Ghazal (2)
Ghazal (2)
For Dawn Upshaw
O water, be the string to my guitar.
The land's encircled? Follow the evening star.
The flight attendant heads for her hotel—
The fossil of a bird rising through the tar.
Another photo-shoot for the pregnant model
We met in Andalusia, in a bar!
The way the sun burned through the morning fog—
Blood from a white-tailed deer struck by a car.
The soldier at the checkpoint waved us through,
While the mendicant examined his cigar.
A plague of locusts and a partial eclipse
Of the sun: send a virgin to the altar.
The neurologist at his retirement party
Thanked everyone for gauging him from afar.
The sun, the mountains, and the sea: these framed
The tragedy born of the scimitar.
Bored? Seeking love? Adventure? The divine?
It's a good time to go to Zanzibar.
The emperor dismissed the courtier
Who had prepared for famine instead of war.
And so they charged into an ancient land,
Like cattle herded into an abattoir.
The scholar's parting gift to the defrocked priest:
The fetus of an ape, preserved in a jar.
Take the reins, please. Now. I can't see the road,
Thanks to the blows I received from that hussar.
The naturalist bitten by a rattlesnake
Wore a black leather glove to hide his scar.
Steer clear of the volcano rising from the sea
Or else you'll lose that load of cinnebar.
They entertained the spirits of their marriage—
A turning of the bones in Madagascar.
A plume of smoke and ashes on the deck:
The startled lookout dangles from the spar.
Again they rose at dawn to sing hosannas:
If you're a Romanov, then I'm the czar.
poem by Christopher Merrill

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Related quotes
The Deer-Star (A Paiute Legend)
HEAR now a tale of the deer-star,
Tale of the days agone,
When a youth rose up for the hunting
In the bluish light of dawn --
Rose up for the red deer hunting,
And what should a hunter do
Who has never an arrow feathered,
Nor a bow strung taut and true?
The women laughed from the doorways, the maidens mocked at the spring;
For thus to be slack at the hunting is ever a shameful thing.
The old men nodded and muttered, but the youth spoke up with a frown:
'If I have no gear for the hunting, I will run the red deer down.'
He is off by the hills of the morning,
By the dim, untrodden ways;
In the clean, wet, windy marshes
He has startled the deer agraze;
And a buck of the branching antlers
Streams out from the fleeing herd,
And the youth is apt to the running
As the tongue to the spoken word.
They have gone by the broken ridges, by mesa and hill and swale,
Nor once did the red deer falter, nor the feet of the runner fail;
So lightly they trod on the lupines that scarce were the flower-stalks bent,
And over the tops of the dusky sage the wind of their running went.
They have gone by the painted desert,
Where the dawn mists lie uncurled,
And over the purple barrows
On the outer rim of the world.
The people shout from the village,
And the sun gets up to spy
The royal deer and the runner,
Clear shining in the sky.
And ever the hunter watches for the rising of that star
When he comes by the summer mountains where the haunts of the red deer are,
When he comes by the morning meadows where the young of the red deer hide;
He fares him forth to the hunting while the deer and the runner bide.
poem by Mary Austin

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Tombestone
The night is dark, the moon is full
Across the blood red plain
Every step and every breath
Brings me nearer home
The spirits watch me on my way
They whisper on the wind
And when the dawn lights up the sky
Ill see my land again
A hot wind blows the scrub and dust
Across the barren land
Trees stand bare like skeletons
The mountains all torn down
The water holes are dry as bones
No birds are singing now
And faraway a city stands
Tombstones against the sky
song performed by by Pogues

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tombstone
The night is dark, the moon is full
Across the blood red plain
Every step and every breath
Brings me nearer home
The spirits watch me on my way
They whisper on the wind
And when the dawn lights up the sky
I'll see my land again
A hot wind blows the scrub and dust
across the barren land
Trees stand bare like skeletons
The mountains all torn down
The water holes are dry as bones
No birds are singing now
And faraway a city stands
Tombstones against the sky
song performed by by Pogues

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Incantation
A white well
In a black cave;
A bright shell
In a dark wave.
A white rose
Black brambles hood;
Smooth bright snows
In a dark wood.
A flung white glove
In a dark fight;
A white dove
On a wild black night.
A white door
In a dark lane;
A bright core
To bitter black pain.
A white hand
Waved from dark walls;
In a burnt black land
Bright waterfalls.
A bright spark
Where black ashes are;
In the smothering dark
One white star.
poem by Elinor Morton Wylie

