The Square
After the fall when the smoke finally cleared
And sunshine had again sunk to the murky depths
The crowds gathered then slowly dispersed
The ruins remain, a testament to time
Shattered windows that gleem no more
Broken toys where children once played
The charred remains of the once busy square
Now vacant, alone, abandoned and slain
Pews in the church overturned long ago
No god had dwelt there for many, many years
Ashes of scripture now blow on the breeze
Spreading the seeds of holocaust and hate
This city, once proud and thriving with life
Once alive with excitement so long ago
Now lays quiet and almost undisturbed
Save for a memory aloft on the wind
poem by Carolyn RellingSurrisi

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Broken Windows Shattered Mirrors
Broken windows shattered mirrors
The tiny slivers fall like tears
They cut me till my arms run red
They make me wish that I was dead
And though I try to carry on
I know my time here's almost gone
Broken windows shattered mirrors
Broken windows shattered mirrors
I'm surrounded by these fears
I know I shouldn't be afraid
I feel like I'm locked up in a cage
I push and pull try to get out
I scream until I just can't shout
Broken windows shattered mirrors
Broken windows shattered mirrors
I'll have bad luck seven years
I know it's just a superstition
But I also know it's pure intuition
That made me stay not fade away
So I could live another day
Broken windows shattered mirrors
poem by Anonymous Ghurl

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Hurricane
Written by dan peek, 1977
Found on harbor.
Sailin down the coast of mexico
With a person I loved since long ago
Into a place nobody wants to go
Into a hurricane
Whoa, hurricane
Somell be taken
Somell remain
Heard people screamin and the sky was torn
I looked around and the faces were so forlorn
No relief, only scorn
In a hurricane
In a hurricane
Somell be taken
Somell remain
Hurricanes just another name
For the torment in a mans soul
His mind is gone
And he starts to lose control
In a hurricane
Oh, the hurricane
Somell be taken
Somell remain
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?
Everybody talks; nobody really knows
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?
Shoo-ba-ree-ba, shoo-ba-ree-ba
Nobody knows
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?
Everybody talks; nobody really knows
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?
Shoo-ba-ree-ba, shoo-ba-ree-ba ...
song performed by by America

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Time That God Walks
why does deliverance feel like
the old woman's jagged fingernails
digging in the dirt?
while poetry screams from
weeping willows and dead spiders...
light finds it way through crack and crevice,
dancing in the little boy's palm!
there is a song that dwells
in things that seem most still.
graveyards come alive in the dead of night.
and streetlights write history
on streets deserted and quiet.
while lamps shine in closed windows
as a testament to memory.
this is the time that god walks,
her long hair grey with suffering.
and stopping on the corner she lights a smoke,
while stray cats rub against her bony legs.
'if only they had drank the cup of suffering,
they would have known! '
she puts out her smoke,
and starts sweeping away bodies!
poem by Eric Cockrell

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Vacant Smile
A vacant smile on someone’s lips,
someone I thought I used to know
from a yesterday a long time ago.
A life I wanted with,
but remained as vacant as the smile.
A future never realised,
as the years grow old.
A vacant smile a memory perhaps
of a time long ago that has now lapsed.
7 August 2009
poem by David Harris

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Love You, Love, Except When I Hate You
I love you, love, except when I hate you
For sweet things whispered in the still of night
For how beautiful you were in my sight
Oh, love, how my love remains ever true
I hate you, love, except when I love you
For all the pain you've caused my heart to feel
For questions now had as to what is real
Oh, love, how the hate burns from red to blue
I love you and in the same breath hate you
Dichotomous paradoxes remain
Hope and logic have long ago been slain
Leaving just ashes where, once, stood the two
I love you, love, except when I hate you
And, love, how that hate burns from red to blue
((April 30th,2012))
poem by Danny Speicher

