If Nothing Changes
If nothing changes, then nothing changes.
We will merely repeat our history,
Ignorantly observing how life is
Damned by reveling in the past's glories.
We will watch ourselves rot and stagnate
As we stand in a stationary place.
We will watch the same thoughts saturate—
No matter what difficulties we face.
Wars will be ceaseless—each city destroyed—
And children will never learn to have pride.
We will remain hungry and unemployed,
Living listless lives worse than suicide.
If nothing changes, then neither we will we.
There will be no future for you or me.
poem by Tim Stensloff

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
My Mystery, My History
The tangling web of my life
keeps on weaving.
The incessant contradictions
are unbelieving.
The past a memory,
the future a reverie
Ah, but the present that's with me
is in itself a mystery.
I'm damned if I do. I'm damned if I don't.
I'm damned if I will.'I'm damned if I won't.
These contradictions
take their toll on me
and so at the end of every day
I lie in my bed silently,
glad that another day
has become the past
or what I do call my history.
poem by Edwina Reizer

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Children Of The Damned
(harris)
Hes walking like a small child
But watch his eyes burn you away
Black holes in his golden stare
God knows he wants to go home
Children of the damned
(repeat another 3 times)
Hes walking like a dead man
If he had lived he would have crucified us all
Now hes standing on the last step
He thought oblivion well it beckons us all
Children of the damned
(repeat another 3 times)
Now it burns his hand hes turning to laugh
Smiles as the flame sears his flesh
Melting his face screaming in pain
Peeling the skin from his eyes
Watch him die according to plan
Hes dust on the ground what did we learn
Youre children of the damned
Your backs against the wall
You turn into the light
Youre burning in the night
Youre children of the damned
Like candles watch them burn
Burning in the light
Youll burn again tonight
Youre children of the damned
song performed by by Iron Maiden

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Damned if I Do
Damned if i do
damned if i dont
Damned if i will
Damned if i wont
One thinks im a genius
And should start a study
Another that i run
Dont settle down in a hurry
One reckons i'm a debater
Another thinks a preacher
Some say a scientist
Yet others a lecturer
They pull me this way
And they pull me that way
They all have different ideas
They all have their say
If i step out their ideas
Pull out your guns
Start shooting me up
Now this here is just fun
If i grow out wrong
By their standards
Watch them pull a scalpel
And snip away the 'flaws'
One wants me this way
One wants me the other
Catch twenty two, lucky you
Why should u even bother?
damned if i do
Damned uf i dont
Damned if u will
Damned if i wont
Stuck out in a desert
On my own, so alone
Ducking bullets and knives
Stumbling over stones
Im tired of all the ideas
Tired of being torn apart
Tired of others running my life
Of being told where im at
I think its time to choose
Pick my own way
Choose who i will follow
Choose where i will stay
If im damned if i do
And damned if i dont
I choose my own life
Im picking will or wont
Cause this is my life
Its what i do that matters
Im the one stuck with me
When everything falters
Damned if i do
Damned if i dont
God help me choose
What i will and what i wont
poem by Joses Tirtabudi

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Damned
Don't smoke don't fight don't light no cigarettes
Or else you'll wind up in the can
No jokes no rights sit tight don't fool around
You are a guest of Uncle Sam
Stand up look right don't slouch and stand at ease
Allow no sex above the knees
When I snap you jump into the master plan
I'll be damned
Well I'll be damned
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
Damned if I do
Damned if I don't
Don't talk don't fool don't try to mess around
I'll make a monkey outta you
You sign your name right on that dotted line boy
I'll be damned
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
Damned if I do
And damned if I don't
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
I'm damned if I do
I'm damned if I don't
I'll be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
I'll be damned if I go for broke
I'm damned if I do
I'm damned if I don't
I'll be damned (6x)
song performed by by AC/DC from Stiff Upper Lip

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dont Stop For No-one
Dont stop for no-one
And then it goes on
(repeat 3 times)
One day my father said to me
its time for you to leave,
But dont wait for me, its pre-destiny
Dont wait around for someone to believe in
You know, history dont stop for no-one
Just like moses waiting on the mountain
You know, history dont stop for no-one
Dont hang around in the babylonian gardens
You know, history dont stop for no-one
(? ) tourist attraction
You know, history dont stop for no-one
Dont stop for no-one
And then it goes on
(repeat)
Sometimes I told I must confess
To a life of tenderness
But I just repeat what he said to me:
dont close your eyes because seeing is believing
You know, history dont stop for no-one
(? ) child, fighting for a meaning
You know, history dont stop for no-one
Dont dream too long, its time to awake now
You know, history dont stop for no-one
Like sleeping lucy waiting for a kiss now
You know, history dont stop for no-one
I think you know the way its gonna go now
You know, history dont stop for no-one
From aztech kings to new york queens
And then it goes on
song performed by by Heaven 17

