To David, About His Education

The world is full of mostly invisible things,
And there is no way but putting the mind’s eye,
Or its nose, in a book, to find them out,
Things like the square root of Everest
Or how many times Byron goes into Texas,
Or whether the law of the excluded middle
Applies west of the Rockies. For these
And the like reasons, you have to go to school
And study books and listen to what you are told,
And sometimes try to remember. Though I don’t know
What you will do with the mean annual rainfall
On Plato’s Republic, or the calorie content
Of the Diet of Worms, such things are said to be
Good for you, and you will have to learn them
In order to become one of the grown-ups
Who sees invisible things neither steadily nor whole,
But keeps gravely the grand confusion of the world
Under his hat, which is where it belongs,
And teaches small children to do this in their turn.

poem by Howard Nemerov
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Paradise on the Rocks

I dwell in the mountains up high
Higher than the Petronas yet shy of Everest
In the land of the precious stones and rich shores
In the gold coast where the freedom for the black star began
In the land of oil and of greens where nature still lives
Love and freedom in this land are twins

Down the heights the people trade and mine
Men and birds soar over the rocky slopes with wings spread
As a hairy man, trees and grass cover nearly his entire face
Seen smiling he is, always, with eyes gleaming
The top of his head though not bald is clothed in white
Cloudy, misty and foggy intertwined with every branch

Up there, the air is pure and the herbs life
The ground is rich and the water mineral
The wind symphonic and the feels, oh dear, freezing…
This is where I dwell; this is where I am alive
My little place of harmony, my haven
I call this my paradise…my pied-à-terre

poem by Nicholas Boateng
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My Master

Excellent my master thou art
rebuking and pacifying me at a time
asking me to sit down and stand still
and making me kneel down at a time.

shedding me tears in my eyes
giving me a smile on my lips
at a time asking me to be furious
I can not make sure, what to do?

Praising sometime for unwarranted deeds
telling sometime me a greatest fool
sometime showing me a splendid castle
at a time telling me your cottage is better

Giving me a lesson of universal kind
asking me the answer of selfish kind
Thou art my master
tell me what to say?

[...] Read more

poem by Ramesh Rai
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My wishes

I want to live, I want to love,

I want to value someone,

I want to be just brave enough

to tell you how much I love you.

-

I want to value all my friends,

to give them love and joy,

I want to visit merry lands

where no one is annoyed.

[...] Read more

poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska
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This Light

Hear my words oh you men,
Listen to me oh you that have knowledge;
Because i am the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brook;
But naked i came out from my mother's womb.

I am like the boundary between the light and the darkness,
And like precious crystal and the precious onyx;
But the price of wisdom is above rubies!

I am like the precious sapphire and the precious coal,
And my mind is like the path for the lightning bolt;
But my steps are bathed with the cream of love,
And like the precious pearls in the land of your muse.

Listen to me when i speak,
For my council is like Mount Everest far up high! !
And i am the eyes to the blind in the land of joy.

The old men rose and the old women gathered around,
And like a smelter for silver;

[...] Read more

poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Toward Accuracy

We’re high enough that what I call fog might be cloud.
Not Everest high, or Chomuolungma, “Mother Goddess
of the World.” If we named things what they are,
our sentences would be monsoons, long rains of sound.
Morning is “the time I suspect I am a horse,” dusk
“the light which treats our shadows like taffy.”
The number of times my name changes in a day,
from “looking at the world with eyes of wood rasps”
to “feathers have replaced my bones,” rules out
the wearing of name tags: I wear a chalk board,
thesaurus, that book of whispers, of meaning sex.
“There’s a woman who smokes a cigarette
now and then, who picks tobacco off her tongue
as something moves along the fault line
of the horizon, knees pulled to her chest,
her breath wearing a dress of smoke”
is one way I think of you when I think of you.
And when I think of you, “wants to be a candle”
isn’t romantic but accurate, wicked light
leans in, away, writhes to get out of, to leap harder

[...] Read more

poem by Bob Hicok
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Unknown Traveler

(Music: DirkschneiderKaufmannGianola - Words: DirkschneiderKaufmann)
I've passed the lonely gates of Babylon
I've touched the ancient pyramids
I've seen the golden face of Taj Mahal
I've felt the sea of Atlantis
I've counted bricks along the China Wall
I've rode the Slopes Of Kathmandu
I've tasted all the rocks of Everest
To the mountains of the moon
I've seen it all
Through time and matter
No more retreat and no more defeat
So hear the call
The final battle
I'm under attack - I want to come back
I am the unknown traveler - always on the move
I am the unknown traveler
I am the unknown traveler - always on the move
I am the unknown traveler
I've joined the table back in Camelot

[...] Read more

song performed by U. D. O.
Added by Lucian Velea
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Brave Officials Like Us

