Keep Flowing
Between the closing dusk of sleep
and my descended night
I catch a spotlit vision
of living water glistening:
at times a pond of koi,
sometimes an overflowing cup,
a fountain, river or a flooded garden where I stand
gazing at my crystal feet
amongst the flowers.
Such visions come from down within the folds
and fissures of my brain,
dripping, trickling, rushing, and no one knows
the quantity of waters stored there, fed
by even deeper streams.
While deep within the ocean grows your brain
where nematodes and blind fish
swim and search among voluted fissures,
where bubbles from deep cracks and crevices
deeper than the highest Himalayas,
hotter than the icy pinnacles,
ooze lava, spew amazing rocks,
seethe and re-form the ocean floor,
shaking the earth crust, changing the world shape,
fill explorers who descend, who dare,
or those who wait above in gardens
with delight that only music, only voices penetrating
convoluted brains
can reach and touch and teach.
To me you are the ocean, constant, powerful and salty,
waves pulled by an unknown planet,
up and down the shore, in and out of billows,
smashing, crashing, and accepting
streams and rivers flowing in while
nothing flows out, only the fish, only the birds,
only the words, but only the sun
warms and evaporates the restless waters, gathering to herself
billowy clouds and moisture
that fall again
into my floods and pools and fountains
from the highest Himalayas
into the rivers
that return to you,
to you.
LRH
8.31.06
To my incomparable GWH, his poem below:
Excuses
Horses: excuses for feet in a stirrup.
Pancakes: excuses for maplesweet syrup.
Wives who’ve stuck with you forty odd years––
I’ll tell you their meaning, allaying the fears
of those who consider them as mere excuses
for resting their feet eating syrupy juices.
They’re writers of narratives that are men’s stories,
perennially constant as blue morning glories,
deluding their spouses to think they’re the heroes
of nightscented stories whose glory is eros,
while they are the heroines pulling the string
on the puppets persuaded to buy them a ring
nearly forty odd years before their anniversary.
Excuse this mere outline for being so cursory;
To find out precisely why they are a blessing
is cheating, because they love keeping you guessing.
Gershon Hepner
8/31/06
A fortieth anniversary poem to my beloved wife Linda, in response to the gift of forty years which she gave me as well as the poem (above)
poem by Linda Hepner

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Related quotes
Beneath blue ocean still
The water vapor rises
Over a blue ocean tone
Where surface still like silence
Covers all of the unknown.
Beneath there is mystery
Mermaids and fish swim
A portal of fantasy
Is where all stories begin.
Darting dolphins, talking sharks,
Sea-horses dance all around.
Red glow fish zip and twirl by.
U-boat awakes from ocean ground.
Under-water cities bustle
A fish dares to leap ashore
Whirl-pools confuse schools of fish.
Serpents rest on ocean floor.
The Illuminated waters.
The rainbow speckled scales.
Jaws of hungry predators.
Squirmy blue electric eels.
Above rippling surface
Nets catch all of the pretend.
Back to the blue ocean still.
Mystic vapor there ascends.
poem by Josh Alfred

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Forty Years
(on the 10th anniversary of the end of world war ii)
Here in berlin - people line up to get in
To wait for the end - living in glorious sin
Theyve looked around - and now there is no looking back
To when rivers ran red - now its the sky that grows black
Shadows are cast as two giants roam over the earth
We light a match - but what is that little flame worth
Once allies danced and sang
But it was forty years ago
Here in d.c. - they talk about euro-disease
And how the french are always so damn hard to please
Otions are passed in brussels but no one agrees
And no one walks tall - but no-one gets down on their knees
Once allies laughed and drank
But it was forty years ago
Where I come from
They dont like americans much
They think theyre so loud, so tasteless, and so out of touch
Stiff upper lips are curled into permanent sneers
Self-satisfied
Awaiting the next forty years
Once allies cried and cheered
But it was forty years ago
song performed by by Joe Jackson

