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Poems Quotes

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Poems Quotes

“She could have been there all along, he felt, but for some unknown, unarticulated reason, she had never lifted a finger to put her poems into circulation. It was the thing that had baffled him most about her, for in all other ways Anna was a person who stood up for herself and fought hard for what she believed in, and she knew damned well that her poems were good. Doubts, yes, despairing moments, yes, but what writer or artist doesn’t live in that shifting territory between confidence and self-contempt? The proof was in the fact that she had always shared her poems with him, not because he ever asked her but because she wanted to, either reading them out loud or handing him small sheafs of six or seven at once, and again and again he had responded to her new work by saying it was time to get off her ass and start publishing them, which was invariably followed by a diffident shrug from Anna, who sometimes added “You’re right” or “One of these days” or “We’ll see”, depending on her mood.”

“When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead" When you see millions of the mouthless dead Across your dreams in pale battalions go, Say not soft things as other men have said, That you'll remember. For you need not so. Give them not praise. For, deaf, how should they know It is not curses heaped on each gashed head? Nor tears. Their blind eyes see not your tears flow. Nor honour. It is easy to be dead. Say only this, "They are dead." Then add thereto, "Yet many a better one has died before." Then, scanning all the o'ercrowded mass, should you Perceive one face that you loved heretofore, It is a spook. None wears the face you knew. Great death has made all his for evermore.”

“I serve him because he appreciates being served. He serves me because he’s humble enough to, and I’m his peace. I don’t need to tell him he’s a King because I treat him as such. I respect him enough to let go of all that I once knew. He respects me enough to do the same, to let the world know I’m his peaceful Queen. Fortunately, our lives are full of choices, and God chose us to be together.”

“In case you didn’t know I too went home after the ceremony And replayed the silent pauses of our failed encounter. I thought of a new clever thing I wish I said And you’ll never know it and I won’t know yours. In case you didn’t know I imagine weddings within the first hour of meeting you I felt your peek, but pretended not to look your way I looked you up online and now don’t know where to start That you whispered in my ear and I’ll masturbate To the once hot air on my neck. In case you didn’t know When I turned the corner, I cried. I thought I heard you, too. Maybe both our loved ones Share the same hospital. In case you didn’t know I wore bright colors and made the afternoon men laugh, But tonight I’ll drink to darkness because I have no one. They pay me well, but I only want that other thing— Your poetry, in case I didn’t know.”

“Soldiers were shot outside a poet’s door and a bomber plane was on its way. So he took his manuscript, folded it, and locked it into a tin chest. There was a place east of town where it could be safely buried and found by another someday. He ran out during battle, was shot multiple times in his legs, slithered his way in a swamp of gushing muscle, and alas, could not make it. So, in desperation, he opened up the holes in his stomach and inserted the tin chest where his poems lie safe and died there. One day, a medic will read about birds that chirped on emerald trees.”

“You don’t give up when you can’t give up.” I didn’t write that to sound deep. I wrote it because it was the only thing keeping me alive. My survival chant. The only thing keeping me standing when everything around me said “let go.” I couldn’t give up. I didn’t have the luxury to give up. Not because I’m stronger than most— but because I knew what was at stake. If I gave up, the pain wins. The patterns repeat. The cycle continues. And I refuse to pass that down. So I told myself:
This ends with me. The silence. The suffering. The struggle passed down like inheritance. If I gave up, then my future children— and their children— would be handed the very thing I was born into.
Chains I never asked for. Wounds I never caused. But still carried. I chose to carry that weight, not because I wanted to, but because someone had to. The word “give up” became a curse in my vocabulary. An abomination. A forbidden thought. Because it’s easy to say you won’t give up. It’s a whole different battle to actually not give up— to keep showing up when no one claps, no one helps, no one sees. Some are born into healing because someone before them— a parent, a grandparent, maybe a great-grandparent— chose to fight. Chose to heal. Chose to break the cycle. And some of us? We were born into the battle. But even then— we still get to choose. Why not you? Why not now? What if no one before you ever stopped the pattern? What if nobody handed you peace? Then maybe—just maybe— it’s meant to be you. I did it. Not because I had superhuman strength. But because I refused to surrender. Because I made giving up a sin. Because I looked ahead and saw a generation waiting for me to decide. By pain. By fire. By blood. By scars. By God’s grace— I broke the cycle. And now, I live to tell the story.”

