Winter Solstice
Drive the narrow road
past cold
misty vineyards;
peer carefully
through pulsing wipers,
past jeweled beads
smeared to curving trails.
Look
into the glaring eye
of traffic.
Swinging around
tight bends
cars pass you,
throwing
sheets
of driving
rain.
Hold tightly to your wheel!
Keep your lane.
Do not descend
into the flooded gutter;
for on the western edge
in darkly glowing cobalt
the declining sun,
leans towards longer southern days.
Night
has begun,
the longest night
of the year.
poem by Steven Federle
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Rain drive
I see a big storm
hanging dark against the sky
and lightning bolts,
that hit smashing to the ground.
There are big drops
that hit whipping down
and the black road
wet and somewhat slippery.
There’s no way
to ride away from the storm
and the traffic
stand still in front of me,
but with a motorbike
you can cut past cars.
It’s as if clouds of steam
rise out of the hot tar road,
but the screen
of the helmet
is covered by the rain
that I have difficulty seeing
to were to go
and which cars are moving or standing.
With Soutpansberg avenue that lies open before me
I open the throttle
and there’s wind, rain
and thunders that fall flashing blue
around me
and resound somewhere behind the motorbike
and the rain on my hands
hits like hail.
.
The leather jacket keeps the top of my body dry and warm,
but the bottom
is soaked and wet
and I feel the coldness
rising from below.
There’s busses coming from the front
that throws water whipping
as far as they go
and somewhere in the left lane,
there’s cars stopping for a pothole
and my motorbike catches speed
past in the right lane.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Spring comes again an attempt at a villanelle
1)
Spring comes again, disbelieve it as we will,
Longest night is past and with it, shortest day,
Turn, turn, then turn again with the year wheel.
2)
Snow quiets the world, keeping deeply still,
Cold holds hard, holds dark, holds very Time at bay,
Spring comes again, disbelieve it as we will.
3)
Winters seem forever, only covering what we feel,
Something deep is waking, as old as Earth, as shy as May,
Turn, turn, then turn again with the year-wheel.
4)
Only change is endless, is timeless, never still,
Whispering wisdom tells us, make change welcome, be unafraid,
Spring comes again, disbelieve it as we will.
5)
Sun's new year's past, and with the Moon's we heal,
In late winter's trembling light, to the darkest days put paid,
Turn, turn, then turn again with the year-wheel.
6)
With snow-drops showing, and daring buds atop a hill,
The lesson's learned again, even winter cannot stay,
Turn, turn, then turn again with the year-wheel,
Spring comes again, disbelieve it as we will.
(written in April,2000)
poem by Gabrielle Ciarann Roniyah Baer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Wreck On The Highway
Last night I was out driving
Coming home at the end of the working day
I was riding alone through the drizzling rain
On a deserted stretch of a county two-lane
When I cam upon a wreck on the highway
There was blood and glass all over
And there was nobody there but me
As the rain tumbled down hard and cold
I seen a young man lying by the side of the road
He cried mister, wont you help me please
An ambulance finally came and took him to riverside
I watched as they drove him away
And I thought of a girlfriend or a young wife
And a state trooper knocking in the middle of the night
To say your baby died in a wreck on the highway
Sometimes I sit up in the darkness
And I watch my baby as she sleeps
Then I climb in bed and I hold her tight
I just lay there awake in the middle of the night
Thinking bout the wreck on the highway
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Waking Edge
As I wake up in a room somewhere...
Dawn light not yet showing.
Theres just a thin horizon between me and her...
The edge of a half-dream glowing.
Well, you know, I felt her in my dream last night.
Strange how the sheets are warm beside me.
Now, how do I catch the waking edge?
As it slips to the far and wide of me.
Didnt I try to hold it down?
Freeze on the picture, hang sharp on the sound.
Catch the waking edge
Another time.
Familiar shadows in my hotel room
Are still here for the taking.
They seem to linger on as the street lights fade
And the empty dawn is breaking.
Private movie showing in my head...
Which button do I press for re-run?
And how do I catch the waking edge?
The edge of a dream about someone.
Well, you know, I felt her in my dream last night...
