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They committed murder, it is true; but their situation may have rendered it inevitable.

quote by Philip Hone
Added by Lucian Velea
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Knife

Slit and
Slither knife
Penetrate in phallic push
To perforate the pulse of tissues in the flesh
Slice a vein to drain the unsuspecting victim
E’er they bleed and plea
Their scream
Of death

Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

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poem by Mark R Slaughter
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Premeditation

Oh blade you'll warm tonight!
Awash in crimson-purple flows,
Your sheen will dull with aching flesh:
Palpating anatomic mounds
Caressing, dancing, writhing round
Your metal form-
Whetted ‘gainst a lonely bone,
Then to probe the pounding, begging heart.

And all the while the prey will howl
Before they crumple; greet the mud-
A taut and unbelieving jowl
Will open out for giving blood-
A vent from down below,
Once a brutal show
Of metal in the man.

Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

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poem by Mark R Slaughter
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VIII. Dominus Hyacinthus de Archangelis, Pauperum Procurator

Ah, my Giacinto, he's no ruddy rogue,
Is not Cinone? What, to-day we're eight?
Seven and one's eight, I hope, old curly-pate!
—Branches me out his verb-tree on the slate,
Amo-as-avi-atum-are-ans,
Up to -aturus, person, tense, and mood,
Quies me cum subjunctivo (I could cry)
And chews Corderius with his morning crust!
Look eight years onward, and he's perched, he's perched
Dapper and deft on stool beside this chair,
Cinozzo, Cinoncello, who but he?
—Trying his milk-teeth on some crusty case
Like this, papa shall triturate full soon
To smooth Papinianian pulp!

It trots
Already through my head, though noon be now,
Does supper-time and what belongs to eve.
Dispose, O Don, o' the day, first work then play!
—The proverb bids. And "then" means, won't we hold
Our little yearly lovesome frolic feast,
Cinuolo's birth-night, Cinicello's own,
That makes gruff January grin perforce!
For too contagious grows the mirth, the warmth
Escaping from so many hearts at once—
When the good wife, buxom and bonny yet,
Jokes the hale grandsire,—such are just the sort
To go off suddenly,—he who hides the key
O' the box beneath his pillow every night,—
Which box may hold a parchment (someone thinks)
Will show a scribbled something like a name
"Cinino, Ciniccino," near the end,
"To whom I give and I bequeath my lands,
"Estates, tenements, hereditaments,
"When I decease as honest grandsire ought."
Wherefore—yet this one time again perhaps—
Shan't my Orvieto fuddle his old nose!
Then, uncles, one or the other, well i' the world,
May—drop in, merely?—trudge through rain and wind,
Rather! The smell-feasts rouse them at the hint
There's cookery in a certain dwelling-place!
Gossips, too, each with keepsake in his poke,
Will pick the way, thrid lane by lantern-light,
And so find door, put galligaskin off
At entry of a decent domicile
Cornered in snug Condotti,—all for love,
All to crush cup with Cinucciatolo!

Well,
Let others climb the heights o' the court, the camp!

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Dire Wolf

In the timbers to fennario, the wolves are running round,
The winter was so hard and cold, froze ten feet neath the ground.
Dont murder me, I beg of you, dont murder me. please, dont murder me.
I sat down to my supper, twas a bottle of red whisky,
I said my prayers and went to bed, thats the last they saw of me.
Dont murder me, I beg of you, dont murder me. please, dont murder me.
When I awoke, the dire wolf, six hundred pounds of sin,
Was grinning at my window, all I said was come on in.
Dont murder me, I beg of you, dont murder me. please, dont murder me.
The wolf came in, I got my cards, we sat down for a game.
I cut my deck to the queen of spades, but the cards were all the same.
Dont murder me, I beg of you, dont murder me. please, dont murder me.
In the backwash of fennario, the black and bloody mire,
The dire wolf collects his dues, while the boys sing round the fire.
Dont murder me, I beg of you, dont murder me. please, dont murder me.
No, no, no dont murder me. I beg of you,
Dont murder me. please, dont murder me.