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Genesis BK XXI
l. 1327) Then our Lord said unto Noah:
(ll. 1328-1355) "I give thee My pledge, dearest of men, that thou
mayest go thy way, thou and the seed of every living thing which
thou shalt ferry through the deep water for many a day in the
bosom of the ship. Lead on board the ark, as I bid thee, thy
household, thy wife and thy three sons, and thy sons' wives with
thee. And take within that sea-home seven of every kind of
living thing that serve as food for men, and two of every other
kind. Likewise of all the fruits of the earth take food for the
company upon thy ship, who with thee shall be saved from the
flood! Care well for every creature until I shall cause food to
grow again beneath the heavens for the survivors of the ocean
floods. Depart now with thy household and thy host of guests,
embarking on the ship. I know that thou art good, and of a
steadfast mind. Thou art worthy of grace and mercy, thou and thy
children. Lo! for seven nights I shall let the rains descend
upon the face of the broad earth. Forty days will I visit My
wrath upon men, with a deluge destroying the riches of the world
and the tribes of men, save what shall be upon the ark when the
black floods begin to rise."
(ll. 1356-1371) And Noah departed, as the Lord commanded,
embarking his household upon the ark, leading up his sons into
the ship, and their wives with them. All that Almighty God would
have for seed went in under the roof of the ark unto their
food-giver, even according as the Mighty Lord of hosts gave
bidding by His word. And the Warden of that heavenly kingdom,
the God of victories, locked the door of the ocean-house behind
him with His hands, and our Lord blessed all within the ark with
His blessing. Now Noah, the son of Lamech, had lived six hundred
winters, wise and full of years, when he went up with the young
men, his beloved sons, into the ark, as God gave bidding.
(ll. 1371-1399) Then the Lord sent the rains from heaven, and
caused the black sea-streams to roar, and the fountains of the
deep to overflow the world. The seas surged up over the barriers
of the shore. Mighty in His wrath was He who rules the waters!
And He overwhelmed and covered the mortal sons of sin with a
black deluge, laying waste the native land and homes of men. God
visited their offences upon them. Forty days and forty nights
the sea laid hold on that doomed folk. Dire was that disaster
and deadly unto men. The stormy surges of the King of glory
quenched the life from out the bodies of that sinful host. The
flood, raging beneath the heavens, covered over all high hills
throughout the spacious earth, and lifted up the ark from the
earth upon the bosom of the waters, and all within the ark, whom
the Lord our God had blessed when He locked the door of the ship.
Then far and wide that best of ocean-houses and its burden
floated beneath the heavens over the compass of the sea. The
raging terrors of the deep might not lay hold on ship or
mariners, but Holy God ferried them upon the sea and shielded
them. Fifteen cubits deep upon the hills the deluge lay. That
was a grievous fate!
(ll. 1400-1406) But no harm came nigh unto the ark, save that it
was lifted up to heaven, when the flood destroyed all creatures
on the earth; but Holy God, the Eternal King, the Lord of heaven,
stern of heart, preserved the ark when He unleashed the ocean
currents and their changing streams.
Excuses
Yo, whats up, this is Ginuwine
And I wanna tell you
It aint no time for excuses with your woman
You be right or you be out, ya heard
Do it right, check this is out
This is my story
Theres a time that comes in a mans life
When is real, want it all, when his mind is right
It could come at any time, morning, noon or night
You would know at the time, nothing more to fight
He might not, and I know cause Ive done the same
You know Im right there with you, dog, but she wont
play the game
She will be done packed your bags, sit em all there
right outside your door
Cause shes tired of the lyin s*** and she aint
takin no more, oh, no she aint
Excuses (Everybody has one)
Excuses (She dont wanna hear them no more, oh)
Excuses (She said take that s*** elsewhere)
Excuses (She dont wanna hear no), excuses {She dont}
Excuses (She aint got time for them)
Excuses (So dont fill her mind with them, no)
Excuses (She said take that s*** elsewhere)
Excuses (She dont wanna hear no), excuses {She dont}
Take her out, hold her hand, let her know youll die
for her
Cause thats your lady, yes, thats your baby
Shes a seed, feed her well, watch her blossom out
And only the real players out there can dig what Im
talkin bout
Be that man, be that one, do the things she loves
Pay attention, should I mention how it all was once
You broke your neck just to get her, dont you pull
back now
Cause sooner or later shell be gone, what youre
askin now
Excuses (Everybody has one)
Excuses (But she dont wanna hear them no more, oh, no
she dont)
Excuses (She said take that s*** elsewhere)
Excuses (Oh...), excuses {She dont}
Excuses (Yeah, she)
Excuses (Dont fill her mind)
Excuses (She said take that s*** else, oh, yes, she
did)
Excuses, excuses (Listen) {She dont}
Dont fake nor front, tell her now
Make your choice right now
Tell her where you stand
Youre no boy or little kid, youre grown
Standin big, young man
Think what brought that in, ooh
All that s*** youre talkin bout like you aint
heard the phone
Shes up on it, dog, shes up on it, dog
And all that fake s*** like your beeper was off
Shes up on it, dog, shes up on it, dog (Ooh...)
Excuses (Everybody gots one)
Excuses (She dont wanna hear them)
Excuses (She said take that s*** elsewhere)
Excuses, excuses {She dont} (She dont)
Excuses (She aint got time for them)
Excuses (So dont fill her mind with them)
Excuses (Huh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no)
Excuses (No, no, no), excuses {She dont} (She dont
wanna)
Excuses (She dont wanna hear no excuses)
Excuses (Ooh, she dont wanna)
Excuses (Come on)
Excuses (She dont wanna hear them), excuses {She
dont}
Excuses (She aint got time, huh, she dont feel them)
Excuses (Ooh, ooh, she dont deserve)
Excuses (No, huh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no)
Excuses, excuses (She dont wanna) {She dont}
Excuses
song performed by by Ginuwine

