Looking Across the Fields and Watching the Birds Fly
Among the more irritating minor ideas
Of Mr. Homburg during his visits home
To Concord, at the edge of things, was this:
To think away the grass, the trees, the clouds,
Not to transform them into other things,
Is only what the sun does every day,
Until we say to ourselves that there may be
A pensive nature, a mechanical
And slightly detestable operandum, free
From man's ghost, larger and yet a little like,
Without his literature and without his gods . . .
No doubt we live beyond ourselves in air,
In an element that does not do for us,
so well, that which we do for ourselves, too big,
A thing not planned for imagery or belief,
Not one of the masculine myths we used to make,
A transparency through which the swallow weaves,
Without any form or any sense of form,
What we know in what we see, what we feel in what
We hear, what we are, beyond mystic disputation,
In the tumult of integrations out of the sky,
And what we think, a breathing like the wind,
A moving part of a motion, a discovery
Part of a discovery, a change part of a change,
A sharing of color and being part of it.
The afternoon is visibly a source,
Too wide, too irised, to be more than calm,
Too much like thinking to be less than thought,
Obscurest parent, obscurest patriarch,
A daily majesty of meditation,
That comes and goes in silences of its own.
We think, then as the sun shines or does not.
We think as wind skitters on a pond in a field
Or we put mantles on our words because
The same wind, rising and rising, makes a sound
Like the last muting of winter as it ends.
A new scholar replacing an older one reflects
A moment on this fantasia. He seeks
For a human that can be accounted for.
The spirit comes from the body of the world,
Or so Mr. Homburg thought: the body of a world
Whose blunt laws make an affectation of mind,
The mannerism of nature caught in a glass
And there become a spirit's mannerism,
A glass aswarm with things going as far as they can.
poem by Wallace Stevens
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Related quotes
Dialogue (Part 1 & 2)
Part i
Are you optimistic 'bout the way things are going?
No, i never ever think of it at all
Don't you ever worry
When you see what's going down?
No, i try to mind my business, that is, no business at all
When it's time to function as a feeling human being
Will your bachelor of arts help you get by?
I hope to study further, a few more years or so
I also hope to keep a steady high
Will you try to change things
Use the power that you have, the power of a million new ideas?
What is this power you speak of and this need for things to change?
I always thought that everything was fine
Don't you feel repression just closing in around?
No, the campus here is very, very free
Don't it make you angry the way war is dragging on?
Well, i hope the president knows what he's into, i don't know
Don't you ever see the starvation in the city where you live
All the needless hunger all the needless pain?
I haven't been there lately, the country is so fine
But my neighbors don't seem hungry 'cause they haven't got the time
Thank you for the talk, you know you really eased my mind
I was troubled by the shapes of things to come
Well, if you had my outlook your feelings would be numb
You'd always think that everything was fine
Part ii
We can make it happen
We can change the world now
We can save the children
We can make it better
We can make it happen
We can save the children
We can make it happen
song performed by by Chicago
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When you know ‘yourself'…. You not there to know it!
How do you know, you know yourself!
Through the spectacles of the audience
Those words not from your guts
The heresies not from your rationale…
And you are defined!
Interjections that stun…
What do you say, you are?
Thought within?
What you caught? Yourself?
Which self?
Every moment of introspection
Sprouts a new You. Then…
What do you say, you are?
Are you the self that changes?
Or are you the Change between the selves?
Since, the Change seems the sole permanence;
The Change that keeps you moving -
Movement is your nature,
That's your life - you are, then, the Change!
The Change that leads you to the Unchanging,
At that Unchanging you cease to change.
And be the Unchanging yourself.
You are thus the Change…
…till you cease to change
And become the Unchanging One!
When you know yourself…
You will not be here to know it.
The moment you know, you cease to live,
Since, you live only to discover yourself…
Life and Change be the things
Always by your side
Ask them, who you are at that moment…
Lest you must be the life
You must be the Change.
To know the Absolute you -
Imperative it is to know and experience
The every momentous you,
Good or bad, both are you -
Any ‘momentous you' if left undiscovered,
Delay the change to make you Unchanging…
Give away yourself…
Not to the ‘he' that observes you
To the Change that makes you meet your own kind
To the life that guides the change towards your varied selves
Deluded you must not get
By the scrutinizing eyes, words or thoughts
Guiding light is within you…
Hold on to it and know yourself…
The moment one claims to have known ‘his'self
Be sure ‘he' is yet not known to ‘him'self.
