Gravity (Act I)
Born in an ivory tower,
He was made to build it higher.
As he stands on the scaffolding,
how long until it collapses?
poem by William Blake Beckett
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Ivory
You were born with a face that would let you get your way
Yeah you had everything you wanted child, that is until the day
you know you're much too fine and free, Ivory
You've been dressed in a vest, every minute of your day
You walk into a room, stand in a lit shade
Is your timer too high for me, Ivory
Ivory
How does it feel to be so high
Ivory
How long how long will it take for you to cry
Ivory
I'm in need
Ivory
Ivory
I'll touch your soul, might even touch your brain
I know you can't see me
I know your blind
Come back come back and see
Ivory
So good to me
Ivory
song performed by by Bob Seger
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Once Upon A Poem
In the Mad-Poetic world,
Of a lonely Ivory Tower,
Was a Poet never heard,
For it never was his hour.
He had gone and warned the World,
Of impending, danger, power,
But the people kept on dancing,
Just like fools, around his tower.
Poets, Idealists and Lovers,
This old World has never changed,
Poets, stay in Ivory Tower
And pretend you are deranged.
poem by Sandra Feldman
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No Tittle
I put myself in a lovely ivory tower
whoever does not will be able to grab
I was just too perfect to crap and seduction are venomous
my beauty glow filtered through niche snobbery
between the eternal silence
I put myself in a lovely ivory tower
yet untouched by anyone
the inevitability of death to me by my
all my naive
Copyright © 2012
A Tower of Power
We will build a tower
With unbridled spring-water attitudes
Flowing with fires of charity
For all the suffering multitudes
Dispossessed and swallowing poverty
We will give them power
We will build a tower
With lots of windows and no ears
With promises for those who have ceased their quest
For the young and old in years
For those who no longer turn west
We will give them power
We will give them power
Give them tomorrows and rainbows in tomorrow’s flowers
Help them fill pitchers with milk, honey, and cream
Reap the green of crops they have never seen
Shelter them from the cold, black screams
They will scale the tower
We will build a tower
They will scale like goats and soar like eagles
Who climbs higher than these birds?
They will peer through rose-colored gothic windows
And see the many rainbows of blooming flowers spilling colors
They will have the power
We will build a tower
For those near and far
Those who lost their dreams
Those who ceased the quest
Those no longer traveling west
Our actions will speak louder than words
They will sing the music of the birds
Learn to disregard the terms
Of all their unanswered yearns
- June 5,2007
poem by Ben Gieske
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Man
That by nature man is born
in a world where destruction is set
where each infant is met
with a build in thorn
of germs of the plague and unadorned
enters it almost as the Creator’s pet
struggles to get
through the passing years, headstrong and stubborn
surviving against the tooth and claw
with a higher purpose in man build in
to comprehend, to be self aware and to love,
to build splendid things from mere straw,
to impact on everything living
reaching with prayers, with hope to God above.
poem by Gert Strydom
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By nature man is born
That by nature man is born
in a world where destruction is set
where each infant is met
with a build in thorn
of germs of the plague and unadorned
enters it almost as the Creator’s pet
struggles to get
through the passing years, headstrong and stubborn
surviving against the tooth and claw
with a higher purpose in man build in
to comprehend, to be self aware and to love,
to build splendid things from mere straw,
to impact on everything living
reaching with prayers, with hope to God above.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The first city
The great hunter Nimrod
was a mighty leader of men
who ripped beasts and lions
apart with his bare hands
and he led them out of the mountains
and on the wide open plain of Shinar
they made a city fair
calling it Babylon
and men build a great tower there
from baked bricks plastered with
asphalt and bitumen
trying to reach to the sky
their Ziggurat was rising high.
They tried to build a gate to God
and they believed that no god
would be able to touch them there,
where it rose up in stepped stages
but the Lord came down
and lighting fell from the sky
hitting the tower again and again
and it stood burning
in unquenchable flames.
