To Reformers in Despair
'Tis not too late to build our young land right,
Cleaner than Holland, courtlier than Japan,
Devout like early Rome, with hearths like hers,
Hearths that will recreate the breed called man.
poem by Vachel Lindsay
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It is easier to build two hearths than always to keep fire on one.
Gone Too Soon
Grilled and barbecued babies,
In a land called Japan!
He who have ears,
Let him hear this message.
Gone too soon without a trace,
In a land called Japan;
She who have ears,
Let her hear this message.
Wine is a man but,
Beer is a woman;
Life is all about us but,
One man's meat is another man's poison.
A very sad state,
Where babies are barbecued for food;
I don't need medals to crown my intelligence,
All that i need is love.
Gone too soon,
Gone too soon!
The Blackman's stress is under his skin;
Gone too soon,
Gone too soon!
The Whiteman's stress is on his face;
Just as it is seen by nature.
In the land of Japan!
Today is the day,
Tomorrow is another day;
But, yesterday is gone too soon.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Our Generation
Our generation
Our fathers' heirs,
We now inherit what they once called theirs.
The Crime, the Poverty,
The Guilt, the Hate;
But is it too late to recreate?
A time existing long ago
When our fathers made the things we now know as home.
Our generation
Our fathers' heirs,
We must now fix what they once called theirs.
The Crime, the Poverty,
The Guilt, the Hate;
But is it too late to recreate?
A people just like you and me,
Who tried to help the world so destructively.
Our generation
Our fathers' gem,
We have no choice,
We are now them.
Dolly and the Salesman
There's a salesperson at the door
someone said
and so you went to the door
and there was the young salesman
with a book in his hand
and in a sharp grey suit
and hair neat and short cut
yes?
you said
I represent Carson's stores
and it has been brought
to my notice
that you are behind
with your payments
is that so?
you said
yes
the young guy said
three months behind
and if you don't pay today
the item you have chosen to buy
will be removed
is that so?
you said
the young guy looked
into his book of figures
and script
so you called out
Dolly there's a young guy here
who says we owe him money
you both waited
while Dolly came to the door
what do we owe?
she asked
money
the young guy said
what for?
Dolly said
a vacuum cleaner
the young guy said
you are three months behind
now if you do not pay up today
it will be removed
Dolly raised her eyebrows
and put on her
don't mess with me face
and went off
the young guy
and you looked
at each other in silence
after a few minutes
Dolly returned
carrying the vacuum cleaner
here
she said
here's your darn Hoover
take the thing
and go stick it
where the sun
don't shine
and so the young man
held up the vacuum cleaner
and looked at you
and Dolly
and said
right don't come back
to the store
because you won't
be served again
and off he went
out along the road
in the falling black rain.
poem by Terry Collett
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Somewhere Near Japan
Late last night I got an s. o. s.
The fairy tale girls in deep in distress
She says I dont know where I am
But its near japan
My engines all burned out
My crew has all bailed out
I dont know where I am
But its somewhere near japan
And she said
Rescue me
Im somewhere in the
China sea
I think Im sinkin fast
This call is probably my last
Im throwin out a life line
And Im doin it for old times sake
Though I know youre gonna break my heart
One more time
Late last night I got an s. o. s.
The fairy tale girls in deep in distress
She says I dont know where I am
But its near japan
My engines all burned out
My crew has all bailed out
I dont know where I am
But its somewhere near japan
And she said thank you dear
I think she sounded quite sincere
And when she turned to go
She said I crave adventure dont you know
And now shes driftin on some chinese junk
Her world is spinning and her hope has sunk
So I close my eyes
And somewhere near japan
The spinning stopped and the world stood still
I broke her fall and I always will
Strung out in no mans land
Somewhere near japan
Rescue me
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Humbling Habitat
The gray exhaust of twelve warm hearths
Chased the clouds into the afternoon sky.
There stood the stalwart mansion
At peace with its surroundings
And steadfast with its environs.
Beckoning an affectionate greeting
Just beyond the bridge, it appears
To give light the sublime levity
Of being a nuance of darkness.
