the willow tree
Made for you and me
there's a silver symphony of birds.
When the poets rhyme
in the summer time
you'll hear melodies
in the world.
And there is music for lovers
that resounds
in the sound
of a sigh.
And there's music for lovers
When you look at the face
Of you child.
When the whole world discovers
that love is the only thing worthwhile
there'll be music for everyone
and the whole world will smile.
song performed by by Nina Simone
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Time Works On All The Wild Young Men
(carly simon/ben taylor)
Time works on all the wild young men
The ones who went for soldiers
The ones who reached for fame
The ones who swore theyd die for love
No matter what the shame
Time circles round them snuffs their spark
And there they are
Dancing in the dark
song performed by by Carly Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Some Mothers Son
Some mothers son lies in a field
Someone has killed some mothers son today
Head blown up by some soldiers gun
While all the mothers stand and wait
Some mothers son aint coming home today
Some mothers son aint got no grave
Two soldiers fighting in a trench
One soldier glances up to see the sun
And dreams of games he played when he was young
And then his friend calls out his name
It stops his dream and as he turns his head
A second later he is dead
Some mothers son lies in a field
Back home they put his picture in a frame
But all dead soldiers look the same
While all the parents stand and wait
To meet their children coming home from school
Some mothers son is lying dead
Somewhere someone is crying
Someone is trying to be so brave
But still the world keeps turning
Though all the children have gone away
Some mothers son lies in a field
But in his mothers eyes he looks the same
As on the day he went away
They put his picture on the wall
They put flowers in the picture frame
Some mothers memory remains
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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May The Living Be Dead (In Our Wake)
Said her name was Marie
From the banks of the Lee
With the prettiest eyes my own had ever seen
Her hair like ripples
They danced with the tide
As our hearts washed away to the sea
Was she sent down from the heavens above
Her breath pure as whiskey my heart fell in love
Now the devil is courtin' a different tune
And I laugh as the tears was the rain
Tell me why no one's listenin'
Is there nothing at all left to say
In a world so unforgiving
You mean more to me each every day
So may the living be dead in our wake
One cold winters night behind the clouds stars did hide
And the ghost of our souls thanking Christ
we're alive
Our spirits they crackled with lovers first sight
Till the mornin' came fresh with a new
Will you dance with me now heavens child sang
the clown
We've nothing left to lose but your wings and
my frown
Where over the hills the valleys will ring
To the sound of our love singin' true
Tell me why no one's listenin'
Is there nothing at all left to say
In a world so unforgiving
You mean more to me each every day
So may the living be dead in our wake
But the summer sun is melting now
With the leaves I'll soon be gone
Will you have the strength when the emptiness
shadows fall
Or will your aching heart be ripped apart
By the beating from the storm
Or will howling gales like yesterdays be gone
Yeah be gone... be gone
Was she sent down from the heavens above
Her breath pure as whiskey my heart fell in love
Now the devil is courtin' a different tune
And I laugh as the tears was the rain
Tell me why no one's listenin'
Is there nothing at all left to say
In a world so unforgiving
You mean more to me each every day
So may the living be dead in our wake
song performed by by Flogging Molly from Drunken Lullabies
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
Writers: leo sayer & vini poncia
Youve got a cute way of talking
You got the better of me
Just snap your fingers and Im walking
Like a dog hanging on your lead
Im in a spin you know
Shaking on a string you know
You make me feel like dancing
Im gonna dance the night away
You make me feel like dancing
Im gonna dance the night away
You make feel like dancing
I feel like dancing dancing dance the night away
I feel like dancing dancing ahhh
Quarter to four in the morning
I aint feeling tired no no no no no
Just hold me tight and leave on the light
Cause I dont want to go home
You put a spell on me
Im right where you want me to be
You make me feel like dancing
I want to dance the night away
You make me feel like dancing
Im gonna dance the night away
You make feel like dancing
I feel like dancing dancing dance the night away
I feel like dancing dancing
You take me higher
Im gonna catch on fire cause
You make me feel like dancing I wanna dance the night away
You make me feel like dancing Im gonna dance my life away
I feel like dancing dancing dance the night away
I feel like dancing dancing dance the night away
I feel like dancing dancing dance the night away
I feel like dancing dancing ahhh
You really slipped me a potion
I cant get off of the floor
All this perpetual motion
You gotta give me some more
You gotta give me some more
And if youll let me stay well dance our lives away
You make me feel like dancing I wanna dance my life away
