These Sweet Souvenirs
I had long remembered those sweet memories
The day we settled to Virginia hangs in my mind like
The new season of fall with colorful leaves
And October's cool Fall.
Over the porch scorched by October sunshine,
We sit and watch the window
Him forty years gone, my sister sat on
The couch with lot of toys, frost of black in
Her hair and morns the cries that echo her sleep
For years it stood by my parent's brown
Front door, and during their last, uncertain year
My mouth dry, heart beating, hands shaking, I wake up from deep sleep
And reach for green watch tell me
It is 12 pm mid-night and in the dim bulk light I notice
The bed that also hold my parent's radio, lamp,
An indentation on the top closet from a cigarette
He placed there and forgot
In the fogginess of evening and drink
Now, thirty years later, my dad was not longer in the earth
My mom is in the grave.
What we need, alone and in the dark.
poem by Natasa Tocuc
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Every Morning's Mourning.
Watch you sleep
Dream and roll over
avoid the monsters
and the light
Watch you sleep
Watch you sleep
when the noise
of fifteen
floors above you
crashes in
and wraps you deeper
in your sheets
Watch you sleep
Watch you sleep
through every squeak
and smash and ping
as I serenade you
with my awake
and my breakfast
Watch you sleep
Watch you sleep
with a half-turned
smile on your face
an exposed and naked leg
your hair escaping you
like spilling starlight
Watch you sleep
Watch you sleep
when I kiss
the tiniest sample
of skin on your cheek
and know you wake
when I'm gone
and am gone
until again you sleep
When you wake
Watch you wake
Watch you sleep
poem by Q.R. Gibson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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My Next Thirty Years
(track 12 - time 3:37)
(phil vassar)
I think Ill take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now its time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years
Hey my next thirty years Im gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things Ive done
Maybe now Ive conquered all my adolescent fears
And Ill do it better in my next thirty years
My next thirty years Im gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what Im doing here
In my next thirty years
Oh my next thirty years, Im gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe Ill remember my next thirty years
My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years
song performed by by Tim McGraw
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Rock Me To Sleep, Mother
BACKWARD, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for to-night!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to sleep!
Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears,—
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,—
Take them, and give me my childhood again!
I have grown weary of dust and decay,—
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away;
Weary of sowing for others to reap;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to sleep!
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded, our faces between:
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I to-night for your presence again.
Come from the silence so long and so deep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to sleep!
Over my heart, in the days that are flown,
No love like mother-love ever has shone;
No other worship abides and endures,—
Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours:
None like a mother can charm away pain
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain.
Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to sleep!
Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,
Fall on your shoulders again as of old;
Let it drop over my forehead to-night,
Shading my faint eyes away from the light;
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more
Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore;
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to sleep!
Mother, dear mother, the years have been long
Since I last listened your lullaby song:
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem
Womanhood's years have been only a dream.
Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to sleep!
poem by Elizabeth Chase Allen
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Laughs In Silence!
sometimes we drink fire,
sometimes we drink the night.
and yet we seem surprised,
when the fire scorches our feet,
and the night drinks us.
it is but a journey,
from season to season.
from the eyes of the owl,
to cracked nutshells on brown grass...
and we call it life.
is the spoke the wheel?
is stillness ever stagnant?
clouds disappear,
then fall like rain...
who are we to judge?
is the shell the ocean?
the echo the truth?
leaves fall in October,
shouting for spring...
while the tree laughs in silence!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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All You Want
I'd like to watch you sleep at night
to hear you breathe by my side
And though sleep leaves me behind
there's nowhere I'd rather be
And now our bed is oh so cold
my hands feel empty
no one to hold
I can sleep what side I want
It's not the same with you gone
Oh if you'd come home
I'll let you know that
All you want
Is right here in this room
All you need
Is sitting here with you
All you want
It's been three years
One night apart
but in that night you tore my heart
If only you had slept alone
If those seeds had not been sown
Oh you could come home and you would know that
All you want
Is right here in this room
All you need
Is sitting here with you
All you want
I hear your key turning in the door
I won't be hearing that sound anymore
And you and your sin
can leave the way you just came in
send my regards to her
I hope you've found that
All you want
Is right there in that room
All you need
Is sitting there with you
All you want
I'd like to watch you sleep at night
to hear you breathe by my side
song performed by by Dido from No Angel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Rock Me To sleep
Backward, turn backward, O time, in your flight;
Make me a child again, just for tonight!