[Reference: Genesis 11: 1-9. Asphalt and bitumen = tar.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Elephant's Graveyard III
Sanctified by elephants since time began-
elephants who accept their end uncomplainingly
with relief and nary a snivel
having long ago made it a point to live their lives well
and confident of this just repose.
'Oh, my God, ' you think, 'all the ivory.'
Ivory laying about, half-sunk, everywhere
strewn, grass-entangled, trip-you-up ivory,
because that's what's left of an elephant, after a bit-
after a century or so, that's quite all that's left,
a tusk of ivory bearing in this respect
a sharp resemblance to a man's poetic toil
or the opera-ticket stub found in his breast pocket
by his grand-child, rummaging in the attic
a century after the time when the music stopped
and stopped forever, never to again resume;
toppled stalagmites of ivory, some taller than a man,
cracked by the sun, washed by the rain, buffed by the moon.
Surely, someone would buy all that ivory for market
dice to make, dominoes, piano keys, dentures;
But how to get it home-would Swiss-Air take it?
stowed in sheaths...
poem by Morgan Michaels
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Just Once
`
Wake up
talk back
don't tell me
what I lack,
save up
turn back
bring along that
fav'rite song
don't tell me
I've no social
conscience
wasting my
poetic licence
turn back
to your real self
your hunger for
poetic justice
look up
the sky's
still higher
than your highest
tower
let down your
flaxen locks
your ivory walls
are too slick
come with me
where the air
is free
and maybe,
just maybe
for once we'll agree.
`
poem by Frederick Kesner
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Queen & Country
The wind is on the river and the tide has turned too late,
So were sailing for another shore where some other ladies wait.
To throw us silken whispers: catch us by the anchor chains ---
But we all laugh so politely and we sail on just the same.
For queen and country in the long dying day,
And its been this way for five long years,
Since we signed our souls away.
We bring back gold and ivory; rings of diamonds; strings of pearls ---
Make presents to the government
So they can have their social whirl
With queen and country in the long dying day.
And its been this way for five long years
Since we signed our souls away.
They build schools and they build factories
With the spoils of battles won.
And we remain their pretty sailor boys ---
Hold our heads up to the gun
Of queen and country in the long dying day.
And its been this way for five long years
Since we signed our souls away.
To queen and country in the long dying day.
And its been this way for five long years
Since we signed our souls away.
song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Queen And Country
The wind is on the river and the tide has turned too late,
So we're sailing for another shore where some other ladies wait
To throw us silken whispers: catch us by the anchor chains -
But we all laugh so politely and we sail on just the same
For Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.
We bring back gold and ivory; rings of diamonds; strings of pearls -
Make presents to the government so they can have their social whirl
With Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.
For Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.
They build schools and they build factories
With the spoils of battles won.
And we remain their pretty sailor boys - hold our heads up to the gun
Of Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.
To Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.
To Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away
song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tower Of Song
Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And Im crazy for love but Im not coming on
Im just paying my rent every day
Oh in the tower of song
I said to hank williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank williams hasnt answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the tower of song
I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the great beyond
They tied me to this table right here
In the tower of song
So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
Im very sorry, baby, doesnt look like me at all
Im standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they dont let a woman kill you
Not in the tower of song
Now you can say that Ive grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And theres a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the tower of song
I see you standing on the other side
I dont know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
Well never have to lose it again
Now I bid you farewell, I dont know when Ill be back
There moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But youll be hearing from me baby, long after Im gone
Ill be speaking to you sweetly
From a window in the tower of song
Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And Im crazy for love but Im not coming on
Im just paying my rent every day
Oh in the tower of song
song performed by by Leonard Cohen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hallelujah, Here She Comes
I see youre dressed to kill
I know I cant wait until
Hallelujah...here she comes
I see youre dressed in black
I guess Im not coming back
Hallelujah...here she comes
Born and raised
On the wrong side of town
You get so high
That you cant come down
(yeah)
I see the road is rough
You know Im not giving up
Hallelujah...here she comes
I know where the lady goes
I know she got a ring on her toes
Hallelujah...here she comes
Born and raised
On the wrong side of town
You get so high
That you cant come down
Im going higher, higher, higher
Higher, higher, higher
Higher, higher, higher
Higher, higher, higher
Im gonna be there
When that lights gonna shine
Im gonna be there
When her heart kindles next to mine
Im gonna be...