Its façade is as prestigious and lucent
As a librarian’s bustline in her noblest estate.
Its walls of luminous windows
Sit still in a kinetic majesty of colors,
Like the yew tree in its bounty of crimson berries.
This refuge from the current disharmonies
Radiates from its midst an unheard music
And a conviviality suggesting a vicarious ecstacy.
Here, perhaps, is that first step in darkness
Of the empire prophesized to come,
Bringing its measureless song
Of the queen of the northern lights,
Whose monarch calms the most vociferous tempest
And warms the most bitter winter chill.
Here, under the clouds of mortal brevity,
Contained are the exotic reactions
To long suppers and golden evenings
From the replenishing of early traditions,
Beyond youth’s humblest dreams.
The twelve hearths fully aglow,
Fueled with only kindling atoms,
Tell of a future only they can know
And every human mind fathoms.
Within these high stone walls,
Lit by radiant lamps’ glare,
Every place an eye-beam falls,
There is the glory of confident flair.
poem by Albert Price
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Japan
I saw a young man by a telephone
He was sitting alone in the rain
I said, hey, young man what you doing here?
He said, sir, Im going insane
See I love an american beauty
But nobody here understands
So he looked to the sky with resentment in his eyes
And said, lord, why am I in japan?
Lord why am I in japan?
He told me a story about yesterday
How he walked in the search of a friend
But nobody came to his rescue
So he came to his bitter end
He pulled me close and said
They all stopped and stared
As I walked down the street alone
And nobody knew my name
Nobody knew my name
I said, young man I know where youre going
And young man I know where youve been
But Ive been in this land for a lifetime, it seems,
And Im never to come back again
No, Im never to come back again
So I turned and I gave him my blessing
And I left him alone in the rain
But I had to just stop and laugh at myself
Still nobody knows my name
Nobody knows my name
song performed by by Vertical Horizon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Ride
In the east they can meditate
They can recreate the sound of all and bring us home
I think Ill go there some day
Maybe for a holiday
Maybe just light a candle, take a seat for the ride
And you dont need no money to fly, to truly fly away (recreate the sound of
All)
And you dont need no car to truly ride, truly ride away (recreate the sound of
All)
In the west we think were the best
Weve shown the whole wide world that money is all we care for
Someday the scientists will see theres no such thing as gravity
Theyll all just light a candle, take a seat for the ride
And you dont need no money to fly, to truly fly away (recreate the sound of
All)
And you dont need no car to truly ride, truly ride away (recreate the sound of
All)
As you ascend in silence, all doubt behind you
You reach the summit my friend and find your destiny
And you dont need no money to fly, to truly fly away (recreate the sound of
All)
And you dont need no car to truly ride, truly ride away (recreate the sound of
All)
And you dont need no money to fly, to truly fly away (recreate the sound of
All)
And you dont need no car to truly ride, truly ride away (recreate the sound of
All)
To truly ride away
song performed by by Live
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Cenotaph
Not yet will those measureless fields be green again
Where only yesterday the wild sweet blood of wonderful youth was shed;
There is a grave whose earth must hold too long, too deep a stain,
Though for ever over it we may speak as proudly as we may tread.
But here, where the watchers by lonely hearths from the thrust of an inward sword have more slowly bled,
We shall build the Cenotaph: Victory, winged, with Peace, winged too, at the column’s head.
And over the stairway, at the foot—oh! here, leave desolate, passionate hands to spread
Violets, roses, and laurel, with the small, sweet, tinkling country things
Speaking so wistfully of other Springs,
From the little gardens of little places where son or sweetheart was born and bred.
In splendid sleep, with a thousand brothers
To lovers—to mothers
Here, too, lies he:
Under the purple, the green, the red,
It is all young life: it must break some women's hearts to see
Such a brave, gay coverlet to such a bed!
Only, when all is done and said,
God is not mocked and neither are the dead
For this will stand in our Marketplace—
Who’ll sell, who’ll buy
(Will you or I
Lie each to each with the better grace)?