Mother, come back from that echoless shore;
Take me again in your heart as of yore --
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair,
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep --
Rock me to sleep, mother -- rock me to sleep!
Backward, turn backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears --
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain --
Take them and give me my childhood again!
I have grown weary of dust and decay --
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away --
Weary of sowing for others to reap --
Rock me to sleep, mother -- rock me to sleep!
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded -- our faces between --
Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I tonight for your presence again;
Come from the silence, mother -- rock me to sleep!
Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,
Fall on your shoulders again as of old --
Let it drop over my forehead tonight,
Shading my faint eyes away from the light!
For, with its sunny-edged shadows once more,
Haply will throng all the visions of yore;
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep --
Rock me to sleep, mother -- rock me to sleep!
Mother, dear mother! the years have been long
Since I last listened to your lullaby song;
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem
Womanhood's years have been only a dream;
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep --
Rock me sleep, mother -- rock me to sleep!
poem by Elizabeth Akers Allen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Old Man....
there is this garden that you tend
you put the seeds and they all sprout in time
time waters it
the changes take place
soon the flowers bloom and
you watch all these
with patience
there is this light feeling that comes
like butterfly wings
white against the dusk
there is nothing new in that garden
you are sick and takes the rest
you sit by the window
the same window all these 50 years
time is you boring attendant
independent from your grasp
it can exist without you
you sit and watch the world passing by
like a flower slowly unfolding
and you never notice it
you go out
you have recovered from a disease
you
take a walk
visit some friends
come back in the afternoon
you watch the view from the window
again
this you do perhaps for another 50 years
of your life
setting aside fears of not having to
step upon 60
life is short for those who have no one to love
it is the same field same mountain
bald and brown
same clouds
pale blue and drifting
same fog
fading like a magical show
same window
that you close again
because it is dark
and cold inside
your old wooden bed
that you have
inherited from your
forefathers
as usual
you take your sleep
time passes you by
the room is so silent
as though
it is the home for
the dead
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
Every time we do this
I fall for her
Wave after wave after wave
It's all for her
I know this can't be wrong i say
(and i'll lie to keep her happy)
As long as i know that you know
That today i belong
Right here with you
Right here with you...
And so we watch the sun come up
From the edge of the deep green sea
And she listens like her head's on fire
Like she wants to believe in me
So i try
Put your hands in the sky
Surrender
Remember
We'll be here forever
And we'll never say goodbye...
I've never been so
Colourfully-see-through-head before
I've never been so
Wonderfully-me-you-want-some-more
And all i want is to keep it like this
You and me alone
A secret kiss
And don't go home
Don't go away
Don't let this end
Please stay
Not just for today
Never never never never never let me go she says
Hold me like this for a hundred thousand million days
But suddenly she slows
And looks down at my breaking face
Why do you cry? what did i say?
But it's just rain i smile
Brushing my tears away...
I wish i could just stop
I know another moment will break my heart
Too many tears
Too many times
Too many years i've cried over you
How much more can we use it up?
Drink it dry?
Take this drug?
Looking for something forever gone
But something
We will always want?
Why why why are you letting me go? she says
I feel you pulling back
I feel you changing shape...
And just as i'm breaking free
She hangs herself in front of me
Slips her dress like a flag to the floor
And hands in the sky
Surrenders it all...
I wish i could just stop
I know another moment will break my heart
Too many tears
Too many times
Too many years i've cried for you
It's always the same
Wake up in the rain
Head in pain
Hung in shame
A different name
Same old game
Love in vain
And miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Away from home again...
song performed by by Cure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As I Lay Me Down
It felt like springtime on this February morning
In a courtyard birds were singing your praise
I'm still recalling things you said to make me feel alright
I carry them with me today now
As I lay me down to sleep as I pray
that you will hold me dear
Though I fall away I whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy
I wonder why
I feel so high although I am not above thy sorrow
heavy-hearted 'till you call my name
And it felt like churchbells
or the whistle of a train on a summer evening
I want power to meet you barefoot
Barely breathing
As I lay me down to sleep as I pray
that you will hold me dear
Though I fall away I whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy
No doubt that
As I lay me down to sleep as I pray
that you will hold me dear
Though I fall away I whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy
Its not too near for me
Like a flower I need the rain
No its not clear to me
Every season has its change
and I will see you when the sun comes out again
As I lay me down to sleep as I pray
that you will hold me dear
Though I fall away I whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy... uhuh yea
As I lay me down to sleep as I pray
that you will hold me dear
Though I fall away I whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy
I wonder why
The sun comes out again
song performed by by Sophie B. Hawkins from Whaler
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Deep
You're more lovely than all the shades
of greens and purples of any precious garden.
