ASF Poetry Thread

2020hindsight · 31 July 2007

I found a great quote on the internet, which I include as a jpeg - that you place your hand in the ocean and you are linked around the world to all oceans.

So I figured that Shakepeare should have included that in Romeo and Juliet for instance - maybe Juliet goes hiome to Naples, and Romeo stays in Sydney.

The following is an exchange of emails - btw Juliet is marginally more romantic that Romeo.

email sent 1.00 am from Juliet to Romeo

"If you want to know how much I love you ,
though we're half a world apart,
how I envy the winds above you
and how fierce the flames in my heart
..
go at six to the ocean today,
place your gentle hand deep in the brine
and I'll do the same thing half a world away
.....
and you'll feel the warmth of mine"

If you think that's romantic - wait till you hear Romeo - sheesh.
Reply follows next post

2020hindsight · 31 July 2007

email, Romeo to Juliet , 2.00am

Ahh it's bound to be global warming
or a whale did a piss or a fart,
but I've sent off a carrier pigeon
to bring you a raspberry tart

you want to know how much I've missed you?
with mine eyes - (and mine hands and my mind)? -
it's a year since they've seen you or kissed you
and they're starting to go bloody blind.!!

PS Others in this sequence

:- https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=88177&highlight=capulet#post88177

2020hindsight · 3 August 2007

HOW SPECIAL WAS JESUS (Are you more than just abject conjecture)

that he lived for a fact is for certain
that he died is for certain a fact
had more gags than a young Richard Burton
and his gigs on the mountain were packed
and as usual Israel was hurtin’
and as usual Caesar lacked tact
but two questions!? at first and last curtain
was he bankrolled and big daddy backed.?

we know he could handle his chisels
we know he could make dovetail joints
could he rustle up loaves when he whistled?
did those tales of the dove make his point?
hey Jesus this bar-bq sizzles!
and there’s water-to-wine to anoint
we are left sitting cross eyed and quizzled
did big daddy this son-god appoint?

how special was Jesus ( its scary)
no daddy on earth - wow, how rare
we know he was reared by young Mary
cripes - birth without sex - how unfair!
I’m sorry I’m just a bit wary
cos bonks unremembered abound
his DNA could be quite lairy
but DNA tests weren’t around

oh God it’s a heavyweight lecture
you ask us in good faith to swallow
that you’re more than just abject conjecture
and we all should drop nets and just follow?
since I can’t detain or detect you
I need to see facts that aren’t hollow
until then my soul has “rainchecked” you
as unlikely as sungod Apollo.

if you wander through biblical text
there are lessons within and without
what applies in this world or the next
and what’s with or without any doubt
how today to treat man on the street
or to pray for ourselves after death
how to hear while our heart has a beat
how to fear with our own final breath

He taught to forget and forgive
and not be the first to cast stones
I reckon it’s true as I live
that Jesus and Gandhi were clones
- if reincarnated reliving
he flew down to earth on his throne
he’d say that the rest was misgiving
and he’d settle a heap of unknowns

a child that with water is branded
must follow MEN’s ideas of “church”
next country new laws are demanded
this child there is left in the lurch
hence rather than see a child stranded
and wing-clipped on some man-made perch
I’d encourage that young soul just landed
to fly all the skies of the earth

- and find mother nature, such beauty awaits ys
and don’t take the bait if some mad bishop baits ya
include ALL the skies in your search

and oaks more or less that so rigidly guess
are kinda inclined to look strange you’ll confess
.. just watch robin’s making their beautiful nest
in the flexing branch of the birch.

and oaks you'll confess that so rigidly guess
are leading the world to some mad A-bomb mess
who will shoot at another they think of as less
..... just flex with the beautful birch

…………..
to make your soul bigger, let go of that trigger
and find in your Bible a concept that’s mega !!....

try washing the feet of some poor homeless beggar !!!
....choose biblical gems to research
(and beggar the self-centred rest.)

2020hindsight · 4 August 2007

2020hindsight said:
(and beggar the self-centred rest.)

and go with the tide that is ...........................................................right! justified!
you’re left............................... with an attitude ........... broad as it’s ............. wide
........................................and beggar the self centred rest.....................................

2020hindsight · 5 August 2007

Time is not a line, but a series of now points.
- Taisen Deshimaru

THE NOW POINTS OF TIME

I like to ask questions like “why”
of a turtle or towering pine
like a telescope trained in the sky
looking out for some heavenly sign
if “time”’s just some “now points” – wide spaced - and
it never is, was, will be “line”
I would like hourglass grains interlaced
with a million milestones of mine.

