Slum Dweller
They call me
Slum dweller
I agree not
Here was I born
Here do I live
I've a close knit family
People help one another
Our shack was built
From parts gathered
By members of my family
And those who lived before
It's compact
We keep it clean
Our people serve
In the shops and buildings
And form the workforce
For factories around
Politicians come
At election time
Promises they make
And then disappear
We drink water
From a tap far off
Facilities lacking
A matter of adjustment
Tourists're brought
To see our surroundings
Like visiting abondoned homes
Affected by a hurricane
Can our lives be improved?
Yes, by all means
Let there be some effort
To make this happen.
poem by Tirupathi Chandrupatla
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Slum Dance
I go out of my way today
Just so I can dance the slum dance
With the poor people that live in the slum
Because they love to dance the slum dance
With other people
And they get very excited when they have other people
To dance the slum dance with
There is a fine weather in the sky
Where the slum is
Also in the slum there is no clean water to drink
But they have no choice rather than to drink the dirty water full of flies And mosquitoes
poem by Aldo Kraas
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This is not a family
This is not a family...
No not to me... a family is people who are there for you they are the people that you trust to make sure your okay they are the people that believe in you and they are the people who will never lie to you and always be honest
This is not a family...
For a family its pretty sad to think we treat one another as nothing talk to eachother as if we dont care for one another and backstab and walk on one another because we can
This is not a family...
I use to think i had it good till i grew up and relized family shouldnt bring eachother down... family shouldnt make you cry... family shouldnt make you think you will be nothing and stay nothing for....
This is not a family...
Instead its just a sad excuse of people who put up with eachother not because they want to but because they have to... for this family that i have i hope that all of you will soon relize before its too late that i love my family... and i believe in my family... and that even though my household is not right at all... i know that i will become something... not because you make me think i cant... its because i believe in myself and with that i know i will someday do great things...
FOR this is not a family...
but it is my family
poem by Andrea Thanasas
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This be the last time we use the phrase 'Slumdog
We, as Indians, have reasons
To be proud of having
Created history by the film
“Slumdog Millionaire”
At the same time, we, as human beings,
Have to have hung our heads for
Having created slums
Slum, as it means
An overcrowded area of a city,
Where the housing is in a very bad condition
And people live in unhygienic conditions
With no basic facilities
And who created slums,
Not the people residing there
But those whose greed has brought
These slum dwellers into these
Unfit-for-living conditions
The technicalities employed in
Filming this movie deserve all praise
While the different ways of living
Of the slum dwellers equally deserve attention
Of the entire human race
For correction and improvement
The film was declared to be
The best-directed
While the slum tribes have no directions
And they have no one to direct
The film was declared to be
The best film
While the slum where the film was shot
Is the worst place
For any human being
Let the recognition of the film
Bring to light the plight of slumdogs
To the fore
And let the human race do everything
Possible to move these people
Out of the slums, wherever they are,
And to help them live a decent, if not better, living
We shall be doing a great service
If this becomes the last ever time
We use this phrase “Slumdog”
poem by Bashyam Narayanan
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The Phone Call
Sitting alone at home one day, I decided to
call a loved one who lived far away.
As I picked up the phone
I heard a voice on the other side say.
I missed you son, for it seems
that you have strayed.
Who is this? Who are you?
Why do you call me son? I don’t know you?
How can you not know me? You pray to me every day.
And in your prayers you always say:
My father I am not worthy to receive you.
But! I believe in you.
So I ask of you from my heart
To protect all my family members
Both near and far.
This is one phone call that I do not often make
But I do it now, while you are awake.
I need you to spread my word
So that in this era my voice can be heard.
I need their attention, for there is so much
Yet to do, for this world is to be saved
And that’s why I come to you.
Mankind is destroying all that I have done
And if they continue they’ll never see the sun.
How many signs must I give
in order for them to begin to live.
I have shown them tsunamis, earthquakes
Hurricanes and such.
How much more? isn’t this enough!
The voices of the people drowning out
All the other sounds, letting the politicians
Know That peace can be found.