You're my most dreamless sleep,
my green, my cool and dark and deep.
Your smile's worth more than all the jewels
within the earth, begging at your feet.
Hot and humid, overtired. I beg for sleep!
My fresh, my green, my dark and deep.
My purple! Oh, for a dreamless sleep!
My green, my cool, my dark and deep.
You are sweeter than summer night's jasmine
and brighter than the sun's morning laughter.
My Prince, my man, my green lovely, my sleep!
my best, my fresh, my cool, my dark and deep.
poem by Guy Peppin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Dreamscape
You woke me, crying out in your sleep
That a part of you had died,
I could hear the birds by the window seat
As they woke and chattered outside,
So I turned and shook you gently
Thinking to ease your troubled mind,
‘I dreamt I'd been to my wake, ' you said,
‘And the folk were so unkind! '
‘It was only a dream, ' I thought to say
But my tongue was swiftly curbed,
You'd slipped so quietly out of the room
And the bed was undisturbed,
I followed, down to the kitchen but
You must have gone outside,
Out by the dear old mulberry bush
I could hear you, as you cried.
Your sister came and she made the tea
You were talking on the phone,
I could hear you in the solarium
So I took my tea alone,
Then I wandered down to the port, to watch
Them load the ships with grain,
And looked for you on the jetty there
But all I could feel was pain.
We've been together for forty years
But something's rearranged,
I think you must be avoiding me
But I love you just the same,
You wave to me from the flower beds
As I sit in the old deckchair,
And read my book in a cosy nook
Then I look, and you're just not there.
You talk to me in my dreams at night
And you say that you love me too,
And we wander hand in hand again
As we always used to do,
But I think that your mind is fading fast
You forget so much today,
But we'll stick together through thick and thin
I'm there for you, come what may.
Your sister summoned the doctor, I
Was out by the kitchen door,
‘I think he's looking for you, my dear,
But we'll fool them, like before.'
She said, ‘He doesn't accept the fact
That my sister fell asleep,
He'll have to be put in a Nursing Home! '
I sit on the step, and weep!
15 October 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
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When October Goes
And when October goes
The snow begins to fly
Above the smokey roofs
I watch the planes go by
The children running home
Beneath a twilight sky
Oh, for the fun of them
When I was one of them
And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years
I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see October go
I should be over it now I know
It doesn't matter much
How old I grow
I hate to see October go
song performed by by Barry Manilow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Eat Your Heart Out
I've come by, she says, to tell you
that this is it. I'm not kidding, it's
over. this is it.
I sit on the couch watching her arrange
her long red hair before my bedroom
mirror.
she pulls her hair up and
piles it on top of her head-
she lets her eyes look at
my eyes-
then she drops her hair and
lets it fall down in front of her face.
we go to bed and I hold her
speechlessly from the back
my arm around her neck
I touch her wrists and hands
feel up to
her elbows
no further.
she gets up.
this is it, she says,
this will do. well,
I'm going.
I get up and walk her
to the door
just as she leaves
she says,
I want you to buy me
some high-heeled shoes
with tall thin spikes,
black high-heeled shoes.
no, I want them
red.
I watch her walk down the cement walk
under the trees
she walks all right and
as the pointsettas drip in the sun
I close the door.
poem by Charles Bukowski
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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October in New Zealand
O JUNE has her diamonds, her diamonds of sheen,
Meet for a queen’s neck, if Death had e’er a queen!
June has her blue days, jewels of delight,
Set in the ivory of Alp-land white,—
But October, October’s the lady o’ the year!
O January’s garland is redder than the rose,
And the wine-red ruby of January glows
All the way to madness and half the way to sin,
When sleep is in the poppy and fire is in the whin!
But October, October’s the lady o’ the year!