You cannot live to tell who you are,
That's being the very purpose of life.
Once you become what you ought to
You become no'body' in the world of ‘bodies.'
Thus, when you know yourself…. You not there to know it!
poem by Maitali Verma
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Dialogue
Part i
Are you optimistic bout the way things are going?
No, I never ever think of it at all
Dont you ever worry
When you see whats going down?
No, I try to mind my business, that is, no business at all
When its time to function as a feeling human being
Will your bachelor of arts help you get by?
I hope to study further, a few more years or so
I also hope to keep a steady high
Will you try to change things
Use the power that you have, the power of a million new ideas?
What is this power you speak of and this need for things to change?
I always thought that everything was fine
Dont you feel repression just closing in around?
No, the campus here is very, very free
Dont it make you angry the way war is dragging on?
Well, I hope the president knows what hes into, I dont know
Dont you ever see the starvation in the city where you live
All the needless hunger all the needless pain?
I havent been there lately, the country is so fine
But my neighbors dont seem hungry cause they havent got the time
Thank you for the talk, you know you really eased my mind
I was troubled by the shapes of things to come
Well, if you had my outlook your feelings would be numb
Youd always think that everything was fine
Part ii
We can make it happen
We can change the world now
We can save the children
We can make it better
We can make it happen
We can save the children
We can make it happen
song performed by by Chicago
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Nature versus Collective Self
they say we are
a part of nature
but i say nature
is part of us
growing eyes,
ears, tongues
heart and mind
compass for us
to sail the ocean
of the one self we
all are part of
nature spells out
charms to the
varied senses in
the self too many
to count
when the full moon shines
the thought is lighted up
large and calm as a lake
when a person dies
he strips a part of nature
in the self
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Lifes Not A Race
A day like today is for you
To let your mind unwind like you ought to
Feel the earth turn round when your heart rate slows
Contemplating the thing only your heart knows
That lifes not a race
So hard to believe
Part of me will fade
In the mystery
In a future world
Long ago
Part feels for your love
And lives to tell you so
The world whirls around your mind in a golden spiral
The natureal way that things organize
You cant stop entropy sowhy even try
Observe the conscious flow and dont mystify
Lifes not a race
So hard to believe
Part of me will fade
In the mystery
In a future world
Long ago
Part feels for your love
And lives to tell you so
Slippin into a trance
A chance encounter in the autumn
What do I see an opportunity
And then, I got em
Sought a chill-out mix to
Carve some space
To make you wanna listen
Its a a bubblin spring and
Double in kings of
This soundsystem
So hard to believe
Part of me will fade
In the mystery
In a future world
Long ago
Part feels for your love
And lives to tell you so
Do you see world without end
The rising sun my friend
Imagine cloud like
You will form again
In the spaceyboredom
In the autumnof late afternoon
You are calm
Just like a sleepy room
song performed by by 311
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Earthly Gifts
Read it yourself and write it yourself,
Say it yourself with the earthly gifts around you;
For the plan is in motion to meet your love.
Mark it on your bathroom mirror and,
Say it to a friend about this love;
For the time is ticking on you!
But fools adn drunkards are not part of our friends.
You are lower than the earth and,
A tenth of the plunder is for you forever!
But the body without the spirit is already dead.
Of goats and calves,
A little fire kindles the forest to him who speaks;
And like the waves of the sea,
But you need to bridle your tongue and listen to the one who speaks!
Slow to wrath is the pen of the writer,
Driven and tossed by the wind in times like this;
But like the things needed by the body.
Earthly things and earthly bodies,
Earthly gifts are part of us;
But the body without the spirit is already dead.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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You're A Part Of Me
Make me feel the way you used to
when you loved me so.
Take me back to all those times
you hated to see me go.
Those are the memories I live for now.
'Can't get them out of my mind.
The more I try to forget them,
the more they're there I find.
Because you are a part of me,
you're the part that no one else can be.
For they could never make me
feel like this or make me miss
every little thing you are to me.
