The Symmetries of Flowers in Concrete for M
The Symmetries of Flowers in Concrete for M
stopping at the new bus stop
on Broadway and Penn
(cold gray morning)
three great metal daises
have sprung up from the ground
over night though hard frozen concrete
put up by construction
workers no doubt
concocted by some two-bit
commercial hack artist
who received healthy
government grant
while welfare mom who waits for bus
with children who go without
light turns green
I drive across town to deposit
two books into library deposit box
I have come early so I could miss you
but would accept my blind
luck and equally blind
happiness if you had been
here but you weren't
after I dropp the books
into slot I climb
back up ice banks of snow
across the street to my car
leaving behind books
leaving behind you
leaving behind heart
last vestiges of a mundane childhood
follow me into the Grande AM
I wipe away tears from under glasses
and negotiate my turn
on Thirteenth Avenue.
poem by R. James Sterzinger
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Open Book's Monologue Part 5: Welcome To The Library!
Welcome to the library! come one come all
Welcome to the library! come with your brethren on this wall
Welcome to the library! come all you books tattered or new
Welcome to the library! come tired and overdue
Yes welcome to the library the place where you're most mundane
Yes welcome to the library the place where you're to endure most pain
Yes welcome to the library where you'll sit unwanted
Yes welcome to the library where you'll sit haunted
Yes welcome to the library where everyone's just like you
Yes welcome to the library where we're all books too!
Yes welcome to the library where you can take comfort
Yes welcome to the library where In the fact you're no longer unique
Yes welcome to the library You're just pen marks ink
Departing the library? I think not, even if you get out we'll bring you back
Departing the library? Here you rot, but we'll dust you to ease your passing
Departing the library? Don't make me laugh, here you're black and white
Departing the library? Nobody argues on your behalf, look more amassing
Welcome to the library! A place of keeping and safety
Welcome to the library! Take your place you'll like it, just wait and see
Welcome to the library! New books don't mind the old they're disillusioned
Welcome to the library! You've sold your soul... but it's too late for you
so WELCOME
poem by David Knox
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Books
The universe (which others call the library). . .
-Jorge Luis Borges
Books which are stitched up the center with coarse white thread
Books on the beach with sunglass-colored pages
Books about food with pictures of weeping grapefruits
Books about baking bread with browned corners
Books about long-haired Frenchmen with uncut pages
Books of erotic engravings with pages that stick
Books about inns whose stars have sputtered out
Books of illuminations surrounded by darkness
Books with blank pages & printed margins
Books with fanatical footnotes in no-point type
Books with book lice
Books with rice-paper pastings
Books with book fungus blooming over their pages
Books with pages of skin with flesh-colored bindings
Books by men in love with the letter O
Books which smell of earth whose pages turn
poem by Erica Jong
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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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Drive In, Drive Out
Say, all you sisters and brothers
All matters if I divide us so
Our own political words they ponder us so...
This side, that side
Right, wrong... driving me back
Drive in drive out, Im leaving
I come back again
Im leaving...
Hell has its own place, we carry on....
Well, everyone sit inside, watch whats going on
Well, as you will drive in, and drive us apart.
Dont trust words that delight us or
Get into my heart... yeah....
Ohh ah ah leah ho... I run away, run away
Run away guy, run away guy,
Run out, run out...
You and me sister, sometimes I feel you figure it all out.
You and me sister, oh, weve got it right.
Our differences, differences, mother and in cold life,
Why must I steadfast, stand by what I think is right?
Oh drive in drive out, Im leaving
Drive in drive out, Ill come back again
Drive in drive out, Im leaving
Hell has a place for everyone, its here: alone.
Oh, the devil hes not hiding underground, hes waiting by your front door
Well, tv men take you away, rock up your world
Too many wont leave you alone, drive you alone
Man, when Im going back again, light in some peace....yeah...
song performed by by Dave Matthews Band
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When I Think About Leaving
You know some times me and my lady have these crazy fights and when we do it makes me wonder
Are we\'re ever gonna get it right
When I think about leaving I think about me
What my life would be like if I were back to being free
Go where I wanna go, do what I wanna do, wouldn\'t have a soul I had to answer to
When I think about leaving I think about me
You know I got a friend him and his wife just couldn\'t see eye to eye he had all he could
Stand one day and just packed up and said good-bye
When I think about leaving I think about him
That little apartment cross town he\'s living in
Got an old corvette, got a new girlfriend, but only sees his kids every other weekend
When I think about leaving oh I think about him
I never will forget her face or the day she told me about her dad, how he walked out on her
And her mom when she was just a kid
When I think about leaving oh I think about her
Only five years old and her heart filled up with hurt
With her little arms wrapped around his neck saying daddy where you going, are you coming
Back
When I think about leaving I think about her
You know the truth is, most of the time things were really great and I know we got something
Special
When I think about leaving I think about us
How we build this love we share on faith and trust, honest way we talk, tender way we touch,
All those nights we spent making love,
When I think about leaving oh I think about us
When I think about leaving I think again
Even though that thought crosses my mind every now and then
In my heart I know I would never leave, there\'s nowhere else on earth I would rather be
When I think about leaving I think again
When I think about leaving
When I think about leaving
When I think about leaving:I think again
song performed by by Kenny Chesney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hoarder Or Collector (Fun Poem 101)
Some of us are hoarders
and we don’t know where to stop.