You make me feel like dancing I wanna dance my life away
You make me feel like dancing I wanna dance my life away
I feel
You make me feel like dancing
song performed by by Leo Sayer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Slow Dancing With The Moon
Sweet little cherry blossom, blooming before her time
Moving her lips to her favorite song, cherishing every rhyme
Swaying her hips to the rhythm, humming along with the tune
Lost in her own little dream world, slow dancing with the moon
Watching her I cannot help but go back in my mind
And suddenly I find I am 15 again
Slow dancing with the moon
Oh, the stars got in my eyes long time ago
And Ive lived my life like a love sick clown
In a bittersweet cartoon
Just a dreamy-eyed kid slow dancing with the moon
Watching the girl Im reminded shes quite a lot like me
Trapped in the suburbs of wonderland, lost in her own fantasy
Somehow my heart never grew up, no one ever burst my balloon
So here I am swirling in star dust slow dancing with the moon
Still believe someday my wildest dreams will all come true
And Ill find someone wholl make me 15 again
But until then Im slow dancing with the moon
Oh, the stars got in my eyes long time ago
And Ive lived my life like a love sick clown
In a bittersweet cartoon
Just a dreamy-eyed kid slow dancing with the moon
Tag:
Still a starry-eyed kid slow dancing with the moon
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dancing In The Dark
Dancind in the dark
Till the tune ends where dancing in the dark
And it soon ends we're waltzing in the wonder of why we're here
Time hurries by were here and gone
Looking for the light
Of a new love to brighten up the night
I have knew love and we can face the music together
Dancing in the dark
What though love is old
What though song is old
Though them we can be young
Hear this heart of mind
Make your's part of mind
Dear one tell me that we're one
We're waltzing in the wonder of why we're here
Time hurries by we're here and gone
We're looking for the light
Of a new love to brighten up the night
I have knew love and we can face the music together
Dancing in the dark
Dancing in the dark
Dancing in the dark
song performed by by Barry Manilow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Nothing But Death
There are cemeteries that are lonely,
graves full of bones that do not make a sound,
the heart moving through a tunnel,
in it darkness, darkness, darkness,
like a shipwreck we die going into ourselves,
as though we were drowning inside our hearts,
as though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul.
And there are corpses,
feet made of cold and sticky clay,
death is inside the bones,
like a barking where there are no dogs,
coming out from bells somewhere, from graves somewhere,
growing in the damp air like tears of rain.
Sometimes I see alone
coffins under sail,
embarking with the pale dead, with women that have dead hair,
with bakers who are as white as angels,
and pensive young girls married to notary publics,
caskets sailing up the vertical river of the dead,
the river of dark purple,
moving upstream with sails filled out by the sound of death,
filled by the sound of death which is silence.
Death arrives among all that sound
like a shoe with no foot in it, like a suit with no man in it,
comes and knocks, using a ring with no stone in it, with no
finger in it,
comes and shouts with no mouth, with no tongue, with no
throat.
Nevertheless its steps can be heard
and its clothing makes a hushed sound, like a tree.
I'm not sure, I understand only a little, I can hardly see,
but it seems to me that its singing has the color of damp violets,
of violets that are at home in the earth,
because the face of death is green,
and the look death gives is green,
with the penetrating dampness of a violet leaf
and the somber color of embittered winter.
But death also goes through the world dressed as a broom,
lapping the floor, looking for dead bodies,
death is inside the broom,
the broom is the tongue of death looking for corpses,
it is the needle of death looking for thread.
Death is inside the folding cots:
it spends its life sleeping on the slow mattresses,
in the black blankets, and suddenly breathes out:
it blows out a mournful sound that swells the sheets,
and the beds go sailing toward a port
where death is waiting, dressed like an admiral.
Translated by Robert Bly
poem by Pablo Neruda
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Homeward Bound
I'm sitting in the railway station. Got a ticket to my destination. mmmm
On a tour of one-night stands, my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and one-man band.
Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting, Silently for me.
Every day's an endless stream, of cigarettes and magazines. mmmm
And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories
And every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be,
Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting, Silently for me.
Tonight I'll sing my songs again, I'll play the game and pretend. mmmm
But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me.
Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting, Silently for me, Silently for me.
song performed by by Simon & Garfunkel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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