One Cannot Be What One Is Not
ONCE CANNOT BE WHAT ONE IS NOT
One cannot be what one is not
Even if it is greater than oneself
Who knows why the worst creatures persist
While into the darkness
The best often go down?
I am an old singer
Of my own memories
Poems in abundance
Silence as sounds.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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I listen to the silence
I Listen To The Silence
Darkness about me
In the somnolent silence
The silence has substance
As thick as can be
silence about me
as loud as a scream
In a nightmarish dream
It can terrify me
Silence has a feel
Of darkness in velvet cloaked
As a desperate cry being choked
Phantasmic, yet real
As Quiet surrounds me
The silence has substance
The absence of presence
is deafening to me
Sounds whispery as paper
Things scurry about me
Sounds, soft, sad and scaly
Like venom and vapour
Silence is sound incomplete
Silence whirs, silence hums
Silence throbs, silence thrums
Silence has it’s own heartbeat
Quiet has movement,
Tho’ever so slow
Quiet has substance
and how do I know?
I listen to the silence...
as you do also
poem by David Whalen

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In Old Age The Poems Come More Easily
IN OLD AGE THE POEMS COME MORE EASILY THE POEMS COME MORE EASILY IN OLD AGE
In old age the poems come more easily-
What is there to lose now
By just being oneself?
‘Oneself' is going to be lost
Whatever one does.
What others say and think
Or do not say and think
Means a bit less.
An old tough codger
Stands his ground
And sings his song.
What does it matter
If only the wind listens?
poem by Shalom Freedman

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The Poems Of The Wild Words And Unexpected Meanings
THE POEMS OF THE WILD WORDS AND UNEXPECTED MEANINGS
The poems of the wild words and the unexpected meanings
Escape me -
The surprises of each new line’s metaphors
Are far from my power-
A plodding literal single- mindedness
Informed by small irony
Is all I have.
Poems distant from mine and greater
Inhabit the dreaming worlds,
And I inferior
With lesser words
Persist in making my Mediocrity up.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Creative Work
The shadow of uncreated creatures
Flickers in sleep,
Like palm fronds
On an enamel wall.
Violet hands
On the enamel wall
Drowsily sketch sounds
In the ringing-resonant silence.
And transparent kiosks,
In the ringing-resonant silence,
Grow like spangles
In the azure moonlight.
A naked moon rises
In the azure moonlight...
Sounds hover drowsily,
Sounds caress me.
The secrets of created creatures
Caress me caressingly
And palm shadows gutter
On an enamel wall.
poem by Valery Yaklovich Bryusov

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Thoughts On The Sounds of Silence
The sounds of silence beacons me.
Like the flight of a bumble bee.
For my life is in a quandary. And I am the one who is confused.
All the noise I here has me transfused.
The constant noise is like a cancerous ooze, someone mused.
All this noise has everyone confused.
I pray to God above to bestow me with the sounds of silence.
All human life is in the balance.
With the sounds of silence I believe peace surrounds us.
About this subject I must confess, I need to access.
I must admit that the sounds of silence is for me.
On the sounds of silence many of us do agree
That peace and love needs to be in great balance.
Without the sounds of silence there would be a major imbalance.
poem by Nichole Kaci McKnight

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Silence/Darkness
Silence
nothing exept my steady breathing
Silence
a single sound could break this
Silence
its all I hear
Silence
its driving me to insanity
Darkness
its all i see
Darkness
it fills my heart
Darkness
its all around me
Darkness
its closing in
Darkness
its got me...
poem by Zexion Organization XIII

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Silence Part II
The silence continues
And so does this game
What's worst is I know
That I'm the only one to blame
It's all my fault
It's because of what I did and didn't do
And it hurts so much
Because i'm so in love with you
I can hear in the silence
What I've heard for some time
You don't say anything
But I know what's on your mind
You leave behind silence
In the dark abyss that is my heart
And what's worst is
I, myself, tore it apart
When I realized what I was doing
It was already too late
Just another
Twist of my terrible fate
And silence took over
A silence caused by me
A silence that's eternal
A silence that won't leave
Just Be You
When one looks at history
We can either
Learn from the past
To adapt to the present
So you can
Face tomorrow's mysteries
The age old question
We all ask
Can we better ourselves?
To better oneself
You must be brave
To better oneself
You must know love
To better oneself
You must be strong
To better oneself
You must believe
To better oneself
You must learn to share
To better oneself
Just be you
After learning all
Of life's mysteries
One must discover
To be true to
Thine own self
Just be you
poem by Kaila George

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Sun Poems
Sun Poems
1
in the absence
of your rays
dear Sun
the fearful
created God
2
we trembled in our nights
in the wild
and you shattered the darkness
and you said:
‘Behold, Creatures -
Behold the Earth! ’
3
I lie asleep
and you send in
beams of messengers
dear Sun
each with the same message:
‘Hey, lazybones –
wakie! wakie! ’
4
by you
dear Sun
is life;
and through you
too is death
5
O setting Sun
do not drag my
heart down with you;
for it’s known in nations
where you do not shine as often
you snatch cheer and smiles away
till you come again;
do not let then my heart
dear Sun
sink with you
6
sun crazy sun
very disobedient and ill-tempered
unwilling to listen
to shine not too hot and not scorch the earth;
and show-off
and bad-tempered with its flares
7
see
the creatures of the earth
burrow deep
and go to sleep
in your absence;
and they come again
kicking and hungry
when you shine
8
I see you in the flower
that blooms it seems at random;
and I see you too
in the leaves of the lilly-pilly at my window
9
one must see the sun
or feel it
oneself
10
I think
you’re one hot blonde,
O Sun babe;
on this side of the universe
no one’s as hot as you
11
the clouds try catching you;
they are little children
and they think you are a ball
they can throw to one another
12
sometimes I wonder
in the loneliness of night
where you are
and then I see you
bouncing off the moon;
ha!
she rejects your advances
13
they look at the sun
but do not know how to see;
poets interpret it
as children play with clouds
and the holy ones attempt to
squeeze the sun into their texts
(Sun Poems - the complete text)
poem by Raj Arumugam

