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Blog Details for "In the World Where I Live"
In the World Where I LiveIn the World Where I Livepoetry blog for poets who love poems, poetics, lyrics, songs, rhymes, prose, blank verse, sonnets, odes, ballads, literature, and stuff.
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Articles
The Republican Party's Legacy
2007-10-28 01:33:00 These Yet To Be United States By Maya Angelou Tremors of your network cause kings to disappear. Your open mouth in anger makes nations bow in fear. Your bombs can change the seasons, obliterate the spring. What more do you long for ? Why are you suffering ? You control the human lives in Rome and Timbuktu. Lonely nomads wandering owe Telstar to you. Seas shift at your bidding, your mushrooms fill the sky. Why are you unhappy ? Why do your children cry ? They kneel alone in terror with dread in every glance. Their nights ["rights" ? - Schrift nicht lesbar] are threatened daily by a grim inheritance. You dwell in whitened castles with deep and poisoned moats and cannot hear the curses which fill your children's throats. More About: Republican , Legacy
Poetry Flash!
2007-10-24 07:39:00 Meanwhile in America By Hank EdsonAlarming news! In from the New Yorker, That the health of poor Poesy has gotten worse! There are many theories and we have from her doctor That what's bad for her heart is free verse. "She was desperate," said her husband, Time, "She had strayed so far that she could not tell If music was carried away in the crime, Elsewhere bound, exerting good, hot hell. Grandson Rap broke in: "What the hammer is happenin? Man, don't jive, Nana, she live, and rhyme thrive Like bongos clappin', hands a slappin', an' fires crackin' At Pop with an edge she give, actin' youn', tryin' to live ~" Then in with a hush ~ the Government Minister To read the last rights: "Whatever must be, must be... Please trust in your will's administrator... Who we will appoint, whose views are not so lusty." That's the story; what can we say? Not much. Our only choice is to become the predator, Not exactly to devour, but only to ... More About: Poetry , Flash
Poetic Justice
2007-10-24 06:12:00 Masters of War By Bob Dylan Come you masters of warYou that build all the gunsYou that build the death planesYou that build the big bombsYou that hide behind wallsYou that hide behind desksI just want you to knowI can see through your masksYou that never done nothin'But build to destroyYou play with my worldLike it's your little toyYou put a gun in my handAnd you hide from my eyesAnd you turn and run fartherWhen the fast bullets flyLike Judas of oldYou lie and deceiveA world war can be wonYou want me to believeBut I see through your eyesAnd I see through your brainLike I see through the waterThat runs down my drainYou fasten the triggersFor the others to fireThen you set back and watchWhen the death count gets higherYou hide in your mansionAs young people's bloodFlows out of their bodiesAnd is buried in the mudYou've thrown the worst fearThat can ever be hurledFear to bring childrenInto the worldFor threatening my babyUnborn and unnamedYou ain't worth the bloodThat runs in your... More About: Justice
Disconnection and Torture
2007-10-19 07:20:00 Driving through Minnesota During the Hanoi Bombings by Robert Bly More About: Torture
The Legacy Thing
2007-10-16 04:16:00 The President Wheels By Hank EdsonMr. Bush, in your politics You have so much flash ~ Do you have a clear image? Can you make out one thing You have done that is definite? Do we all stand stunned? And where is all our cash? And why is so much ruined?! My uncouth objections Will ruffle in your flag Rest upon lies and the dead With valiant dedications. Mr. Bush, your monument Has taken from our planet A fortune you controlled And rest beneath the stone wheel Of de-evolution. And what will you do now With your oil but burn it? What wouldn't you pollute? Go to the wheel and turn it. Oh, Mr. Bush, do not groan; You are always talking trash! Do you lead what you don't know? Or do you dance upon the doomed?! More About: Legacy , Thing
