What Poetry Moved You?

[lemon]

morning (love sonnet XXVII)

 

naked you are simple as one of your hands;

smooth, earthy, small, transparent, round.

you've moon-lines, apple pathways

naked you are slender as a naked grain of wheat.

 

naked you are blue as a night in Cuba;

you've vines and stars in your hair.

naked you are spacious and yellow

as summer in a golden church.

 

naked you are tiny as one of your nails;

curved, subtle, rosy, till the day is born

and you withdraw to the underground world.

 

as if down a long tunnel of clothing and of chores;

your clear light dims, gets dressed, drops its leaves,

and becomes a naked hand again.

 

ahhh, neruda... no one can perk up an otherwise gloomy morning better than you!

[clam_eater]

correction lang: "relay to me ye verse" dapat

prose ay short stories, novels, works of fiction.

verse tula

[nyok]

and this is my happy ending by kevin staniec

[oropesa]

When the Cat Stole the Milk

 

Well there it is. There's nothing to do.

The cat steals the milk and it's gone.

Then the cat steals you, and you're found

Days later, with milk on your face.

 

That implies that you become whoever

Steals. The trees steal a man,

And an old birch become his wife

And they live together in the woods.

 

Some of us have always wanted

God to steal us. Then our friends

Would call each other, and print

Posters, and we would never be found.

 

--Robert Bly

--------------

 

so there's nothing to do

but wait for someone

to steal you.

[azayco]

to a young child

by Gerald Manley Hopkins

 

Márgarét, áre you gr’eving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves, like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Áh! ás the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

And yet you w’ll weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sórrow's spríngs áre the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It is the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for.

[lemon]

the awakening

 

in the early dawn of happiness

you gave me three kisses

so that i would wake up

to this moment of love

 

i tried to remember in my heart

what I’d dreamt about

during the night

before i became aware

of this moving

of life

 

i found my dreams

but the moon took me away

it lifted me up to the firmament

and suspended me there

i saw how my heart had fallen

on your path

singing a song

 

between my love and my heart

things were happening which

slowly slowly

made me recall everything

 

you amuse me with your touch

although i can’t see your hands.

you have kissed me with tenderness

although I haven’t seen your lips

you are hidden from me.

 

but it is you who keeps me alive

 

perhaps the time will come

when you will tire of kisses

i shall be happy

even for insults from you

i only ask that you

keep some attention on me.

 

 

today's daily dose of rumi

[lemon]

life & death

 

look at love

how it tangles

with the one fallen in love

 

look at spirit

how it fuses with earth

giving it new life

 

why are you so busy

with this or that or good or bad

pay attention to how things blend

 

why talk about all

the known and the unknown

see how the unknown merges into the known

 

why think seperately

of this life and the next

when one is born from the last

 

look at your heart and tongue

one feels but deaf and dumb

the other speaks in words and signs

 

look at water and fire

earth and wind

enemies and friends all at once

 

the wolf and the lamb

the lion and the deer

far away yet together

 

look at the unity of this

spring and winter

manifested in the equinox

 

you too must mingle my friends

since the earth and the sky

are mingled just for you and me

 

be like sugarcane

sweet yet silent

don't get mixed up with bitter words

 

my beloved grows

right out of my own heart

how much more union can there be

 

yan para sa 'yo... di yan ksp si rumi. the poor man's wife died when he wrote that. peace, sheila!

[baratobama]

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

 

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

 

In the fell clutch of Circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of Chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

 

ooo000ooo

 

Nothing like a classic to get you going.

[naked_angel]

TAGUBILIN AT HABILIN

Ni Jose F. Lacaba

 

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!

Mabuhay ka!

Iyan ang una't huli kong

Tagubilin at habilin:

Mabuhay ka!

 

Sa edad kong ito, marami akong maibibigay na payo.

Mayaman ako sa payo.

 

Maghugas ka ng kamay bago kumain.

Maghugas ka ng kamay pagkatapos kumain.

Pero huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay para lang makaiwas sa sisi.

Huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay kung may inaapi

Na kaya mong tulungan.

 

Paupuin sa bus ang matatanda at ang mga may kalong na sanggol.

Magpasalamat sa nagmamagandang-loob.

Matuto sa karanasan ng matatanda

Pero huwag magpatali sa kaisipang makaluma.

 

Huwag piliting matulog kung ayaw kang dalawin ng antok.

Huwag pag-aksayahan ng panahon ang walang utang na loob.

Huwag makipagtalo sa bobo at baka ka mapagkamalang bobo.

Huwag bubulong-bulong sa mga panahong kailangang sumigaw.

 

Huwag kang manalig sa bulung-bulungan.

Huwag kang papatay-patay sa ilalim ng pabitin.

Huwag kang tutulog-tulog sa pansitan.

 

Umawit ka kung nag-iisa sa banyo.

Umawit ka sa piling ng barkada.

Umawit ka kung nalulungkot.

Umawit ka kung masaya.

 

Ingat lang.

 

Huwag kang aawit ng “My Way” sa videoke bar at baka ka mabaril.

Huwag kang magsindi ng sigarilyo sa gasolinahan.

Dahan-dahan sa matatarik na landas.

Dahan-dahan sa malulubak na daan.

 

Higit sa lahat, inuulit ko:

 

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!

Mabuhay ka!

Iyan ang una't huli kong

Tagubilin at habilin:

Mabuhay ka!

 

Maraming bagay sa mundo na nakakadismaya.

Mabuhay ka.

Maraming problema ang mundo na wala na yatang lunas.

Mabuhay ka.