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I Am Told
For forty four years now
Each morning I woke up
I go straight to prepare
A cup of coffee for my wife
It's a ritual that I do
For forty four years
Not that she asks for it
But it's what I love to do
Love is what commands me
To lit a kettle to boil a water
For she likes it when its so hot
A coffee she drinks quite early
Suddenly, now that it's our anniversary
I do the thing I 've been doing ever since
We got married for forty four years back
Yet for the first time I am told just so today
That the coffee I served her now tasted bad
poem by Marvin Brato Sr

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The Mysterious Unknown
Ten feet under deep blue water
Voices call out to me
Only to my surprise
They fade as I go deeper
I look at my life at the ocean's floor
As if it were trying to push me to my own limit
My closed eyes slowly waking to what I have done
Realizing I need to correct the mistakes I made
Reaching the ocean floor
All my strength has pushed me away
From the fate I was trying to ignore
Five feet underwater now
As I swim to the surface
Every lie and ounce of pain haunt my memories
I caused them to happen to me
My life will turn away from the mysterious unknown
For the final time
poem by Sarah Bruun

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Rivers
In dreams we see the magical flight,
Of crystal waves flying free,
To where the glass of waters meet,
Cruise in a dream upon the sea.
Darkness split the billowing floods,
Flung out brooks into mighty rivers,
To wash the steps down the slopes,
Into slippery streams of tributaries.
Rivers of water run down our eyes,
And let fountain disperse into tears,
In search we find the painful wishes,
Define the sum of all our fears.
The rush of tears we cannot control,
Memories enter the draining basin,
Sorrows like rivers meanders in our soul,
Feelings poured into floodplain.
We heard their voices from the deep,
Soul of our soul where we cannot reach,
The cry which leaves the darken void asleep,
In lonely shadow seen on the beach.
Together we stand, amidst the defiant roar,
And souls that lie at ease deep beneath,
Sleep in tragic tombs amidst the surfing water,
And spirits sail on to the safest harbour.
poem by Gerry Legister

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A bait and I.
In the ocean of passion,
Reason has little liaison,
Fish abound, blink and twinkle,
Splash at the face to bloom and spring,
Constant chanting with airy bubbles,
Enter the nostrils to be pliable,
Softened hearts speak lovely words,
Wised brains teach unlearned thoughts,
Crucial becomes useless steam,
Life becomes a dream to dream,
I am going to fish in the ocean of passion,
Where I can find multitude dream,
To get the colored, I have to go deep,
While Big villains are on the top,
Mushroom fish are for the plates,
Garbage fish are not for sale,
Taken a fish for the supper the last,
My cute little fish is for the heart.
I am going earnestly for the fishing,
In the oceans of blue and nothing.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi

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A Love Story?
A love Story.
I looked down into the open grave the coffin was white until someone
threw a handful dry soil on its lid. Unreal it had nothing to with me, we
had met forty years ago and she left me saying she didn’t love me more.
I turned away, looked towards the bay, it was transparent, I could see fish
swim about, on its floor crabs, lobster that had escaped the net, and
sea plants swaying in the mild current. I poem floated up to the surface of
my consciousness I shook my head this is unseemly, threw the poem back
into a dreamy mere, like an angler who has caught very a small trout, saw
it float in the dark water of my restless mind. Her husband was crying
I embraced him “You loved her too, ” he whispered. I looked to the bay it
was blue and I couldn’t see clearly anymore, I was no longer sure whether
I had loved her as much as he had.
poem by Oskar Hansen