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Sunshine and the Wind
Today I am thinking of sunshine and the wind.
Have you ever passed beneath a clothes
line flapping in the breeze, soaking in sunshine?
The towel drapes itself across your face.
Breath deeply and catch the scent of the wind.
Hold it close and feel the warmth of the sun's rays.
The wind will chase away the stiffness of the fabric
as it ruffles on a stiff breeze.
And have you ever thought much
about sunshine and the wind?
My black dog lies stretched out
basking in the light as her coat soaks up
the very warmth from the sky.
The wind lays a quick caress across her
like a quick ripple on a still sea.
The wind is whispering tales of the earth in her ear
and she is unable to hear my approach.
Her nose twitches and her lips curl back, her eye lids flutter.
She sleeps dreaming in the peace of the sun.
I lay beside her. She stirs and blinks herself awake
and I feel the sun begin to warm me as the grass
is cool beneath me and I am thinking.
When gray days follow one after another
and the rain refuses to fall how I long for the sun.
And I am thinking of a prisoner locked away
in his cold stone cell. A single shaft of sunlight
beams down from a bar encased window high above him.
Does he stand in the light soaking in its freshness
dreaming of freer days? Perhaps if more time were spent thinking
of sunshine and the wind our schools would become safe
our politicians true and prisoners void of a sunny day
might slip away like the sun at dusk.
Listen to the wind swoosh across a wheat field.
see the sun paint the evening sky.
Let the earth blow the dust off your busy soul
and find joy in sunshine and the wind.
poem by Trucker Jeff

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Honor To Rememeber
Not a day might have been passed
From your memory to be glanced
Such a happy and long union
With a long time wife as companion
I congratulate it in earnest
As it has remained very best
Coming days must be fruitful
As it has been very much successful
Life as such is beautiful
We have everything in plentiful
Only it should be spent with happiness
All the time it must be seen on the face
Days and years have turned into decades
But memory remains fresh and never fades
You are moved with the happy moments
As life was always challenging with movements
When you sit on the bench alone
You feel happy and not lone
It is nice to feel about past life
When everything had been quiet from wife
So rejoice at long and comfortable inning
You have scored all the goals as winning
Nothing remains now to be seen as failure
Life was happy at all the times for very much sure
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Proud Love
Send out some smoke signals.
Beat the drums out loud.
Shout to the crowds that can hear it
that the love I feel is proud.
Don't smother all the smoke
Don't quiet the drums to a thud.
For all the nothingness in my life
would slowly drain my blood.
poem by Edwina Reizer

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Smoke And Ashes
I'd heard rumors and I'd heard talk
About the trail you'd left of broken hearts
About the sea of tears too wide to cross
But a little bad press has never scared me off
So I burned a path to figure out
How to get me some of what you got
I've got a red hot heart
If the talk is true your's is the same
And we should be together
And let our passions fan love's flame
When I looked for you I almost passed you by
You were so cool and calm
I thought my friends had lied
But I thought so much reserve must make you wild inside
It was there and then that I knew
I had to get some of what you got
I've got a red hot heart
If the talk is true your's is the same
And we should be together
And let our passions fan love's flame
I thought I'd won your heart when I held you hand in mine
I thought it was true love the way we complemented each other
But my right is your wrong
And when you're right then I'm left with nothing
Your light and your heat have all been spent
Leaving only smoke and ashes
Only smoke and ashes baby
I've got a red hot heart
And your heart's as blue as the blood in your veins
I say there's fire down below
You say it's only smoke and ashes baby
I'm crying all the time
Salty stinging tears
And mourning for the past carbon-dated years
But knowing now for certain that you were always right
Because if a breeze could blow you out of my life
It's only smoke and ashes baby
Only smoke and ashes baby
I've got a red hot heart
And your heart's as blue as the blood in your veins
I say there's fire down below
You say it's only smoke and ashes baby
I was blinded by devotion
My unwavering love for you
So blinded that I thought all your lies were true
But now I know for certain since you've gone away
It was just a smoldering fire I mistook for a blaze
Only smoke and ashes baby
I've got a red hot heart
And your heart's as blue as the blood in your veins
I say there's fire down below
You say it's only smoke and ashes baby
Only smoke and ashes baby, baby ...
song performed by by Tracy Chapman