I like to ask questions like "how"
pausing (microsope mode) at a leaf
and I savour the “gee” and the “wow”
or humour some futile belief
I frequently listen and touch
and with all these new “now points” enlisted
I hope they’re much closer as such
than they’d be if I simply "existed".

Shall I pause at some bush cathedral
lined with gums by some architect rare?
of some pyramid rock penta-hedral
for Egyptian monks to compare?
do I savour each moment each second
so the ‘now points’ can merge much increased?
so my time line on earth when it’s reckoned
will emerge as some dashes at least?

remember each second, of life force that's beckoned
fullfilling my last if not least milestone reckoned
on my highway - due west to high priest.

springhill · 5 August 2007

Too much intellect in this thread for me! How about some novel completions of this old limerick favourite?

There once was a man from Nantuckit,
.....

springhill · 5 August 2007

There once was a man from Nantuckit,
Who bought KFC by the bucket,
His stomach grew big,
Like a lazy, fat pig,
But he didnt care, he said f**k it!

Dont blame me, blame :alcohol:

2020hindsight · 5 August 2007

there once was man from Nantucket
who believed if the "law of the bucket"
if the **** hits the fan
the very best plan
is to hide under buckets - or duck it

yep - lol - theres a few words rhyme with 'tuck' m8

2020hindsight · 5 August 2007

there once was a man from Nantucket
who kept a pet hen in a bucket
and locked it at home
- cos the damned thing would roam
and the rooster next door used to peck it

2020hindsight · 6 August 2007

This is called blatant plagiarism - best if you sing along with Sting here.

starts off somewhat romantic, ends up a bit pessimistic , Global Warming etc ( sorry

) - in any case, the sun's gonna burn out one day

To those of you (other) hopeless idiots who might have likened the annual orbit or earth around sun - together with the moon spinning the earth 13 times in the process , and always facing the earth - to a waltz on a gigantic dancefloor, (incidentally 1000 light seconds across

, radius 8 light minutes if you prefer - light from the sun is 8 minutes old , a sunrise actually "happened" 8 minutes before you see it, etc) ....

here are the original Sting lyrics, and also the "alternative lyrics".
capitals indicate emphasis - seriously amateur as usual - but maybe you'll enjoy the music at least .. :2twocents

chansw said:
"Until" - Sting
(THE WORLD'S OLDEST LESSON IN HISTORY?)

if I caught the World in a bottle
and Everything was Still beneath the Moon
withOut your love would it Shine for me?
if I was smart as Aristotle
and Understood the Rings around the Moon
what Would it all matter if You loved me?

here in your Arms where the World is impossibly Still
with a Million dreams to fulFill
and a Matter of moments unTil the dancing ends
here in your Arms when Everything seems to be Clear
not a Solitary thing would i Fear
exCept when this moment comes Near the dancing's end

if I caught the World in an hourglass
Saddled up the Moon so we could Ride
unTil the Stars grew Dim, unTil...

One day You’ll meet a stranger
and All the noise is Silenced in the room
you’ll Feel that you're close to some Mystery
in the Moonlight and Everything shatters
you Feel as if you’ve Known her all your life
the World’s oldest lesson in History

here in your Arms where the World is impossibly Still
with a Million dreams to fulFill
and a Matter of moments unTil the dancing ends
here in your Arms when Everything seems to be Clear
not a Solitary thing do i Fear
exCept when this moment comes Near the dancing’s end

oh, if I caught the World in an Hourglass
Saddled up the Moon and we would Ride
unTil the Stars grew Dim
unTil the Time that Time stands Still, unTil...

2020hindsight said:
gotta feeling this is a fast waltz
great song posted by chainsw back there
Sting - Until
https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=93780&highlight=sting#post93780

THE WORLD'S NEWEST LESSON IN HISTORY

if I caught the World in a bottle
and Introduced a Dancing partner, moon
then Played a song would they Dance for me?
if I was smart as Aristotle
and Understood the Rings around the Moon
what Would it all matter – they Danced for me!!

guitar in Arms, and the World and the moon dancing Still
with their Millions of dreamers and thrills
and a Million millennia Till the dancing ends,
here on this Floor, when Everything’s whirring aRound
not a Solitary thing would i Fear
exCept when this moment comes Near the dancing's end....

if I caught the World in an hourglass
Saddled up the Moon so they could Waltz
unTil the Stars grew Dim, unTil...

One day Earth will get stranger
and Sun will cease to Play its dancing Tune
all too Tired of life and the Mystery
on that Day then Everything shatters
you Feel as if you’ve Reached the end of Life
the World’s newest lesson in History

guitar in Arms, and the World and the moon dancing Still
with their Millions of dreamers and thrills
and a Million millennia Till the dancing ends,
here on this Floor, when Everything’s whirring aRound
not a Solitary thing do i Fear
exCept when this moment comes Near the dancing's end

oh, if I caught the World in an hourglass
Saddled up the Moon so they could waltz
unTil the Stars grew Dim,
unTil the Time that Time stands Still, unTil...