Now the sheets are cold beside me.
song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Two Days From Knowing
(gillian welch/matt rollings)
Now the nights turned pink
On the eastern edges
But the sky is cold and still
And I wonder if its the sunrise
Warning the desert
Or the lights of tucson from over the hill
Its a hard way to love you
This long distance romance
Always stopping and starting again
I dont mind the miles
When im out on the highway
But even when im with you the miles just dont end
And im two days from knowing
Whether I can be strong
If I spend one more night in your arms
So ive a mind to keep going
And drive right past your door
But im two days from knowing for sure
As the night closes down
It fills the horizon
And stretches it out at the seams
And im not sure if tomorow
Im gonna be any closer
To closing the distance between you and me
And im two days from knowing
Whether I can be strong
If I spend one more night in your arms
So ive a mind to keep going
And drive right past your door
But im two days from knowing for sure
Well ive a mind to keep going
And drive right past your door
But im two days from knowing for sure
song performed by by Trisha Yearwood
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Feel Like Making Love
Take my hand
Lead me to another place
I never been
I wanna be released
Set me free
I'm not talking bout letting me go
But I'm just talking bout pulling me close
To where our bodies are becoming as one
Turn off the lights cause boy we've just begun
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Here I am
I'm all yours for tonight
But every night
It could be
You and I
For a lifetime
Could have stayed all to myself
And played the game like everybody else
But boy I want you and that's no lie
Because you keep me so satisfied
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
It would be nice if you spend the night
Ain't nothing wrong if you treat me right
Why don't we take it nice and slow
Hold on tight baby don't let go
It would be nice if you spend the night
Ain't nothing wrong if you treat me right
Why don't we take it nice and slow
Hold on tight baby don't let go
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
It would be nice if you spend the night
Ain't nothing wrong if you treat me right
Why don't we take it nice and slow
Hold on tight baby don't let go
It would be nice if you spend the night
Ain't nothing wrong if you treat me right
Why don't we take it nice and slow
Hold on tight baby don't let go
[Chorus till fade]
song performed by by Mary J Blige
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Feel Like Makin Love
Take my hand
Lead me to another place
I never been
I wanna be released
Set me free
I'm not talking bout letting me go
But I'm just talking bout pulling me close
To where our bodies are becoming as one
Turn off the lights cause boy we've just begun
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Here I am
I'm all yours for tonight
But every night
It could be
You and I
For a lifetime
Could have stayed all to myself
And played the game like everybody else
But boy I want you and that's no lie
Because you keep me so satisfied
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
Feel like making love
All through the night
All through the night
Come hold me tight
It would be nice if you spend the night
Ain't nothing wrong if you treat me right
Why don't we take it nice and slow
Hold on tight baby don't let go
It would be nice if you spend the night
Ain't nothing wrong if you treat me right
Why don't we take it nice and slow
Hold on tight baby don't let go
Feel like making love
All through the
song performed by by Mary J Blige
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Longest Night
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
- only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
(wilfred owen, 1918)
Now the day has run
When the cover comes
But any fool can see
Ahead
Silence is my friend
But it has to end
Any fool can see
Ahead
Its the longest night
Its the longest night
Cold winds may blow
On the longest night
So we write our letters
To those far away
Any fool can see
Ahead
The distant sound of thunder
A choir of wailing shells
Any fool can see
Ahead
Its the longest night
Its the longest night
Cold winds may blow
On the longest night
I dont want to fight
I dont know whos right
Cold winds they blow
On this longest night
Its the longest night
Its the longest night
Cold winds may blow
On this longest night
Music & lyrics by: geoff downes, john payne & ben woolfenden
song performed by by Asia
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Night and day I have no peace
Deep in the night
I hear the monster
rumbling along the railway track
and it whistles so shrill
that it is forced into my brain
and I am immediately waken
from my sleep.
A smaller monster swishes
past down in the street
and roars as if it’s somewhere
on a racing track
and on the main road, further away
something pulling a heavy load hoots
before thundering on into the night
and at times people drive
into the lamppost
where the road turns away
with one hell of a bang
and a little later
sirens cry past
to try and rescue
someone somewhere.
Early in the morning rubbish bins are collected
with a thing that growls and whines
and smashes with iron jaws
before the postman
and later the man from the pharmacy
drives past on scooters
and gets every dog in the neighbourhood barking
and night and day
I have no peace
as long as I am living in the city
and things are driving
to and thro the whole time.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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December 21 (Life Poem)
Mid-winter solstice, cold dawn,
The shortest day is the longest night.
Day grey skies, walking on rain empty beach.
Night bright carolling and mulled wine warming,
Friends’ festive mood balks bank depression,
The world turns and the days get longer,
On this 3rd rock from the sun
In snow-cold Dublin.
