The Awful Silence
Let us talk of hornworms
And butterflies
Of crisp asters and deer still fat
From this voluptuous season
Let us be silent
For at least this moment
Of the pile of steel girders
Of concrete dust
Of body parts
And human ash
Can we
Even here, miles from there
Watching the horses graze
The cows resting under the trees
Sheltered from the noontime sun
With the leaves turning golden
With the air still soft
Can we be silent
For even this moment
Of the pile of steel girders
Of concrete dust
Of body parts
And human ash
Troubling the air
Scratching our eyes
Tearing our hearts
Making anger and hate
Companions
To love and compassion
September 18,2001
poem by Marjorie DeBol DeFazio
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Concrete Forest
Gang banging
Street banging
Concrete Forest—
People dying
Children crying
Bullets flying
No remorse for the fallen—
Crack smoking
Prostitute selling
Cops stinging
Benefactors of trouble times—
Blood
Guts—inside body parts
Cultivate the Concrete Forest—
I see a mother kneeling
A priest praying
A child victimize—a father convicted
All within the Concrete Forest—
Sirens blowing
Lights flashing
Someone else dying
In the Concrete Forest—
Mercy on us
Compassion for us
Deliver us
From the Concrete Forest—
Restore our hope
Destroy the trepidation
Breathe life back into Concrete Forest—
It is time to go
My time is gone
My nightmares—relinquished
Within the Concrete Forest—
No more worrisome days
No more stressful nights
Freedom has come to me
In the Concrete Forest—
My freedom is now
Your comes later
But, not in this Concrete Forest—
Written by
Gregory E Upshaw
poem by Gregory Upshaw
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Concrete & Steel
Hard and cold, like a street of gold,
Its easy to find but so hard to hold.
Smooth and strong but it wont last long,
When the rust sets in, shell be good as gone!
Concrete, concrete and steel.
Its like concrete.
Hey baby, whats the deal?
A heart of stone make you feel alone,
But what can you do when your hand is blown?
Hard as ice, its like tumblin dice,
Before you fall for her boy, you better think twice.
Concrete, concrete and steel.
Its like concrete.
Hey baby, whats the deal?
Dark as night, diamond bright,
Never seen such a strange delight.
Slick as glass, and just as fast,
Youll feel the pain, but it wont last.
song performed by by ZZ Top
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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This concrete city
infects the sky...turning it
into concrete too.
Concrete sun and concrete rain.
Concrete humans... cry...real tears
tanka by Dónall Dempsey
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Dust In The Wind
Music : Kerry Livgren
Lyrics: Kerry Livgren
I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind
Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Now, Don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
song performed by by Scorpions
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You're The Stranger
Don't hang that sign on me
You're the stranger
Don't try to talk to me
You're the stranger
On the seas
They came from far away
From the skies
Their silver birds of prey
In one day
Ten thousand years could change
We are fools
To live your pilgrim ways
Don't hang that sign on me
You're the stranger
Don't try to talk to me
You're the stranger
And we drive
Five hundred miles this time
To the edge
Of crystal-cut blue sky
Silence breathes
South of the border line
Silent trees
Look back and wonder why
Did father and his holy son
Spread the word and point the gun?
And where the eagle used to fly
They carve their concrete in the sky
Tearing at our mother's skin
Taking all her blood within
Remember how it used to be?
Did father and his holy son
Spread the word and point the gun
And where the eagle used to fly
They carve their concrete in the sky
Tearing at our mother's skin
Taking all her blood within
Remember how it used to be?
Stand up again and say:
Don't hang that sign on me
You're the stranger
Don't try to talk to me
You're the stranger
Don't hang that sign on me
You're the stranger
Don't try to talk to me
You're the stranger
Music & lyrics by: geoff downes & john payne
song performed by by Asia
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dust In The Wind
I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Flash before my eyes of curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind
Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Now
Don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind
song performed by by Kansas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mechanical Love
our love became mechanical,
are transmitter fell to the ground,
the kisses turned to concrete, and
the hugs turned to steel, the moment
filled with money, the laughter filled
with spite, and a moment of silence,
for a love thats about to die
poem by David Gerardino
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Within This Space
Within this space upon this spot
Hatred blinded worse than dust
Repression and anger crushed
More surely than any falling concrete
And once again
Innocence became death's victim,
Time holds no strong dominion here
Life's cycle ceased it’s turning
Gone, all hope, all dreams of future
A dark and mournful paradox
A bleak empty city lot
which holds a million beating hearts
They were but seconds on time's clock
yet each did not fulfil its turning.