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You'll Be Mine
When the sun is setting in the sky
Everybody know it's party time
And when the moon is rising high
I'll be yours, i know you will be mine (party time)
All day the world goes round & round
You can feel the changes coming down
It dosen't matter who you are
With love to give you will go far
We see the treasures all around
And burn ourselves into the ground
Everyone's trying to survive
We're not just born to be alive
I know
What i feel inside is true
You know
Every road i follow's leading me to you
When the sun is setting in the sky
Everybody knows it's party time
And when the moon is rising high
I'll be yours, i know you will be mine (party time)
We live our lives in mystery
While everything is meant to be
No reason here to wonder why
All that we seek is in the sky
You are the one that i want to hold
I feel you deep inside my soul
Only our love will set us free
This night belongs to you and me
I know
What i feel inside is true
You know
Evey road i follow's leading me to you
When the sun is setting in the sky
Everybody knows it's party time
And when the moon is rising high
I'll be yours, i know you will be mine (party time)
When the sun is setting in the sky
Everybody knows it's party time
And when the moon is rising high
I'll be yours, i know you will be mine (party time)
song performed by by Gloria Estefan

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shoot High Aim Low
We hit the blue fields
In the blue sedan we didnt get much further
Just as the sun was rising in the mist
We were all alone we didnt need much more
So fast this expidition
So vast this heavy load
With a touch of luck and a sense of need
Seeing the guns and their faces
We look around the open shore
Waiting for something
Shoot high break low
Aim high shoot low
Break high let go
Shoot high aim low
This was to be our last ride
With the steel guitar and the love you give me
Underneath the skin a feeling, a breakdown
Well we sat for hours on the crimson sand
Exchanges in the currency of humans bought and sold
And the leaders seem to lose control
Shall we lose ourselves for a reason
Shall we burn ourselves for the answer
Have we found the place that were looking for
Someone shouted open the door
Lookout
Shoot high break low
Aim high shoot low
Feeling of imagination
Break high let go
Shoot high aim low
Shoot high aim low
Nothing you can say
Shoot high let go
Takes me by surprise
Shoot high aim low
Who sayss theres got to be a reason
Shoot high let go
Who says theres got to be an answer
We were all alone, we didnt need much more
Shoot high aim low
The suns so hard on this endless highway
Shoot high let go
Shoot high aim low
Ive heard the singers, who sing of love
Shoot high let go
In the blue sedan we never got much further
Shoot high aim low
song performed by by Yes

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shoot High Aim Low
We hit the blue fields
In the blue sedan we didnt get much further
Just as the sun was rising in the mist
We were all alone we didnt need much more
So fast this expidition
So vast this heavy load
With a touch of luck and a sense of need
Seeing the guns and their faces
We look around the open shore
Waiting for something
Shoot high break low
Aim high shoot low
Break high let go
Shoot high aim low
This was to be our last ride
With the steel guitar and the love you give me
Underneath the skin a feeling, a breakdown
Well we sat for hours on the crimson sand
Exchanges in the currency of humans bought and sold
And the leaders seem to lose control
Shall we lose ourselves for a reason
Shall we burn ourselves for the answer
Have we found the place that were looking for
Someone shouted open the door
Lookout
Shoot high break low
Aim high shoot low
Feeling of imagination
Break high let go
Shoot high aim low
Shoot high aim low
Nothing you can say
Shoot high let go
Takes me by surprise
Shoot high aim low
Who sayss theres got to be a reason
Shoot high let go
Who says theres got to be an answer
We were all alone, we didnt need much more
Shoot high aim low
The suns so hard on this endless highway
Shoot high let go
Shoot high aim low
Ive heard the singers, who sing of love
Shoot high let go
In the blue sedan we never got much further
Shoot high aim low
song performed by by Yes