My words will always prevail
Seek and you will not fail.
poem by Louis Rams
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Anything Can Happen
Time will come when we know what happened here
Change will come in time and make it clear
We learn one thing if we learn at all
In the secret wars we call our lives
Anything can happen
We watch the days, we make our plans
We change in ways a life demands
But what ever pleasure this life may allow
Ill give you the love I have for you now
Because anything can happen
In a world so full of fear
Dreams are whispered in the dead of night
And people disappear
But you hear my heart and you know Im still here
Although you know and I know you know
While I swear Ill never let you go
Anything can happen
Yeah, if this love can happen here
Anything can
We watch the days we make our plans
We change in ways a life demands
Ill always remember this time, this place
The hope in your voice, the light on your face
Because anything can happen
In a world so full of pain
People give their lives to making war
And we call those people sane
But I love you where your dreams remain
Though you never say it anymore
One day therell be an end to this war
And who knows
We may see what were here for
Anything can happen
Yeah, if this love has found us here
Anything can
Can happen
song performed by by Jackson Browne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In His Eyes! And Ours
Times then were lived,
Within our means.
We valued being clean.
Respected as expected.
This is what everyone did without neglect.
And embraced hygiene!
This was a fact of life known and seen!
Sold on concepts of a desire to learn.
Wanting to comprehend lessons taught...
That broadened our lives with a competitiveness.
With a fear of limits ignorance welcomed.
And we then wished no part of this.
We sought to grow.
And this assisted with an identity dignity presented.
Times then were lived within our means.
To deceive...
Was then thought to be despicable.
To cheat and lie about it,
Did not excite or sit well...
With those who suffered through the consequences,
Of their ways that dismayed.
Today...
People talk the 'walk' but do not walk the talk.
People say they have good intentions.
But leave no evidence of it seen.
Today...
People talk about their standards and values.
As if this is held in an exclusiveness.
And a membership is required for this to be addressed.
Today...
People are obsessed with their possessions.
Their good credit scores and loans they can obtain.
Because they have maintained status given,
Although they keep blemishes hidden...
That may reveal their tainted names.
And they cheat.
Lie.
And deceive!
With lifestyles lived well above their means.
And yet,
When suspected...
Nothing about them is respected.
Nor do the judgements they pass on others...
Keep tax collectors from locking them out,
From foreclosed homes they bragged about.
OR...
Do they 'today' have the means to feed, protect
Or shelter themselves,
In peace.
Times we lived then,
Were lived within our means.
And we were taught to be grateful.
To feel we were blessed.
And we should express this to God.
On a daily basis kept routined!
Like promises we made to ensure we had good hygiene.
And then God...
And only God,
Will make sure our lives lived were lived right!
In His eyes!
And ours.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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People Will Talk
The following lines were written at the request of a little girl,
who said she would recite them at a Sunday School
entertainment. She wished it written to the refrain people
will talk. I presume the ideas in the following are nearly,
altogether original, or they are very differently worded
from the old pieces under the title of 'People will Talk.'
Dressing in fashion will be called vain,
And they'll call you a dowdey [sic] if you are plain ;
But do what is right, lot that be the test
Then proudly hold up your head with the best-
For people will talk.
You will never be wrong, if you do what is right,
And this course pursue with all of your might ;
And if you're a child, going to school,
Or full grown up, take this for your rule-
For people will talk.
The best way to do is to let them rave,
And they'll think more of you, if you are brave ;
For no one, will ever think you are rude,
If you are determined for to be good-
For people will talk.
Little girl, on her way to Sunday school class,
Rude boys sometimes will not let her pass ;
But if they do see that she is not afraid
They soon will respect the brave little maid-
For people will talk,
Little girls should learn to knit and to sew,
Then, if to womanhood they ever grow,
Their hose they can knit, and make their own dress,
Then to their homes they will bring bless-
For people will talk.
And their homes they should make tidy and neat,
Everything should be so clean and so sweet.
This line for ourselves out we will chalk,
And we are determined in it to walk-
For people will talk.
poem by James McIntyre
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Hurricane sandy
Hurricane sandy
make people realized
They are nothing
Hurricane sandy is
No ordinary storm
It is super storm
With extraordinary
Width and velocity
Hurricane sandy
Make people realized
They are nothing.
Everybody is in danger here
Nobody is free from fear.
One world one life one air
Live and let live in this earth.
One light one water my dear brother
Nothing is yours
Nothing to bother.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
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Live Life on Hope
Strange is our life to live
No idea where it leads
But still live on hope
Where is it going to take?
