Croquis
The beach was crowded. Pausing now and then,
He groped and fiddled doggedly along,
His worn face glaring on the thoughtless throng
The stony peevishness of sightless men.
He seemed scarce older than his clothes. Again,
Grotesquing thinly many an old sweet song,
So cracked his fiddle, his hand so frail and wrong,
You hardly could distinguish one in ten.
He stopped at last, and sat him on the sand,
And, grasping wearily his bread-winner,
Staring dim towards the blue immensity,
Then leaned his head upon his poor old hand.
He may have slept: he did not speak nor stir:
His gesture spoke a vast despondency.
poem by William Ernest Henley
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Killing An Arab
Standing on the beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the arab on the ground
I can see his open mouth
But i hear no sound
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab
I can turn
And walk away
Or i can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever i chose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab
I feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes
Of the dead man on the beach
The dead man on the beach
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab
song performed by by Cure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Killing An Arab (live)
Standing on a beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the arab on the ground
See his open mouth
But hear no sound
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab
I can turn and walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I choose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab
Feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes of
The dead man on the beach
The dead man
On the beach
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab
song performed by by Cure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
White Magic
Is it not a wonderful thing to be able to force an astonished plant to bear rare flowers which are foreign to it. . . and to obtain a marvelous result from sap which, left to itself, would have produced corollas without beauty? -VIRGIL.
I stood forlorn and pale,
Pressed by the cold sand, pinched by the thin grass,
Last of my race and frail
Who reigned in beauty once, when beauty was,
Before the rich earth beckoned to the sea,
Took his salt lips to taste,
And spread this gradual waste-
This ruin of lower, this doom of grass and tree.
Each Spring could scarcely lift
My brows from the sand drift
To fill my lips with April as she went,
Or force my weariness
To its sad, summer dress:
On the harsh beach, I heard the grey sea rise,
The ragged grass made ceaseless, dim lament,
And day and night scarce changed the mournful skies.
Foot on the sand, a shadow on the sea!
A face leaned over me.
Across each wasted limb
Passed healingly a warm, great, god-like hand.
I was drawn up to him,
From my frail feet fell the last grains of sand.
Then haste and darkness stooped and made me theirs;
Deep handed me to deep; . . .
I faded then as names fade from men's prayers,--
As a sigh at last made friends with sleep.
But the same hand that bore me from the sea,
Waking me tenderly,
Bound me to a rough stranger of my race,--
Me weary and pale to him, and him to me.
I turned my piteous face
Aside ashamed; I struggled to be free.
I slept, I dreamed, I woke to that embrace! . . .
Sweet tides stole through my veins,
Strange fires and thrills and pains;
To my cold lips the bloom crept back once more
I glowed as a bride glows;
I watched the day with delicate hands restore
My kinship with the rose.
About my throat my hair went like a flame,
My brows were wreathed, in purple I was dressed,
I bore my bride's name,
A great star burned my breast.
No longer bound, I leaned the same sweet way
Towards her lover. Now astonished I
Who was a beggar stand obediently
Beside Cophetua.
poem by Muriel Stuart
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
After Death
The curtains were half drawn, the floor was swept
And strewn with rushes, rosemary and may
Lay thick upon the bed on which I lay,
Where through the lattice ivy-shadows crept.
He leaned above me, thinking that I slept
And could not hear him; but I heard him say:
'Poor child, poor child:' and as he turned away
Came a deep silence, and I knew he wept.
He did not touch the shroud, or raise the fold
That hid my face, or take my hand in his,
Or ruffle the smooth pillows for my head:
He did not love me living; but once dead
He pitied me; and very sweet it is
To know he still is warm though I am cold.
poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Beneath a Morrocan Sky
You could tell
by Mamie's face
she was sick
of shish kebabs
in fact it seemed
that the whole Moroccan holiday
was kind of getting
to her sensibilities
from the standing
on the two brick toilets
to the shish kebab
food misadventure
let's go walk
on the beach
she said
before I throw up
with this crap
and so you walked
with her down through
the path to the beach
the moon and stars
above in a black
patchwork sky
the sound of the sea
rushing in and out
and the voices
of the others
getting less
and less
and she said
looking up at the sky
isn't scary that sky
why is it scary?
you asked
it's so vast
like it goes on forever
she said
I think Pascal found
the immensity
of the night sky
disturbing
you said
Pascal?
Is he on the coach?