poem by Ian Beckett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Secure Yourself
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight, the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
In the ink of an eye I saw you bleed
Through the thunder I could hear you scream
Solid to the air I breathe
Open-eyed and fast asleep
Falling softly as the rain
No footsteps ringing in your ears
Ragged down worn to the skin
Warrior raging, have no fear
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight, the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
Im kneeling down with broken prayers
Hearts and bones from days of youth
Restless with an angels wing
I dig a grave to bury you
No feet to fall
You need no ground
Allowed to glide right through the sun
Released from circles guarded tight
Now we all are chosen ones
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight, the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight, the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
In the ink of an eye I saw you bleed
Through the thunder I could hear you scream
Solid to the air I breathe
Open-eyed and fast asleep
Falling softly as the rain
No footsteps ringing in your ears
Ragged down worn to the skin
Warrior raging, have no fear
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight, the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
Secure yourself to heaven
(in the ink of an eye I saw you bleed)
Hold on tight, the night has come
(through the thunder I could hear you scream)
Fasten up your earthly burdens
(solid to the air I breathe)
You have just begun
(open-eyed and fast asleep)
Secure yourself to heaven
(no feet to fall, you need no ground)
Hold on tight, the night has come
(allowed to glide right through the sun)
Fasten up your earthly burdens
(released from circles guarded tight)
You have just begun
(now we all are chosen ones)
Now we all are chosen ones
(secure yourself to heaven)
Allowed to glide right through the sun
(hold on tight the night has come)
Released from circles guarded tight
(fasten up your earthly burdens)
Now we all are chosen ones
song performed by by Indigo Girls
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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San Diego
San Diego is just a kiss away
Like a gypsy sitting on the oceans coast
Misty in the morning like a painted lady
She has everything a man could ask for
Just outside the southern border she is waiting there
Dancing in the streets
Smiling
As she wraps herself around you.
The January cold and the holy ghost
Ride along up her California coast past the spirits and towering redwood trees
Where time stands still and the moon sits high for all to see
Beauty so intense she’ll bring a tear to your eye
As you raise your hands and try to touch the sky
Everything around you is clean and wild.
Like a dream catcher hanging in a small saloon
In the back of the bar above the empty bottles and broken jars
You make a wish and pray it makes past this lonely room.
Stars shoot slowly across the high desert skis
As the howls of coyotes sing in the sacrificial night
Their song of survival is a song of life
And rain falls softly on the rocks and into the sand
It’s a song of hope and the freedom to look up
Into the eyes of the holy ghost.
You can feel it on the California coast
So throw your hands into the skis
And dance with the lady of the southern nights
Then take a ride in the January cold with the holy ghost
And pray your wishes make it past this lonely room
Into a dream catcher behind the empty bottles and broken jars
In a road side saloon
It a song of freedom it’s a song hope
On a drive up the California coast
As she wraps herself around you in the January cold.
Godfather.
poem by Jeff Nesvig
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Flow
It flows
over highways
dripping down
lamp-posts
through gutters,
pounding
storm drains,
filling
narrow lanes,
past dark houses,
past high-tension
wires, driving
through
constraining fence,
unfettered
it fills
the green hills
and rolls
through folding slough, past
low bridge and causeway,
ever lower
down to Suisun Bay,
unstoppable
like a swimmer’s blood
pulsing through throbbing vein,
reaching for gate of gold
to break free,
to become
one with
One.
poem by Steven Federle
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Domino
In the glow of the night
The grey of evening fills the room,
Theres no need to look outside,
To see or feel the rain.
Then I reach across to touch her,
But I know that shes not there.
Rain keeps running down the window pane.
Time is running out for me.
Cant you see what you are doing to me?
Cant you see what you have done?
As I try to pass another long and sleepless night,
A hundred crazy voices call my name,
As I try to pass them by,
I almost can believe that she is here,
Here in the glow of the night.
Do you know what you have done?
Do you know what youve begun?
Do you see we shall never be together again?
All of my life.
Lonely people, empty rooms,
Pointless violence, silent tombs.
Could it be that we shall be together again?
Sheets of double glazing help to keep outside the night,
Only foreign city sirens can cut through,
Nylon sheets and blankets help to minimize the cold.
But they cant keep out the chilling sounds.
Will the nightmare soon give way to dreaming
That she is here with me?
Here in the glow of the night.
Do you know what you have done?
Do you know what youve begun?
Do you see we shall never be together again?
All of my life.
Lonely people, empty rooms,
Pointless violence, silent tombs.
Could it be that we shall be together again?
Could it be that we shall be together again?
In silence and darkness
We held each other near that night
We prayed it would last forever.
The last domino
Blood on the windows
Millions of ordinary people are there
They gaze at the scenery
They act as if it is perfectly clear
Take a look at the mountains
Take a look at the beautiful river of blood.
The liquid surrounds me
I fight to rise from this river of hell
I stare round about me
Children are swimming and playing with boats
Their features are changing
Their bodies dissolve and I am alone.
Now see what youve gone and done.
Now see what youve gone and done.
Well now you never did see such a terrible thing
As was seen last night on t.v.
Maybe if were lucky, they will show it again
Such a terrible thing to see - oh
But theres nothing you can do when youre next in line
Youve got to go domino.