Family Values
2007-10-14 00:44:00 Justice And Independence '85 By John Coulgar Mellencamp He was born on the fourth day of JulySo his parents called him Independence DayHe married a girl named Justice who gave birthTo a son called NationThen she walked awayIndependence he would daydream and he'd pretendThat someday him and Justice and Nation wouldGet together againBut Justice held up in a shotgun shackAnd she wouldn't let nobody inSo a Nation cried Oh OhWhen a Nation criesHis tears fall down like missiles from the skiesJustice look into Independence's eyesCan you make everything alrightCan you keep your Nation warm tonight? Well Nation grew up and got himself a reputationCouldn't keep the boy at home no noHe just kept running 'round and 'round and 'round and 'roundIndependence and Justice well they felt so ashamedWhen the Nation fell down they argued who was to blameNation if you'll just come home we'll have this family againOh Natio... More About: Family , Values
The Nation's Crimes
2007-10-11 14:32:00 The Year Begins With War by Wendell BerryThe year begins with war.Our bombs fall day and night,Hour after hour, by deathAbroad appeasing wrath,Folly, and greed at home.Upon our giddy towerWe’d oversway the world.Our hate comes down to killThose whom we do not see,For we have given upOur sight to those in powerAnd to machines, and nowAre blind to all the world.This is a nation whereNo lovely thing can last.We trample, gouge, and blast;The people leave the land;The land flows to the sea.Fine men and women die,The fine old houses fall,The fine old trees come down:Highway and shopping mallStill guarantee the rightAnd liberty to beA peaceful murderer,A murderous worshipper,A slender glutton, orA healthy whore. ForgivingNo enemy, forgivenBy none, we live the deathOf liberty becomeWhat we have feared to be. More About: Crimes , Rime , The Nation
It's Somethin' Else Makes MY World Go Round
2007-10-09 03:08:00 The Poet's Parallax By Hank Edson 1. ; Do you and your fellow attachés Surround the tomb of Grant Like suspicious ministers not condemned But fearing the inside seed As though Pandora's box Were your charge or do you stand Like engineers turned doctors Amid the entanglement of life- Support systems running out Their tentacles over your shoulders As you listen to the mechanism Tick like scientists testing the bomb Enduring the silent bridges To be burned hopefully if only You reach the end of the count down From whence you will look back at the corpse Of the Earth through the TV set Cardiographs gone flat Like reporters watching themselves Before the subject become in death An unknown gaping grave? 2. ; Gentlemen of the Capital Constructing your private models Of marble and glass and leather and shag Explaining the metamorphosis Not from wh... More About: World , Round , Some
Song of Myself
2007-10-06 22:15:00 I've Got A NameBy Jim CroceLike the pine trees linin’ the windin’ roadI’ve got a name, I’ve got a nameLike the singin’ bird and the croakin’ toadI’ve got a name, I’ve got a nameAnd I carry it with me like my daddy didBut I’m livin’ the dream that he kept hidMovin’ me down the highwayRollin’ me down the highwayMovin’ ahead so life won’t pass me byLike the north wind whistlin’ down the skyI’ve got a song, I’ve got a songLike the whippoorwill and the baby’s cryI’ve got a song, I’ve got a songAnd I carry it with me and I sing it loudIf it gets me nowhere, I’ll go there proudMovin’ me down the highwayRollin’ me down the highwayMovin’ ahead so life won’t pass me byAnd I’m gonna go there freeLike the fool I am and I’ll always beI’ve got a dream, I’ve got a dreamThey can change their minds but they can&rsq... More About: Song
Humanity Craft