While looking into every busy whore's and huckster's face
As they drive their bargains, is the Face
Of God: and some young, piteous, murdered face.
poem by Charlotte Mary Mew
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We discussed the history of postwar Japan and how Japan had missed an opportunity to build a more functional democracy because of the focus on fighting communism driven in large part by the American occupation.
quote by Joichi Ito
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Illiteracy
some homes breed love
some homes breed hatred
some homes breed moderation
some homes breed extremes
some homes breed worldliness
some homes breed racism
some homes breed kindness
somehomes breed religious bigotry
throw in illiteracy and any country would be bloom to bits
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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A Little Tadpole
You are jobless and,
How do you build a Storybuilding?
You have no job and,
How do you build a Hotel?
I fell like hell but i have now woken up like timber!
From this present evil world like, the window cleaner.
Life and hardships,
From man's own journey like s street sweeper;
A little tadpole swam into your river and now,
It has become an Island.
You have no job but,
You able to build a Storybuilding and a Hotel;
But if i may ask,
Who gave you the money?
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Apostrophe To Man
(On reflecting that the world
is ready to go to war again)
Detestable race, continue to expunge yourself, die out.
Breed faster, crowd, encroach, sing hymns, build
bombing airplanes;
Make speeches, unveil statues, issue bonds, parade;
Convert again into explosives the bewildered ammonia
and the distracted cellulose;
Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies
The hopeful bodies of the young; exhort,
Pray, pull long faces, be earnest,
be all but overcome, be photographed;
Confer, perfect your formulae, commercialize
Bacateria harmful to human tissue,
Put death on the market;
Breed, crowd, encroach,
expand, expunge yourself, die out,
Homo called sapiens.
poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Demon Cleaner Performed Live
I've got the demons within
I've got to brush them all away
I feel the demon's rage
I must clean them all away
Yeah, yeah...
Excite to scream them away
Cobwebs in the way
That magic cleaner oh
Shine his smile on me
Yeah, yeah...
I am the demon
Cleaner who saves the day
I get the backwall
And important they'll always stay
Yeah, yeah...
If only one thing that you know
Imposters from the show
They'll try to trick you into
Normal treatment
Oh don't you listen to them say
Shush them all away
I am the demon cleaner
Madman so
I am the freedom cleaner
Standing naked here to say
I'm the only way...
song performed by by Tool
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Fairies Farewell
FAREWELL, rewards and fairies,
Good housewives now may say,
For now foul sluts in dairies
Do fare as well as they.
And though they sweep their hearths no less
Than maids were wont to do,
Yet who of late for cleanness
Finds sixpence in her shoe?
Lament, lament, old Abbeys,
The Fairies’ lost command!
They did but change Priests’ babies,
But some have changed your land.
And all your children, sprung from thence,
Are now grown Puritans,
Who live as Changelings ever since
For love of your demains.
At morning and at evening both
You merry were and glad,
So little care of sleep or sloth
These pretty ladies had;
When Tom came home from labour,
Or Cis to milking rose,
Then merrily went their tabor,
And nimbly went their toes.
Witness those rings and roundelays
Of theirs, which yet remain,
Were footed in Queen Mary’s days
On many a grassy plain;
But since of late, Elizabeth,
And later, James came in,
They never danced on any heath
As when the time hath been.
By which we note the Fairies
Were of the old Profession.
Their songs were ‘Ave Mary’s’,
Their dances were Procession.
But now, alas, they all are dead;
Or gone beyond the seas;
Or farther for Religion fled;
Or else they take their ease.
A tell-tale in their company
They never could endure!
And whoso kept not secretly
Their mirth, was punished, sure;
It was a just and Christian deed
To pinch such black and blue.