2020hindsight · 7 August 2007

MORE LIKELY FIND PEACE THAN WAR

there's no problem people enquiring,
into what is behind God's door,
there's no problem people aspiring,
to nobler deeds than before,
there's no problem people admiring,
the WHOLE world - and tolerate more,
more likely find troubles less tiring,
more likely find friend and not flaw.
.........
more likely find peace and not war.

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

The Voyeur

Reading a poem from the book Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows by Rob McKuen

This kid found this book in a thrift store - "Boy Meets Book"

shows you how a poem can get to someone I guess :2twocents

noirua · 12 August 2007

The speakers on my computer are not working,
tried the headphones, the sponge found crumbling
and nay sound cometh from them either and curse
have found no way to get them going, all very sad.

Have tried all advice, BIOS and everything suggested
and no sound cometh from them at all, oh what to do
and then another suggestion and every effort be made
and again no sound, cannot hear 2020's posts, despair.

"My blasted speakers won't work", by noirua

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

noi - you talk about despair !? - lol . I try to enrol in city2surf last Tuesday - only to be told that they are limiting this year ( forst time) to 64,000 - and enrolments closed the day before. rats.

Speaking of despair, and further to that song "Anthem" - the longing for homeland by an emigrant - here's a poem I found on the wall of a certain restaurant in Adelaide (I'm sure many will recognise it

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=188944&highlight=korberg#post188944
when you get your headphones going - check out Tommy Korberg m8 - the song, the words, the presentation are just fantastic!.
Here's another version:- (good, and puts it in contaxt - but Tommy is GREAT!

)
Josh Groban-Anthem

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

Back to the "Voyeur" post for a sec , extract from "Book Meets Girl" poem (posted way back) - he picked up that book in thrift store.

It went on sale exceeding fast, the cheapest there, ten cents
a little boy was walking past, and spied it through the fence
and book and boy were both aghast, their first sight love intense,
and ten cents later, die was cast on all that's happened hence"

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

back to south aus emigrants

Jolly Rogers, South Australia
Jolly Rogers, Curvy Girls

http://www.chivalry.com/jollyrogers/
chivalry . com ? lol
funny bugas anyway
anyway, an american "band" has picked up on "Bound for Sth Aus", a genuine sea shanty :2twocents

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

Jolly Rogers, Haul Away to Botany Bay

Strong similarities to "Bound for South Aus" - the original ?

Heave her up and haul away
Underway for Botany Bay
We're bound for Australia etc ??

Plenty more humourous songs/ sea shanties there
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jolly+rogers

e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enWUGEnz48E&NR=1 Jolly Rogers, A Port in Every Girl
etc

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

Further to Emigrant's longing .... http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/w...amLindsay/verse/Miscellaneous/tomysister.html

Incidentally, I have a letter written by my great-great-grandfather to my great-grandfather... wishing him well as he sets off to Australia mid 1800's
In it he says (paraphrased)

"If I had a hundred sons I would send them all to the southern hemisphere - either Van Dieman's Land, or Natal. England is sinking - not by the efforts of a foreign power (having got out of the clutches of France / Napolean etc in recent memory at that time) - but by our own efforts... " etcetc

The following verse follows from the fact that he (back to Adam Lindsay GOrdon

) proposed to a girl as he was almost about to board the boat - adding that he would rip up his ticket - she turned away , albeit with tears in her eyes)

Her cheek grew pale, in her dark eye I saw the tear-drop shine;
Her red lips faltered in reply, And then were pressed to mine.
A quick pulsation of the heart! A flutter of the breath!
A smothered sob—and thus we part, To meet no more till death.

TO MY SISTER
Adam Lindsay Gordon

ACROSS the trackless seas I go, No matter when or where,
And few my future lot will know, And fewer still will care.
My hopes are gone, my time is spent, I little heed their loss,
And if I cannot feel content, I cannot feel remorse.

My parents bid me cross the flood, My kindred frowned at me;
They say I have belied my blood, And stained my pedigree.
But I must turn from those who chide, And laugh at those who frown;
I cannot quench my stubborn pride, Nor keep my spirits down.

I once had talents fit to win Success in life’s career,
And if I chose a part of sin, My choice has cost me dear.
But those who brand me with disgrace Will scarcely dare to say
They spoke the taunt before my face, And went unscathed away.

My friends will miss a comrade’s face, And pledge me on the seas,
Who shared the wine-cup or the chase, Or follies worse than these.
A careless smile, a parting glass, A hand that waves adieu,
And from my sight they soon will pass, And from my memory too.