Now Im one with the living and Im feeling just fine
I know just what I gotta do
Play the game of happiness and never let on
That it only lives on in a song - oh
Well theres nothing you can do when youre next in line
Youve got to go domino.
Do you know what you have done?
Do you know what youve begun?
In silence and darkness
Hold each other near tonight
For will it last forever?
Will it last forever - forever...
Theres nothing you can do when youre the next in line
Youve got to go domino.
Do you know, do you know, do you know what you have done
Do you see what youve begun?
Cos theres nothing, nothing, nothing
Theres nothing you can do, theres nothing you can do
Do you see, do you see what you have done?
song performed by by Genesis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lights in the night
The sun fades in its red glare
over the mountain top
and traffic lights, street lights
and electrical signs
get an own life
that appears
like flowers folding open to the night.
The city lies dotted out
with thousands of lights
like a big jewel,
that a master artist
unfolds against the dark night.
Cars, busses and motorbikes
draw white and red stripes
like they drive past
crossing and going straight
while the evening
is getting life.
The evening air is beautifully open
and away from the inner city
there are big stars
that hangs sparkling against the heaven
and the Seven Sisters, Orion
and the Southern Cross
are the first to catch my eye
and I wonder how transom
our tinned stars
look out of the universe
and how trivial our lives are
when we look at the great works
of an Almighty God.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Solitude
I was nearly killed here, one night in February.
My car shivered, and slewed sideways on the ice,
right across into the other lane. The slur of traffic
came at me with their lights.
My name, my girls, my job, all
slipped free and were left behind, smaller and smaller,
further and further away. I was a nobody:
a boy in a playground, suddenly surrounded.
The headlights of the oncoming cars
bore down on me as I wrestled the wheel through a slick
of terror, clear and slippery as egg-white.
The seconds grew and grew – making more room for me –
stretching huge as hospitals.
I almost felt that I could rest
and take a breath
before the crash.
Then something caught: some helpful sand
or a well-timed gust of wind. The car
snapped out of it, swinging back across the road.
A signpost shot up and cracked, with a sharp clang,
spinning away in the darkness.
And it was still. I sat back in my seat-belt
and watched someone tramp through the whirling snow
to see what was left of me.
poem by Tomas Transtromer, translated by Robin Robertson
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Night Road
The streetlight buzzes
Lit in an amber haze
Rain falls against windows
Trickles down the glass
Counting the minutes
The night roads are empty
Sleeping a travels rest
While the days trails
Become washed away
The overgrown gardens
Narrow the path
Shadows dart everywhere
Limited shade on offer
A while ago someone passed
Head bowed, scurrying
Trying to shelter from the rain
The line of amber beacons
Little amber torches hover
Into the dark of night
Buzzing little stars guide
Along a road into shadows
poem by Matthew Holloway
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Mirabeau bridge
Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine
And all our loves
Why does it make so plain
That any joy must always follow pain
Let the night come the hour sound clear
The days all pass I’m still here
Our hands intertwined let’s stay face to face
While far below
The bridge of our arms strays
The languid wave of each endless gaze
Let the night come the hour sound clear
The days all pass I’m still here
Our love drifts away like these waters flow
Love drifts away
And our lives are so slow
With Hope more violent than we could know
Let the night come the hour sound clear
The days all pass I’m still here.
The days and weeks pass in a ceaseless train
But no past time
Or past love comes again
Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine
Let the night come the hour sound clear
The days all pass I’m still here.
poem by Guillaume Apollinaire
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Winters Tale
I sit inside a warm dry room
And peer outside at darkest gloom
The wind is howling blowing hard
The leaves all dancing round the yard
The rain just pours and falls at will
The wind exerts the fiercest chill
The willow's flowing branches twist
And dance a dance that can't be missed
For here inside my safety lies
As winter plays before my eyes
No ill I feel from natures wrath
As she selects her chosen path
The glowing fire as if alive
While wind and rain just duck and dive
The warmth of embers glowing bright
cascade around me hold me tight
To me this is my perfect storm
As if upon this moment born
Forgetting all that's in the past
A place of safety.. home at last.
poem by Dave James
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Comfort of a Storm
I sit inside a warm dry room
And peer outside at darkest gloom
The wind is howling blowing hard
The leaves all dancing round the yard
The rain just pours and falls at will
The wind exerts the fiercest chill
The willow's flowing branches twist
And dance a dance that can't be missed
For here inside my safety lies
As winter plays before my eyes
No ill I feel from natures wrath
As she selects her chosen path
The glowing fire as if alive
While wind and rain just duck and dive
The warmth of embers glowing bright
cascade around me hold me tight
To me this is my perfect storm
As if upon this moment born
Forgetting all that's in the past
A place of safety.. home at last.
poem by Dave James
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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