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Scar
A grey day in February
Some flecks of white, but mostly brown
Purple surprises riding in on a nerve
Begins to excite you before it settles down
It's after the knives and the sutures and needles
I'm left with an arrow that points at my heart
I call it the seat of my sentimental sorrow
Gone seems to be one of the sum of my parts
And the night is cold
As the coldest nights are
There's a wise woman
She comes from an evening star
She says: Look for the signs
You won't have to look far
Lead with your spirit and follow
Follow your scar
A man I knew once said he wanted to see me
I said I'd been sick but was on the mend
I told him a few of the overall details
He said: That's too bad
And he's never called me again
What a gift in disguise that poor little puppy
So scared of misfortune and always on guard
A big man will love you
Even more when you're hurtin'
And a really big man
Loves a really good scar
Cause the dawn breaks
And it's breaking your heart
There's a wise woman
She sits at the end of the bar
She says: Look for the signs
You won't have to look far
Lead with your spirit and follow
Follow your scar
A grey day in February
Some flecks of white, but mostly brown
The world has tilted but
The world has expanded
And the world has turned
My world upside down
Cause the night is warm and all full of stars
There's a wise woman
She's moved right into my heart
She says: Look for the signs
You won't have to look far
Lead with your spirit and follow
Follow
Follow your scar
English translation of Gaelic:
Run with the red deer
And sing with the wind
The magic lasts
And meaning will follow
The scar is God given
As a sign for your life
Strength from your ancestors
And through your own mouth
Strength from memory
Like a tree on the wind
Show me your scar
And I will make it better
song performed by by Carly Simon

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black Moon
Oh the devil is rising with the moon
He cries and my blood runs cold.
Oh no never was the darkness so black,
No light and nowhere to go.
My spirit is crying for a love
So tired of being alone.
I remember he came here to steal,
And you are his stealer of souls.
I see a black moon rising,
And its calling out my name.
Oh its calling my name.
Ive been blinded, lost and confused,
Darkness will call me no more.
Heaven is no friend of mine,
No God ever knocked on my door.
I see a black moon rising,
And its calling out my name.
Oh its calling my name.
Im standing on the dark side of time
Reaching for the power of her hand.
Shes weaving an unholy light
And calls from lucifers land.
I see a black moon rising,
And its calling out my name.
An angel of hell is rising,
Heavens no friend of mine.
I see a black moon rising,
And its calling out my name,
I see a black moon rising,
And it causes so much pain.
An angel of hell is rising,
Heavens no friend of mine.
I see a black moon rising,
And its calling out my name.
Its calling my name,
This spirits crying for love.
Heavens no friend of mine.
song performed by by Black Sabbath

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Free Flight
Head on down the highway
Across the county line,
Ive had my fill of small town thrills
Gonna leave it all behind.
Free flight, free flight.
Im careless in my loving,
Shameless in my style,
If I get caught by the short n curlies
Ill just hide out for awhile.
Free flight, free flight.
On an on the road goes on
Itll go on forever,
An just the same Ill live my life,
Hell bent for leather.
Free flight, free flight.
Heaven knows its driving me crazy,
Its a feeling inside.
Heaven knows its in my blood
As long as I try, I just cant deny.
Free flight, come tomorrow dawn youll find me gone.
Free flight, make no bones about it, Im moving on.
Free flight, free flight, free flight.
Free flight, free flight, free flight.
Head on down the highway
Suitcase in your hand,
When you get down with your feet on the ground
I know youll understand.
Free flight, free flight.
Heaven knows its driving me crazy,
Its a feeling thats driving me wild.
Heaven knows its in my blood,
Fool if you try, you just cant deny.
Free flight, come tomorrow dawn youll find me gone.
Free flight, make no bones about it, Im moving on.
(solo)
Free flight, free flight, free flight...
song performed by by Whitesnake

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Memorial To Martin Luther King Jr.
Words would fail me if I might assay
To articulate the courage of this man.
The numerous facets of his dossier
Are subject for song in a distant land.
Awakened in youth from serene dreams
By the melodious blast of Israel’s horn.
Tall standing received earth’s esteems,
Accepting God’s charge wherefore he was born.
His marble image cleaves the bluest sky,
And his halo is now a crown about his brow.
His peace of mind earth can no longer deny,
For he has now fulfilled his earthly vow.
It can only suppose with the midnight of the mind,
What may be reason’s welcome morning star.
One day he may return even more divine,
With a holier task from God who reigns from afar.
There’s no thunder heard from Sinai’s height,
And we see no parting waves at Jordan’s bank.
We have followed no truer soldier in our darkest night,
And now are marching on bravely in file and rank.
Rolling on in faith toward the welcome dawn,
The good fight won he’s earned the honor of Moses.
Now trekking the soul’s desert to the divine throne,
He follows God’s light up the street of yellow roses.
poem by Albert Price