Only harvested moments of agony.
in hatred's deadly ripening
carried spitefully,
world wide, upon uncaring wings
Here in this space, perverse sacrifice
a warped priesthood in service
to an unwanting and unwilling God.
Who must have wept blood once more
To the chilling echo's
of innocence's bravest departures
Here in this mummified dust blown city
who's only industries are war and death
childhood’s heart can hold no hope
when a God of cruellty is held aloft
all innocence is dust
and a creed of hatred sooths
the poverty, pain and hunger's yearning
Within this dark space, is loneliness
Hatred blinding worse than dust
Oppression and anger crushing
More surely than any falling concrete
And once again
Innocence becomes death’s instrument
poem by Bill Mitton
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One Part Lullaby
Life is one part lullaby, two parts fear c oscar wilde
One part lullaby, two parts fear
Another animal mixing with the atmosphere
It takes forever to learn to pretend
Nature is the enemy, weather is not your friend
Who can be trusted?
With perfect weather inside
Look for magic in the daily routine
Its all it takes to survive
Leaving heaven below
Go wherever the angels follow
Im watching my body and mind divide
Why live for a future that never arrives on time?
I cant be trusted, Im dust in the wind
I let he weather decide where my day begins
Im not a rebel of the natural one
Im in love with the chemical
Following the setting sun
Lost my patience
All that it takes to survive
Watching my mind and my body divide
Why live for a future that never arrives on time?
Leaving heaven below
Go wherever the angels follow
One part lullaby, two parts fear
Another animal, mixing with the atmosphere
One part lullaby, two parts fear
Im watching my body and mind divide
Why live for a future that never arrives on time?
song performed by by Folk Implosion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Solitude Souls
The blacktop road is shining smooth
Empty trash bins mocking the truth
Grown up trees remain in mute
Golden leaves look so cute
Wind works-out on closed windows
Sky chats with the shut doors
Clouds tease with Concrete groves
Majestic houses on all the floors
Locked inside the concrete walls
Comforts, Cash and zombie hearts?
As far as my eye could see
My street is totally empty!
I search with frenzy
If my shadow is with me..
A distant twilight's mockery
'Solitude Souls live here free
Like those in a cemetry! '
poem by TheBigThinkg Human
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To The Other World
try standing naked by this mirror
see yourself to every detail
look closer to your eyes
count the waves of your eyelashes
open your mouth and see how many teeth you have
all white, pure white lining up on your pink gums
feel your lips with your fingertips
feel the pulp the flesh of the lower lip
to the upper lip
touch your hair
do not imagine them all black
closely they are not at all
move a little bit closer and see your body
this beautiful human body
flesh, contours, curves, some muscles
the whole of your skin wrapping
everything in your body holding them all
nothing falls, on this erect body, this
god before you, standing steel-like with dignity
in front of the mirror
do not claim you have seen your soul with your eyes
do not lie
be honest to yourself now,
alone, you are alone, do not imagine
any god, any soul, any spirit,
just be honest,
touch your body with your hands
feel the joy of having this body
your body, pinch a part of it to feel
not pain, but just to feel that you are alive,
do you ever ask what made these parts stay as one?
look again at the mirror of this stature
your body, it is you, touching your body
take a hammer, and destroy the mirror
shatter everything to pieces
this is the world without a mirror
there is nothing to reflect you now
nothing to imagine, it is you, the real you
do you ever ask now, where is that other world?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Concrete
In the city the heart still whispers
Flaking metal a silent witness
Theres chemical fields and cathode clouds
The milky way is emasculated as exhaust fans
And smart cards shrink wrap the coloured air
And send it coughing to eternity
We can see the bright light but we cant reach it
We are not afraid enough to call
Go back wrong way you cannot stay you cannot live here
Concrete you dont free my soul
In the city the sound is biting
Cement fingers they are clutching
The emissary of trash decorates the way
No wild acres you can see, yearning to breathe
Concrete you dont free my soul
Blackened hands and heart of steel,
No wish to consume, embellish, discard and expire
Concrete you dont free my soul
Concrete you dont free my soul
song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Two Towers Lie As Rubble
Two towers lie as rubble:
the television news proclaims it,
aircraft has flown into them
broken obtuse, collapsed.
There are smoke, flames and dust
and somewhere something exploding.
Twisted, scorched steel
is pointed against the earth, cut off
where building was near to the heavens
there are only rubble, pieces of concrete and ash.