song performed by Grateful Dead
Added by Lucian Velea
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Committed

committed! !
me and my boyfriend have made a pact
we are committed and thats the fact
he will not screw any other women apart from me
and i will not seduce anyone else apart from him

committed! !
we will be a heathy twosome or so it seems
with this thought in our mind our relationship will gleam
yes sir we are a committed bunch
the world will sing praises of our relationship
the world will stand and admire our friendship

committed! !
he will screw me till his hearts content
as i behind his back will screw all his friends
he on the other hand will bang all my friends
yes sir we are a committed and our relationship is as firm as steel

committed! ! !
it's a word not to be taken lightly
it's the bed rock of all relationships strong and mighty
yes indeed we are committed
he can't screw anyone and i ca'nt be promiscious it's not permitted
we are so so very committed

committed! !
yes sir committed indeed
we are the two us sailin merreyly in our ship
when he is angry with me he does the maid
when i am upset with him i get laid

committed! !
we are thinck as thives
till his money runs out and i have fullfilled all my needs
oh sir we are so so so very committed....................

poem by Anuj Tikku
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With A Motive Not To Be Provoked

There are people with a motive,
To be...
Left alone.
And many are to this committed.
Many are to this committed.

And there are people more devoted,
To keep their peace condoned.
And many are to this committed.
Many are to this committed.

To get away from all the alibis.
And those who live their lives making up lies.
With so many to this committed.
As if there's benefit in it.
To change what they say in a minute.
This limits and this diminishes.
This limits and this diminishes.

People have a motive,
To be...
Alone!
And doing this free without limits.
And doing this free without limits.
And doing this free without limits.
And doing this free without limits.

To get away from all the alibis.
And doing this free without limits.
And doing this free without limits.

And those who live their lives making up lies.
To change what they say in a minute.
And doing this free without limits.
And doing this free without limits.

There are people with a motive,
To be...
Left alone.
And many are to this committed.
Many are to this committed.
And doing this free without limits.
And doing this free without limits.
Doing this free without limits.
Doing this free without limits.

There are people with a motive,
To be...
Left alone.
And many are to this committed.

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poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Murder

Murder
Coming to get us
Theyre coming to get us for the way we are
Murder
See it all around us
See it all around us for the way we are
Murder
Coming to get us
Theyre coming to get us for the way we are
The way we hide
Tie me to a tree
Tie my hands above my head
Sing a song to me
Sing a song like what you said
Ohhhhh... (murder)
Ohhhhh... (murder)
Cause theyre gonna murder me
Theyre gonna drag me down
Even before I sleep
I cry murder
Come spit at us
Come and throw your weight around
Come and fight with us
Try and knock us to the ground
Cause theyre gonna murder me
Theyre gonna drag me down
Even before I sleep
I cry murder
Murder...
Oh now what can it possibly gain
Oh what could it possibly gain
Oh what could it possibly gain
And what could it possibly gain...
(Cry murder, murder, I cry murder)
Murder
Coming to get us
Theyre coming to get us for the way we are
Murder
See it all around us
See it all around us for the way we are

song performed by Coldplay
Added by Lucian Velea
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Kinder Murder

Here in the bar, the boys like to have fun
Theres a wager lost and an argument won
Theres a stone-washed damsel on a junk food run
Its a kinder murder
Theres a ladder to heaven from a battered stiletto
Spitting out the words that he put into her mouth
See her in silhouette going down south
Its a kinder murder
Its a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut
Its a kinder murder
Its a kinder murder
Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence
He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless
Then he went back to his regiment
Its a kinder murder
The officer said it has to be denied
Theres a tear-stained would-be teenage bride
All the family pride in the little ram-rider
Its a kinder murder
Its a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut
Its a kinder murder
Its a kinder murder
The child went missing and the photo fit his face
Dishonoured jimmy just read about the case
He said that he was just taking up space
Its a kinder murder
Jimmy took his best friends keys from the pile on the table in a flash
He was dreaming of the pigskin seats and the walnut dash
The knickers in her handbag and the one false eyelash
Its a kinder murder
Its a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Could have kept her mouth shut
Its a kinder murder [4x]

song performed by Elvis Costello
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Id Rather Be Strong