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Lifes Shattered Illusion
Love wanders through the tattered ruins of my heart,
Like a distant moment of a time long since passed,
Tis but a shadow of a thought in the gloom of night,
For the dream that I once held was ripped from me,
Shattered and broken I wander aimlessly through existance,
The rubble that was our life lays scattered around me,
Destined to suffer the heart wrenching agony of what was,
She comes to me in my dreams and I see what could have been,
Oh cruel fate how could you have stolen my salvation from me,
Life is fleeting... And in but a moment it can be gone,
And those left behind must deal with lifes shattered illusion...
Spread the love... The peace will follow...
poem by Cosmic Dreamer

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Death Of The Kapowsin Tavern
I can't ridge it back again from char.
Not one board left. Only ash a cat explores
and shattered glass smoked black and strung
about from the explosion I believe
in the reports. The white school up for sale
for years, most homes abandoned to the rocks
of passing boys--the fire, helped by wind
that blew the neon out six years before,
simply ended lots of ending.
A damn shame. Now, when the night chill
of the lake gets in a troller's bones
where can the troller go for bad wine
washed down frantically with beer?
And when wise men are in style again
will one recount the two-mile glide of cranes
from dead pines or the nameless yellow
flowers thriving in the useless logs,
or dots of light all night about the far end
of the lake, the dawn arrival of the idiot
with catfish--most of all, above the lake
the temple and our sanctuary there?
Nothing dies as slowly as a scene.
The dusty jukebox cracking through
the cackle of a beered-up crone--
wagered wine--sudden need to dance--
these remain in the black debris.
Although I know in time the lake will send
wind black enough to blow it all away.
poem by Richard Hugo

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Emotionless
Hey dad Im writing to you
Not to tell you, that I still hate you
Just to ask you how you feel
And how we fell apart how this fell apart
Are you happy out there in this great wide world?
Do you think about your sons?
Do you miss your little girl?
When you lay your head down how do you sleep at night?
Do you even wonder if were all right?
Were alright
Were alright
Its been a long hard road without you by my side
Why werent you there all the nights that we cried?
You broke my mothers heart, you broke your children for life
Its not ok but were alright
I remember the days you were a hero in my eyes
But those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now Im writing just to let you know that Im still alive
The days I spent so cold, so hungry, were full of hate
I was so angry, the scars run deep inside this tattooed body
Theres things Ill take to my grave, but Im ok, Im ok
Its been a long hard road without you by my side
Why werent you there all the nights that we cried?
You broke my mothers heart, you broke your children for life
Its not ok but were alright
I remember the days you were a hero in my eyes
But those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now Im writing just to let you know that Im still alive
And sometimes I forgive, yeah and this time Ill admit
That I miss you, said I miss you
Its been a long hard road without you by my side
Why werent you there all the nights that we cried?
You broke my mothers heart, you broke your children for life
Its not ok but were alright
I remember the days you were a hero in my eyes
But those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now Im writing just to let you know that Im still alive
And sometimes I forgive, yeah and this time Ill admit
That I miss you, said I miss you...hey dad
song performed by by Good Charlotte

