Still Life in Landscape
It was night, it had rained, there were pieces of cars and
half-cars strewn, it was still, and bright,
a woman was lying on the highway, on her back,
with her head curled back and tucked under her shoulders
so the back of her head touched her spine
between her shoulder-blades, her clothes
mostly accidented off, and her
leg gone, a long bone
sticking out of the stub of her thigh—
this was her her abandoned matter,
my mother grabbed my head and turned it and
clamped it into her chest, between
her breasts. My father was driving—not sober
but not in this accident, we’d approached it out of
neutral twilight, broken glass
on wet black macadam, like an underlying
midnight abristle with stars. This was
the world—maybe the only one.
The dead woman was not the person
my father had recently almost run over,
who had suddenly leapt away from our family
car, jerking back from death,
she was not I, she was not my mother,
but maybe she was a model of the mortal,
the elements ranged around her on the tar—
glass, bone, metal, flesh, and the family.
poem by Sharon Olds
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
The Gun.
The gun was tucked
into the belt
of your jeans
the hat (your father's
borrowed trilby)
pushed to the back
of your head
you had recently shot
the boss-eyed sheriff
behind the grocer's store
and rode with Jessie James
across the open plains
of the local park
and pumped Pete Badham
full of imaginary lead
in the back not the head
to have a better chance
and entering the bar
of the High Rider
you ordered a glass
of Red Eye
(water from the tap
in a borrowed glass)
and chattered up
the girl (slut as your mother
would have called her)
who wore feathers
and a very short skirt
(Dave Walker's sister)
and sipped the water
with a pulled face
and still had time
before sundown
(your mother calling
you in for bed)
to have it out
with Billy the Kid
and Wyatt Earp
blowing the smoking gun
just a kid
being a cowboy
having fun.
poem by Terry Collett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Who are these people?
Who are these people? where are they streaming? Glass eyes tight shut as though they were dreaming?
Garrotted, throats slit as a token of sacrifice to the eternel god's,
Bodies cast down to the depth's of brooding pete bogs.
'Did you surrender yourself, your will to the ritual, Or be this simply a punishment for a crime, we shall never know.'
Sword's split skull's, not hard enough to kill
Just to lull, least drag their victims senses into the void.
Calling on the Goddess of spring through to autumn, of summer's sun and winter rain
Only your head, throne of the soul survives the passage of time to breathe again.
'From where did you come? ' ask's the child to his mother
'From my mother, her mother before her'
'So where does my father fit into this, what seem's such simple a matter? '
'He work's his hand's to the bone, then come's home late, wait's at the table just to get fatter.
That's what he does, he seems happy enough, he has no illusions to shatter'
'What off my father, from wence doth he stem, from his father and father before? '
'Nay, It goes way further than that, to back when, our only mother was the mother of yore
Mother of earth, blessed mother of pearl, reveal to us the wisdom's with which you blanket the world.
poem by David Lacey
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Woman Driving, Man Sleeping
Woman driving, man sleeping.
Wear the suitcase on the rack.
White lines shooting by,
On the pavement like the sky.
Looking straight ahead, into the black.
Woman driving, man sleeping.
Theres no radio to play.
Sitting with the map,
Laying crumpled on her lap.
Looking for the toll money to pay.
(chorus)
Man sleeping is man dreaming,
In a large apartment house.
Walking and knocking on doors.
Woman driving, man sleeping.
Passin all the other cars.
Searching in the black,
But never turning to look back.
A little metal box under the stars.
(chorus)
Woman driving, man sleeping. (x2)
song performed by by Eels
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Cars Are Cars
Words & music by paul simon 1983
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Similarly made. similarly sold
In a motorcade. abandoned when theyre old
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Engine in the front. jack in the back
Wheels take the brunt. pinion and a rack
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
But people are strangers
They change with the curve
From time zone to time zone
As we can observe
They shut down their borders
And think theyre immune
They stand on their differences
And shoot at the moon
But cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Drive em on the left. drive em on the right
Susceptible to theft in the middle of the night
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
I once had a car
That was more like a home
I lived in it, loved in it
Polished its chrome
If some of my homes
Had been more like my car
I probably wouldnt have
Travelled this far
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
Cars are cars all over the world
song performed by by Paul Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Canada
England, father and mother in one,
Look on your stalwart son.