We sit in the cold of the North Pole with
air-con on freezing, stoically wrapped in
our blankets and wearing wool socks with
thick-soled shoes - not fashion material -
yet we are all here in the open-plan office
except Madame Olympia whose special
enclosure, sound-proof - separate from
the rest on this floor - is empty

We suspect she suffers claustrophobia as
we ourselves would if we sat there, though
she has her own special air-con - can turn
it on warm while we shiver out here; in spite
of our ice-trap, we are here and she does not
even call with an excuse, the psychiatrist will
probably say sensitive people like Madame
Olympia are too good to mix with pioneers

Like us who can work in all conditions - Sir
Hillary would have been proud to have us

[...] Read more

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Old World New World

Natives wearing turquoise and silver
Dirty dogs barking in the distance
People of a thousand tongues
Im learning the primitive rights
Im doing as the romans do
Mt. kalais to mt. everest
Then down to the river ganges
To follow your mighty past
Were learning the primitive rights
Were doing as the romans do
Old world
New world
I know nothing
But Ill keep listening
Cities tumble into the ocean
Cities getting built in the sky
Now were talking digital
Were learning the primitive rights
Were doing as the romans do
Millions playing at monopoly

[...] Read more

song performed by INXS
Added by Lucian Velea
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Four Words

Four beautiful words
Delicately summarizing
A close captioned response
To the Mount Everest of obstacles
Inherently surmounting
The Predestined athletes
Untrained to the Olympics
Of the human condition
Xenophobic retributions
While finding solace in the dog race
In the rewards that there are four words
Worth more than silver, bronze and gold

Four simple words
Hurdling as radio waves
As a beacon of acoustics
Beyond the ocean of infinity
Providing a dosage of serenity
For the occupants in space ships
Recycling dormant relations

[...] Read more

poem by Kevin Patrick
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If you never stand in glory

If you never stand in glory
If you never find 15 minutes of fame
I will tell your story
I’ll stand up and chant your name

If you measure yourself
With your own hands
If you don’t make excuses
If you do the best you can

You’ll be my hero
The heart, young one
Is the measure of the man.

If you don’t break the record
But yet you run the race
If you give it all your effort
And come in second place

If you do the best you can

[...] Read more

poem by Eaton Bard
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Anju oh Anju (Love of Two Continents)

Don't turn your back on me
Turn on your beauty
Sparks the ice in you
Whenever you feel free

Anju you're too good to be true
Your words are your resume
I don't need the others
Just you to feel my blue

When you're sick
I’d don your pain
Nursing you like infant
Is the choice I’d pick

My regurgitating heart
Beating the rhythm of your soul
Sprinkling me with your aroma
Till death do us part

[...] Read more

poem by Sulaiman Mohd Yusof
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Second Creation

No strongest and biggest animal in this universe
No weakest and smallest animal in this universe
Only brave animal in this universe
Only coward animal in this universe
Hands, leg, teeth, fangs, stings and poison were
First creation for fighting and self- defense

This widened a great gap between the strong big
Animals and the weak small animals.
The strength of the weak was in blood and heart
Bullet, blades, tip, shell, clubs, and stick were
Second creation to bridge the gap between them

No more strength no more weakness
Only cowardice and courage now
This second creation changed the laws of universe
From respect or fear the king of men or jungle and beasts
To a new doctrine of:

‘’Through an eye of creator see yourself as a lion

[...] Read more

poem by David Aoloch Bion
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Vincent Van Gogh

As innocent as Vincent was, the world had its effect,
Yet he survived so long because his soul chose to reflect.
For Nature called him to the field where wheat was known to swirl
And Vincent saw great truths revealed in every twist and curl.
As diligent as Vincent dreamed his vivid dreams each night,
He couldn't match the sun that streamed vivacious golden light,
Nor could he match the stars that shone their silver diamond specks,
Until the dawn with darkness gone, when stars go on their treks.
As patiently as Vincent cared, his heart as good as gold,
So rarely were his paintings shared, esteemed, cherished or sold,
Yet he was loath to quit his craft, that stirred his very soul.
He felt the scorn when others laughed, yet yearned to keep control.
As preciously as Vincent's art was hailed beyond his death,
How sad each artist has to be part and breathe his final breath.
How sad to suffer poverty, an outcast, nothing more.
Yet beauty is his legacy, no artist can ignore.
Take note, therefore, of Vincent's life, his tragic treasure trove.
The fiercest fight against his strife, how valiantly he strove.
Each artist has his Everest, the cold, cool ice to climb,
Yet Vincent leaves each heart impressed and that is quite sublime...

[...] Read more

poem by Denis Martindale
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Bagging Kid Charlemagne

You cannot see the upper reaches of Everest
from the base camp, where you acclimatize
with attitude and finger exercises.