Is he on the tour?
she asked
no he was a mathematician
and physicist and inventor
and Christian philosopher
in the 17th century
oh right
she said
boring shit
come on let's get
on the beach
and lay down
and stare
at the sky
and stars
and that bright moon
and then we can snuggle
up close
and we'll see
what comes
and she pulled you
onto the beach
and the damp sand
eased itself
between your toes
and the smell of the sea
hit you
and the sounds
and the wind
from off the sea's shoulder
and she pulled you
down on the beach
beside her
and you lay back
and looked up
and the vast sky
seemed to press down
on you both
and she laughed
and said
it kind of makes
you seem small
and insignificant
doesn't it
she said
you felt her hand
in yours
a soft pulse
of her being
right there
like a small beeping drum
and she turned
and looked at you
and smiled
and her smile was captured
by the moon's glow
and you said
we need to remember
this moment
this being here
this newness of being
and she laughed
and said
don't get too deep on me
and she leaned in
close to you
and kissed you
and her tongue
entered you
and the whole sky
seemed to witness
the moment
seemed to want
to embrace the kiss
the bright humanness
in her moonlit face.
poem by Terry Collett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Strand
I saw my father’s face last week,
across the gulf of time..
I chanced upon a photograph
That you had left behind.
His hair shock white, his shoulders large
from years of heavy toil,
His eyes pale blue, his hands were rough
from working with the soil.
I thought I saw his face again
Across a crowded room
It must have been a trick of light-
a product of my gloom.
I saw my father’s face last night-
within a vivid dream.
We walked familiar streets of home
in forty year old scenes.
Long vanished homes and people
paraded through my head.
I did not choose to break the mood
or remind him he was dead.
I took my father’s hand last night
We walked a moon lit shore.
The beach’s sand was coarse and black
the surf a subdued roar.
The land behind was all I know,
But the Ocean beckoned me
So together, hand in hand,
We stepped into the sea.
*** *** *** ***
*• a poetic term for a shore (as the area periodically covered and uncovered by the tides)
poem by John F. McCullagh
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Aditi in a Dream at Wollongong (A Poem for My Daughter)
That evening jogging on the beach with my friends
miles and miles away from home i was alone
the sea was rolling and unrolling its carpet of blue and grey
with what was a milk-border of foam
rolling and unrolling it endlessly or so it seemed
a score of seagulls on the shore flapped their wings
starchwhite some picking morsels from the sand
jogging on the beach that evening miles and miles
away from home i ran into a dream
a little challenged girl in knickers and sportshirt
was carried by the waves to the shore
and as she stepped on the beach i held her hand
she walked with me her puny feet at every step
battling with the sand her head swayed sideward
with the breeze.
she clapped her hands now and then and broke
into an incoherent song seemingly happy walking the beach
i was happy too holding her hand that evening
jogging on the beach till the shout of friends behind
woke me up
alone in my room that night i felt disturbed
sleep was long in coming... waking up at morn
i learnt my TV had been on whole night!
poem by Sunil Uniyal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Blind And The Dead
She lay like a saint on her copper couch;
Like an angel asleep she lay,
In the stare of the ghoulish folks that slouch
Past the Dead and sneak away.
Then came old Jules of the sightless gaze,
Who begged in the streets for bread.
Each day he had come for a year of days,
And groped his way to the Dead.
"What's the Devil's Harvest to-day?" he cried;
"A wanton with eyes of blue!
I've known too many a such," he sighed;
"Maybe I know this . . . mon Dieu!"
He raised the head of the heedless Dead;
He fingered the frozen face. . . .
Then a deathly spell on the watchers fell --
God! it was still, that place!
He raised the head of the careless Dead;
He fumbled a vagrant curl;
And then with his sightless smile he said:
"It's only my little girl."
"Dear, my dear, did they hurt you so!
Come to your daddy's heart. . . ."
Aye, and he held so tight, you know,
They were hard to force apart.