Sturdy and strong, with the valour of youth,
Where is another so lusty?
Coated and mailed, with the armour of truth,
Where is another so trusty?
Flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone,
He is yours alone.
England, father and mother in one,
See the wealth of your son.
Forests primeval, and virginal sod,
Wheat-fields golden and splendid:
Riches of nature and opulent God
For the use of his children intended.
A courage that dares, and a hope that endures,
And a soul all yours.
England, father and mother in one,
Hear the cry of your son.
Little cares he for the glories of earth
Lying around and above him,
Yearning is he for the rights of his birth,
And the heart of his mother to love him.
Vast are your gifts to him, ample his store,
Now open your door.
England, father and mother in one,
Heed the voice of your son.
Proffer him place in your councils of state:
Let him sit near, and attend you.
Ponder his words in the hour of debate,
Strong is his arm to defend you.
Flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone,
Give him his own.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Given The Dog A Bone
She take you down easy
Going down to her knees
Going down to the devil
Down down to ninety degrees
Oh, shes blowing me crazy
Till my ammunition is dry
Oh, shes using her head again
Shes using her head
Oh, shes using her head again
Chorus:
Im just a givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Im just a givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Im just a givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Yeow
Shes no mona lisa
No, shes no playboy star
But shell send you to heaven
Then explode you to mars
Oh, shes using her head again
Using her head again
Shes using her head
Using her head again
Oh, shes using her head again
Using her head
Chorus
Lets go
Oooh, oh, oh, oh
She got the power of union
Yeah, she only hits when its hot
And if she likes what youre doing
Yeah, shell give you alot
(given everything she got)
Ive just given the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Ive just given the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Im just givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Im just a givin the dog a bone
Givin the dog a bone
Im just a given a dog
Givin a dog
Givin a dog
Ooooh
Im just a givin a dog a bone
song performed by by AC-DC
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Tennessee Jed
Cold iron shackles, ball and chain,
Listen to the whistle of the evenin train.
You know you bound to wind up dead,
If you dont head back to tennessee jed.
Rich man step on my poor head,
When you get back you better butter my bread.
Well, do you know its like I said,
You better head back to tennessee jed.
Tennessee, tennessee, there aint no place Id rather be,
Baby wont you carry me back to tennessee.
Drink all day and rock all night,
The law come to get you if you dont walk right
Got a letter this morning, baby all it read,
You better head back to tennessee jed.
I dropped four flights and cracked my spine,
Honey, come quick with the iodine,
Catch a few winks, baby, under the bed
Then you head back to tennessee jed.
Tennessee, tennessee, there aint no place Id rather be,
Baby wont you carry me back to tennessee.
I run into charlie fog,
Blacked my eye and he kicked my dog,
My doggie turned to me and he said,
Lets head back to tennessee jed.
I woke up a feelin mean,
Went down to play the slot machine,
The wheels turned around, and the letters read,
You better head back to tennessee jed.
Tennessee, tennessee, there aint no place Id rather be,
Baby wont you carry me back to tennessee.
song performed by by Grateful Dead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Photo From Lost Days At Stillborn Falls
You see them all morning while driving,
broken cars, omens, those towns you drive
through graveyards now. Your one good
tooth a headache, windshield wipers break in
the storm. Road side glass cuts your feet.
You curse your shoes in the back seat,
fumble with blades in the rain.
One good town out of six and that's the one
you leave behind where your shorts hang content
at home on the line, back yard neighbors
speculating over lingerie with black lace.
The sun can barely contain itself.
The mail man wishes he was me.
The story is Jalise - I was nearby - she dripped in
soaked from rain announcing, 'I need to get
out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini.'
For me? only a towel to dry her and nothing more.