(myles goodwyn)
Published by slalom publishing co. - bmi
Its a sad situation
Alot of hopeless information
On the news
Nothins gonna please you
And nothins gonna change
Well thats your view
So many hungry people
Its a shame and is it legal?
Well its a sight
Theres something goin on
Somethin we can change
And its our right
So Id rather be strong
In a hopeless situation, yes
I would rather be strong
In a hopeless situation, yes
I would rather be strong
In a hopeless situation
Yes I would, yes I would
Well you can say its a shame
And things remain the same
And so it goes
But no ones gonna hear you
And no ones gonna see
What doesnt show
Itd be cause for celebration
If only every nation understood
And helping one another
And doing for the other, what they could
And Id rather be strong
In a hopeless situation, yes
I would rather be strong
And to show determination, yes
I would rather be strong
In a hopeless situation
Yes I would, yes I would
Id be a lot better off if I could
Be part of the love
Thats seemingly lost from above
A delicate situation (situation)
Requires contemplation, everyone (everyone)
And someone has to care (someone to care)
When people live in fear of each mans son (each mans son)
So Id rather be strong
In a hopeless situation
Yes, I would rather be strong
In a hopeless situation
Yes, I would rather be strong

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song performed by April Wine
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That Situation

(g. valenciano/m. pagan)
There's so much in life
That we would like to do
We can wait for love
Until we know it's true
It's up to us
Not to jump into that situation
I'm too young, not ready yet
I got so much to do
Got to take it step-by-step
It's best for me and you
It's up to us
Not to jump into that situation
Let's take it easy
One step at a time
Why should we risk it?
Our future's on the line
It's up to us
Not to get into that situation
Is this what, what we want?
Is it worth risking?
All we have ahead to do
Let's not make that mistake
We're gonna be all right
If we choose to wait
There's so much in life
That we would like to do
We can wait for love
Until we know it's true
It's up to us
Not to jump into that situation
I'm too young, not ready yet
I got so much to do
Got to take it step-by-step
It's best for me and you
It's up to us
Not to jump into that situation
Let's take it easy
One step at a time
Why should we risk it?
Our future's on the line
It's up to us
Not to get into that situation
There's so much in life
That we would like to do
We can wait for love
Until we know it's true
It's up to us
Not to jump into that situation
(instrumental)

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song performed by Lea Salonga
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VI. Giuseppe Caponsacchi

Answer you, Sirs? Do I understand aright?
Have patience! In this sudden smoke from hell,—
So things disguise themselves,—I cannot see
My own hand held thus broad before my face
And know it again. Answer you? Then that means
Tell over twice what I, the first time, told
Six months ago: 't was here, I do believe,
Fronting you same three in this very room,
I stood and told you: yet now no one laughs,
Who then … nay, dear my lords, but laugh you did,
As good as laugh, what in a judge we style
Laughter—no levity, nothing indecorous, lords!
Only,—I think I apprehend the mood:
There was the blameless shrug, permissible smirk,
The pen's pretence at play with the pursed mouth,
The titter stifled in the hollow palm
Which rubbed the eyebrow and caressed the nose,
When I first told my tale: they meant, you know,
"The sly one, all this we are bound believe!
"Well, he can say no other than what he says.
"We have been young, too,—come, there's greater guilt!
"Let him but decently disembroil himself,
"Scramble from out the scrape nor move the mud,—
"We solid ones may risk a finger-stretch!
And now you sit as grave, stare as aghast
As if I were a phantom: now 't is—"Friend,
"Collect yourself!"—no laughing matter more—
"Counsel the Court in this extremity,
"Tell us again!"—tell that, for telling which,
I got the jocular piece of punishment,
Was sent to lounge a little in the place
Whence now of a sudden here you summon me
To take the intelligence from just—your lips!
You, Judge Tommati, who then tittered most,—
That she I helped eight months since to escape
Her husband, was retaken by the same,
Three days ago, if I have seized your sense,—
(I being disallowed to interfere,
Meddle or make in a matter none of mine,
For you and law were guardians quite enough
O' the innocent, without a pert priest's help)—
And that he has butchered her accordingly,
As she foretold and as myself believed,—
And, so foretelling and believing so,
We were punished, both of us, the merry way:
Therefore, tell once again the tale! For what?
Pompilia is only dying while I speak!
Why does the mirth hang fire and miss the smile?
My masters, there's an old book, you should con
For strange adventures, applicable yet,

