I'm so glad this thread is still alive. As I went to work via the London Underground today I read some of the African Poems that were posted as Poems on the Underground....
I Sing of Change
by Niyi Osundare
I sing
of the beauty of Athens
without its slaves
Of a world free
of kings and queens
and other remnants
of an arbitrary past
Of earth
with no sharp north
or deep south
without blind curtains
or iron walls
Of the end
of warlords and armouries
and prisons of hate and fear
Of deserts treeing
and fruiting
after the quickening rains
Of the sun radiating ignorance
and stars informing
nights of unknowing
I sing of a world reshaped
is this the beginning or the end?
is this where the loser's come to win?
is this all it's supposed to be?
for someone else
but not for me
i guess i hear the whispers in the wind
is this the beginning of the end?
Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what Master laid thy keel,
What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
’Tis of the wave and not the rock;
’Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest’s roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee.
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o’er our fears,
Are all with thee,—are all with thee!
At the end of all these days
The times we call our lives
We may look upon them
With fire still in our eyes
The flame of passion burning
We remember how we tried
When we close the book forever
Somehow love survives
when i think about the times i've failed
there's plenty to think of
there's so much in the emptiness
can't remember what it was
i tried to keep an even keel
be what i am...say what i feel
but now i know...that's not enough
you say goodbye...and that's too tough
but that's the way it goes
sailing on this lonely sea
i'll make my way alone
the shore is hard to see
there's nothing there for my eyes
just the sea and the deep blue me
when i think about the times i've tried
and how it all went wrong
now all have is promises
buried in a song
i tried to take the easy way
don't get too close...just push away
now here i am...lost in the smoke
you locked your door...now there's no hope
but that's the way it goes
sailing on this lonely sea
i'll make my way alone
the shore is hard to see
there's nothing there for my eyes
just the sea and the deep blue me
we separate and fall away
haven't had too many things to say...lately
and it's a sad sad thing to see
time has had it's way with us...with you and me
the toll that life has taken on us
heaped the burden weight upon us
we can't see the light...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
we live another day goes by
passes into another night...are we still friends?
it's a sad sad thing to think
that we're just gonna let it be...and let it end
the things that we have seen go down
are dead and buried in the ground
feel a mountain of weight upon us
we can't feel the warmth...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
we separate and fall away
haven't had too many things to say...lately
and it's a sad sad thing to see
time has had it's way with us...with you and me
the toll that life has taken on us
heaped the burden weight upon us
we can't see the light...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
we live another day goes by
passes into another night...are we still friends?
it's a sad sad thing to think
that we're just gonna let it be...and let it end
the things that we have seen go down
are dead and buried in the ground
we can't feel the warmth...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
I'm so glad this thread is
)
I'm so glad this thread is still alive. As I went to work via the London Underground today I read some of the African Poems that were posted as Poems on the Underground....
I Sing of Change
by Niyi Osundare
I sing
of the beauty of Athens
without its slaves
Of a world free
of kings and queens
and other remnants
of an arbitrary past
Of earth
with no sharp north
or deep south
without blind curtains
or iron walls
Of the end
of warlords and armouries
and prisons of hate and fear
Of deserts treeing
and fruiting
after the quickening rains
Of the sun radiating ignorance
and stars informing
nights of unknowing
I sing of a world reshaped
Beginning or End is this
)
Beginning or End
is this the beginning or the end?
is this where the loser's come to win?
is this all it's supposed to be?
for someone else
but not for me
i guess i hear the whispers in the wind
is this the beginning of the end?
With his hat blown off the
)
With his hat blown off
the stiff-necked scarecrow
stands there quite discomfited
-Buson (translation)
My thoughts about 9-11,
)
My thoughts about 9-11, better expressed :
Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what Master laid thy keel,
What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
’Tis of the wave and not the rock;
’Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest’s roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee.
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o’er our fears,
Are all with thee,—are all with thee!
~Longfellow
"We must be the change we wish to see."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Love Survives" At the end
)
"Love Survives"
At the end of all these days
The times we call our lives
We may look upon them
With fire still in our eyes
The flame of passion burning
We remember how we tried
When we close the book forever
Somehow love survives
(2007 db michel)
"The Sea and the Deep Blue
)
"The Sea and the Deep Blue Me"
when i think about the times i've failed
there's plenty to think of
there's so much in the emptiness
can't remember what it was
i tried to keep an even keel
be what i am...say what i feel
but now i know...that's not enough
you say goodbye...and that's too tough
but that's the way it goes
sailing on this lonely sea
i'll make my way alone
the shore is hard to see
there's nothing there for my eyes
just the sea and the deep blue me
when i think about the times i've tried
and how it all went wrong
now all have is promises
buried in a song
i tried to take the easy way
don't get too close...just push away
now here i am...lost in the smoke
you locked your door...now there's no hope
but that's the way it goes
sailing on this lonely sea
i'll make my way alone
the shore is hard to see
there's nothing there for my eyes
just the sea and the deep blue me
2007 daniel m
[pre]Homeward Bound Begins
)
[pre]Homeward Bound
Begins this journey without reins,
Ends in capture without aims;
Now lying in the cell awake,
With merriment and smiles all fake:
Freedom is spent, time is up -
Tears have rent my sorrow’s cup;
Home is cage and cage is steel,
Thus manifests reality’s unreal
Dreams are shattered, hopes are battered,
Yet with new status one is flattered!
The irony of it - detention and all:
Be so small, and stand so tall.
Years of tears and days of toil
Are now but fears and tyrants’ spoil;
Ordainment has surely come to pass,
But endure alone one must this farce.
Now “patience is of virtue� taught,
And virtue is of iron wrought;
So poetry is in motion set
(Perhaps, with appreciation met).
Still the paper do I pen,
Knowing what, but never when_
As dreams begin, and nightmares end_
I’m homeward bound to beloved tend.
Moazzam Begg - British Citizen
Guantanano Bay Detainee [/pre]
There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot. - Aldo Leopold
"Long Cold Day" we
)
"Long Cold Day"
we separate and fall away
haven't had too many things to say...lately
and it's a sad sad thing to see
time has had it's way with us...with you and me
the toll that life has taken on us
heaped the burden weight upon us
we can't see the light...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
we live another day goes by
passes into another night...are we still friends?
it's a sad sad thing to think
that we're just gonna let it be...and let it end
the things that we have seen go down
are dead and buried in the ground
feel a mountain of weight upon us
we can't feel the warmth...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
(2007 db michel)
(revised version) "Long Cold
)
(revised version)
"Long Cold Day"
we separate and fall away
haven't had too many things to say...lately
and it's a sad sad thing to see
time has had it's way with us...with you and me
the toll that life has taken on us
heaped the burden weight upon us
we can't see the light...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
we live another day goes by
passes into another night...are we still friends?
it's a sad sad thing to think
that we're just gonna let it be...and let it end
the things that we have seen go down
are dead and buried in the ground
we can't feel the warmth...that brought us together
and it's a long cold day in the afternoon
i remember a summer day
but it's gone away...died too soon
it's a long long way from the summer nights
we thought it would be alright
but it's gone away...died too soon
(2007 db michel)
The name—of it—is
)
The name—of it—is “Autumn�—
The hue—of it—is Blood—
An Artery—upon the Hill—
A Vein—along the Road—
Great Globules—in the Alleys—
And Oh, the Shower of Stain—
When Winds—upset the Basin—
And spill the Scarlet Rain—
It sprinkles Bonnets—far below—
It gathers ruddy Pools—
Then—eddies like a Rose—away—
Upon Vermilion Wheels—
Emily Dickinson