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The Morning Star
IN the black pool of the midnight Lu has slung the morning star,
And its foam in rippling silver whitens into day afar
Falling on the mountain rampart piled with pearl above our glen,
Only you and I, beloved, moving in the fields of men.
In the dark tarn of my spirit, love, the morning star, is lit;
And its halo, ever brightening, lightens into dawn in it.
Love, a pearl-grey dawn in darkness, breathing peace without desire;
But I fain would shun the burning terrors of the mid-day fire.
Through the faint and tender airs of twilight star on star may gaze,
But the eyes of light are blinded in the white flame of the days,
From the heat that melts together oft a rarer essence slips,
And our hearts may still be parted in the meeting of the lips.
What a darkness would I gaze on when the day had passed the west,
If my eyes were dazed and blinded by the whiteness of a breast?
Never through the diamond darkness could I hope to see afar
Where beyond the pearly rampart burned the purer evening star.
poem by George William Russell

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Cool Water
Words and music by bob nolan
Revised lyrics by joni mitchell
All day I face the barren waste
Without a taste of water
Cool water
Old dan and i
Our throats slate dry
Our spirits cry out for water
Cool clear water
Keep on movin dan
Some devils had a plan
Buried poison in the sand
Dont drink it man
Its in the water
Cool clear water
In my mind I see
A big green tree
And a river flowin free
Waitin up ahead
For you and me
Cool clear water
The nights are cool and Im a fool
Each star is a pool of water
Cool water
But come the dawn
We carry on
We wont last long without water
Cool clear water
Keep on movin dan
Were still in no-mans land
Dry bones and sand
People never planned here for water
Cool clear water
In my mind I see
A big green tree
And a river flowin free
Waiting up ahead for you and me
Cool clear water
The shadows sway
They seem to say
Tonight we pray for water
Cool water
And way up there
If you care
Please show us where
Theres good water
Cool clear water
song performed by by Joni Mitchell

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Don't Want To Be A Star
I don't want to be a star
Just want my Chevy and an old guitar
I don't want to be a star
I don't need the fat cigar
My friends wonder what is wrong with me
Cause I don't get off on my fame
I got so much confusion now
Sometimes I don't even know my name
I don't want to be a star
Just want my Chevy and an old guitar
I don't want to be a star
I don't need the fat cigar
Too many distractions run through my brain
So many girls they start to look the same
Too many options no time to choose
Too many clothes, too many shoes
I've had the world I've done it upside down
I played the part and I've been the clown
Now it's my time, it's a brand new day
To be myself in a different way
I don't want to be a star
Just want my Chevy and an old guitar
I don't want to be a star
I don't need the fat cigar
I got to meet all the wonderful people
I drank with Dylan boy did we act a fool
I got high with Jagger, it was really cool
I don't want to be a star
Just want my Chevy and an old guitar
I don't want to be a star
I don't need the fat cigar
Never...
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Singing to my wishing star!
When I sing to my wishing star!
My tears start falling on my Guitar
Realizing now, my dreams are so far
Leaving my heart with a big scar
People look at me
I fake a smile so they won’t see
That I am not the one I used to be
Straggling to understand the word (She)
Finally the master became the slave
Waiting for some one to save
Or to be rotten in his own grave
Remembering when he was brave
Wise man said, find a way or make one
But I didn’t listen, so I decided to run
Searching for pleasure, seeking fun
Then I drive home alone after I am done
“Wishing start” will you bring me back love?
Will you send your blessing from above?
Have mercy on my tears cause I had enough
And life turning to be so tough
But I will still sing on my Guitar
Begging you my wishing star
To bring me what’s far
Healing my heart from any scar
poem by Raouf Reda