2007-10-03 18:15:00 Axe Handles By Gary Snyder One afternoon the last week in April Showing Kai how to throw a hatchet One-half turn and it sticks in a stump. He recalls the hatchet-head Without a handle, in the shop And go gets it, and wants it for his own. A broken-off axe handle behind the door Is long enough for a hatchet, We cut it to length and take it With the hatchet head And working hatchet, to the wood block. There I begin to shape the old handle With the hatchet, and the phrase First learned from Ezra Pound Rings in my ears! "When making an axe handle The pattern is not far off." And I say this to Kai "Look: We'll shape the handle By checking the handle Of the axe we cut with—" And he sees. And I hear it again: It's in Lu Ji's We Fu, fourth century A.D. "Essay on Literature" - in the Preface: "In making the handle Of an axe &n bsp; & nbsp; ... More About: Humanity , Craft
Step by Step
2007-10-02 00:09:00 The Poet’s Manifesto by Hank Edson1. The first priority is to keep a shelter over my head & nbsp;and enough of my health to keep me thankful &nb sp; &n bsp;just being alive ~ 2. The second priority is to keep myself independent to pursue by my own steps the goals and pleasures &n bsp; most important to me ~ This will require abandoning other goals and pleasures, & nbsp; even ones that are granted standards &n bsp; & nbsp; for everyone else. 3. The third priority is to be aware of life as it passes, never to return, ... More About: Step
Orpheus Meets the Piano Man
2007-09-30 00:37:00 River of Dreams By Billy Joel In the middle of the nightI go walking in my sleepFrom the mountains of faithTo the river so deepI must be lookin' for somethingSomething sacred I lostBut the river is wideAnd it's too hard to crossEven though I know the river is wideI walk down every evening and stand on the shoreI try to cross to the opposite sideSo I can finally find what it is I've been looking forIn the middle of the nightI go walking in my sleepThrough the valley of fearTo a river so deepI've been searching for somethingTaken out of my soulSomething I'd never loseSomething somebody stoleI don't know why I go walking at nightBut now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymoreI hope it doesn't take the rest of my lifeUntil I finally find what it is I've been looking for In the middle of the nightI go walking in my sleepThrough the jungle of doubtTo the river so deepI know I'm searching for somethingSomething so undefinedThat it can only be seenBy the eyes of the blindIn th... More About: Piano
Soothing the Savage Breast
2007-09-28 03:09:00 Sonnets to Orpheus, Sonnet 1.1 By Rainer Maria Rilke (tr. Stephen Mitchell) A tree ascended there. Oh pure transcendence!Oh Orpheus Sings! Oh tall tree in the ear!And all things hushed. Yet even in that silencea new beginning, beckoning, change appeared.Creatures of stillness crowded from the brightunbound forest, out of their lairs and nests;and it was not from any dullness, notfrom fear, that they were so quiet in themselves,but from simply listening. Bellow, roar, shriekseemed small inside their hearts. And where there had beenjust a makeshift hut to receive the music,a shelter nailed up out of their darkest longing, with an entryway that shuddered in the wind—you built a temple deep inside their hearing. More About: Breast , Savage , Brea , Sava
For Beautiful
2007-09-24 14:37:00 In the World Where I Live By Hank EdsonIn the world where I live The flames arrange in petal folds Silent small open passive And Beauty gathers Beautiful holds Together draws them closer tighter Their fragrant pulp not fire smolder But light that shines much brilliant brighter In the sweet dark eyes of my beholder. In the world where I live The air resounds in buttery peals The heart's doors swoon and simply give Every fracture smoothes and heals As lifted raised abandoned free The pulse of being open files Trumpeting through the heavenly glory Enraptured song when Beauty smiles. In the world where I live The wave of auburn hair is law Arching eyebrows soft and pensive Command creation awaken awe And the tender graceful definition Of her cheekbones nose mouth and chin Offer chaos complete compassion Beautiful wise and feminine. In the world where I live A pure and perfect peace pervades Man makes amends the gardens forgive Great lakes grand canyons ever glades Noble emotions spirit...