No! Paris isn't always gay;
And the morgue has its stories too:
You are a writer of tales, you say --
Then there is a tale for you.
poem by Robert William Service
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Blue Blooded Woman
Blue blooded womans
She loves a violin, I love a fiddle
We go separate ways but we meet in the middle
Dont see eye to eye but were hand in hand
A blue blooded woman and a redneck man
The lady I love loves silk and satin
She was raised uptown with a silver spoon
Well, I was born on a farm just south of jackson
We had an old ford tractor and a country moon
She loves a violin, I love a fiddle
We go separate ways but we meet in the middle
Dont see eye to eye but were hand in hand
A blue blooded woman and a redneck man
Shes saks fifth avenue perfection
Caviar and dignified
Well, I live my life in wal mart fashion
And I like my sushi southern fried
She loves a violin, I love a fiddle
We go separate ways but we meet in the middle
Dont see eye to eye but were hand in hand
A blue blooded woman and a redneck man
She loves a violin, I love a fiddle
We go separate ways but we meet in the middle
Dont see eye to eye but were hand in hand
A blue blooded woman and a redneck man
Shes a blue blooded woman, Im a redneck man.
song performed by by Alan Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
My Other Hand...
the black man's hand,
the poor man's hand.
the Muslim hand, the Jewish hand...
the gay man's hand,
the working man's hand,
the ex-convict's hand,
the farmer's hand, the garbage man's hand...
the Christian's hand, the atheist's hand,
the father's hand, the soldier's hand,
the peacemaker's hand,
the healer's hand, the teacher's hand,
the prodigal's hand, even the murderer's hand...
the victim's hand, the broken hand,
the praying hand, the touching hand...
all, when extended,
feel like my other hand!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Homage to Hieronymus Bosch
A woman with no face walked into the light;
A boy, in a brown-tree norfolk suit,
Holding on
Without hands
To her seeming skirt.
She stopped,
And he stopped,
And I, in terror, stopped, staring.
Then I saw a group of shadowy figures behind her.
It was a wild wet morning
But the little world was spinning on.
Liplessly, somehow, she addressed it:
The book must be opened
And the park too.
I might have tittered
But my teeth chattered
And I saw that the words, as they fell,
Lay, wriggling, on the ground.
There was a stir of wet wind
And the shadowy figures began to stir
When one I had thought dead
Filmed slowly out of his great effigy on a tomb near by
And they all shuddered
He bent as if to speak to the woman
But the nursery governor flew up out of the well of Saint Patrick,
Confiscated by his mistress,
And, his head bent,
Staring out over his spectacles,
And scratching the gravel furiously, Hissed -
The words went pingg! like bullets,
Upwards, past his spectacles
Say nothing, I say, say nothing, say nothing!
And he who had seemed to be coming to life
Gasped,
Began hysterically, to laugh and cry,
And, with a gesture of impotent and half-petulant despair,
Filmed back into his effigy again.
High above the Bank of Ireland
Unearthly music sounded,
Passing westwards.
Then, from the drains,
Small sewage rats slid out.
They numbered hundreds of hundreds, tens, thousands.
Each bowed obsequiously to the shadowy figures
Then turned and joined in a stomach dance with his brothers and sisters.
Being a multitude, they danced irregularly.
There was rat laughter, Deeper here and there,
And occasionally she-rats grew hysterical.
The shadowy figures looked on, agonized.
The woman with no face gave a cry and collapsed.
The rats danced on her
And on the wriggling words
Smirking.
The nursery governor flew back into the well
With the little figure without hands in the brown-tree clothes.
poem by Thomas MacGreevy
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Favorite Song
What if everything you had
Was like a castle made of sand
Why don't you open up your hand
and hold on tight
What if everything was wrong
and no one knew your favorite song
there is no one left to sing along
with you tonight
Everything is alright
I will see you tonight
Everything you want
is in your hands
And I can't help you decide
The battles you fight inside
and what hurts you
you don't understand
and it feels like there is nothing right
and its all the same to you anyways
What if everything you had
Was like a castle made of sand
Why don't you open up your hand
and hold on tight
What if everything was wrong
and no one knew your favorite song
there is no one left to sing along
with you tonight
The better place you wished for
is just outside your front door
still it never seemed so far away
Summer gave no reward
Until this day was dreamed for
wait to feel the sunlight
on your face
and it feels like there is nothing right
and its all the same to you anyways
What if everything you had
Was like a castle made of sand
Why don't you open up your hand
and hold on tight
What if everything was wrong
and no one knew your favorite song
there is no one left to sing along
with you tonight
You never know what to say
So you run in your hideaway
I see the shadow falling in the summer sun
So you never know what to say
It doesn't matter anyway
You'll heal inside
You'll feel this time
And if everything you had
Was like a castle made of sand
Why don't you open up your heart
and hold on tight
And if everything was wrong
I would sing your favorite song
and you would have to sing along
with me tonight
sing along with me tonight [x2]
What if everything was wrong
and no one knew your favorite song
song performed by by Nine Days from So Happily Unsatisfied
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Erase
From Bye Bye Birdie soundtrack
JA:
I was never crazy for flowers
I confess that nothing left me colder.