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Damned
(young - young)
Dont smoke dont fight dont light no cigarettes
Or else youll wind up in the can
No jokes no rights sit tight dont fool around
You are a guest of uncle sam
Stand up look right dont slouch and stand at ease
Allow no sex above the knees
When I snap you jump into the master plan
Ill be damned
Well Ill be damned
Ill be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
Ill be damned if I go for broke
Damned if I do
Damned if I dont
Dont talk dont fool dont try to mess around
Ill make a monkey outta you
You sign your name right on that dotted line boy
Ill be damned
Ill be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
Ill be damned if I go for broke
Damned if I do
And damned if I dont, yeah
Come on
Ill be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
Ill be damned if I go for broke
Im damned if I do
Im damned if I dont
Ill be damned if I drink or smoke
Damned if I steal your joke
Ill be damned if I go for broke
Im damned if I do
Im damned if I dont
Ill be damned
Ill be damned
Ill be damned
Ill be damned
Ill be damned
Ill be damned
2000, j. albert & son, pty.
song performed by by AC-DC

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

The Place of the Damned
All folks who pretend to religion and grace,
Allow there's a HELL, but dispute of the place:
But, if HELL may by logical rules be defined
The place of the damned -I'll tell you my mind.
Wherever the damned do chiefly abound,
Most certainly there is HELL to be found:
Damned poets, damned critics, damned blockheads, damned knaves,
Damned senators bribed, damned prostitute slaves;
Damned lawyers and judges, damned lords and damned squires;
Damned spies and informers, damned friends and damned liars;
Damned villains, corrupted in every station;
Damned time-serving priests all over the nation;
And into the bargain I'll readily give you
Damned ignorant prelates, and counsellors privy.
Then let us no longer by parsons be flammed,
For we know by these marks the place of the damned:
And HELL to be sure is at Paris or Rome.
How happy for us that it is not at home!
poem by Jonathan Swift

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
History
History is sad.
It makes me mad
that we have learned nothing.
History is the past.
It goes so fast
and still we have learned nothing.
Today's not history
and so it's a mystery
why we repeat the same old nothing?
poem by Edwina Reizer

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Tales of my past
Don't write me down in history,
In reference to my past deeds,
Works I derived no joy from,
Or mistakes of those years.
Don't write me down in history,
The ages gone show little of what I am,
That part of me is truly done,
My dreams now can say it all.
Don't write me down in history,
The lessons of life flows in my blood,
My blunders are now my teachers,
The scars now my daily pledge.
Don't write me down in history,
I am yet to achieve perfection,
Still I strive for redemption,
Searching the soil for my lost glory,
Don't write me down in history,
The tales of my past I recall,
That was then, this is me,
Woes to your judgment.
poem by Venessa Ambrose

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Damned If I Do
(lead vocal - lenny zakatek)
I aint got a heart of stone
Im hurtin more now than Ive ever known
If you mean the things you said
Im gonna wind up outa my head
Cant sleep alone at night
I just cant seem to get it right
Damned if I do
Damned if I dont but I love you
I dont want to tie you down
Dont need a reason to have you around
But each time you walk away
Dont be suprised if I ask you to stay
Cant sleep alone at night
I just cant seem to get it right
Damned if I do
And Im damned if I dont but I love you
I said Im damned if I do
And Im damned if I dont cause I love you
I aint got a heart of stone
You havent left me a mind of my own
But its got such a hold on me
I dont think I could ever be free
How can I survive
Im fighting to keep myself alive
Im damned if I do
Damned if I dont but I love you
Cant seem to see the light
Ive done everything but I cant get it right
Damned if I do
Damned if I dont but I love you
song performed by by Alan Parsons Project

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
To Allen Ginsberg
I have been listening to you, Allen Ginsberg
I can still hear you whistling a radio tune
I can follow you through history thoughts of yours
flow into mine
I follow you past WWI
and through the Battle of Versailles without a second glance
Past Hitler Mao Nietzsche Reagan Gogol
past Whitman Kerouac and Carson
I watch as you nod to Ghandi
And converse with Pope Paul VI and Nelson Mandala
We drift past Central Park quickly changing seasons
past Chicago streets and cute little back country California homes
I watch the death of many a thing beside you
i watch you connect you think you
Writing Howl, writing America, writing Death & Fame
I watch yourself deteriorate in body
but flourish in mind
and as you flourish i flourish
And we grow together and I follow you
and then you vanish
into the grape vines at the back of the fence
poem by Lex Newman