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Rivers Of Life
As tiny streams begin to flow, into larger rivers they shall grow.
Tiny streams of gentle peace, of waters that seem not to cease.
But as the rivers begin to grow, the deeper waters begin to flow.
In these deeper waters cease, the gentle flow of endless peace.
These rivers then snake the land, guided by God’s mighty hand.
And each and every river flows, as God directs the way it goes.
We too are guided by God’s hand, as we journey upon this land.
And God directs how life goes, gently guiding wherever it flows.
Coursing through all of our life, there are rivers filled with strife.
But in a river filled with grief, there are currents of gentle relief.
All the temporal rivers of strife, flow to an ocean of Eternal Life.
Where we’ll find eternal relief, from the turbulent waters of grief.
All the waters we pass through, God beforehand always knew.
And He will be right at your side, even when in the deepest tide.
This He told us so we knew, deeper waters He’d see us through.
So when we’re in a rough tide, God will see us to the other side.
The troubled waters that we see, will all end one day in Eternity.
The ending of this troubled life, is the Hope for all in Jesus Christ.
As we enter the peace of Eternity, when His Blessed face we see.
So believe today in Jesus Christ, and you will inherit Eternal Life.
(Copyright ©11/2005)
Siren Of The Sea
Sea-
When the tide comes in
I will walk upon two feet
I will wander through the shallow waters
So we two can meet
When the tide goes out
I will join it in the sea
When the waves crash against the shore
Look upon them and remember me
Land-
I shall not walk upon the land
But I shall sing to you from the sea
The tune of the ocean
In such fluid melody
So jump into the water
And take me by the hand
Walk with me through the sea
For I cannot bear the land
Swim-
Walk into the waters
For that is where you will find me
Bathe with me in the ocean
And swim with me through the sea
For there you will always find me
The sea is my song
I will sing it to you as we swim
For this is where we belong
Walk-
I shall not walk upon dry land
Though two feet could be mine
My fins are what I am accustom to
And they suit me just fine
I will not walk upon dry land
For there I cannot be
So delve into the ocean
And you may swim with me
poem by Tatianna Rei Moonshadow

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An Evening Poem
AN EVENING POEM
An evening poem
Waits for deeper darkness
A night poem knows blackness
As home.
A morning poem is light
An afternoon poem is thick with heat.
All times have a poem
And all seasons poems also
All lives are poems
And all stories also.
We all are and all know poems
Poems pervade us
And the universe.
It is night now
But when the morning comes
Its poem will overshadow now.
What a brave new world it is
With so many poems in it
And what a life-
With such deep sadness
Waiting forever to be unexpressed.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Still Standing On You Feet?
When first I came to Jesus
The river was ankle deep
It cooled me in the day time
Yet still I was upon my feet
I went further down the river
And to my knees I went in deep
I could see a little clearer
Yet still I was upon my feet
I traveled down still further
And in the river went waist deep
Now I felt the river pulling
Yet still I was upon my feet
I decided to go deeper
Fully abandoned, no retreat
I was swept into the river
No longer standing on my feet
Now the river takes me
In the way that I must go
No longer do I choose the path
It's in the river that I flow
Now everywhere the waters go
It brings healing to the land
And now the Lord can use me
For I no longer stand.
poem by Frank McEleny

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I've Come Down to the Ocean
I've come down to the ocean;
The ocean great and wide,
Of pure blue span
And soft white sand
And the beach's crashing tide.
I've come down to the ocean;
The sea so black and queer
Of lightless dark
And fiercest shark,
Where even fearless fear.
I've come down to the ocean;
The waters I can't grasp,
Of strangest deep,
And sunless sleep,
Where the breathing may not gasp.
I've come down to the ocean;
To sing its sea-spray song,
Of salty brine
And waves that shine
Before I've been too long.
poem by Lizzy Anon

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A River Flows
Where does the river flow
if not to you?
How deep its depths
if these
are not yours?
How broad is the river bank?
Broad enough
for the tug-boats
to push my heart along.
If there are fish in the river,
they sing your name
open-mouthed,
fish-style,
making tiny bubbles float
up, up to the river surface
where they pop
spread
announcing to the Firmament
that Love lives just below
the deep river flows.
Yes, you and I
are the river;
we flow,
run deep
down to that
ocean-mix
in which
our souls
swirl.
Mix me then
in depths deep.
Mix you then
amid this ocean sweep
and all else,
for me
becomes meaningless
so great
is our Soul Mixed
Ocean Bliss.
poem by Lonnie Hicks