Let me hear your voice so low
whispering in my ear.
Tell me that your love's still there,
words I still can hear.
I remember every word you said.
I remember each sweet sound.
They never seem to leave me.
They've always stayed around.
Because you are a part of me,
you're the part that no one else can be.
For they could never make me
feel like this or make me miss
every little thing you are to me.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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The Spirit Makes Changes
The Spirit needs to prick one’s heart, to give thinking a fresh start,
Only then can change be wrought, in the direction of their thought.
It’s only natural for our focus to be, here on earth, not on Eternity,
Tending to all earthly needs, spiritual concerns man seldom heeds.
Addressing other things day to day, spiritual things get in the way,
So busy with their daily grind, to things of God, they pay no mind.
It never seems to touch their heart; the words from God we impart,
The words of Truth that we share, hopeful that one day they’ll care.
But, Satan too, does his part, by deceiving every unknowing heart,
Snatching away the seed we sow, hoping that they will never know,
The freeing Truth of God’s Word, from the sharing, that they heard,
Keeping their hearts occupied, to never know, just why Christ died.
Christ came with His life to give, so that all of men could truly live,
A new life upon earth abundantly, as God prepares us for Eternity.
It is The Spirit which Christ sends, that touches the hearts of men,
And by The Spirit God arranges, within or mind unknown changes.
The heart begins to open wide, to those Truths which were denied,
As The Spirit waters sown seed, allowing that one to see his need.
The eyes that were blind before, now open wide and see The Lord,
And that once, unbelieving heart, from God gets a brand new start.
When Will Things Change
the world is unworthy and things countine to be dirty when will things change. when the world is full of mess and people just countine to strees, when will things change. when the streets are some of our homes never knowing why were alone, when will the world change. people cry at night just to give up a fight, when will things change. when you need to cry and you need someone 'why' when will things change.
when the world is sour and people have way to much power, when will things change. crying about the past, the things that never last. when will things change. when the world around you is cold, and shared feelings never seem to bold when will things change. when the world comes at you fast and ever part of your stress continues to last. when will things change.
poem by Katie Patterson
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Move On
They say a restless body can hide a peaceful soul.
A voyager, and a settler, they both have a distant goal.
If I explore the heavens, or if I search inside.
Well, it really doesnt matter as long as I can tell myself
Ive always tried.
Like a roller in the ocean, life is motion
Move on
Like a wind thats always blowing, life is flowing
Move on
Like the sunrise in the morning, life is dawning
Move on
How I treasure every minute
Being part of it, being in it
With the urge to move on
Ive travelled every country, Ive travelled in my mind
It seems were on a journey, a trip through space and time
And somewhere lies the answer
To all the questions why
What really makes the difference
Between all dead and living things, the will to stay alive
Like a roller in the ocean (la la la la la la-la)
Life is motion (la la la la la la-la)
Move on (la la la la-la)
Like a wind thats always blowing (la la la la la la-la)
Life is flowing (la la la la la la-la)
Move on (la la la la-la)
Like the sunrise in the morning (la la la la la la-la)
Life is dawning (la la la la la la-la)
Move on (la la la la-la)
How I treasure every minute (la la la la)
Being part of it (la la la la)
Being in it (la la la la)
With the urge to move on
The morning breeze that ripples the surface of the sea
The crying of the seagulls that hover over me
I see it and I hear it
But how can I explain
The wonder of the moment
To be alive, to feel the sun that follows every rain
Like a roller in the ocean (la la la la la la-la)
Life is motion (la la la la la la-la)
Move on (la la la la-la)
Like a wind thats always blowing (la la la la la la-la)
Life is flowing (la la la la la la-la)
Move on (la la la la-la)
Like the sunrise in the morning (la la la la la la-la)
Life is dawning (la la la la la la-la)
Move on (la la la la-la)
How I treasure every minute (la la la la)
Being part of it (la la la la-ah)
Being in it
With the urge to move on
La la la la la la-la, la la la la la la-la, la la la la-la
Like a wind thats always blowing
La la la la la la-la
La la la la la la-la (life is flowing)
La la la la-la (move on)
Like the sunrise in the morning
La la la la la la-la
La la la la la la-la (life is dawning)
La la la la-la (move on)
How I treasure every minute (la la la la)
Being part of it (la la la la-ah)
Being in it
With the urge to move on
La la la la la la-la, la la la la la la-la, la la la la-la
Like a wind thats always blowing........
song performed by by ABBA
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Afternoon Walk
A yawn starts the day;
with some words to say
And it ends with a pray
Good Night is what we say..