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Defining History
DEFINING HISTORY *
History is neither for us nor against us;
It is a record of our accumulating past!
That past which we humans had once made,
And we can learn from our mistakes, it is often
said!
A wit had once put things together, saying; -
'History dose not repeat itself, only historians
repeat each other! ! '
'Civilization is a movement and not a condition,
a voyage, not a harbour, ' said Arnold Toynbee;
'It has the right and the capacity to choose its destiny! '
But many others did not seem to agree!
The early Mayans said that History repeats itself in
every 260 cyclic years,
History is not cyclic said Tonybee, to allay our fears!
The Greek Plato had felt that History was rather cynical;
While Oswald Spengler the German, had similar
views held!
Spengler said that all things that grow, must mature,
decay and decline;
The Western Civilization was no exception of any
kind!
But Carrol Quigley, a scientist by training, could not
accept any of the above views!
And in his 'The Evolution of Civilisation ', he pays
History its dues!
Quigley attempts to create an acceptable synthesis,
Which the critics praised with positive comments!
Quigley advocated that systems come into being
adapted to their environment;
Which changes and evolves with a gradual motion,
While he has laid down the seven stages of this
evolution! **
And he concludes by declaring with some flourish,
That those civilizations which cannot adapt to such
changes, -
Will one day perish!
- Raj Nandy
New Delhi
31 Aug 08
(* I tried to pay my tribute to three of our greatest Historians, -
being an old student of History. Spengler is unpopular in the
West.
** Mixture, Gestation, Expansion, Age of Conflict, Universal Empire,
Decay and Invasion.)
Child Of The Damned
[ warlord cover ]
You made me see right past myself, well beyond
My fears, realized Im synchronized, far beyond my years
Im so geard unto them, I serve unto their souls
Now that Im addicted, my hunger only grows
Im a child of the damned, I follow where I go
Rigging to the cross, as holy as a whore
Im just a child of the damned
Witches coven, the time has come for those sabbatical
Years, revelation is the message, for all in all to hear
Prophets slayed, mankind arrayed into mass submission
Evils here, the lord of hell gives you the proposition
Im a child of the damned, I follow where I go
Rigging to the cross, as holy as a whore
Im just a child of the damned
Give away your life goals, your meaning and ambition
It means nothing to you, after all its superstition
Do not be afraid, the world is near the end
Is it better to rule in hell, than it is to serve in heaven?
Im a child of the damned, I follow where I go
Rigging to the cross, as holy as a whore
Im just a child of the damned
[ warlord cover ]
song performed by by Hammerfall

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Scratching Done Under The Surface
It is foolish for anyone to perceive,
And believe...
They can approach others,
With the notion they can teach lessons...
Without knowing the experience,
Or a past history just by observing one's 'cover'.
A scratching done under the surface.
Or at least some knowledge of what one knows,
Will save another from embarrassment.
And a cold shoulder one unintentionally...
Shows without a doubt,
Can and will be exposed
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dreamland
There's a land that I have heard about
So far across the sea (repeat)
To have you all, my dreamland
Would be like heaven to me (repeat)
We'll get our breakfast from the tree
We'll get our honey from the bees
We'll take a ride on the waterfalls
And all the glories, we'll have them all
And we'll live together on that dreamland
And have so much fun (repeat)
Oh, what a time that will be
Oh yes, we'll wait, wait, wait and see
We'll count the stars up in the sky...
...And surely we'll never die
song performed by by Bob Marley

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Multicultural Melbourne
Melbourne Immigration Museum
I stroll,
Past history,
Past lives,
Past stories.
I see for the first time MY nation’s history,
My nations courage,
My nations suffering,
My eyes glaze over
And realisation creeps up on me.
I see stories of the past and present,
Played out before me,
The lives of Australia’s people,
Australia’s history
poem by Katie Anne

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The best preparation for acting is life -- observing life and people and observing yourself. All that becomes your library. So when you have to research a part, a scene or an emotion, you go into the library and get what you need.
quote by Kate Capshaw

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
Open to the Sky
'I could open to the sky' she said
have all my cautions fall away
in the wily wind;
give in to impulse drive
and let life fall
all around
and call this fate.
I could simply deny myself
nothing
and accept everything;
be the cork
on the party scene;
some do that.
I could put myself in life's way
and hope that something happens to me;
that's what I think some people do.
I could stay here and stagnate
just to see what will be the end of this
stagnate movie reel.
I could cry just to see how many tears can fall.
I could end up waiting for that bus of life which never comes.
Maybe it won't be this way always. Maybe one day
things will change and landscapes will tilt
and I will come falling out
in a pretty dress
yelling
'I told you so.
I am alive!
Yeah that how it will be.
That's how I want it to be.
That's what it needs to be.
Help me please get on that road.
Just having trouble finding where
is that first step
on that road
where I need to be.
Humm, just thinking about it
is that step.
At least now I feel better
and Time
I feel
is smiling on me
for being smart enough
to reel in the Real.
poem by Lonnie Hicks

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Big Red Bus
All nationalities, races and religions
Represented on this world on wheels
As sights of Paris pass by, our senses
Now immune to their immensity
One monument to history merges into another
Each story of glories and achievements
Relating to past battles against foes
Now considered friends
Each represented on the Big Red Bus
poem by Kevin Crinks

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Search Beyond Quest
My thoughts halt at your lips
beyond lies your silence
to start a voyage in snowy dialogues
to find a meaning of futile life
and trash of the myths.
Our entwined life has chosen
consolation of past,
We are still alive
kicking and reveling.
A shadow imitates the God
meditates under the unyielding tree.
The fugitive may find some greatness
in insult.
The vastness of loneliness
ultimately takes over.
poem by Satish Verma

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!