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A Reminder For All Of Us
according to the laws of evolution something that is not used
may finally be lost. It fades. It is gone. So like the fins of a fish
who migrated to the island, they slowly fall out and from there shall
grow a set of wings and claws. They become birds.And they soon
learn to fly. They dream of clouds.
Like the moss of the rocks by the shore
by the lake. They envy the worms. They dream to wriggle
and move and push their tiny bodies.Soon the acquire the gift
of motion. Soon they become worms and crawl their way up
on the leaf. They even become caterpillars. Soon they become
the new butterflies.
So it will be with us. If we do not walk, our feet will soon be forgotten.
They will become mere skin. Our feet shrink and become part of
our bottom. If we do not think and use our minds, soon the brain
becomes a stone. Hard. Brittle. Soon they become part of the river
where a passerby simply steps upon it. Upon us.
Soon we will just be the sand. And the river flows upon.
If we do not love, soon we will just become a wall, a floor,
a house whose doors will close. A place for nothing
but merely departure.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Ocean Blue
Well you took me home
And you took me back
But deep down inside
The feeling just died and i
Couldnt see why
From indigo to royal blue
I travel far but no one will do
Anytime, anyplace
Every shape every face
Brings memories of you
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
Fair weather friends might drift away
When summer ends and skies burn grey
So I walk to the ocean
Pilot these shores
Just thinking of you
Its time we kissed the clouds goodbye
From now on its strictly blue sky
Come rain and shine
The outlook is still fine
Im thinking of you
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean ocean
Ocean, ocean
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
I stand at the head of the queue
Theres mutinys every crew
Wishin and wonderin bout you
Ocean blue
song performed by by Abc

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Mountain Peak
We came together on the highest mountain on this earth.
As years went by we separated into rivers
from the tears this mountain cried.
We all fell into different rivers flowing though
forests, rocks, and waterfalls.
No matter what season we came across
we continued flowing.
We are rivers that started in the mountains,
and rivers that separated as we went through
many waterfalls.
Sometimes we travel together,
and other times we travel alone.
Always remember that these same rivers
that travel many miles through the earth
are once again together when it reaches its final destination
the “Ocean”
So, rivers that started up high in the mountains
and then separated are united
again as a family.
poem by Felix Lugo

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Ships Passing In Night Born
ships are sailing upon turn tide flowing river waters
light is dance happy mellow yellows closing long day
soon sunset will add flame reds fingers yellow gold
sun sets sinks into still sea upon horizon home shores
dust light fades shadows creep in stealth murky images
suddenly black dawns night deep darkness speaks in glory
starlight sparkles upon enchanted waters river ebbs flows
passage across bar out into ocean waves rocks emotions
soon short journeys made upon ocean waters salts senses
watch shoreline beach grey sands invisible stretch wet away
waters dark painted ocean oil black sparkles in flow waves
beach sands perfume night with residue heat breeze vapours
poem by Terence George Craddock

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Arethusa
I.
Arethusa arose
From her couch of snows
In the Acroceraunian mountains,--
From cloud and from crag,
With many a jag,
Shepherding her bright fountains.
She leapt down the rocks,
With her rainbow locks
Streaming among the streams;--
Her steps paved with green
The downward ravine
Which slopes to the western gleams;
And gliding and springing
She went, ever singing,
In murmurs as soft as sleep;
The Earth seemed to love her,
And Heaven smiled above her,
As she lingered towards the deep.
II.
Then Alpheus bold,
On his glacier cold,
With his trident the mountains strook;
And opened a chasm
In the rocks—with the spasm
All Erymanthus shook.
And the black south wind
It unsealed behind
The urns of the silent snow,
And earthquake and thunder
Did rend in sunder
The bars of the springs below.
And the beard and the hair
Of the River-god were
Seen through the torrent’s sweep,
As he followed the light
Of the fleet nymph’s flight
To the brink of the Dorian deep.
III.
'Oh, save me! Oh, guide me!
And bid the deep hide me,
For he grasps me now by the hair!'
The loud Ocean heard,
To its blue depth stirred,
And divided at her prayer;
And under the water
The Earth’s white daughter
Fled like a sunny beam;
Behind her descended
Her billows, unblended
With the brackish Dorian stream:—
Like a gloomy stain
On the emerald main
Alpheus rushed behind,--
As an eagle pursuing
A dove to its ruin
Down the streams of the cloudy wind.
IV.
Under the bowers
Where the Ocean Powers
Sit on their pearled thrones;
Through the coral woods
Of the weltering floods,
Over heaps of unvalued stones;
Through the dim beams
Which amid the streams
Weave a network of coloured light;
And under the caves,
Where the shadowy waves
Are as green as the forest’s night:--
Outspeeding the shark,
And the sword-fish dark,
Under the Ocean’s foam,
And up through the rifts
Of the mountain clifts
They passed to their Dorian home.
V.
And now from their fountains
In Enna’s mountains,
Down one vale where the morning basks,
Like friends once parted
Grown single-hearted,
They ply their watery tasks.
At sunrise they leap
From their cradles steep
In the cave of the shelving hill;
At noontide they flow
Through the woods below
And the meadows of asphodel;
And at night they sleep
In the rocking deep
Beneath the Ortygian shore;--
Like spirits that lie
In the azure sky
When they love but live no more.
poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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