In starting your embrace of the peak,
You must move with an almost monotonous precision,
perfecting each phrase, bend, hammer, and lift-off,
owning each measure before moving
across hours to Camp Two,
then Camp Three,
each section with its hurdles and mazes,
your mind bobbing like a pigeon’s head
searching for the path

After Camp Four
and across the Hillary Step
with the Kid’s summit in sight
your fingers fluid and rippling,
repeating impossible runs
until they can be sold as easy,

[...] Read more

poem by Michael Philips
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A Short Story

A wind blows gently in the night, filling the place where I just left. Whistling down the beaten path, through trees that are green and amongst the fallen brush. Is this just wind or is this something else?

The trees bend and bow as the wind gains speed crashing towards me like an animal stalking it’s prey. Faster it comes charging and announcing it’s existence. The wind screams now calling to me, giving me chills.

I turn to run, I don’t want this wind. It will change me. It will mold me. It will fill me. I start to run, banging into trees, as branches slam into me cutting my flesh as I hurry by. The wind does not stop it never breaks course. I hear it closer.

The wind fills my thoughts as I stumble and fall. I look down and see blood streaming from my knee. I get up resilient to the last. I cry out to the Lord for wisdom, but I hear nothing.

I see onlookers scoffing and pointing at me. Some cheer me on as I continue my struggle climbing up what seems like an Everest of a mountain. I look back and see the wind bearing down on me.

I continue forward sprinting with all of my strength. My chest is pounding and my legs are heavy with an aching pain that shoots up and down my whole body.

Ahead is a cliff sharp and rugged. Should I jump or do I accept the wind’s fate for me? I yell out for help and no help comes. I sink to the ground for I am completely broken.

poem by Michael Brown
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Be Liberal to the Disabled and the Disturbed

I sprained my right foot
by hurdling a kick at the back
of a cycle-thief, sitting in Class Sixth.
Unlocked cycles alarmed at his looks.
Over stuffed syllabus didn't scare him.
Everyweek, a girl would cry for her missing cycle.
He would eat free mid-day meals
only on the days at which boiled-eggs served.
One kick made me feel severe pain
but he ignored it and went out to lunch as usual.

I had been meeting doctors one by one,
losing more than a thousand and odd.
Money is for spending and I was not bothered.
But while limping across the Highways
with my swollen foot, I had to give answers
for hundreds of people concealing the cause of injury.
If I raised my hand to stop the speeding bus,
the drivers seemed careless and stopped a little away.
"My God! How the blind and disabled walk along the road

[...] Read more

poem by Rajendran Muthiah
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Hartley Field

And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place . . .
T. S. Eliot

The wind cooled as it crossed the open pond
and drove little waves toward us,
brisk, purposeful waves
that vanished at our feet, such energy
thwarted by so little elevation.
The wind was endless, seamless,
old as the earth.
Insects came
to regard us with favor. I felt them alight,
felt their minute footfalls.
I was a challenge, an Everest . . .

And you, whom I have heard breathe all night,
sigh through the water of sleep
with vestigial gills . . .

[...] Read more

poem by Connie Wanek
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A To Z Ambre Alice Double Best

Art Alice, Ambre, amuse as all attest,
Axel attentive, allegresse.
Beads, burst balloons, boats, sand beach best,
Bath bubbles, birthday double blessed.
Chimps, chips, choosing treasure chest,
Computers, chums, Cannes, Camille, chess.
Dogs, dance dreams, dolls divinely dressed,
Distractions daily, daintiness.
Excitement, Eden, Everest,
Enchantment ever effortless
Evolving energy, endless.
Fortune cookies, fancy dress,
Fairy-tales, friends, festiveness,
Fontaine's Fables, funniness.
Grandma, Grandpa, greeting guests,
Green gardens, gold rings, games to guess.
Gold Moon transformed despite protest.
Hands holding hands in happiness,
Harmony, hopes, healthiness.
Imagination if impressed,

[...] Read more

poem by Jonathan Robin
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Your Family Is Your Responsibility. Be Responsible!

Our village roads are not tarred and concreted,
Red soiled paths leveled and polished by our foot prints,
Our Highways are better, but built by the foreigners,
The town roads are the worst with potholes and hanging wires,
Someone dig the roads for something and leave it,
The people of India walk on the roads as it is,
The way to live the life, in the pitiful style and manner,
Everyone speaks, everyone knows, but no one bothers,
Summer is the time for the nuclear plant of universe to scotch,
At the people of India, who live in huts and slums,
Less than eight feet high to keep the house cool,
Dried Thatched roof allow the rain and light,
People gather the disposed plastics to seal and hide,
Persistent sun rays pierce through the plastic sheets,
Life is not tough for the people who have these abode,
As they have no time to think and cry of their grief,
When the tough life is the real life for them and many,
Tougher they are, to face the challenging destiny,
People on the roads, sea of heads walk with a purpose,
I do not know what that purpose is, but everyone busy,

[...] Read more

poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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