The Hunter
In the flashes and black shadows
of July
the days, locked in each other's arms,
seem still
so that squirrels and colored birds
go about at ease over
the branches and through the air.
Where will a shoulder split or
a forehead open and victory be?
Nowhere.
Both sides grow older.
And you may be sure
not one leaf will lift itself
from the ground
and become fast to a twig again.
poem by William Carlos Williams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Willow tree by the lake
Willow tree by the lake standing tall since the day one
Home for birds and squirrels, place of fun
Breeze will come and play with her branches
Whistle at them before they move on
Any time, at mid day, at night or at the crack of dawn
Humming bird feeder and bird house hanging all over the tree
They swing back and forth and hang free
All summer it is a fun house as the birds come and go
Rabbits will hop around on the ground below.
Ducks will sit idle or sleep under her shade
Squirrels will carry food up the trunk, not afraid
During winter when nature sleeps no life around
Willow tree will shelter the birds, the squirrels
and even the worms under it's ground.
Many yrs ago I planted the tree, saw it grow day by day
Sat under it, wrote poems, it made me happy and gay
I know one day my time will be up and I will be gone
But my willow tree will still be here, singing with the wind at each dawn.
poem by Syed Karim
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Bobbing
when the crow
lands on the twig
the weight
pushes the twig
down almost
reaching the ground
the bobbing
somewhat intrigues
the senses of the
caterpillar on the leaf
the tree frowns
upon a black alien
some leaves fall
and the grass as usual
keeps its silence
as the air passes by
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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This Is How All Sunny Days Should Be
Green grass grows fast, green grass
I want you to grow so fast
So I can leap up, from the ground
And pretend to fly, soar so high
And then gravity, cruel, vile, unkind
Will drag me down, and shut my laugh
And then, green grass, (grow fast)
I’ll be sad of falling down
But then, my friend you’ll muffle my fall
And ill lie there
……..Calm………..
And hide, in the very green, tall,
Great, bed like grass
And then I’ll stare at the sky
(Light blue, immense sky)
And get lost in the clouds
(White, light absorbing clouds)
And then I’ll only hear the birds
And the wind brushing the branches
And the flowers will be dancing
To the rhythm of the air
And then I’ll think
“This is how all sunny days should be”
Painters
In the cave with a long-ago flare
a woman stands, her arms up. Red twig, black twig, brown twig.
A wall of leaping darkness over her.
The men are out hunting in the early light
But here in this flicker, one or two men, painting
and a woman among them.
Great living animals grow on the stone walls,
their pelts, their eyes, their sex, their hearts,
and the cave-painters touch them with life, red, brown, black,
a woman among them, painting.
poem by Muriel Rukeyser
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Nevertheless
you've seen a strawberry
that's had a struggle; yet
was, where the fragments met,
a hedgehog or a star-
fish for the multitude
of seeds. What better food
than apple seeds - the fruit
within the fruit - locked in
like counter-curved twin
hazelnuts? Frost that kills
the little rubber-plant -
leaves of kok-sagyyz-stalks, can't
harm the roots; they still grow
in frozen ground. Once where
there was a prickley-pear -
leaf clinging to a barbed wire,
a root shot down to grow
in earth two feet below;
as carrots from mandrakes
or a ram's-horn root some-
times. Victory won't come
to me unless I go
to it; a grape tendril
ties a knot in knots till
knotted thirty times - so
the bound twig that's under-
gone and over-gone, can't stir.
The weak overcomes its
menace, the strong over-
comes itself. What is there
like fortitude! What sap
went through that little thread
to make the cherry red!
poem by Marianne Moore
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Hymn To Life
The hair falling on your forehead
suddenly lifted.
Suddenly something stirred on the ground.
The trees are whispering
in the dark.
Your bare arms will be cold.
Far off
where we can't see,
the moon must be rising.
It hasn't reached us yet,
slipping through the leaves
to light up your shoulder.
But I know
a wind comes up with the moon.