October will ride in a mantle o’ the vair,
With the flower o’ the quince in her dew-wet hair;
October will ride to the gates of the day,
With the bluebells ringing on her maiden way;—
For October, October’s the lady o’ the year!
poem by Jessie Mackay
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Sweet Fall
The leaves have already grown back
now that november is gone
The sweet november i met you
months go by and we grow farther apart
The cool gentle breeze blowing in my face
and now a lukewarm summers embrace
but as the seasons change so do we
not tied back, but not necassarily free
that sweet october
how sweet and kind it was
now love flourished and blossomed
now my heart misses the sweet fall
because summer has nothing waiting for me
almost like if in the season of nothing at all
and the branches on my tree now grow tall
with flowers and birds
but i still miss november, october and early december
moving on not being able to stall
i move on with your memory
and the memory of our
sweet fall
poem by Alma Estrella
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Watching Mother
Your mother is peeling apples
for the apple pie
and you stand watching her
and say can I have some peelings?
Sure she says
it’s probably the best part anyway
and you notice she has tears in her eyes
and wonder if the old man
has had a go at her again
like that time over the camera
and her saying jokingly
you look like some tourist
in upstate New York
and he thumped her one
and her lip bled
and you stood watching
keeping your mouth shut
but wanting to go at him
but you being too small
stood still
and as she peels the apples
you watch her hands
go over the apples
with a skill of years of experience
and you watch as the tears
run down the side of her nose
and fall like raindrops
on to her busy hands
and you focus like some artist
at the way that they land.
poem by Terry Collett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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It Must Have Been Years
A radio plays 'white christmas
Its been doing that for years
If someone leaves the station
Oh please dont talk to strangers
Cant you see theyre not like us
The vacant flesh of u.d.s
Stand leaning by the walls
You can feel them thinking over
Ways of merging with the thoughts
You never dare to dream
It must have been years
It must have been years
They want to relive all my memories
Give me 'the service daily
Maybe it was mother
I cant seem to remember
Much at all these days
Picture open doorways
No pick-ups by the taxi boys
Just a bed near the window
And an old lamp by my pillow
And the things I have to do
It must have been years
It must have been years
The driver wants to touch me
He mentions all the old cop bullshit
I try to back away
But hes so strong I just cant move
Maybe I dont want to anyway
The time to leave is always 'soon
I wonder if Im lying
A vague feeling of panic
As a man leaves saying thank you
I blame it all on you
It must have been years
It must have been years
song performed by by Gary Numan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My angel, I love to watch you sleep........
When the night comes then your voice calm down
When the moon begin to sail in the sky
then your eyes are closing down to sleep
You fall asleep while dim light illuminates your room
I love to watch you sleep my little girl
You sleep like a little angel within your dreams
Your hair falls both sides of your face and
your hands folded in to the blanket
Your pillows and bunnies are speard around you
You breath soft and low while your innocent heart
beat slowly to the merry tune
I love to watch you sleep my little baby
When I want to kiss you to say good night in your sleep
then you toss your head and stretch your little body
and turn around sleep again while holding your pillow
God brought you to me and given you as his gift
and today you are the greatest treasure in my life
Someone to laugh and dance and sing in my home
I love to watch you sleep my angel
Ravi Sathasivam / Sri Lanka
Copyright @2004 Ravi Sathasivam
poem by Ravi Sathasivam
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Think of me
Think of me
while the horizon glows red
at dusk,
that folds like a translucent cloak
around the earth
where on the porch
you watch the wild doves
and people
passing in the street
and the church bell
counts the evening hour in the distance
and the sweet taste of the tea
disappear with satisfaction into you
and the night flowers
open their cups.
Think of me
while nights draws out long
and the smell of jasmine
comes sweet through the window
soaking in from the garden
and you awake
from your dreams at night
and the old black dog
make whimpering sounds in her sleep
because I am the whole time
right here next to you
and want to remember
every moment with you.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Pine Tree
I'm a pine tree in a ceramic pot,
Sitting on a ledge beside a window.
The other trees outside have grown a lot,
But my maturation has been so slow.
I watch each season pass in front of me.
I watch the world wear down in bad weather.
I watch each tree become green and healthy
In front-yard forests—tall and together.
I see the leaves go brown, flake and crumble.
I see the barren branches of winter.
I see nature force them to be humble
When lightning crashes them into splinters.
I'm fine looking from here, my window sill.
In watching, I experience life still.
poem by Tim Stensloff
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