Generous Heart for an Open Road
2007-09-22 19:29:00 All I WantBy Joni MitchellI am on a lonely road and I am travelingtraveling, traveling, travelingLooking for something, what can it beOh I hate you some, I hate you someI love you someOh I love you when I forget about meI want to be strong, I want to laugh alongI want to belong to the livingAlive, alive, I want to get up and jiveI want to wreck my stockings in some juke box diveDo you want -- do you want -- do you wantto dance with me babyDo you want to take a chanceon maybe finding some sweet romance with me babyWell, come onAll I really really want our love to do is to bring out the best in me and in you tooAll I really really want our love to dois to bring out the best in me and in youI want to talk to you, I want to shampoo youI want to renew you again and againApplause, applause -- Life is our causeWhen I think of your kissesmy mind see-sawsDo you see -- do you see -- do you seehow you hurt me babySo I hurt you toothen we both get so blueI am on a lonely road and I am traveling... More About: Open , Heart , Road , Generous , Enero
Generous Heart for an Open Road
2007-09-22 19:29:00 All I Really WantBy Joni MitchellI am on a lonely road and I am travelingtraveling, traveling, travelingLooking for something, what can it beOh I hate you some, I hate you someI love you someOh I love you when I forget about meI want to be strong, I want to laugh alongI want to belong to the livingAlive, alive, I want to get up and jiveI want to wreck my stockings in some juke box diveDo you want -- do you want -- do you wantto dance with me babyDo you want to take a chanceon maybe finding some sweet romance with me babyWell, come onAll I really really want our love to do is to bring out the best in me and in you tooAll I really really want our love to dois to bring out the best in me and in youI want to talk to you, I want to shampoo youI want to renew you again and againApplause, applause -- Life is our causeWhen I think of your kissesmy mind see-sawsDo you see -- do you see -- do you seehow you hurt me babySo I hurt you toothen we both get so blueI am on a lonely road and I am tr... More About: Open , Heart , Road , Generous , Enero
American Mystic
2007-09-21 04:40:00 EidólonsBy Walt Whitman &nbs p; I met a seer,Passing the hues and objects of the world,The fields of art and learning, pleasure, sense, ; To glean of eidólons. &n bsp; Put in thy chants said he,No more the puzzling hour nor day, nor segments, parts, put in,Put first before the rest as light for all and entrance-song of all, & nbsp; That of eidólons. &n bsp; Ever the dim beginning,Ever the growth, the rounding of the circle,Ever the summit and the merge at last, (to surely start again,) &nbs p; Eidólons! Eidólons! &n bsp; Ever the mutable,Ever materials, changing, crumbling, re-cohering,Ever the ateliers, the factories divine, &nbs p;... More About: American , Myst
Lines Composed above Stanford University
2007-09-17 17:32:00 Variations on the Country Moon By Hank Edson1.By the path I enter beneath the star filled sky ~spread broad and deep with stillness and raised with activity;like so many colors in a black field singing,these seeds shaken on the wind, set weightless and free.And I am here, a small earth person gazing,facing the above, as if all were flat, or earthbound and shy,the sky, a plane like the horizon, like the hills or even I,my tiny being considering in the night air a point wherescale is transformed by dimension, like this ocean seethingsilently upon my rocklike soul, like my limbs laid bareto the wonder of welcome and I am entranced in breathingand music and growth and these hills blown widefor the generous night is as cool as angels' halos, golden elation,invisible ambrosia to quenchen a dryness inside.From a silent heart in reverence, glee gestures a muted cryand I give thanks with new joy that life is creation.2.To my left a hill rises slightly, a graceful cur... More About: University , Stanford , Lines , Pose , Stanford University
The Blues of the Metropolis
2007-09-15 14:22:00 Come A Long Way By Michelle Shocked Kicked in his door at 5 AM"I've come for my bike" I told the repo manMy 920's gonna take me far todayYou can travel for miles and never leave L.A.I've come a long wayI've come a long wayI've gone 500 miles todayI've come a long wayI've come along wayAnd never even left L.A.I drive by the Plaza where the gay boys poseStand in their windows wearing no clothesI heard the screams of the dying darkThrough the sweet green icing of MacArthur ParkAnd then I crossed the river into East L.A.Pescado mojado me encontreAnd I've given up on rock 'n rollAnd I'm saving up for nortenoThe river she runs by the railroad tracksI swear I'll never take it backA train, she cries on the midnight hourAll along the Watts TowerOhhhhhhhhhhhI've come a long wayI've come a long wayI've gone 500 miles todayI've come a long wayI've come along wayAnd never even left L.A.I gunned it down to San Pedro BayWatched my ship... More About: Blues , Metropolis