Meet new people in life
May be just for once
But still live on hope
Will we meet them again?
We make new plans for life
No idea how to manage
But still live on hope
When is it going to attain?
Great effort we make family
Bring up kids to best
But still live on hope
What would be the result?
Children fly when big and built
Again we remain alone
But still live on hope
When will they be back?
All of us live on hope
And it should never end
Until we leave this earth
Always hope for the best...
poem by Sreekala Sukumaran
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Submission (in answer to Don Mattera)
I have seen a white old man and woman
turned onto the street,
living in cardboard boxes
with their small white dog
in the new disastrous improved South Africa,
I have seen white people taking their own lives
when black mine owners robbed them of salaries
and there was no job to get,
no living to be made
and they did this
instead of starting to beg.
I have seen white men and women
with university degrees
leaving the country
in numbers that are more than a million
to find a place to have a life
somewhere else in a foreign country,
I have waited for more than a hour queuing
at a local bank to make a cash deposit,
as a payment to someone
and the way that things are going,
with the black economic empowerment
and people not up to doing a simple job,
soon all of private industry
will be falling apart
as the government departments are doing.
I have noticed friends and family members
who were robbed, hijacked in their vehicles,
raped, tortured and killed
while the South African Police
did their very best to make a arrest
and like in all other things
are not up to it.
I know people who live in despair,
who are totally without hope
while the country’s borders
are flung wide open
to the rest of Africa
to first have a chance at a job
and their degrees and experience
in the face of this means nothing
but not one does bend
under the black heel to submission,
at the mercy of God
their lives go on…
[Reference: “Submission” by Don Mattera.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Family first
Friends may come and friends may go
Family is first and this I know
Putting friends first is a mistake
And not one that you should make
Family’s forever and this I know
Friends enter your life and then they go
Making friends is fun trust me with this
But not something you would miss
Love your family while they are here
Keep their love very near
Family can leave the world at any time
So don’t make yourself feel like slime
Family is here to comfort you
I know your friends do this too
Without your family you would be lost
Hold on to them no matter the cost
poem by Cheyanne Whien
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Family First
Friends may come and friends may go
Family is first and this I know
Putting friends first is a mistake
And not one that you should make
Family’s forever and this I know
Friends enter your life and then they go
Making friends is fun trust me with this
But not something you would miss
Love your family while they are here
Keep their love very near
Family can leave the world at any time
So don’t make yourself feel like slime
Family is here to comfort you
I know your friends do this too
Without your family you would be lost
Hold on to them no matter the cost
poem by Bonnie B Long
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A Perfect Family
A perfect family is what we all wish for.
We see people that have families that are much different than ours.
As we experience their unique culture, we wish we had a family like them.
But really, having a perfect family isn’t possible.
We all will have problems and accomplishments that make us unique from every other family in the whole wide world.
So, think hard about how different your family is.
Appreciate you have a family and is never alone because they help us through tough times.
It is never foolish to wish for a perfect family but is foolish to abandon your special family.
poem by Casey Lyon
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My country is in ruins
My country is in ruins,
it’s a place that here and there is falling to pieces,
the decline is clearly visible
and the home of almost every white family is a fortress.
Maybe the writing is on the wall,
maybe people who pillage,
at a time will be send out in thousands,
to murder and rob as they did from their prehistory
and time and again I wonder
how long the peace can last?
Sometimes it looks as if integrity
is totally lacking from your fellow man,
as if every one wants to take revenge
for one or other reason,
as if people only living themselves
but maybe compassion is still hidden somewhere?
How much I want things to be different,
and I am longing for a place in the sun of my own,
to talk my own language, to live out my own culture
and at times to express my own thoughts.