 

Sa hirap ng panahon, sa harap ng kabiguan,

Kung minsan ay gusto mo nang mamatay.

Gusto mong maglaslas ng pulso kung sawi sa pag-ibig.

Gusto mong uminom ng lason kung wala nang makain.

Gusto mong magbigti kung napakabigat ng mga pasanin.

Gusto mong pasabugin ang bungo mo kung maraming gumugulo sa utak.

 

Huwag kang patatalo. Huwag kang susuko.

 

Narinig mo ang sinasabi ng awitin:

“Gising at magbangon sa pagkagupiling,

Sa pagkakatulog na lubhang mahimbing.”

Gumising ka kung hinaharana ka ng pag-ibig.

Bumangon ka kung nananawagan ang kapuspalad.

 

Ang sabi ng iba: “Ang matapang ay walang-takot lumaban.”

Ang sabi ko naman: Ang tunay na matapang ay lumalaban

Kahit natatakot.

 

Lumaban ka kung inginungodngod ang nguso mo sa putik.

Bumalikwas ka kung tinatapak-tapakan ka.

Buong-tapang mong ipaglaban ang iyong mga prinsipyo

Kahit hindi ka sigurado na agad-agad kang mananalo.

 

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!

Mabuhay ka!

Iyan ang una't huli kong

Tagubilin at habilin:

Mabuhay ka!

[lemon]

if you were coming in the fall,

i’d brush the summer by

with half a smile and half a spurn,

as housewives do a fly.

 

if i could see you in a year,

i’d wind the months in balls,

and put them each in separate drawers,

until their time befalls.

 

if only centuries delayed,

i’d count them on my hand,

subtracting till my fingers dropped

into van diemen’s land.

 

if certain, when this life was out,

that yours and mine should be,

i’d toss it yonder like a rind,

and taste eternity.

 

but now, all ignorant of the length

of time’s uncertain wing,

it goads me, like the goblin bee,

that will not state its sting.

 

 

emily dickinson always explains a woman... or is it a man?

[oropesa]

A Love Poem

 

In this way sick

on top the tree

is what I always wanted.

 

In this way when a tree

inexplicably makes danger

and horribly becomes a tree

is the exciting thing.

 

Put your hand on my forehead

as if it were my own hand.

 

In this way being always

what I wanted in sickness

your hand now says:

 

on your forehead

I am inexplicably the tree:

 

in this way I am danger

understood as if by your own hand

necessary and exciting.

 

 

- Alex Gregorio

***

found here

[lemon]

i've dropped my brain -- my soul is numb --

the veins that used to run

stop palsied -- 'tis paralysis

done perfecter on stone

 

vitality is carved and cool.

my nerve in marble lies --

a breathing woman

yesterday -- endowed with paradise.

 

not dumb -- i had a sort that moved --

a sense that smote and stirred --

instincts for dance -- a caper part --

an aptitude for bird --

 

who wrought carrara in me

and chiselled all my tune

were it a witchcraft -- were it death --

i've still a chance to strain

 

to being, somewhere -- motion -- breath --

though centuries beyond,

and every limit a decade --

i'll shiver, satisfied.

 

 

 

weird emily once more... reading minds.

[mystiquegirl999]

i just love this one. it reminds me that sometimes taking risks makes all the difference in our lives.

 

The Road not Taken by Robert Frost

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

 

Then took the other as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same

 

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet, knowing how way leads onto way

I doubted if I should ever come back

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood

And I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference

[ButtChicKick]

Still Waiting

By Shannon M. Snyder

 

 

Tomorrow comes, tomorrow goes.

I'm still waiting on my toes.

Holding every breath, not thinking twice.

Time goes so slow, it never flies.

I'm just waiting to hold you again.

I pray it will happen, but I don't know when.

You're so far away from me.

I hear your voice in my head, but your face I can't see.

I'm holding on with all that I've got. my body's growing weak, but my heart is not.

I cry myself to sleep wondering where you are.

I wonder if you're wondering about me, looking at the same bright star.

heaven knows we are meant to be.

no one else will ever complete me.

you are my heart, my soul, and everything in between.

I know I can't see the future, but I wish this could be seen.

I would look to see how our children would grow.

and how we look when we're old, moving so slow.

I would laugh at how in love we still are.

and the boat you drive that you call your car.

but I can't see the future, deep down I wonder if you'll even come back.

I hate myself for thinking it, but sometimes my heart is black.

the only thing I've ever wanted is you.

it's funny that you're the one thing I can't hold onto.

I watch you slide from out of my grip.

I cry inside, my hole world starts to slip.

I know I'll make it, I'll be ok.

one more day without you, what's another day?

I will still wait, I know you'll come back.

I won't let myself doubt it, I won't let myself crack.

tomorrow comes, tomorrow goes.

I'm still here waiting on my toes.

holding every breath, not thinking twice.

time goes so slow, it never flies.

[mwah]

A favorite from my HS days.

 

 

Build Me a Son

General Douglas A. MacArthur

 

Build me a son, O Lord,

who will be strong enough to know when he is weak,

and brave enough to face him self when he is afraid;

one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat,

and humble and gentle in victory.

 

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be

where his backbone should be;

a son who will know Thee- and that

to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

 

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort,

but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.

Here, let him learn to stand up in the storm;

here, let him team compassion for those who fall.

 

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high;

a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men;

one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep;

one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

 

And after all these things are his,

add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor,

so that he may always be serious,

yet never take himself too seriously.

 

Give him humility, so that he may always remember

the simplicity of true greatness,

the open mind of true wisdom,

the meekness of true strength.

 

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper,

"I have not lived in vain."