We say we are collectors,
of rubbish maybe.
For a long time I have loved books
and collected every waif and stray.
People gave them to me by the dozen
and I never turned them away.
My collecting went so mad
I have now ten thousand or more
within my library.
Enough is enough I would say,
but still more arrived.
Now I don’t live in a house anymore,
as it has become a library.
There are books in every room
and not just one or two,
but dozens and dozens of them.
Everywhere you go;
there are books here and there.
Now I must down size
and my problem is
which ones do I let go,
and then I think
I might want to read a couple of them.
I am confused at what to do.
I know if I don’t do it soon
we won’t be able to
even get into the loo!
19 April 2009
Author’s note:
Loo is a word we use instead of saying Toilet. And, yes, I have that many books and I do have to get rid of some.
DVH
poem by David Harris
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I'm Off to The Library Again
There she is again
Putting books back
In the right section
All nice and neat.
Then she turns
And smiles at me.
'Hi, found what your
Looking for? '
I think to myself,
Yes she's standing
Right in front of me.
But I bottle out,
And decide to play it cool,
'No, have you any new
Football books in? '
Bet she thinks ı'm
A right saddo now?
Sounded about ten years old.
But to my delight she tells
Me she's a football fan too,
And we chat for ages stood
In front of the football annuals.
Then an old lady pushes in
And wants to know where the
Mills and Boon books are,
So off she goes looking
For romance and passion.
I wait until she's at the desk
She looks at me and smiles
When she's stamping my books,
She's left her mark on me that's for sure.
I tell her to have a nice day,
And she replies and you,
And tells me to enjoy my books,
I wonder what time the library
Opens in the morning?
poem by Kevin Halls
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Books in a large university library system: 2,000,000. Books in an average large city library: 10,000. Average number of books in a chain bookstore: 30,000. Books in an average neighborhood branch library: 20,000.
quote by Anthony Burgess
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Broken Dreams
Have you ever had your dreams broken?
It really messes up your heart
You want to stop right there
And go right back to the start
You got to leave the town you're living in
Oh i'm leaving, i'm leaving on the next train
My dreams have been broken
I don't think i'll ever be the same
It's a bad, bad feeling when all the things
That you've worked for just don't seem to turn out right
Well this happened to me last night
I woke up this morning and said i must be going
You see my dreams have been broken
I don't think i have
The strength to carry on
So i'll catch the next train southbound
I don't want no pity
Not from you or anyone
It's just my dreams been broken
And i got to tell someone before i go crazy
I'll be leaving
I'll be leaving
On that next train going southbound
Yes, i'll be leaving on that next train
You see my dreams been broken
And i just can't
Take the pain
I've got to move on
You see my dreams been broken
And i don't have
The strength
To carry on
song performed by by Thin Lizzy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Broken Dreams
Have you ever had your dreams broken?
It really messes up your heart
You want to stop right there
And go right back to the start
You got to leave the town you're living in
Oh i'm leaving, i'm leaving on the next train
My dreams have been broken
I don't think i'll ever be the same
It's a bad, bad feeling when all the things
That you've worked for just don't seem to turn out right
Well this happened to me last night
I woke up this morning and said i must be going
You see my dreams have been broken
I don't think i have
The strength to carry on
So i'll catch the next train southbound
I don't want no pity
Not from you or anyone
It's just my dreams been broken
And i got to tell someone before i go crazy
I'll be leaving
I'll be leaving
On that next train going southbound
Yes, i'll be leaving on that next train
You see my dreams been broken
And i just can't
Take the pain
I've got to move on
You see my dreams been broken
And i don't have
The strength
To carry on
song performed by by Thin Lizzy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Last Boat Leaving
Hush my little one dont cry so
You know your daddys bound to go
They took his pride
They took his voice
Dont upset him now, dont make a noise
They said youre lucky son youve still got a choice
Last boat leaving
Dont waste your tears
Its not as if Im in chains
I dont want to go now, it would be better for
You, too, if I dont look back when we sail
Hush my dear, while I whisper it in your ear
Were not going to sail tonight
Were going to disappear
And it feels like a punishment, but I dont know what for
Take care of your mother, son, its you that she adores
cos no matter how long we sail well never reach the shore
Last boat leaving
So dry your tears
Its not as if Im in chains
When you go to school, son, youll read my story in history books
Only they wont mention my name
So hush now, my darling, my sweet little one
I hope that you never have to do what Ive done
Do you know what Ive done?