I could watch a daisy for hours
and all i'd feel was several hours older.
Lilacs or lilies,
anything you please
all that they did was make me shrug or sneeze.
But now i love each blossom that i see
for a lovely little rose loves me.
Now my life is Rosie,
since i found my Rosie.
With a girl like rosie
how could i be blue?
Hand in hand we'll mosey
Me and little Rosie.
We will be so cozy
by a fire built for two.
Oh i once heard a poem that goes
A rose is a rose is a rose.
But i don't agree
Take it from me,
There's one rose sweeter than any that grows
That's my Rosie.
I'm so glad you chose me.
Life is one, sweet, beautiful song
to me.
JA: Now my life is Rosie
VW: Oh, we'll be happy I know.
JA: Since I found my Rosie.
VW: Off to the preacher we'll go.
JA: With a girl like ROsie
VW: So how could we
JA: How could I be blue?
VW: Be blue?
VW: Oh we'll have us a home out west.
A nice, little split, level nest.
And in every room, roses in bloom
JA: but there's one Rose sweeter than all of the rest.
JA: And that's my Rosie
Both:
I'm so glad you chose me.
Life is one, sweet, beautiful song.
If love is right, then, what could be wrong?
Life is one, sweet, beautiful song to me.
song performed by by Vanessa Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Hand
the hand on my heart
feels a lot like you,
the shadow of the stranger,
feels like clothes i have worn.
the cup on the table
is waiting to be filled.
on the plate a slice of burnt bread,
and the clock's stuck at six.
sounds i didnt hear before
resonate in the stillness.
the taste clings to my lips,
the old worn curtain blows.
and i cant for the life of me
remember what i was thinking.
my heart feels frozen
by the hand on the door!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Island In The Sun
The palm trees sway
under a warm Mediterranean breeze
as we lay on a golden beach somewhere,
dreaming that you and I could be,
castaways on an island in the sun.
Blue waters kissing the beach
beneath our feet
as we walk hand in hand
in the sand at sunset time.
The world a million miles away,
never to bother us anymore.
What a lovely dream,
to be washed up on that shore,
you and I for evermore.
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Kool-Aid girl
[this is a song i wrote...kinda up beat tune]
If you'll be my Kool-Aid girl
I'll be your hot-dog man
We'll picnic at the beach and we'll play in the sand
I'll sing you a song
[and] You'll holda my hand
I'll bring us a blanket and a picanic basket
You just bring yourself and it'll all be fantastic
You and me together with nothin that’s plastic
That’s my idea of love so baby lets practice
[and] I'll sing you a song
[and] You'll holda my hand
Just you and me we'll sit there till the sun goes down
You'll ask me if I love you
and I'll show you how
And we'll be lovin till the waves stop a crashin
Cuz baby I love ya no matter who does the askin
[and] I'll sing you a song
[and] You'll a holda my hand
I said I'll sing you a song
then you'll holda my hand
poem by Daniel Cook
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I'm your friend...at the moment
World has turned into strange place
No, it’s a strange place
Friend is foe, foe is family
Enemy becomes ally, ally is their spy
Children forget their roots
Strangers search paradise for far
So pick a side, take a curly turn
In this world madness party
Today’s blue, tomorrow’s red
Today’s true, tomorrow’s not yet
So easily to change, so desperate for range
Loyalty is frail, emotion is strained
Winner becomes poor, poor becomes king
King abduction to slum, slum raises hero
We are scavengers, sneaking for opportunity
Play the game, exchange the ride
Laugh at day, war at night
All stirred in one messy crowded place
So take my hand, I’ll help you now
But watch your back, maybe I’m the one who first to blow
poem by Maria Sudibyo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Which Shall It Be
WHICH shall it be? Which shall it be?
I look'd at John—John look'd at me
(Dear, patient John, who loves me yet
As well as though my locks were jet);
And when I found that I must speak,
My voice seem'd strangely low and weak:
"Tell me again what Robert said?"
And then I, listening, bent my head.
"This is his letter:
"'I will give
A house and land while you shall live,
If, in return, from out your seven,
One child to me for aye is given.'"