Still there is a sun shining in the heaven,
clouds do still disappear at times before the blue;
people still have got dreams, love and ambitions,
are living their lives in happiness, joy, sorrow and pain.
poem by Gert Strydom
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I Was Born and Raised
When the sun was hanging bright
And the moon gloom with execsive light
Then I was born
When the days were constantly burning
And the cloud immensely weeping
Then I was born
When human were not humble
And the races were different people
Then I was born
When actions were filled with advantage
And the minds were like gabbage
Then I was born
When the street were filled with blood
And human words were built with fraud
Then I was born
When parents cannot make their stomach feed
And they cannot take the responsibility of their breed
Then I was born
Where the people were just part of a story
And their effort was to build another man glory
Their I was raised
Where men were like iron
But their strength was for a corn
Their I was raised
Where people were deprived
And from them wealth is derived
There I was born and raised
Where the land is good
But the people cannot make their food
Their I was born and raised
Where the place is called africa
And the people are called african
Their I was born and raised
I was born and raised
Where the people’s destiny lies in the grave
poem by Kemurl Fofanah
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Forgotten People
In Council Flats live the forgotten people
At the slum end the poorer side of town
They live on welfare like their dads before them
And from where they live a long hike to renown.
They always wear their football scarves and beanies
And take them with them everywhere they go
They worship their football teams and football heroes
The only sort of culture that they know.
Their addresses they find not to their advantage
For employees employers look elsewhere
They tend to think that those living in the slum parts
Unfit for work and softened from welfare.
With the Council Flats the cops are well acquainted
They know it as a breeding ground for crime
There are not many there without crime record
Who have not been in jail and served out time.
Those born there are born to disadvantage
The expectations of them is to fail
How can you expect to end up a winner
If all your role models have been to jail? .
How can you expect to soar like an eagle
If you don't have the powerful wings to fly
If you don't have role models to inspire you
To have success in life you may not try? .
The politicians only call to see them
To beg them for their votes on voting day
But when they are elected to high office
From council flats they tend to keep away.
By circumstance of birth forgotten people
Condemned to life of crime and poverty
Still they are less impure in ways than many
Who have climbed to highest branch of success tree.
poem by Francis Duggan
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What's wrong with our world?
Why are people abused
Why are people shot
Why do people commit suicide
Why are people anorexic and bulimic
Why do people care more about money than family
Why do people call themselves fat or ugly
Why are kids kidnapped and killed
Why do people die
Why do people tell you they love you and take it back
Why do people hurt each other
Why are people raped
Why do people cut themselves
Why do people hate their lives
Why do teenagers get pregnant
Why do people call each other names
Why are people raciest
Why are people depressed
Why are people put in mental hospitals
Why do peole do drugs
Why do people cuss
Why do people not care what happens to them
Why do people care what others think of them
What's wrong with our world
poem by Allison Boyles
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What Is Family?
A family is love
That puts itself above
Everything else in this world.
A family is trust
That's fair and just
In its treatment of each other.
A family is pride
And will never hide
Its feelings for one another.
A family is dear
And won't disappear
When things are getting tough.
A family is hope
That learns to cope
With all that comes their way.
A family is sound
With their feet on the ground
On every brand new day.
A family is kind
And will always find
The time to be together.
A family is wise
And treasures its ties
For always and forever.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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Some People
Some people seem to have it all
Some people always have to crawl
Some people pay to be abused
Some people end up destitute
Some people search their souls for truth
Some people try to be of use
Some people pray before they kill
Some people kill just for the thrill
Some people follow one mans vision, some others die on television
Some people build their homes on sand, some people live in garbage cans
Some people think that live is dear, some people hope the end is near
Some people fight for right to life, some people hate to stay alive
Some people dream of life on mars, some people end their life in cars
Some people throw their lives away, some others go on holidays
Some people live and love in vain, some people dont and go insane
Some people always need to win, some other people love to sin
Some people breaking all their vows, some people slashing sacred cows
Some people like to worship stars, some people think the worlds a farce
Some people try to make ends meet, some others end up kissing feet
Some people find their holy grail, some other people go to hell
Some people never catch their breath, some people drink themselves to death
Some people seem to have it all, some people always have to crawl
Some people pay to be abused, some people end up destitute
Some people search their souls for truth
Some people try to be of use
Some people
!
Gold/ocean/1994
song performed by by Alphaville
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Depression Can Drive You Away
If you've ever felt you have to keep you're tears to youself
You dont have to
you are not alone
Some people have nothing
No family
You can make you're dreams a reality
No matter how bad the deaths have been
You just need to get on with you're own life
If you're always depressed
That depression can affect the relatonship with you're family
It can either drive you away or bring you closer together
So never forget how lucky you are to have a family to say goodnight to at the end of the day.
poem by Marwa Abdulkader
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