The trees are whispering.
Your bare arms will be cold.
From above,
from the branches lost in the dark,
something dropped at your feet.
You moved closer to me.
Under my hand your bare flesh is like the fuzzy skin of a fruit.
Neither a song of the heart nor "common sense"--
before the trees, birds, and insects,
my hand on my wife's flesh
is thinking.
Tonight my hand
can't read or write.
Neither loving nor unloving...
It's the tongue of a leopard at a spring,
a grape leaf,
a wolf's paw.
To move, breathe, eat, drink.
My hand is like a seed
splitting open underground.
Neither a song of the heart nor "common sense,"
neither loving nor unloving.
My hand thinking on my wife's flesh
is the hand of the first man.
Like a root that finds water underground,
it says to me:
"To eat, drink, cold, hot, struggle, smell, color--
not to live in order to die
but to die to live..."
And now
as red female hair blows across my face,
as something stirs on the ground,
as the trees whisper in the dark,
and as the moon rises far off
where we can't see,
my hand on my wife's flesh
before the trees, birds, and insects,
I want the right of life,
of the leopard at the spring, of the seed splitting open--
I want the right of the first man.
Trans. by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk (1993)
poem by Nazim Hikmet
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A Leaf Has Fallen
A leaf has fallen on the ground,
Beliefs have solutions that astound;
Every tree that believed in its wood
Shall learn pain from the heavenly adulthood.
A leaf has fallen on the ground,
Solutions do stem from what is around;
All the flowers give messages in the air,
Their overly beautiful appearance is anywhere.
A leaf has escaped from the branches of a tree
As the wind blows on the older apples carefully;
Their sweetness is called ripeness,
It is the quality of happiness.
poem by Naveed Akram
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June 8th,2009 for Ezra, Wyatt and Kurt
three days before my first reading
I am out in the rain
the air: cool deep thick
I feel like
a bedbug
under a wet mattress
the gray of the sky
wraps between the black boughs
then around the green leaves of the trees
that stand as sentry witnesses
in the corners of my yard
June is indecisive
July knows what she wants
August sits pregnant in the heat
September shuts down like
a lover who's had one last fling
and despises herself for it.
this is early June
this day's made it's decision
wet, damp, sullen
'so it goes, ' said the dead writer
'so it goes...'
three days before my reading
I look to between the wet black branches
two mating squirrels are fighting
their squabble reminds me of my own
three days before my first reading...
I roll my poems through my head
walk across the yard to the shed
I wonder who
cleaned Auden's gutters
in the spring?
poem by R. James Sterzinger
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A Song
Dry leaf trembling on the branches
Before the blast,
Poor heart quaking in the bosom
For woe thou hast;
Ah what matter if the wind then,
Withered leaf from blooming linden
Should scatter wide?
Would for this the twig or branches
Have wailing sighed?
And should the lad his fate upbraid,
Although he ignominious fade--
And in an alien country die?
Will for him the beauteous maid
Complaining cry?
poem by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov
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The Banyan Tree
O you shaggy-headed banyan tree standing on the bank of the pond,
have you forgotten the little chile, like the birds that have
nested in your branches and left you?
Do you not remember how he sat at the window and wondered at
the tangle of your roots and plunged underground?
The women would come to fill their jars in the pond, and your
huge black shadow would wriggle on the water like sleep struggling
to wake up.
Sunlight danced on the ripples like restless tiny shuttles
weaving golden tapestry.
Two ducks swam by the weedy margin above their shadows, and
the child would sit still and think.