Deep Discourse on Humanity's Relationship to Nature
2007-09-13 20:44:00 Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern AbbeyBy William Wordsworth (July 13, 1798) ; Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hearThese waters, rolling from their mountain-springsWith a soft inland murmur.--Once againDo I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,That on a wild secluded scene impressThoughts of more deep seclusion; and connectThe landscape with the quiet of the sky.The day is come when I again reposeHere, under this dark sycamore, and viewThese plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves'Mid groves and copses. Once again I seeThese hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little linesOf sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,Green to the very door; and wreaths of smokeSent up, in silence, from among the trees!With some uncertain notice, as mi... More About: Nature , Relationship , Deep , Natur , Disc
World Where I Live Worldview
2007-09-10 07:36:00 Is It Really Such a Giant Leap? ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; &nb sp; Is it really such a giant leap ; To unite the heart and mind? To imagine love and logic keep & nbsp; Common cause in what they find? A man upon the moon once raised ; With one small step all mankind. The simple effort Armstrong praised &nbs p; Gave vision to the blind; To see the Earth from outersp... More About: World , Live
Smooth Talkin', Tall Walkin' Son of a Gun
2007-09-07 21:57:00 The TakerBy Kris Kristofferson He's a giver, he'll give herthe kind of attention that she's never knownHe's a helper, he'll help herto open the doors that she can't on her ownHe's a lover, he'll love herin ways that she never has been loved beforeAnd he's a getter, he'll get herby gettin her into the world she's been hungerin' for'Cause he's a taker, he'll take herto places and make her fly higher than she's ever dared toHe'll take his time before takin' advantagetakin' her easy and slowAnd after he's taken the body and soulthat she gives him, he'll take her for grantedThen he'll take off and leave hertakin' all of her pride as he goesHe's a charmer, and he'll charm herwith money and manners that I never learnedHe's a leader, and he'll lead heracross pretty bridges he's planning to burnHe's a talker, he'll talk herright off of her feet, but he won't talk for longCause he's a doer, and he'll do herthe way that I neverAnd damned if he won... More About: Tall , Smooth
Dispossessed Desperados
2007-09-06 16:46:00 The Burglar of Babylon By Elizabeth BishopOn the fair green hills of Rio &n bsp; There grows a fearful stain:The poor who come to Rio &n bsp; And can't go home again.On the hills a million people, &nbs p; A million sparrows, nest,Like a confused migration &n bsp; That's had to light and rest,Building its nests, or houses, &nbs p; Out of nothing at all, or air.You'd think a breath would end them, They perch so lightly there.But they cling and spread like lichen, &nbs p; And people come and come.There's one hill called the Chicken, &nb sp; And one called Catacomb;There's the hill of Kerosene, &... More About: Rado
Modern Love
2007-09-04 02:24:00 Personals Poemby Hank EdsonLast week I posted the poem I wrote for my wife for our wedding. This week, I'm posting the poem I included on my personals profile to find her! Welcome to the 21st century when poets blog poetry composed in the pursuit of internet romance.I'm a smart, liberal, funny, engaging, together man who will surprise you, touch your soul, look you in the eye, open the different doors of my heart when you knock on them, give you all the space you need, and independently create my own entertainment without hoarding it all to myself. I'm unrestrained in my smile and my affection. I do not try to conceal my essential goofiyness but am also perfectly capable of being focused, adroit, poised, gracious, serious. Challenge me and I will respond honorably. I am committed to stand against cynicism. I am talented in the sublime and the ridiculous. I believe in social responsibility, childwise play, risks advanced for beauty and truth, and the in... More About: Love , Modern
Early song posting cuz I'm Going Out of Town!