I loved a girl not long ago, And, till my suit was told,
I thought her breast as fair as snow, ’Twas very near as cold;
And yet I spoke, with feelings more Of recklessness than pain,
Those words I never spoke before, Nor never shall again.

Her cheek grew pale, in her dark eye I saw the tear-drop shine;
Her red lips faltered in reply, And then were pressed to mine.
A quick pulsation of the heart! A flutter of the breath!
A smothered sob—and thus we part, To meet no more till death.

And yet I may at times recall Her memory with a sigh;
At times for me the tears may fall And dim her sparkling eye.
But absent friends are soon forgot, And in a year or less
’Twill doubtless be another’s lot Those very lips to press!

With adverse fate we best can cope When all we prize has fled;
And where there’s little left to hope, There’s little left to dread!
Oh, time glides ever quickly by! Destroying all that’s dear;
On earth there’s little worth a sigh, And nothing worth a tear!

What fears have I? What hopes in life? What joys can I command?
A few short years of toil and strife In a strange and distant land!
When green grass sprouts above this clay (And that might be ere long),
Some friends may read these lines and say, The world has judged him wrong.

There is a spot not far away Where my young sister sleeps,
Who seems alive but yesterday, So fresh her memory keeps;
For we have played in childhood there Beneath the hawthorn’s bough,
And bent our knee in childish prayer I cannot utter now!

Of late so reckless and so wild, That spot recalls to me
That I was once a laughing child, As innocent as she;
And there, while August’s wild flow’rs wave, I wandered all alone,
Strewed blossoms on her little grave, And knelt beside the stone.

I seem to have a load to bear, A heavy, choking grief;
Could I have forced a single tear I might have felt relief.
I think my hot and restless heart Has scorched the channels dry,
From which those sighs of sorrow start To moisten cheek and eye.

Sister, farewell! farewell once more To every youthful tie!
Friends! parents! kinsmen! native shore! To each and all good-bye!
And thoughts which for the moment seem To bind me with a spell,
Ambitious hope! love’s boyish dream! To you a last farewell!

2020hindsight · 12 August 2007

Speaking of which .. how's this for a beautiful poem, for a man in reflective mood .. (btw he ended up in Sth Aus initially at least ) - he seemed to spend a lot of time looking at the sea

- hence maybe the "life is mostly froth and bubble " quote
http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/w.../verse/SeaSpraySmokeDrift/quarefatigasti.html

QUARE FATIGASTI
Adam Lindsay Gordon

Two years ago I was thinking
On the changes that years bring forth;
Now I stand where I then stood drinking
The gust and the salt sea froth;
And the shuddering wave strikes, linking
With the waves subsiding and sinking,
And clots the coast herbage, shrinking,
With the hue of the white cere-cloth.

Is there aught worth losing or keeping?
The bitters or sweets men quaff?
The sowing or the doubtful reaping?
The harvest of grain or chaff?
Or squandering days or heaping,
Or waking seasons or sleeping,
The laughter that dries the weeping,
Or the weeping that drowns the laugh?

For joys wax dim and woes deaden,
We forget the sorrowful biers,
And the garlands glad that have fled in
The merciful march of years;
And the sunny skies, and the leaden,
And the faces that pale or redden,
And the smiles that lovers are wed in
Who are born and buried in tears.

And the myrtle bloom turns hoary,
And the blush of the rose decays,
And sodden with sweat and gory
Are the hard won laurels and bays;
We are neither joyous nor sorry
When time has ended our story,
And blotted out grief and glory,
And pain, and pleasure, and praise.

Weigh justly, throw good and bad in
The scales, will the balance veer
With the joys or the sorrows had in
The sum of a life’s career?
In the end, spite of dreams that sadden
The sad or the sanguine madden,
There is nothing to grieve or gladden,
There is nothing to hope or fear.

“Thou hast gone astray,” quoth the preacher,
“In the gall of thy bitterness,”
Thou hast taught me in vain, oh, teacher!
I neither blame thee nor bless;
If bitter is sure and sweet sure,
These vanish with form and feature—
Can the creature fathom the creature,
Whose Creator is fathomless?

Is this dry land sure? Is the sea sure?
Is there aught that shall long remain,
Pain, or peril, or pleasure,
Pleasure, or peril, or pain?
Shall we labour or take our leisure,
And who shall inherit treasure,
If the measure with which we measure
Is meted to us again?

I am slow in learning and swift in
Forgetting, and I have grown
So weary with long sand sifting;
T’wards the mist where the breakers moan
The rudderless bark is drifting,
Through the shoals and the quicksands shifting—
In the end shall the night-rack lifting,
Discover the shores unknown?

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