He longed to be the wind and blow through your resting
branches, to be your shadow and lengthen with the day on the water,
to be a bird and perch on your topmost twig, and to float like
those ducks among the weeds and shadows.
poem by Rabindranath Tagore
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Black Day In July
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside
Black day in july
Black day in july
And the soul of motor city is bared across the land
As the book of law and order is taken in the hands
Of the sons of the fathers who were carried to this land
Black day in july
Black day in july
In the streets of motor city is a deadly silent sound
And the body of a dead youth lies stretched upon the ground
Upon the filthy pavement
No reason can be found
Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And the people rise in anger
And the streets begin to fill
And theres gunfire from the rooftops
And the blood begins to spill
Black day in july
In the mansion of the governor
Theres nothing that is known for sure
The telephone is ringing
And the pendulum is swinging
And they wonder how it happened
And they really know the reason
And it wasnt just the temperature
And it wasnt just the season
Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor citys burning and the flames are running wild
They reflect upon the waters of the river and the lake
And everyone is listening
And everyones awake
Black day in july
Black day in july
The printing press is turning
And the news is quickly flashed
And you read your morning paper
And you sip your cup of tea
And you wonder just in passing
Is it him or is it me
Black day in july
In the office of the president
The deed is done the troops are sent
Theres really not much choice you see
It looks to us like anarchy
And then the tanks go rolling in
To patch things up as best they can
There is no time to hesitate
The speech is made the dues can wait
Black day in july
Black day in july
The streets of motor city now are quiet and serene
But the shapes of gutted buildings
Strike terror to the heart
And you say how did it happen
And you say how did it start
Why cant we all be brothers
Why cant we live in peace
But the hands of the have-nots
Keep falling out of reach
Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In My Arms You're Held to Hold
Show me I'm the one,
You can care for.
And...
You will be that one,
I will always cared for.
Show me I'm the one,
You love,
And adore.
And...
You will be that one,
Adored and loved much more.
You will never find your life lived lonely.
Never will you be,
Alone in desperate needing.
You will never find my shoulder cold.
Not one felt from me.
This you can believe...
As we grow older.
In my arms you're held,
To hold!
Just show me I'm the one,
You can care for.
And...
You will be that one,
I will always cared for.
In my arms you're held,
To hold!
This you can believe...
As we grow older.
In my arms you're held,
To hold!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Open Arms
If love is what you want
Baby here I am
If tenderness is what you need
Ive got that to give
If you need some affection
Baby these are open arms
Open arms open arms open arms open arms
You come hem youve had a hard day
Every door you tried to open
Was closing in your face
Im right here Ill be right here
Ill embrace you
Ill be open with my heart
Ill let you in
Ill be open with my thoughts
Ill be your best friend
If you need some attention
Baby these are open arms
Open arms open arms open arms open arms
Every corner you turn
Trouble come your way
But when you get home
Ill try to be there
And Ill embrace you
These are
These are
These are
Open arms
If time is what you need
Baby Ill stop the clocks
If youre looking for something
Maybe Ive got what you want
If theres one thing to remember
Dont forget that these are open arms
Open arms open arms open arms open arms
These are
These are
These are
Open arms
song performed by by Tracy Chapman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Room
Through that window—all else being extinct
Except itself and me—I saw the struggle
Of darkness against darkness. Within the room
It turned and turned, dived downward. Then I saw
How order might—if chaos wished—become:
And saw the darkness crush upon itself,
Contracting powerfully; it was as if
It killed itself, slowly: and with much pain.
Pain. The scene was pain, and nothing but pain.
What else, when chaos draws all forces inward
To shape a single leaf? . . .
For the leaf came
Alone and shining in the empty room;
After a while the twig shot downward from it;
And from the twig a bough; and then the trunk,
Massive and coarse; and last the one black root.
The black root cracked the walls. Boughs burst
the window:
The great tree took possession.
Tree of trees!
Remember (when time comes) how chaos died
To shape the shining leaf. Then turn, have courage,
Wrap arms and roots together, be convulsed
With grief, and bring back chaos out of shape.
I will be watching then as I watch now.