2007-08-30 00:15:00 All I Really Want to Do by Bob DylanI ain't lookin' to compete with you,Beat or cheat or mistreat you,Simplify you, classify you,Deny, defy or crucify you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.No, and I ain't lookin' to fight with you,Frighten you or uptighten you,Drag you down or drain you down,Chain you down or bring you down.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I ain't lookin' to block you upShock or knock or lock you up,Analyze you, categorize you,Finalize you or advertise you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I don't want to straight-face you,Race or chase you, track or trace you,Or disgrace you or displace you,Or define you or confine you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I don't want to meet your kin,Make you spin or do you in,Or select you or dissect you,Or inspect you or reject you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I don't want to fake ... More About: Song , Town , Early , Posti , Earl
Early song posting cuz I'm Going Out of Town!
2007-08-30 00:15:00 All I Really Want to Do by Bob DylanI ain't lookin' to compete with you,Beat or cheat or mistreat you,Simplify you, classify you,Deny, defy or crucify you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.No, and I ain't lookin' to fight with you,Frighten you or uptighten you,Drag you down or drain you down,Chain you down or bring you down.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I ain't lookin' to block you upShock or knock or lock you up,Analyze you, categorize you,Finalize you or advertise you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I don't want to straight-face you,Race or chase you, track or trace you,Or disgrace you or displace you,Or define you or confine you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I don't want to meet your kin,Make you spin or do you in,Or select you or dissect you,Or inspect you or reject you.All I really want to doIs, baby, be friends with you.I don't want to fake ... More About: Song , Town , Early , Posti , Earl
Speak for Yourself, W.H.!
2007-08-29 18:10:00 Law Like Love by W. H. AudenLaw, say the gardeners, is the sun,Law is the oneAll gardeners obeyTo-morrow, yesterday, to-day.Law is the wisdom of the old,The impotent grandfathers feebly scold;The grandchildren put out a treble tongue,Law is the senses of the young.Law, says the priest with a priestly look,Expounding to an unpriestly people,Law is the words in my priestly book,Law is my pulpit and my steeple.Law, says the judge as he looks down his nose,Speak ing clearly and most severely,Law is as I've told you before,Law is as you know I suppose,Law is but let me explain it once more,Law is The Law.Yet law-abiding scholars write:Law is neither wrong nor right,Law is only crimesPunished by places and by times,Law is the clothes men wearAnytime, anywhere,Law is Good morning and Good night.Others say, Law is our Fate;Others say, Law is our State;Others say, others sayLaw is no more,Law has gone away.And always the loud angry crowd,Very angry and ve...
Wedding Day Poem
More articles from this author:2007-08-27 05:23:00 To Ingrid I wrote this poem for my wife for our wedding. I'm glad to post it as the first poem of this blog.Who crossing kingdoms arch and arid Wandered parched and waited emptyWho sometimes faltered, barely lucidLost in dreams of places where heDrank her kindness like precious liquidWho thus took strength from reverie And headed straight where once was timid~Who followed faithful destiny? I did. & nbsp; To Ingrid. Who holding close her spirit kindredLet go of pain and long regretWho lost in thought and lying languidTook comfort from her silhouette Who found his soul completely nakedMoved by the love that he had metWho in the quiet night where we hidTold his heart’s most deepest secret? I did. & nbsp; To Ingrid. Who consulted the wisest druidSeeking to make himself worthyWishing to give her something splendidA threshold to eternity... More About: Wedding , Poem 1, 2 |
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