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poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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S. N. A. F. U.

Now, the industry has got me thinking twice
Thinking with the treble mix, gotta shake em like dice
Let the whole world know I cant go for that
Girls know that I got gold and stacks
In every cul de sac from the streets to the clubs
Im making hits and everybodys showing love
Fact is Im back and Im rolling like jackson
Wont stop until Im back at multi platinum
So I start with some action, Im the main attraction
Here to lie down to the west crackin
Stackin big chips, holmes, gotta get em
Hauling in lots of residuals, what you got
You cant choose me
Bring it to you live for the year 2g
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Thought I was a puppet you tried to play me
Yeah - and Im going crazy
Thought I was a puppet you tried to play me
No - you never ever made me
Thought I was a puppet you tried to play me
Yeah - and Im going crazy
Thought I was a puppet you tried to play me
No - Im all fu_ked up
Yo, ice its jim splice me in - no, stop
Begin, pause, cause I gotta call the next of kin
Tell em where you been, tell em that youre ok
Doa, here say, no way, wont say
Dead yes, dead all, not dead and gone
Like a multi-leader, a little bit withdrawn
Time and go like a vicious cycle
Then wham, make em think that you are coming out like george michael
On par to make people to turn in no sooner
Hook, line, and sinker; like charlie the tuna
Drop the hero and get with the zero
Ill try to keep it clean like mr. belvedere
Fu_k me, fu_k you, fu_k the single
Dont want to take it in the can, youre not pringles
But once you pop you cant stop
So dont interrupt - situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Situation normal all fu_ked up
Thought I was a puppet you tried to play me
Yeah - and Im going crazy
Thought I was a puppet you tried to play me
No - you never ever made me

[...] Read more

song performed by Vanilla Ice
Added by Lucian Velea
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What is a Friend?

True friends will never let each other down
True friends will tell each other when they are right or wrong
True friends listen to their problems without casting judgment
True friends are never afraid to tell you like it is

A true friend knows when to say no
A true friend will never flop you
A true friend will be supportive of all you do
A true friend will be there to dry your weeping eyes

A true friend will lend a shoulder for you to cry on
A true friend cares how you are doing
A true friend cares about your day-to-day life
A true friend always calls and checks up on you

A true friend gives of himself/herself without asking for anything in return
A true friend would not lend you money but give you whatever they can
A true friend may argue, fuss, and fight with you but will always be there for you
A true friend forgives you for your shortcomings

A true friend will come to your aid no matter what time of day it is
A true friend doesn’t wait to hear from you to make the first call
A true friend just calls to chitchat with you
A true friend is like a Godsend in times of perils

A true friend is always welcoming
A true would give you the coat off their backs
A true friend knows enough is enough
A true friend will be by your side when you need them the most

A true friend will run an intercept or blockage for you
True friends will CYA for each other
True friends knows that this world wasn’t promised to us
True friends make the best of a bad situation

True friends keeps each others secretes
True friends keeps no secretes from one another
True friends share each other’s lives
A true friend is forever

Are you a true friend?
Ask yourself that question
Can you be a true friend?
Do you deserve a good friend?