But the Afternoon is the best time
when I play with words to find the bezt that could rhyme..
I go out of my home for some things to see..
To be myself and see the nature sittin' under the tree...
I like me the way the wind shook
For I see my thumbs browse the Facebook..
I stood up And looked to my right
A little bit shocked to see the Sight..
Yeah although i saw her talkin' about
Another, I didn't shout...
Bcuz I'm in the phase when the Nature relieves me...
On my favor8 FB; everyone believes me...
It's the time when I feel Free out of my mind's LONELY CAGE..
For my friends in fb do like my BZA page...
oh, I feel truly awesome when the trees with me...
The wind Enthusiasing the ABZ in me...
It's the time when my mind and heart converse and talk..
It's the time when I'm having an Afternoon Walk..!
poem by Abhinit Chute
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Tis Part Of Human Nature
I take them as i meet them of people i must say
And if some disrespect me in kind them i repay
Respect me and I'll respect you in that i do believe
'Tis part of human nature to return what you receive.
'Tis part of human nature for to like words of praise
A big boost to the ego and our spirits it does raise
Kinds words they make us happy when nice things one to us say
To feel flattered by the compliment that is our human way.
Some criticisms of us we see as quite unfair
And damage by lies done to one's character is quite hard to repair
Those who tell you that mud sticks are saying what is true
Never lie about another and give everyone their due.
'Tis part of human nature to stick by your own kind
Football fans in art galleries you are not likely to find
You show disrespect to someone that person will not respect you
And what you do to others unto you they will do.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Learning to Play Coltrane
She thought it was green, not
the emerald green of Indian summer
but a green like a darkening plain,
or the shadow rivers cast.
She thought it was light, a glint
or a warning, the shine
at the papery edge
of storm clouds. The way
a voice rising and falling becomes
a premonition, a dampness
at the back of her neck. Or maybe
it was more of an imprint,
a memory of sound, some afternoon
after the circus has left town
and all that remains is a field
strewn with garbage, a music
of pasted stars and ruin.
And she thought of a color
like that, mud-green, the green
of a small sadness, shapeless
as the wind itself. And for a moment
she owned everything inside it,
the light, the field, the wind.
—for Adrian
First published in American Poetry Review.
poem by Silvia Curbelo
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Something More
there is a part of me in you,
in every move you make,
every thought you think,
in every sleepless night...
there is a part of you in me,
in every time i do the right thing,
every gentle and good thought,
in everything i believe...
there is a part of us in God,
and a part of God in us;
that cannot be seperated
and still feed the flame of living.
there is a part of love, and the whole,
written by our destinies.
you and i, and something more,
that words cannot define.
poem by Eric Cockrell
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A Change Dream of All!
Education does not end schools and colleges;
It continues in life and work in the world ever!
Real education begins outside education portals,
When one comes out of educational institutions
To Nature, arts, sciences, literature and poetry!
It’s not enough to spend time in mundane things,
Day today activities which will produce monotony,
Frustration, depression and make world too much!
Each one should make use of special power within
To explore nature of things and explore truth and
Helplessness of man can be overcome by change!
A lot of drawbacks are there in everything here
Affecting society unaware without giving hope,
New thoughts, ideas and change for the better!
Innovation, novelties are needed to breathe fresh air;
Poets have important job to bring about change!
To change society individual’s attitude needs change.
Nature, arts and literature are there to give solace,
Comfort, ideas and hope to realize freedom in life!