Defenceless people have been killed without reason,
as if the human race has lost its sanity,
shattered, crushed, burnt
made from sand to sand.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Butterflies And Mirage...
imagine
how butterflies live the moment
in an hour
a day perhaps
they are all dead
wings clipped gladly
they give in
to the murderous joys
of the boy
or simply by the natural
caprices of the winds
imagine how happiness
is savored in
such short moments
everyday
life and death
interchanging
like two faces
day and night
imagine myself as a gathering
of butterflies
all over my body
my parts all with wings
in dusty transparencies
imagine how i disappear
from you
even if you have not
touched
any part in me
for i am but a moment
an appearance of
a series of disappearances
for i am but
a mirage always gone
when you
come and want to see me
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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A Place To Sit
Smoochers and snoggers, and resting joggers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Ramblers and walkers, and street hawkers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Mini’s and Roller’s, and lady strollers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Old folk and young folk, and dogs with no folk
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Market traders and cavers, and money savers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Children that play who meet everyday
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Students and teachers, and lay preachers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Loose women and boys the ‘for sale’ toys
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Addicts and dealers, and police squealers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Dogs out for a pee who can’t find a tree
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Drunks in the night who like to fight
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Spray painters and doodlers, and bench abusers
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Vandals and hooligans, and booted ruffians
all seem to stop at this concrete bench.
Demolishers and breakers, and obliterators
never stopped until they destroyed this concrete bench.
poem by Orlando Belo
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0018 Man Raking Leaves (re Jim Morrison lyric)
The sound of wooden rake scratching concrete.
walk nearer - rustle of dry leaves.
This, the beginning of a Japanese haiku
or maybe a Japanese film -
dry sound first, then rake, then leaves, then man -
that evokes autumn
too near the heart
to need a title
the sound stops. silence. man leans on rake.
then match strikes, there's almost yes an echo
from the dry leaves not yet fallen from the trees
in the forest all around.
then the first tickle in the nostrils
of burning leaves which
the two-year old scrunching through the trees
hand in hand with older sister
will remember all his life
like the silence between
two lines of a haiku or
the silence of the moment when the seasons turn.
and who can say
what the golden-orange-yellow-brown trees
slowly stripping in a rustle as of silken nightgown
to the tune of, more a whisper than a breeze -
what the trees feel
as the incense of their, their, burning leaves
steals like a last caress
for each such faithful
lover?
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Bus Poem #6
A brand new day
structured of planes
of soft, silver light
polygons
its crisp, blue band
unbroken like a shirts', a
brand new day, con-
structed of concrete and golden
polygons
a day for the sighting of land
or a bird thought extinct
precious tanager
ahead a pod of joggers
canters like dear-
polygons
upon their estival existence
like a scorned past
the trees turn shoulder, the
traffic can find no reason to snarl.
dull gold and concrete
kids are kiddish, dogs doggy our
bus trundles crosstown
bumper deep in the clean confetti
of cab-colored leaves.
poem by Robert Dickerson
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Sculptor
he first sculpted a very shapely body of a woman
thin arms, slender body, soft fingers,
porcelain smooth skin
supple breasts
complete with a face
and other
body parts to the last detail
possible
then he sculpted the man
the usual man with strong arms
gentle eyes and well chiseled
thighs
complete with a face
and other body parts to the last detail
possible
he is so kind enough
to leave the two
in the privacy
of their new found existence
that his chisels
and hammers gave them
despite the fact
that he is gay
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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September
1 The golden-rod is yellow;
2 The corn is turning brown;
3 The trees in apple orchards
4 With fruit are bending down.
5 The gentian's bluest fringes
6 Are curling in the sun;
7 In dusty pods the milkweed
8 Its hidden silk has spun.
9 The sedges flaunt their harvest,
10 In every meadow nook;
11 And asters by the brook-side
12 Make asters in the brook,
13 From dewy lanes at morning
14 The grapes' sweet odors rise;
15 At noon the roads all flutter
16 With yellow butterflies.
17 By all these lovely tokens
18 September days are here,
19 With summer's best of weather,
20 And autumn's best of cheer.
21 But none of all this beauty
22 Which floods the earth and air
23 Is unto me the secret
24 Which makes September fair.
25 'T is a thing which I remember;
26 To name it thrills me yet:
27 One day of one September
28 I never can forget.
poem by Helen Hunt Jackson
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The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.
quote by Swami Vivekananda
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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