I look'd at John's old garments worn,
I thought of all that John had borne
Of poverty, and work, and care,
Which I, though willing, could not share;
I thought of seven mouths to feed,
Of seven little children's need,
And then of this.
"Come, John," said I,
"We'll choose among them as they lie
Asleep"; so, walking hand in hand,
Dear John and I survey'd our band.
First to the cradle lightly stepp'd,
Where Lilian the baby slept,
A glory 'gainst the pillow white.
Softly the father stooped to lay
His rough hand down in loving way,
When dream or whisper made her stir,
And huskily he said: "Not her!"
We stopped beside the trundle-bed
And one long ray of lamp-light shed
Athwart the boyish faces there,
In sleep so pitiful and fair;
I saw on Jamie's rough, red cheek,
A tear undried. Ere John could speak,
"He's but a baby, too," said I,
And kissed him as we hurried by.
Pale, patient Robbie's angel face
Still in his sleep bore suffering's trace;
"No, for a thousand crowns, not him,"
He whispered, while our eyes were dim.
Poor Dick! bad Dick! our wayward son,
Turbulent, reckless, idle one—
Could he be spared? "Nay, He who gave,
Bade us befriend him to the grave;
Only a mother's heart can be
Patient enough for such as he;
And so," said John, "I would not dare
To send him from her bedside prayer."
Then stole we softly up above
And knelt by Mary, child of love.
"Perhaps for her 'twould better be,"
I said to John, Quite silently
He lifted up a curl that lay
Across her cheek in willful way,
And shook his head, "Nay, love, not thee,"
The while my heart beat audibly.
Only one more, our eldest lad,
Trusty and truthful, good and glad—
So like his father. "No, John, no—
I can not, will not let him go."
And so we wrote in courteous way,
We could not drive one child away,
And afterward, toil lighter seemed,
Thinking of that of which we dreamed;
Happy, in truth, that not one face
We missed from its accustomed place;
Thankful to work for all the seven,
Trusting the rest to One in heaven!
poem by Ethel Lynn Beers
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
Anny In The Mall.
Anny follows just behind.
The mall is crowded but
None see her in her 1940s
Clothes. You see her and
She knows. She gazes deep
In windows of shops and
Stores takes in the bright
Lights and treasures her
Blue eyes childlike see.
But she keeps an eye on
You as often she has before
Moving eyes from you to
Shop and store. Her blue
Ghostly eyes scan the views
Of things on show in big wide
Store windows she passes by.
Her blonde hair catches the
Bright lights above her head.
She follows closer. Her hand
Almost touches yours. That
Small hand that once waved
Goodbye to mother and others
She had loved and missed now
Almost seeks out one of yours.
Her eyes search out your dull
Eyes and seem to speak her
Words in silences and small bits
Spoken fill the air: death camp.
Jew. Child. Auschwitz.1942.
poem by Terry Collett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
It's just a pen.
In battle zone I met a man, all rags and face of pain
I stopped awhile and spoke his tongue, he never gave his name,
'What ails you sir i spoke with zest how does life treat you so?
Your face unshaven clothes all torn and nowhere left to go, '
He spoke in softest tone on life, surprised at what I'd said,
'I have but words to tell my tale a writer born and bred,
I dared to speak of right and wrong and stood for all that's right,
I spoke of men and guns and wars and warned all those who'd fight'.
'Then lines of soldiers past my way and threw me to the floor
They tore my clothes and spat at me and cursed my writing more,
I was chained and maniculed, imprisoned for such views,
By men who yearn to kill and maim, we few who spread such news'.
'So there i sat in prison cell, words came to my salvation,
My mind still active full of thoughts on how to save this nation,
Then time passed onwards, shooting stopped outside the silence came,
A key then heard in cell door lock saw freedom once again'.
The writer glanced from where he lay one eye cocked to the sun
The warmth engulfed his tired limbs, from beatings he was numb,
'The truth i chant in verse and rhyme for all to choke and eat,
Such words not welcome hereabouts thrown down at general's feet '.
'I stood alone and faced the crowds with words my only gun
Above the cries of blood and hate their hearts i thought i'd won
But little did i guess you see how ignorance can spread,
And that my words were such a threat that they should want me dead'.
I helped the writer to his feet his frame so weak and frail
A consequence of standing firm whilst locked away in jail
'One thing' said i 'before you leave, pray tell what drives you then? '
Without a second thought he smiled and whispered '.. it's my pen'
poem by Dave James
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!