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Smoke & Ashes
Id heard rumors and Id heard talk
About the trail youd left of broken hearts
About the sea of tears too wide to cross
But a little bad press has never scared me off
So I burned a path to figure out
How to get me some of what you got
Ive got a red hot heart
If the talk is true yours is the same
And we should be together
And let our passions fan loves flame
When I looked for you I almost passed you by
You were so cool and calm I thought my friends had lied
But I thought so much reserve must make you wild inside
It was there and then that I knew I had to get some of what you got
Ive got a red hot heart
If the talk is true yours is the same
And we should be together
And let our passions fan loves flame
I thought Id won your heart when I held you hand in mine
I thought it was true love the way we complemented each other
But my right is your wrong
And when youre right then Im left with nothing
Your light and your heat have all been spent
Leaving only smoke and ashes
Only smoke and ashes baby
Ive got a red hot heart
Any your hearts as blue as the blood in your veins
I say theres fire down below
You say its only smoke and ashes baby
Im crying all the time
Salty stinging tears
And mourning for the past carbon-dated years
But knowing now for certain that you were always right
Because if a breeze could blow you out of my life
Its only smoke and ashes baby
Only smoke and ashes baby
Ive got a red hot heart
And your hearts as blue as the blood in your veins
I say theres fire down below
You say its only smoke and ashes baby
I was blinded by devotion
My unwavering love for you
So blinded that I thought all your lies were true
But now I know for certain since youve gone away
It was just a smoldering fire I mistook for a blaze
Only smoke and ashes baby
Ive got a red hot heart
And your hearts as blue as the blood in your veins
I say theres fire down below
You say its only smoke and ashes baby
Only smoke and ashes baby, baby ...
song performed by by Tracy Chapman

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Chimneys of Lime
I’ve walked at your ruins
To seek out your history,
Charted the runes of you
Stone upon stone,
I’m left with damp walls
And a sense of some mystery;
What tamed the pride
That led on to your fall?
Some spirit entangled you
Lived in you yesterday,
Drove you, dispersed, and then
Lay you down still,
Now all that is left
Is grim ruin and disarray,
Relics of life,
Strength of purpose, and will.
Cairns and old bones at
The granite-hard cemetery,
Mounds where no markers
Recall you to name,
Time has dispensed with
All need for your mimicry,
Art has replaced what
We thought to reclaim.
Each one that wonders will
Carry the seeds of you,
Sense all the needs of you
Time upon time,
And walk the sad ruins
That long life will lead us to,
Crumble tall hopes
Like your chimneys of lime.
In search of some answer
I tap your foundations,
I sound each stone wall that
Encapsulates time,
Your dearth and your downfall
Exceed your dimensions,
I walk at your ruins,
Tread softly your rhyme.
13 March 1983
poem by David Lewis Paget

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
After The Fire
After the fire is over
After the ashes cool
After the smoke is blown away
I will be is for you
After the stillness finds you
After the winds of change
All that is good and true between us
This will remain the same
Slowly, slowly
We turn the pages of life
Growing, knowing
It comes at quite a price
After the fire is over
After the ashes cool
After the smoke is blown away
I will be here for you
After your time of wondering
Along this lonely road
There will be many voices calling
Mine will say welcome home
Slowly, slowly
We turn the pages of life
Growing, knowing
It comes at quite a price
After the fire is over
After the ash is cool
After the smoke is blown away
I will be here for you
I will be here for you
song performed by by Amy Grant

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Ghostdancing
Cities, buildings falling down
Satellites come crashing down
I see them falling out the skies like eagles
All mirrored glass and shattered egos
But in a corner of the world wed meet to laugh and drink and plan our sequels
cause in the alleyways and bars downtown
Theyre singing up from here to there can we go
This city comes alive at night, see these city walls are heaving
And if these old city walls should crash, amid the rubble youd find us breathing
Come say what you see in me
cause boy, I believe in you
Come say what youre seeing
All gone just ghost dancing, going all the way through
You talk about the lebanon
You tell me bout the dawn in eden
You talk about south africa
I tell you about the irish children
You say one more polish knight could come and blow away the doors to freedom
And if mother ethiopia could blow away the tears that we see run
O blow them away,
Blow, blow away
We will blow them away
O blow, blow away
Blow, blow away
Blow, blow away
Come say what you see in me
cause boy, I believe in you
Come say what youre seeing
Theyre all gone just ghost dancing, going all the way through
You know I believe in you
Oh yes I believe, you know I believe in you
You say you believe
I believe, I believe, going all the way through, yeah
Come take me back home, come on and take me away
Ghost dancing
The car pulled up, the girl she jumped in
The boy he wore a medal that was shining from his skin
With the windows pulled up, their radio tuned in
Shes hitting from the stars, hes hitting for the moon
She said, one last kiss while you look across the land
Move it into overdrive and take me by my hand
When the car broke, the rebels saw smoke
And they all went to heaven in a stupid fantasy, go
Take me away
Words and music : simple minds (c) emi music (publ) ltd reproduced without permission
song performed by by Simple Minds