I swear, Jalise, pornographic peekaboo, hide
and seek, I'm drunk again thinking of you,
how I cut my baby teeth on Stillborn glass,
feet bleeding on always wet roads. One mile
out of two I'm thinking of you, how you wouldn't
let me love you, just hold your hips in jeans,
'just friends'. Your black lace is still a pain.
Five men out of six would call you 'b*tch' or worse.
At the laundromat now a woman in nylons stoops.
I drive by with a wave, another town, same storm,
a study in shields and blades wondering about
nylon mysteries, hand washed, bent woman's
name turning over and over again in spin and
dry cycles of drink.
poem by Warren Falcon
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Mother, Father
She sits alone, an empty stare
A mothers face she wears
Where did she go wrong,
The fight is gone
Lord help this broken home
Hey, mother, father, sister
Hey, come back, tryin, believein
Hey, mother, father, dreamer
Dont you know that Im alive for you
Im your sevenths son
And when lightin strikes the family
Have faith, believe.
With dreams he tried, lost his pride
He drinks his life away
One photograph, in broken glass
It should not end this way.
Through bitter tears
And wounded years, those ties
Of blood were strong
So much to say, those yesterdays
So now dont you turn away.
(chorus)
song performed by by Journey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
No Wonder Why God Made Us All Mortal Beings...!
Fresh flowers, sliced at the stems, on an angle...,
so they breathe at the parlour....deeper, longer;
still, in two day's they'll lay with the dead...dying,
tossed like trash from a black El Camino.
Coffeee, and petit-fours,
from Artuso's Bakery
awaiting our arrival,
from black limousines,
to deliver us from death, back to life,
to the home of the widow in mourning;
and we'll smack our salty lips,
at the site of the pasteries,
and slap each others backs
at the sharing of tell-tale,
carry-on 'bout the deceased.
Redundant cliches play a pestilent tune, like:
''It's the only time we get together it seems'',
and, '''Doesen't he look just like himself'''?
And as a child, i would think: Who else would he look like?
Sat, and watched the last of the arrangements,
flooding the rear of the black El Camino;
Saw petals.....all shapes and colours,
strewn through the highway wind,
streaking past my peripheral view;
makes me glance out the tinted glass,
at the cars in the faster lanes,
counting how many faces
were staring back at mine,
as we procession to the yard,
for last good-byes,
Father Quinn leads in prayer;
morose toss of roses,
Amadeus,
passion-red, short stemmed, and thornless.
And after the final rose finds rest on the wood,
and we all walk away, like zombies on qualudes,
i look back o'er my shoulder, and marvel,
how all the flowers,
now dead..... are irreverantly piled,
and i muse as to why they always seem
to resemble an Egyptian pyramid.
Strange souls we be...When Death arrives;
No wonder why God made us mortal...!
poem by Frank James Ryan Jr.
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
My unconditional love
There is no one greater than my father in my eyes
He calls me in the morning
Just to tell me that he was dreaming about me
And woke to pray for me
There is no one caring like my father in my life
He calls me during the day
Just to tell me that he is doing nothing
But thinking of me
There is no mother comparable to my father
The man took care of me from birth
Raised me with no woman by his side
Told me about the menstrual stage
And even knows the type of tampons I use
There is no woman comparable to my father
He cooks for me every meal
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
He cleans the house
Whilst I write poems about how great he is
He is my star and my bling-bling
He is my divine caramel ornament
And the on who sometimes does my laundry
There is no rock like my father
He told me I was going to get hurt in life
But never even once failed to support my decisions
He comforts me when I cry
He never withdraws information from me even about sex
There is no stone like my father
He protects and gives me elements of life
Wakes up at twelve midnight to rub my chest
When flu and fever befriend me
He wakes up at three in the morning
Just to put his hand on my head
And pray for me
He is my father and my only hope
My father is my mother, the one I cry to at all time
He never gets tired or deaf because of my screams
I could never find any strong human love like his
So the man is my father it shows
poem by Mitta Xinindlu
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Family Man
Written by lindsey buckingham and richard dashut.