“Love. L.O.V.E. Love. It makes you do so many things. Good things. Bad things. And somehow, we still call it love. We justify it all — The healing, the hurting — In the name of love. But what is love to you? Everyone has their own definition. Some say it's passion. Some say it's loyalty. Some say it's forever. To me? Love is sacrifice. It’s giving up selfishness just to see the one you love happy. Whole. At peace. Love is letting go, trusting that the universe will return all you gave away in the name of it. But let me be clear— Love is not pain. Love is not shrinking yourself just to keep someone else comfortable. Love is not losing who you are just to hold on to someone else. Love is not possessive. It doesn't cage. It doesn’t control. Love doesn’t hurt. Love heals. So the next time you fall in love, make sure you love yourself enough to choose healing over hurting. Peace over chaos. Real over convenient. Because the first real love should always be the one you give yourself.”

“By the time the blooms Unfurl themselves for a few hours of light, the women who tend them Are already at work. Blue. I’ll never know who started the lie that we are lazy, But I’d love to wake that bastard up At foreday in the morning, toss him in a truck, and drive him under God Past every bus stop in America to see all those black folk Waiting to go work for whatever they want.”

“Silence Never Silence never healed the lonely. Silence never comforted the broken hearted. Silence never saved a life. Silence never won an argument with kindness. Silence never healed the poor. Silence never learned compassion. Silence never saw the pain in another. Silence never asked for forgiveness. Silence never felt remorse. Silence never felt empathy. Silence never grew up. Silence never listened to promptings. Silence never resolved a problem. Silence never had closure. Silence never had a conscience. Silence never developed integrity. Silence never knew manners. Silence never learned respect. Silence never matured. Silence never understood that the bible and its stories was God’s way of saying, “Stop being silent and start healing one another.” Silence never realized that Christ was an activist for communication.”

“When you left you left behind a field of silent flowers under a sky full of unstirred clouds...you left a million butterflies mid-silky flutters You left like midnight rain against my dreaming ears Oh and how you left leaving my coffee scentless and my couch comfortless leaving upon my fingers the melting snow of you you left behind a calendar full of empty days and seasons full of aimless wanders leaving me alone with an armful of sunsets your reflection behind in every puddle your whispers upon every curtain your fragrance inside every petal you left your echoes in between the silence of my eyes Oh and how you left leaving my sands footless and my shores songless leaving me with windows full of moistened moonlight nights and nights of only a half-warmed soul and when you left... you left behind a lifetime of moments untouched the light of a million stars unshed and when you left you somehow left my poem...unfinished. (Published in Taj Mahal Review Vol.11 Number 1 June 2012)”

“I really don't like art with a message, unless the message is crystal clear. If you have a message that really needs to be said, just fuckin' say it! Don't hide it in indecipherable lyrics... a sculpture, it's a play, the subtext... just fuckin' say it, 'cause the people who need to hear messages are dumb as shit--the masses of humanity are dumb as shit, and you're really just pandering to your friends. Say what the fuck you mean, just say it! Title the song 'eat more leafy greens'. 'Give a hoot, don't pollute' is as much message and art combined, 'cause I get that, it's a poem but I'm pretty sure you're saying 'don't pollute'. But if you have something... 'ooh, I have the cure for cancer...and I've hidden it in this Rubix cube!!' -- just fuckin' say it! - Before Turning the Gun on Himself [2012]”

“You kissed me that morning as if you’d never done it before and never would again and now I write another letter that I will never dare to send, collecting memories of loss like chains tight around my chest, and if you see a fire from the shore tonight it’s my chains going up in flames.”

“I now memorize ancient poems from my mother's books. I reread the romantic stories and never tire of them. They are terrible stories, terribly written, yet they are about fate, a kinder fate that unites one with her lover despite hardships and improbability—and they never fail to give me a momentary hope, as they must have given my mother years ago, as if all will be well in the end.”

“In the moonlight and under the stars Somehow your face seems clearer I revere your presence and remember We are warriors Thrusted onto this plane We are strong We must use our strength While bearing compassion It's easy to get lost This place makes it so easy to get lost But- In the moonlight and under the stars Somehow your presence seems clearer And I remember We are warriors”