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Animal
'This city is an animal, fierce and complicated. To understand it I read its droppings, its scents, the movements of its parasites' -Rorschach
Living in the city
one loses oneself
amongst buildings, darkness
and madness.
City of madness,
inhabited by madmen
and the madmens children
seek their escape
in fantasies of happiness
where everything is pure.
Their methods are scorned
but in their worst state
reveal the worst truth,
City of loss.
poem by Emmanuel Stone

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I Walk With Dark Thoughts
I walk with dark thoughts-
The sunlight on the morning road smiles at me-
Life is an endless struggle between the dark and the light in oneself-
Fear and Hope war within endlessly-
As the day goes by
It will become brighter,
But Darkness always comes again-
And in the early morning lying awake before the light has come
It will prevail again-
Life is an endless struggle between the dark and light in oneself-
Oh God Please let there be greater light in me
In the days and the years ahead-
poem by Shalom Freedman

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I Have Read Many Poems I Know I Never Could Have Written
I have read many poems I know I never could have written
Poems whose language was far richer and more remarkable than mine
Poems that saw as I cannot see and sounded as I cannot sound
Poems of magnificent music and many hidden meanings
I have read many poems greater than those I could ever write
And have been humbled and saddened and inspired by them
Out there somewhere else
There have been real poets
And I in my own little lines
Love and respect them.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Silence Inside / Why?
SILENCE INSIDE / WHY?
Silence inside-
Why?
So many worlds and worlds outside
Worlds of others
What can one do or be
When there is so much better than oneself?
One can write a little line
And make it rhyme
And delude oneself
It will one day
have its ‘time’.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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To place oneself in the position of God is painful: being God is equivalent to being tortured. For being God means that one is in harmony with all that is, including the worst. The existence of the worst evils is unimaginable unless God willed them.
quote by Georges Bataille

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Silence of Rumi
I read Rumi several times
And every time I went through
the same sincere silence
That unites the human with the divine
Silence of Rumi as though
Is the silence Sublime—
The heart of all sounds!
I dove deep down that silence,
A child’s wonder of sort
Why do I start my poems with words?
When they end only with silence!
His silence is deep
Deep as the existence at the bottom of the ocean
Deep as the calmness of a wise man
And yet he is in conversation
With the silence
And through it, time and again
His silence is the silence of a flute
Empty, easy and melodious
It turns separation into liberation
Oh what a joy—Rumi’s silence!
His silence is an invitation
To join the journey of the soul
A sweet beacon to lose yourself
In the Self of existence
And yet it is conversational
You can toy with it safely
Who can turn his back
Having heard Rumi’s silence
In its sincerity
In its entirety
Who can escape from Rumi’s silence
Having been there for a moment
Who can not hear his silence
Having heard it with the thumps of his heart
Oh love! Go and meet this evening
Silence of Rumi in its serenity
Of heavens
This must be the highest
Of souls
This is the highest!
poem by Bhaswat Chakraborty

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If In The Silence Of This Night
IF IN THE SILENCE OF THIS NIGHT
If in the silence of this night
I now hear a poem
And that poem brings joy
To all I am
And makes me believe
I have something to give again,
Then why should I not write this down
Even if I know
There are far far greater poems
Which in this world of so many things
Deserve attention
More than these words?
poem by Shalom Freedman

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0017 And Where The Joy
This, then, the question
for those whom it may concern –
to find a celebration in oneself
that, as outer is, so inner;
that all truth rests within oneself –
for where else can it be found?
to love oneself – for oneself must be loveable,
or none other could be loved for true;
to know all happiness to be within;
to celebrate all this; the world a constant joy;
to find this celebration in oneself.
poem by Michael Shepherd

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Creatures Of The Night
Searching in the darkness
Running from the day
Hiding from tomorrow
Nothing left to say
Victims of the moment
Future deep in doubt
Living in a whisper
'Til we start to shout
[Chorus]
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
Breathing in the madness
Spitting out the lies
Searching for an answer
Keep your alibis
Don't know where we're goin'
Just know where we've been
Remember when the clock strikes twelve
The losers always win
[Chorus]
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
[Solo]
Searching in the darkness
Running from the day
Hiding from tomorrow
Nothing left to say
Gathering up our courage
Ready for the fight
Howling in the shadows
'Til we start to bite
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
(Ooooh) We're creatures of the night
song performed by by Iced Earth

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Self indulgences.
The one who talks much of oneself
Is doing so to conceal as much oneself.
The one who curses much oneself
Is doing so to get pity for oneself.
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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Silence Is...
Silence is an absence
Silence is profound
Silence is a conversation
Being had without sound
Silence is an expression
One that cannot be heard
Silence cannot be spoken
Although it is a word
Silence is a presence
Of great nothingness
Silence can be something
And yet cease to exist
Silence can fill a room
And have no mass at all
Silence cannot be dropped, yet it can fall
Silence is a mystery
That will forever go unsolved
Silence is how every sound can swiftly be dissolved
Silence is the sound of rest
The only sound that can sound best
While other sounds can cause great pain
Silence is not the sound to blame
For Silence is what silence is
Something that is nothing
Nothing that exists
poem by Kyle.J Carruthers

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