There are no goodbyes in life, just hellos

Hello friend

poem by Wilfred Mellers
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Murder is Bad and Why?

The Man spoke:
'It is in the murdering' he said
that I find the most puzzlement.
Why should I or anyone not murder
one and all. It is, I think, human's basic instinct.

'Look' he said to the priest 'is not all of history;
more a story of murderous war than peace and tranquility?

'So what is most common to human nature?
Seems clear to me, humans murder their fellows, rest up during the peace
and, as soon as possible, get back to the murdering.'

The priest:

'Murder is wrong in God's eyes and in the eyes of society and
the murderer will pay with fire and brimstone, and the death penalty.
Ending murder is the bedrock of all society, even pirates have a code
that says don't murder your fellows.

Humm, said the man 'Society has several faces; it is ok to murder in war, but
not in peace. Where here is the consistency?
Even your God says do not take life but vengeance is mine and murdering in retaliation, he says, is mine. Seems murder is at best relative; sometimes the act of the monster and sometimes the act of the hero in war.
Who decides which is which; and I tell you father I see no hand of God in this but that of politicians. And no one will mistake them for God.

The Sociologist spoke then:

Well, here the point is clear; we kill those who threaten the peace and make society impossible by preying upon the weak. Without restraint bandits and warlords would rule, look abroad Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest. Rule by guns and by the strong is a recipe in the end for mankind's extinction. Therefore, we have the rule murder is not only bad, but stopping murder promotes the good.

The Little Girl:
I think God, and society makes murder bad to protect the children. I think God and society makes things crimes to protect us from adults who would be cruel and leave no one to grow up to inherit this earth.

The Democrat:
There lies the convincing point. Murder is bad because not murdering gives the species a better chance at survival. What species eat their young and have survived? None.
But the larger point is I think is that the genius needed for society to meet all its challenges cannot be predicted. Therefore, all must be preserved because no one can predict from where, or whom, critical keys to human survival will evince.
Take Einstein: who would have made the prediction that a math-challenged youngster would change the world? No one. So the point, kill no one since you are not God and can't know where human salvation will come from.

The Priest said:
Yes, and imagine the world, if Jesus had lived.

poem by Lonnie Hicks
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Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder” (The Billion-Dollar Question)

We must all stay aware…..,
Of the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder….,
It’s been increasing for years….,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !

Can’t dare turn our backs….,
On the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
It’ll sneak up and kill us…,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !

It’s hard to believe and conceive….
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
That’s why so many are blind….,
To the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder …! ! !

We’ve seen the bloody attacks…..,
Of the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
So we must face the facts….,
On the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !

Yes they’re after us all…,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….,
Their radical religion condones it….,
The Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder ….! ! !

Can we control it or stop it….,
So it won’t go any further….? ? ?
That’s the billion-dollar question….,
On the Insane Culture Of Mass-Murder …! ! !

poem by Trade Martin
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Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society

Epigraph

Υδραν φονεύσας, μυρίων τ᾽ ἄλλων πόνων
διῆλθον ἀγέλας . . .
τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τόνδ᾽ ἔτλην τάλας πόνον,
. . . δῶμα θριγκῶσαι κακοῖς.

I slew the Hydra, and from labour pass'd
To labour — tribes of labours! Till, at last,
Attempting one more labour, in a trice,
Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.