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Send Me An Angel
Music :rudolf schenker
Lyrics:klaus meine
The wise man said just walk this way
To the dawn of the light
The wind will blow into your face
As the years pass you by
Hear this voice from deep inside
Its the call of your heart
Close your eyes and your will find
The passage out of the dark
Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star
The wise man said just find your place
In the eye of the storm
Seek the roses along the way
Just beware of the thorns
Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star
The wise man said just raise your hand
And reach out for the spell
Find the door to the promised land
Just believe in yourself
Hear this voice from deep inside
Its the call of your heart
Close your eyes and your will find
The way out of the dark
Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star
Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star
song performed by by Scorpions

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Crowds of Xhosas gathered at the pool
At the Gxara River in the Transkei
a pool between some trees and flowering plants
is linked with one of the most emotional
and painful stories in history.
At the pool a young medium named Nonqawuse
spoke with the ancestral spirits
while bathing and looked into the water
seeing their faces.
They promised to drive the white man away,
provided that the Xhosa nation
would destroy all their own cattle and crops.
The Xhosas were disturbed by news
of this revelation
and travelled from near and far
to speak to her
and her witchdoctor uncle Mhlakaza.
Crowds of Xhosas gathered at the pool
with its red flowering aloes
peering into the water,
with a lot claiming to see
the faces of their ancestors there.
Some people even claimed
to see whole armies of ancestors
eager for war against the white man
and only waiting on the Xhosa people
to follow their instructions.
Then the insane instructions was followed through
with cattle being slaughtered
and most of the crops being destroyed
and only the very small Ngqika
section of the tribe not adhering to it.
The majority of Xhosas
waited in vain on 18 February 1857
for the sun to rise blood red,
the land to be filled with fat cattle,
new crops to appear
and vast armies of spirits
to go out in battle
against the white man.
It was a tragic dawn
with the Xhosa nation facing starvation
and ironically the Xhosas survived only
through the white man
reacheding out a hand of friendship
and feeding them
and by the compassion
of some neighbouring tribes
who had been oppressed by them before
and it’s estimated
that some twenty five thousand people
did die from this tragedy.
poem by Gert Strydom

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Love’s Last Bow
Each star in sight must mourn sad plight
to orbits tied - as ride
seems far too tight – with main and might
each dreams new path to glide.
But Nature bars the plans of stars,
as those of mice and men
no nebular seen from afar
infinite space distends.
Don’t pick the plum[b] by rule of thumb
but question ‘here and now’ –
don’t haw and hum, learn what’s become
of Love’s eternal vow.
When first beside my charming bride
both plighted love sans end.
but now tide turned – and burned inside
I redefine ‘a friend’?
Let those ‘Love’ write in black and white
in shame blame flame denied,
who flies high kite at dawn, by night
finds fall uncircumscribed.
Through star eyes wide, sighs multiplied
the dreams of ‘never end’,
too much relied upon self pride,
to compromise or bend.
When dawn has come love is struck dumb
by an infernal row,
then mourn the sum of luck left numb,
‘how, ow’ replacing ‘wow! ’
Undone love’s power that no guitar
now strings – sting which heart rends, -
dark [f]acts bizarre in life’s bazaar
which no-one recommends.
Though stars in flight shine bright tonight
reflections fossilized
by Time’s indictment sentenced quite
tomorrow sees subside.
poem by Jonathan Robin

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Kargil Warfare
Words shall never describe
what a soldier is
with a family brave
loosing in wars
all they have
yet smiling to the nation's pride
such is what a soldier is
for when they came with guns and arms
the soldier faced it all
heads held high
for the nation
he was ready to die
such is the sacrifice a soldier makes
and yes!
words shall never describe
what a soldier is
Kargil was the place
this time the fight was for mother land
the soldier could not be held
he marched
without fear
smoke rose high
there on the dusty land
fought the soldier
with no fear of death
he knew beneath
he had to win
and yes he did
his land he saved
but lost many his friends
and we salute
bow our head
for our words shall never describe
what a soldier is.
poem by Areena Arora

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Noli Me Tangere
We watched the dawn breaking across the sea
While just above us hung the evening star.
The nearer waters took a hint of white
And clouds and waves together massed afar,
Narrowed our morning world of pallid light
Till dawn seemed very close to you and me.
'Nay, dawn, stay farther off. Be Magdalen.
Go back into the distance whence you came.
The Near is meaningless when Far is nought,'
So I; and you. 'Wait but a little then,
And day, whole day, uprising like a flame,
Will show us the far reaches of our thought.'
poem by Lesbia Harford

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