Walk down this road
When the road gets rough
I fall down
I get up
I am what I am...
A family man
I am what I am...
A family man
Mother... father... brother...
Mother... father... brother...
Walk down this road
In the cool of the night
Dont know whats wrong
But I do know whats right
I am what I am...
A family man
I am what I am...
A family man
Mother... father... brother...
Mother... father... brother...
I am what I am...
A family man
I am what I am...
A family man
Mother... father... brother...
Mother... father... brother...
song performed by by Fleetwood Mac
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Thanks Father
You treated us all so differently
Yet all the same
Family dinners were strained
Fake smiles accross the table
Thank you for letting me see the real you
Thanks for allowing me to be the one that felt I had to do something
Thanks for leaving me as the one to pick up the pieces
Thanks its just what I needed
For christmas when you gave me a broken family and a dad on the run
I never got the chance to thank you
So accept this as my apology
Let me express my graditude
All I ever wanted was a broken childhood
And I got it
Complete with a crying mother and a father who was barely there
I really loved the time we spent together
You know when we used to have those father daughter moments
Like when my sister had to call the police to pry you off our screaming mother
That was better than any birthday gift
Finally, I just want to say thank you for always being around when I needed my mother to be beaten
When I wanted our lives to be shifted
Thanks for being there with a new reason we had to move
Thanks for leaving us all to fend for oursleves
Thanks for taking my educated lawyer of a mother into the slums with you
Bringing her back dirty and exposed to your world
Now she can never get out
Thank you daddy
poem by Ashley Stone
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
i Saw a Woman
i saw a woman
Dancing on her grave
She smiled and sang
La la lee
La la lo
La la lee
La la lo
She picked up Death's cat
By tail & twirled the thing
La la lee
La la lo
Death watched curriously
How this thing could be
La la lee
He scratched his head
La la lo
The woman looked back at Death
And flipped him off
Her skeleton bones
Were white as snow
Now her dance
Was beginning to slow
Death thought now
Was her time to go
Instead
She skinned the cat
And made a dress
Put it on
And picked up her song
La la lee
Death's eyes popped out
At what he saw next
The woman's bones
Grew new flesh
Her hair combed and tapered in curls
Death ran at her with fury
But tripped along
An old tomebstone
La la lo
Death on the ground
She picked up her dance
And danced on Death
Bone by bone
She trampled him in the ground
The last thing he saw
Was the woman's child
And he sang and danced
La la lee
Along with a whole
Party of bones
La la lo
poem by Deci Hernandez
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Girl That I Met
I met her down streets one evening,
She was coming out of what she calls home,
Where she had left a family,
That is her responsibility,
To provide all the necessities.
She’s a mother and a father,
To the two younger girls at home,
For their parents had passed away,
About four years ago from the disease,
Then she should take care of the family.
There’s no uncles and aunts for them,
All they did was to sweep away everything,
Cars, estates, houses and everything,
Leaving the kids with concrete poverty,
And the children are now suffering.
I asked that orphaned girl how she managed,
To feed the family at her age under eighteen,
She started crying but she dared to tell me,
The story of her everyday life,
The story that keeps on torturing my mind.
She sells drugs down streets every day,
Then selling her body downtown every night,
Making sure she earns something,
To be back with at home for the family to survive,
Family needs shelter, food and clothes.
poem by Fadhy Mtanga
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Hands & Knees
You see me walking away
What more could I say than sorry
I failed by all your complaints
You pushed a life change but its not me
And filthy hands lay apon my chest
Lay upon my sin, but I do it for green
And in your mind you are blind
And your back turn so fine
Where were you when I needed you most
So mother so father
Im on my hands and knees
So mother so father
Im scrounging for whats left of me
My self-indulgence to blame
For all of the shame in the family
You dont know what its like
How I feel how I cry
How I hate the way I hate my life
So mother so father Im on my hands and knees
So mother so father
Im scrounging for whats left of me
Pues madre, y padre
Esta vida no quiero vivir
So mother so father
I dont want to live this way
So mother so father
Im scrounging for whats left of me
So mother so father
I dont want to live this way
So mother so father
Im scrounging for whats left of me
song performed by by Unloco
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Who's Got My Back?