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Farewell To
Farewell to the young women I used to know
When I was a younger man decades ago
Some of them are ageing grandmothers today
And some of them childless and single did stay.
Farewell to the first feelings of love I knew
Though the one that I loved to another was true
She did not know I loved her 'twas better that way
Since I've always found words like 'I love you' so hard for to say.
Farewell to my childhood friends the girls and the boys
We had fun together and we played with our toys
We grew up too quickly and got to know care
And we found out about life in the big World out there.
Farewell to the Town Park where we played football
An old memory fading that's nice to recall
Still in my flights of fancy the old Town I see
Though life in the old Town goes on without me.
To the old stream that flowed by my old home a tearful farewell
And those old fields that will long outlive my doggerel
And on the leafy hedgerows in the prime of Spring
The songbirds of Nature did whistle and sing.
Farewell to the past since the past is long gone
And without me life in the old Townland goes on
But fond memories of my boyhood years with me remain
And I often go back down memory lane.
poem by Francis Duggan

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Game.
Long time ago there were not too many playthings,
Children played with tree branches, mud pies, & natural blessings
Today there are phones, computers, I-pads and more,
These kids do not even appreciate anything anymore.
Definitely they are sharper then the older generation,
Nonstop playing their games with a dedication.
I never had toys, but whatever I do is a game
Enjoying life, busy every second, I call it a toy no matter what it's name,
Nothing is better then doing everything with joy,
Love life every second, mind my own business and enjoy.
poem by LaSoaphia QuXazs

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A Long Time Gone
Seems like forever and time left to spare
When I look out the window
And still youre not there
Youre a long time gone
Such a long time gone
Tearing down memories bitter and sweet
Smashing away til its all obsolete
Youre a long time gone, long time gone
Such a long time gone, long time gone
Youre a long time gone
Do I wonder why
Every day that i
Think about you still
And I always will
Did so much for me
Now I think I see
This I do believe
Feels more like a dream
Looked at the weeds in the broken concrete
Before the bulldozers waltzed in and killed the old street
Youre a long time gone, long time gone
Such a long time gone, long time gone
Door steps that shone in a bright summer sky
Lay shattered and wasted since our last goodbye
Youre a long time gone, long time gone
Such a long time gone, long time gone
Youre a long time gone
Do I wonder why
Every day that i
Think about you still
And I always will
Youre a long time gone
Did so much for me
Now I think I see
This I do believe
Feels more like a dream
Youre a long time gone
Do I wonder why
Youre a long time gone
You never did
I never said goodbye
Youre a long time gone
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Disappearance of Forests
I fear for the disappearance of forests
And if the song of birds should cease,
The desolate days when every path of wildflowers
Will be paved into further lonely streets,
Though sometimes I feel like the king
Among the abandoned elements of the urban decay,
Presiding over sad ruins of discontent
Where old ladies fill dusty decrepit pews
In prayer-quiet churches.
But what will children do
When they cannot drive far enough away
To find a sacred place void of billboards that scream
Inadequacies and addictions?
There may become a time when nothing remains
But empty beer bottles and despair,
When even simple pleasures like watching a woman
Brush her daughter’s hair on a summer picnic
Will fail to exist.
…………………………………………………………….
Inspired by a line by Justinas Marcinkevicius: I fear for forests and for birds taken from The Frozen Sea
poem by Uriah Hamilton

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!