I will praise darkness now, but then the leaf.
poem by Conrad Potter Aiken
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Paying Tribute To Depression
you grow seeds of sorrow
on the earthen pots
i don't know if you grow them for me
so i may see what buds what flowers
have sorrows
days and years
they have become trees of your depression
i have seen how you thank
each leaf and twig
for all the poems spread to the winds
of change to the fields of time
filling in each space each furrow
each empty interstices in your marrow
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Cold On The Sholder
All you need is time
All you need is time, time, time to make me bend
Give it a try, don't be rude
Put it to the test and I'll give it right back to you
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
Kick it around, take it to town
Try to defy what you feel inside
You better be strong
Your love belongs to us
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
All I need is trust
All I need is trust, trust, trust to make it show
I don't want to know everything you done
If you get a tip then tell it to the eskimos
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
All we need is faith
All we need is faith, faith, faith to make it nice
Kick it around, don't be rude
If you're gonna make a mistake don't you make it twice
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
It's cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lift Me Up (feat. Darren Hayes)
When I'm down on my luck and I'm searching for my soul
When I'm feeling too much and I start to lose control
When I'm down so low that even enemies don't wanna know
You still care for me say a prayer for me and I know
Ooo I like you hanging around
Cause you lift me up when I am upside down
Ooo you are my favourite sound
Cause you're always down for
Lifting me up like an angel when I hit the ground
Feel your arms all around me when I'm feeling down
Lift me up like an angel when I hit my low
When your arms are around me
I don't wanna let you go
When I'm lost along way and I can't face another day
And if I stumble on the road and if I can't carry the load
And if I lose my faith, and kindness, and generousity
Would you hold my hand?
Say you understand my pain
Ooo I like you hanging around
Cause you lift me up when I am upside down
Ooo you are my favourite sound
Cause you're always down for
Lifting me up like an angel when I hit the ground
Feel your arms all around me when I'm feeling down
Lift me up like an angel when I hit my low
When your arms are around me
I don't wanna let you go
It's been a long hard road and it's only just begun my friend
And this I know you helped me carry the load
Cause you're always down for
Lifting me up like an angel when I hit the ground
Feel your arms all around me when I'm feeling down
Lift me up like an angel when I hit my low
Whell you're always around
You're my favourite sound
Lift me up like an angel when I hit the ground
Feel your arms all around me when I'm feeling down
Lift me up like an angel when I hit my low
When your arms are arou
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black and White (Stream XV)
I have black thoughts,
It is a black day,
A day when the black dog
Coal black, hovers at my shoulder.
I shoulder the burden.
Deep in the black hole.
Black as a black hearted night.
Negative.
Stark.
Black and white.
I do not call my good days white days.
Why?
Or have white thoughts
On a white day,
When the white dog
Pure white sits upon my shoulder.
Which is unburdened.
Out of the pit,
Luxuriating in the bright white light;
White as the purest snow.
Positive.
For we live in a too white world
Maybe we should have grey days,
And light days.
Why should Black be negative and White poitive?
For me then, today is a grey day.
Maybe tomorrow will be a light day.
Copyright P H Brookes 2012
poem by Paul Brookes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Cold On The Shoulder
All you need is time
All you need is time, time, time to make me bend
Give it a try, dont be rude
Put it to the test and Ill give it right back to you
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
Kick it around, take it to town
Try to defy what you feel inside
You better be strong
Your love belongs to us
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
All I need is trust
All I need is trust, trust, trust to make it show
I dont want to know everything you done
If you get a tip then tell it to the eskimos
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
All we need is faith
All we need is faith, faith, faith to make it nice
Kick it around, dont be rude
If youre gonna make a mistake dont you make it twice
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
Its cold on the shoulder
And you know that we get a little older every day
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Gray Room
Although you sit in a room that is gray,
Except for the silver
Of the straw-paper,
And pick
At your pale white gown;
Or lift one of the green beads
Of your necklace,
To let it fall;
Or gaze at your green fan
Printed with the red branches of a red willow;
Or, with one finger,
Move the leaf in the bowl--
The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythia
Beside you...
What is all this?
I know how furiously your heart is beating.
poem by Wallace Stevens
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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