Run...hide
All that was sacred to us
Sacred to us
See the signs
The covenant has been broken
By mankind
Leaving us with no shoulder...with no shoulder
To rest our head on
To rest our head on
To rest our head on
Who's got my back now?
When all we have left is deceptive
So disconnected
So what is the truth now?
There's still time
All that has been devastated
Can be recreated
Realize
We pick up the broken pieces
Of our lives
Giving ourselves to each other...ourselves to each other
To rest our head on
To rest our head on
To rest our head on
Who's got my back now?
When all we have left is deceptive
So disconnected
So what is the truth now?
Tell me the truth now...Tell us the truth now
Who's got my back now?
When all we have left is deceptive
So disconnected
So what is the truth now?
song performed by by Creed from Weathered
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
While in church
While I was in church last sunday I thought back.
Back to when I was a teen.I remembered this day.
It was the day my father used his fist to punch me in the jawl.
Then he said these words to me.' You will never be anything! '
So as I had that thought in the back of my head.The front of my head
was thinking this may be true, but what I do know now is I'll be anything
in the hands of my heavenly father.Then I prayed this prayer.Heavenly father I love you please forgive my father for his sinn that day he did
what he did to me, and forgive my mother, sister and brother for thier sinns.And watch over my son's forgive them for thier sinns.Watch over
thier mothers and my girlfriend and keep them save.In your son's holly
name I pray this prayer. Thank you my loveing father.'AMEN'
poem by Pirate Love Magic Man
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Metal Health
Well I'm an axegrinder Piledriver
Mother says that I never never mind her
Got no brains I'm insane
Teacher says that I'm one big pain
I'm like a laser 6-streamin' razor
I got a mouth like an alligator
I want it louder
More power
I'm gonna rock ya till it strikes the hour
Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad
Band your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad
Well I'm remonstrated
Outdated I really want to be over-rated
I'm a finder and I'm a keeper
I'm not a loser and I ain't no weeper
I got the boys to make the noise
Won't ever let up
Hope it annoys you
Join the pack
Fill the crack
Well now you're here
There's no way back
Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad
Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad
Metal Health'll cure your crazy
Metal Health'll cure your mad
Metal Health is what we all need
It's what you have to have
[Solo]
Bang your head
Wake the dead
We're all metal mad
It's all you have
So bang your head
And raise the dead
Oh yeah!
Metal Health
It's not too bad
Bad Bad
Oh get your straight-jackets on tonight Oh
Bang your head! Metal health'll drive you mad
The bad boys are gonna set you right Rock on Rock on Rock on
Bang your head! Metal health'll drive you mad
Bang your head!
song performed by by Quiet Riot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Peaceful And Warm
I went driving through my old hometown
It was Thursday the bright sun on the horizon
I was surprised to see no one had burned it down
It seemed so peaceful and warm
Floods of memories came back to me
All the things we got away with when we were younger
And I felt kind of like a refugee
Like a scattered pile of leaves in a storm
Peaceful memory like lights on a Christmas tree
Every hometown should be peaceful and warm
Every father mother sister brother friend of the family
Peaceful and warm
Somehow now and then didn't seem to blend
'Till a farmer plowing his field waved hello
Another working man doing the best he can
I hope he is peaceful and warm
Peaceful memory plows in the green field sea
Every hometown should be peaceful and warm
Every father mother sister brother friend of the family
Peaceful and warm
On the Kansas banks of the Muddy Mo'
I threw rocks in the river and dreamed of running away
In a wind of change only a father knows
In a world so hectic so cold
I guess my old hometown's kinda dead and gone
Miss the sign on I-29 and you blow right by
But it's a place I can go remember where I come from
It will help me keep me peaceful and warm
Peaceful memory the only thing that's free
Take them and try to be peaceful and warm
Every father mother sister brother friend of the family
Peaceful peaceful and warm
song performed by by Kansas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!