Here she comes
Yeah here she comes
I see youre dressed to kill
I know I cant wait until
Hallelujah...here she comes
I see youre dressed in black
I guess Im not coming back
Hallelujah...here she comes
Born and raised
In the wrong side of town
You get so high
You cant come down
Im gonna be there
Higher, higher, higher
Gonna get higher, higher, higher
Gonna get higher, higher, higher
Higher, higher, higher...
Im gonna be there
When that lights gonna shine
Im gonna be there
When that lights gonna shine...
Hallelujah...here she comes
Here she comes...
song performed by by U2
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Towers of Ivory
Subdued by the paregoric dream-land,
Your sleepy eyes stare into the nowhere
Flashing on the screen by buttoned demand
And cosmic transmission's continued care.
They'll feed you full of the barbiturates—
Hypnotic images made inculcate—
Just to keep you still and inscouciant…
Perhaps collectiv'ly agglutinant.
God bless them and their commercial glory—
Clearing the streets of all the miscreants—
So they could build towers of ivory.
Someday, you'll be packaged and maybe canned
In the aluminum chamber's stale air,
Controlled by the factory's firm command—
Which compresses you to the market square.
There, in process, you may capitulate,
Your core contained as pulp concentrate.
Saw the top off, keep yourself compliant
When you lose you lid, scalping salient.
You are a piece of the inventory,
A stock sold en masse, completely constant,
So they could build towers of ivory.
Logorrhea stimulates the sweat gland,
Dripping glistens of advertised affairs.
The meaning's lost words—dilute, disband
Against doped up, stuttering speaking flares.
The desultory shotgun actuates,
Bullets flying as if to artuate
You, so staggered, totally reliant
In proxy wars that seem irrelevant
To the greater portions of history.
Agitated verbs buzz ev'ry instant,
So they could build towers of ivory.
White washed, white washed—empty color, so bland—
Swallowing shadows in their twilit snare,
An inoffensively scurrilous brand
Stretching across the encompassing bare.
Nothingness lays; appears ablaqueate
In false promise's place to congregate:
A temple of the blank, exsciccant
And peeling thoughts, scratching exfoliant.
From the belly of this purgatory,
They paint by numbers—brushes incessant—
So they could build towers of ivory.
In susurration, viral-like expand,
The pandemic whisper plots, prodding there,
Molting molted pelts of ungrateful hands
Holding the last caress, happy despair.
The ersatz self want things to replicate—
The cutting cloth patchwork that fabricates.
We are born like fetuses, like infants,
From non-symmetric, inequidistant
Sun burst blood streams of the hunky dory.
Our heavy heads are asemic pregnant,
So they could build towers of ivory.
With the confluence of thoughts that I state,
I say nothing only to simulate
The nature of things that seem suppressant,
The endless barrage of stimulants.
They want me to tell you stupid stories,
So I prefer to remain defiant,
So they could build towers of ivory.
Without a doubt, this is my most difficult poem.
poem by Tim Stensloff
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There are fully forty towers, which are lofty and well built, the largest of which has fifty steps leading to its main body, and is higher than the tower of the principal tower of the church at Seville.
quote by Hernando Cortes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The World Is My Oyster
The world is my oyster
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Do you wanna,
Do you wanna,
Do you wanna yeah.
I feel I'm a comin' your the go ahead kind.
You are warmly invited to come inside.
You have five minutes Christians yeah.
It was a joke yeah.
Because I'm a comin yeah, to cut your throat.
yeah give me more.
You are warmly invited to come inside.
You are warmly invited to come inside.
Come inside, come inside, come inside.