Why Im going away? on the last boat leaving this stinking town
Its the last boat leaving, its the last boat leaving
Youve had my innocence, youve had my heartbreak
Youve taken the place where I once belonged
Now what more can you take?
song performed by by Elvis Costello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Books up on books
Color in Black, color in white
And also in different colors
Colors were brushed in minds
Respectively be hard
Printed embossed letters
In books of epigraphy
Color in black
On Space of white
Told that is black
Black white and colors
Books up on books
Being closed near by
Dialogues having intercourse
Get soaked colors of minds
Smudged
Scabrous words
Boorish colors
In a content of
In a book
Wearing a strange cover
Not get closed
And be separated
Having filed up afar
At the library of old
On a table
Books up on books
Turn pages
Marking and conflicting
And also comparing
An empty paper
A pen
A hand with five fingers
An artist
poem by Udaya R. Tennakoon
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Gonna Get Back Home Somehow
(words & music by doc pomus - mort shuman)
Hear that old train whistle
Howling in the night
If that flyers southbound
Everything will be all right
Im leaving now, leaving now, leaving now,
Im gonna get back home somehow
Dont nobody tell me
Babys been untrue
If shes been unfaithful
I dont know what Ill do
Im leaving now, leaving now, leaving now
Im gonna get back home somehow
Never thought that I could miss her so
I never thought I could , now I know
The sound of the old train whistle
Makes me want to cry
Reminds me of that lonely feeling
When I said goodbye
Im leaving now, leaving now, leaving now
Im gonna get back home somehow
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Know I Have A Copy Somewhere
Wherever you may choose to look
You're guaranteed to find a book.
Perhaps a murder mystery.
Anthologies of poetry
Reference books and picture books.
Books on witchcraft and black magic
Tomes on almost any topic.
Some by authors long since dead.
Books which try to look ahead.
Books of every shape and size.
As I have come to realise.
Enough to start a library
Though jumbled up haphazardly.
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Meeting Blake
November light, low and strong shadowing the room
leaving a blue haze around the room
reading in bed, books everywhere
when do I stop this game: consumption of books
when should I give reign to imagination
in front of me thousands of poems that
distract the soul, leaving me without purpose
more imagination, less meticulous attention
smoking the hours away, dawdling time
I wanted to write a poem. I lacked the courage
an epic breathless like Jerusalem
from a distance I saw a figure dressed in black
white collar, eyes wide shining like diamonds unmoving.
He saw me correcting my hand
with reassuring smile said: ‘Fire thy Imagination’
poem by Bassel Almasalmeh
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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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Test Week
Here comes test week one
There is less time for fun.
Boys are studying hard all day
For them to top in some way.
Some have english first than chemistry
Then physics, maths and history.
They stay up late till twelve 'o' clock
The studying never seems to stop.
For maths, boys practice many sums
And do so well that 'hundred' comes.
Books in the morning, books at night
Books, books, books all the time.
Then comes the end of 'test week one'
Now its time for all the fun.
Nest week inter-house soccer begins
The competitions tough....
....Never know who's going to win!
poem by Varun Pais
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The Last Balloon
The last balloon is leaving, the last balloon from fear
The last balloon is leaving, form that line right here
Climb aboard, climb aboard you menfolk
You wont need any bombs or knives
Climb aboard, climb aboard you menfolk
Leave all that to your former lives
Drop it all
The last balloon is leaving, the last balloon of all
The last balloon is leaving, undress, discard, let fall
Climb aboard, climb aboard you women
You wont need any gems or furs
Climb aboard, climb aboard you women
Leave all that to the bad old years
Drop it all
The last balloon is leaving, the last balloon theyll fly
The last balloon is leaving and we wont qualify
Climb aboard, climb aboard you children
Move aloft, while youre fleet and fast
Climb aboard, climb aboard you children
Were weighed down by our evil past
Drop us all, you should drop us all
Drop us all and free your hand
Drop us all, you should drop us all
Drop us all like so much sand
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Second Hand Books
Books! Books! Books! There are so many different designs.
There are some which, by the author, are personally signed.
Some books have pages with gilt edges, which look all posh.
Some have nice pictures on their covers, which are embossed.
Some books have hard covers, while some have soft.
Some are all dusty, where they’ve been kept in the loft.
Some books have fancy covers; some just have plain.
Some have suffered mishaps, and are now all stained.
Some books are all dog-eared at the corners of their pages.
Some have gone yellow, where they’ve been around ages.
Inside some books, there can be seen a pencilled name;
Someone, who once, on this particular book, had a claim.
Some are obviously well read; their spines are all creased.
From out of a book, amazing adventures can be unleashed.
Some books have pages which are spoiled or a bit torn.
Some have covers which are grubby and look well worn.
Some just have text, while others also include illustrations.
Some are former prize winners; once the toast of the nation.
There are books by famous authors, as well as the lesser known.
Some are former library books which, to the public, were loaned.
There are romances, poetry, classics, sci-fi, humour, and histories;
Gardening, cookery, travel, thrillers, manga, and murder mysteries.
In wooden bookcases, the books are categorised, and are neatly lined.
In a second hand bookshop, you just never know what you may find.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have left me.
quote by Anatole France
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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