Oh how the commonwealth doth want
Such Justices as you!
poem by Richard Corbet
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Half Breed
My father married a Cherokee
My mother's people were ashamed of me
The Indian's said that I was white by law
The white man always called me Indian Squaw
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
We never settled went from town to town
When you're not welcome you don't hang around
The other children always laughed at me
Give her a feather she's a Cherokee
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
We weren't accepted and I felt the shame
Fifteen I left and tell me whose to blame
My life since then has been from man to man
But I can't run away from what I am
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
song performed by by Shania Twain
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Circling Hearths
MY Countrymen, though we are young as yet
With little history, nought to show
Of lives enleagued against a foreign foe,
Torn flags and triumph, glory or regret;
Still some things make our kinship sweet,
Some deeds inglorious but of royal worth,
As when with tireless arms and toiling feet
We felled the tree and tilled the earth.
’Tis no great way that we have travelled since
Our feet first shook the storied dust
Of England from them, when with love and trust
In one another, and large confidence
In God above, our ways were ta’en
’Neath alien skies—each keeping step in mind
And soul and purpose to one trumpet strain,
One urging music on the wind:
Yet tears of ours have wet the dust, have wooed
Some subtle green things from the ground—
Like violets—only violets never wound
Such tendrils round the heart: the solitude
Has seen young hearts with love entwine;
And many gentle friends gone down to death
Have mingled with the dust, and made divine
The very soil we tread beneath.
Thus we have learned to love our country, learned
To treasure every inch from foam
To foam; to title her with name of Home;
To light in her regard a flame that burned
No land in vain, that calls the eyes
Of men to glory heights and old renown;
That wild winds cannot quench, nor thunder-skies
Make dim, nor many waters drown.
Six hearths are circled round our shores, and round
The six hearths group a common race,
Though leagues divide, the one light on their face;
The same old songs and stories rise; the sound
Of kindred voices and the dear
Old English tongue make music; and men move
From hearth to hearth with little fear
Of aught save open arms and love.
To keep these hearth-fires red, to keep the door
Of each house wide—that is our part:
Surely ’tis noble! Surely heart to heart,
God’s love upon us and one goal before,
Is something worth; something to win
Our hearts to effort; something it were good
To garner soon; and something ’twould be sin
To cast aside in wanton mood.
My Countrymen, hats off! with heart and will
Thank God that you are free, and then
Arise and don your nationhood like men,
And manlike face the world for good or ill.
Peace be to you, and in the tide
Of years great plenty till Time’s course be run:
Six Ploughmen in the same field side by side,
But, if need be, six Swords as one.
poem by Roderic Quinn
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Nigeria
Now, Ben is from Nigeria
Where the leaders have
Too much naira,
They sit at the top
And forget the people
In their thought,
At end of their term
We stand in queues to
Vote them into power
But they always
End up abusing that power.
Now, every young man
Want to run away
Run away to a far away place
Any far away place called America
They never sees the beauty
That lies beneath the soil of Africa.
And I too want to run away
But on my second thought,
I Wondered in my mind;
If we all run,
Who will stay behind and
Build our beloved Africa
Why don't we,
Sons and daughters
Of Africa, of our beloved Nigeria
Stay behind and build together
our beloved home land.
And liberate our land from
Every form of oppression,
Of curruption,
Why not join hands and
Liberate our beloved country
From the cold hands of
Poverty, and diseases
Together we can achieve
All we can hope to achieve.
poem by Efe Benjamin
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Big In Japan
Winters cityside
Crystal bits of snowflakes all around my head and in the wind
I had no illusions
That Id ever find a glimps of summers heatwaves in your eyes
You did what you did to me, now its history I see
Heres my comeback on the road again
Things will happen while they can
I will wait here for my man tonight, its easy when your big in japan
When your big in japan, tonight
Big in japan, be tight, big in japan where the eastern seas so blue
Big in japan, alright, pay, then Ill sleep by your side
Things are easy when youre big in japan, when youre big in japan
Neon on my naked skin
Passing silhouettes of strange illuminated mannequins
Shall I stay here at the zoo
Or shall I go and change my point of view for other ugly scenes
You did what you did to me, now its history I see...
Things will happen while they can
I will wait here for my man tonight, its easy when youre big in japan
Gold/1979
song performed by by Alphaville
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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