You have seen better days, dear? So have I —
And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth
As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me!" Well,
Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,
And wished and had their trouble for their pains.
Suppose my Œdipus should lurk at last
Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline,
And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square?
Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,
Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads,
And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, —
Jealous that the good trick which served the turn
Have justice rendered it, nor class one day
With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware,—
What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say,
(Because night draws on, and the sands increase,
And desert-whispers grow a prophecy)
Tell all to Corinth of her own accord.
Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake,
Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose,
And thinks a man of sixty at the prime?
Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself!
But listen, for we must co-operate;
I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!
First, how to make the matter plain, of course —
What was the law by which I lived. Let 's see:
Ay, we must take one instant of my life
Spent sitting by your side in this neat room:
Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!
Here's paper on the table, pen and ink:
Give me the soiled bit — not the pretty rose!
See! having sat an hour, I'm rested now,
Therefore want work: and spy no better work
For eye and hand and mind that guides them both,
During this instant, than to draw my pen
From blot One — thus — up, up to blot Two — thus —
Which I at last reach, thus, and here's my line
Five inches long and tolerably straight:

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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XI. Guido

You are the Cardinal Acciaiuoli, and you,
Abate Panciatichi—two good Tuscan names:
Acciaiuoli—ah, your ancestor it was
Built the huge battlemented convent-block
Over the little forky flashing Greve
That takes the quick turn at the foot o' the hill
Just as one first sees Florence: oh those days!
'T is Ema, though, the other rivulet,
The one-arched brown brick bridge yawns over,—yes,
Gallop and go five minutes, and you gain
The Roman Gate from where the Ema's bridged:
Kingfishers fly there: how I see the bend
O'erturreted by Certosa which he built,
That Senescal (we styled him) of your House!
I do adjure you, help me, Sirs! My blood
Comes from as far a source: ought it to end
This way, by leakage through their scaffold-planks
Into Rome's sink where her red refuse runs?
Sirs, I beseech you by blood-sympathy,
If there be any vile experiment
In the air,—if this your visit simply prove,
When all's done, just a well-intentioned trick,
That tries for truth truer than truth itself,
By startling up a man, ere break of day,
To tell him he must die at sunset,—pshaw!
That man's a Franceschini; feel his pulse,
Laugh at your folly, and let's all go sleep!
You have my last word,—innocent am I
As Innocent my Pope and murderer,
Innocent as a babe, as Mary's own,
As Mary's self,—I said, say and repeat,—
And why, then, should I die twelve hours hence? I—
Whom, not twelve hours ago, the gaoler bade
Turn to my straw-truss, settle and sleep sound
That I might wake the sooner, promptlier pay
His due of meat-and-drink-indulgence, cross
His palm with fee of the good-hand, beside,
As gallants use who go at large again!
For why? All honest Rome approved my part;
Whoever owned wife, sister, daughter,—nay,
Mistress,—had any shadow of any right
That looks like right, and, all the more resolved,
Held it with tooth and nail,—these manly men
Approved! I being for Rome, Rome was for me.
Then, there's the point reserved, the subterfuge
My lawyers held by, kept for last resource,
Firm should all else,—the impossible fancy!—fail,
And sneaking burgess-spirit win the day.
The knaves! One plea at least would hold,—they laughed,—
One grappling-iron scratch the bottom-rock

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poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
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I. The Ring and the Book

Do you see this Ring?
'T is Rome-work, made to match
(By Castellani's imitative craft)
Etrurian circlets found, some happy morn,
After a dropping April; found alive
Spark-like 'mid unearthed slope-side figtree-roots
That roof old tombs at Chiusi: soft, you see,
Yet crisp as jewel-cutting. There's one trick,
(Craftsmen instruct me) one approved device
And but one, fits such slivers of pure gold
As this was,—such mere oozings from the mine,
Virgin as oval tawny pendent tear
At beehive-edge when ripened combs o'erflow,—
To bear the file's tooth and the hammer's tap:
Since hammer needs must widen out the round,
And file emboss it fine with lily-flowers,
Ere the stuff grow a ring-thing right to wear.
That trick is, the artificer melts up wax
With honey, so to speak; he mingles gold
With gold's alloy, and, duly tempering both,
Effects a manageable mass, then works:
But his work ended, once the thing a ring,
Oh, there's repristination! Just a spirt
O' the proper fiery acid o'er its face,
And forth the alloy unfastened flies in fume;
While, self-sufficient now, the shape remains,
The rondure brave, the lilied loveliness,
Gold as it was, is, shall be evermore:
Prime nature with an added artistry—
No carat lost, and you have gained a ring.
What of it? 'T is a figure, a symbol, say;
A thing's sign: now for the thing signified.