Your on your way up.
Gonna jack you up,
Gonna jack you off,
Gonna jack you up yeah.
Gonna jack you up,
Gonna jack you off,
Jack right down to Rio.
Lets go boys.
You can build it up like muscle.
You can build it up like hustle yeah.
Build it up.
I can take you higher.
Build it up.
I can take you high.
Build it up.
I can take you higher yeah.
Right on to the sky.
It was a joke.
Do you wanna,
Do you wanna,
Do you wanna,
Build it up.
I can take you higher yeah.
Right on to the sky.
I gonna take you higher yeah.
Right up there on high.
Swing low
Your on your way up.
Gonna jack you up,
Gonna jack you off,
Gonna jack you up yeah.
Gonna jack you up,
Gonna jack you off,
Jack right down to Rio.
song performed by by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tyrant
You build your domain with such power
Bit by bit until you're finishing your last tower
Strength fed by determination as destructive as fire
As you force this world to reach higher and higher
Your people, they cower in the horrors you've built
You pave over nature until even the sturdiest flowers wilt
Still you search for a source that can keep the rebels in check
Treating the helpless like worthless little specks
What happened to compassion, to the people who care?
They hang low at the gallows or sit in cells world stripped bare
Mingling with criminals as their mind becomes a play thing
Staying silent as the grave, listen as the old robin sings
So watch close my dear little tyrant of eras long past
Watch as you reign crumbles the people free at last
Don't worry though, your memory will continue to live on
Remembered for the injustice and all who you have wronged
poem by Rebecca Pepper
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Take Me Higher
(narada michael walden/s.j.dakota/germaine)
Take me to that place
Higher
Go, hold on
Go
(take me higher)
(take me higher)
In my mind I see the possibilities
When it comes to love there are no boundaries
Do you think that you and I can work it out
Thats what true loves about
Baby we can find an answer if we look inside our hearts
Love will be there waiting for us
Baby we can rise above it if we leave our doubts behind us
We can learn to fly high above us
Theres a place up in the sky
Where the sun is shining
Take me higher
(take me higher)
Theres a place I long to be
Where the birds are flying
Take me higher
(take me higher)
See it on the news, theres trouble eveywhere
Gotta reach out show somebody that you care
It aint good to let the bad news get us down
Lets spread some love around
Even if you want to go there
To a place above the clouds
Got to feel the power of love (power of love)
Baby we can rise above it if we leave our doubts behind
We can learn to fly high above us
Theres a place up in the sky
Where the sun is shining
Take me higher
(take me higher)
Theres a place I long to be
Where the birds are flying
Take me higher
(take me higher)
(repeat)
You gotta reach out
Feel the power of love
Show somebody you care
Take me...
Oh baby
Higher
Take me higher
Theres a place up in the sky
Where the sun is shining
Take me higher
(take me higher)
Theres a place I long to be
Where the birds are flying
Take me higher
(take me higher)
(repeat)
Take me higher
Take me, take me
Take me higher
(take me higher)
(repeat three times)
Theres a place up in the sky
Where the sun is shining
Take me higher
(take me higher)
Theres a place I long to be
I want to go flying
(take me higher)
song performed by by Diana Ross
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I don't want to live in an ivory tower, being the songwriter who just turns inward.
quote by Billie Joe Armstrong
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Trouble with Snowmen
'The trouble with snowmen,'
Said my father one year
'They are no sooner made
than they just disappear.
I'll build you a snowman
And I'll build it to last
Add sand and cement
And then have it cast.
And so every winter,'
He went on to explain
'You shall have a snowman
Be it sunshine or rain.'
And that snowman still stands
Though my father is gone
Out there in the garden
Like an unmarked gravestone.
Staring up at the house
Gross and misshapen
As if waiting for something
Bad to happen.
For as the years pass
And I grow older
When summers seem short
And winters colder.
The snowmen I envy
As I watch children play
Are the ones that are made
And then fade away.
poem by Roger McGough
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