Poetry inspires and encourages to attain freedom
And live a life of fulfilment to the full in the world!
poem by Ramesh T A
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Available Light
Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson
The restless wind
Has seen all things
In every kind of light
Rising with the full moon
To go howling through the night
The sleepless wind
Has heard all things
Between the sea and sky
In the canyons of the city
You can hear the buildings cry
Oh the wind can carry
All the voices of the sea
Oh the wind can carry
All the echoes home to me
Run with wind and weather
To the music of the sea
All four winds together
Cant bring the world to me
Chase the wind around the world
I want to look at life --- in the available light
Play of light
A photograph
The way I used to be
Some half-forgotten stranger
Doesnt mean that much to me
Trick of light
Moving picture
Moments caught in flight
Make the shadows darker
Or the colors shine too bright
Oh the light can carry
All the visions of the sea
Oh the light can carry
All the images to me
Run to light from shadow
Sun gives me no rest
Promise offered in the east
Broken in the west
Chase the sun around the world
I want to look at life --- in the available light
All four winds together
Cant bring the world to me
Shadows hide the play of light
So much I want to see
Chase the light around the world
I want to look at life --- in the available light
Ill go with the wind
Ill stand in the light
song performed by by Rush
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I thought it was spring
I know Algebra
and Calculus too
and I wish for a world
where there’s only
you and I.
No other persons
to complicate things
and to tell you stories
of their perspectives
which changes like the wind.
Maybe our little zoo
should be there too
as life without children
is a miserable place.
I can calculate
and comprehend things
but cannot understand
your mind and your feelings,
but neither do you
and I thought
that I know your body
and every contour
and line of it,
but I am lost within
and without it
and I didn’t really want
to master you,
but wanted to show
to what depths
love could go
and why I failed
I do not really know
and maybe another
will have more to give
and to take
and I less mistakes to make
and now that you are gone
and I had to go away
my life just drags on
and I miss you more
than I know
how to say.
The shadows draw long
like some words
in your sad songs
and I see clouds
gathering on the horizon
and I wonder
what the new dawn brings
while the wind is filled
with leaves of this autumn
and winter is almost setting in
and I thought it was spring.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Part Of Me
I love you so much
A part of me wants to take the world upon my shoulders
A part of me wants to run around for four leaf clovers
How could it be that I should want these totally different things?
You see a part of me that's safe from harm
Can hear a future calling far away
I'm trying to say
That a change is coming
song performed by by Billy Crawford
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Midnight Lamentation
When you and I go down
Breathless and cold,
Our faces both worn back
To earthly mould,
How lonely we shall be!
What shall we do,
You without me,
I without you?
I cannot bear the thought
You, first, may die,
Nor of how you will weep,
Should I.
We are too much alone;
What can we do
To make our bodies one:
You, me; I, you?
We are most nearly born
Of one same kind;
We have the same delight,
The same true mind.
Must we then part, we part;
Is there no way
To keep a beating heart,
And light of day?
I could now rise and run
Through street on street
To where you are breathing–you,
That we might meet,
And that your living voice
Might sound above
Fear, and we two rejoice
Within our love.
How frail the body is,
And we are made
As only in decay
To lean and fade.
I think too much of death;
There is a gloom
When I can’t hear your breath
Calm in some room.
O, but how suddenly
Either may droop;
Countenance be so white,
Body stoop.
Then there may be a place
Where fading flowers
dropp on a lifeless face
Through weeping hours.
Is then nothing safe?
Can we not find
Some everlasting life
In our one mind?
I feel it like disgrace
Only to understand
Your spirit through your word,
Or by your hand.
I cannot find a way
Through love and through;
I cannot reach beyond
Body, to you.
When you or I must go
Down evermore,
There’ll be no more to say
–But a locked door.
poem by Harold Monro
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Water and Spirit
A son does what he sees and,
A daughter does what see see too;
For this world do go around us to learn always.
At the seventh hour,
At the moving of the water,
Of the scraps that remained after the work;
Begotten of water and spirit for the wind to blow where it will,
And others born of the flesh like a keeper who gets the ball.
Born of the spirit,
A player scores a goal!
Rivers of living waters like clay with the spittle;
He is of age and she is of age too,
But a man's mind is full of darkness.
Of ears to hear,
Of eyes to see and,
Of a nose to smell with too;
But the measure you give is the measure you get.
When the water moves,
The spirit gives life;
Like heavenly bodies and earthly things,
But deep inside the well is the darkeness of death.
The bridegroom gets the bride and,
The light of life is for us all to share;
Like water and spirit on the muse of one's birth.
I came into to share my mind,
You came into life to play your part,
For this world is like the water and the spirit around us;
But the wind blows to where it will.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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