Do you see this square old yellow Book, I toss
I' the air, and catch again, and twirl about
By the crumpled vellum covers,—pure crude fact
Secreted from man's life when hearts beat hard,
And brains, high-blooded, ticked two centuries since?
Examine it yourselves! I found this book,
Gave a lira for it, eightpence English just,
(Mark the predestination!) when a Hand,
Always above my shoulder, pushed me once,
One day still fierce 'mid many a day struck calm,
Across a Square in Florence, crammed with booths,
Buzzing and blaze, noontide and market-time,
Toward Baccio's marble,—ay, the basement-ledge
O' the pedestal where sits and menaces
John of the Black Bands with the upright spear,
'Twixt palace and church,—Riccardi where they lived,
His race, and San Lorenzo where they lie.

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Getting Away With Murder

Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate
what creates my own madness
and I'm addicted to your punishment
and you're the master
and I am waiting for disaster
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth I am
getting away with murder
it is impossible
to never tell the truth
but the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Getting away, Getting away, Getting away)
I drink my drink and I don't even want to
I think my thoughts when I don't even need to
I never look back cause I don't even want to
and I don't need to
because I'm getting away with murder
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth
I am getting away with murder
it is impossible
to never tell the truth
but the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting
away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away,
Getting away, Getting away with murder)
Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate
what creates my own madness
and I'm addicted to your punishment
and you're the master
and I am craving this disaster
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth
I am getting away with murder
it is impossible
to never tell the truth
but the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Getting away, Getting away, Getting away)
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth
I am getting away with murder
it is impossible
to never tell the truth
but the reality is I'm getting away with murder

song performed by Papa Roach
Added by Lucian Velea
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Inevitable

Somewhere in Forster—was it Aspects of the Novel?—
there's something to the effect of,
How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?
I've always meant to check the quote, but I'm half afraid
it won't be there, or if it is, that I got it all wrong,
and I pretty much like it the way it is—
I pull it out and toss it onto the table like one of those
really brightly colored chips that only get thrown into the pot
after the hand has gotten out of control and someone wants
to say something a bit more heady than, I'll see you,
and raise you, but that's what he always says, it's inevitable.
In fact, it is inevitable, the word, inevitable,
that has bought me down this road in the first place,
that made me remember Forster, and whether or not
something is inevitable—now, this is the leap—like, say,
the week I just spent in Illinois with a married woman,
who for a long time has been burning
like one of those sad wildfires they have had
all summer long out West, that gets bigger and hotter,
and spreads, it seems, forever, and while this one burned,
I kept telling myself that it was inevitable
that we would end up in the same town somewhere
at the same time, and inevitable, too, that after a few days
one or both of us would allow our ambiguity
about what was going on to get the best of us,
and we both would walk off sad and hurt,
when really it was not us who had a right
to sad and hurt, her husband and children having
a much better claim, and in the interest of terribly clarity,
of unrelenting truth, it is necessary here to interject
the word guilt, and while some people,
those who buy into religion, for example, who touch
finger to finger with the Hand of Heaven,
all herb and clay-tinted oil, on a stone ceiling,
will use Eve's apple to explain how all this is inevitable,
part of some great master plan. I wonder;
or was it simply another test, an opportunity to
do the right thing, and perhaps we failed, and I am not
even sure about that, but I know that she and I feel guilty,
and while I thought it was inevitability
I was talking about here, it was something else entirely,
and I guess old Forster was right, even if he didn't say it.

Anonymous submission.

poem by Louis McKee
Added by Poetry Lover
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