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Postmodernism refuses to privilege any one perspective, and recognizes only difference, never inequality, only fragments, never conflict.

quote by Elizabeth Wilson
Added by Lucian Velea
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Robotic Things

Keep it in the right perspective.
Keep it in the right perspective.
No need for probing deeper,
For those reasons to dissect this.

Signs come!
And...
Keep it in the right perspective.
Those exposing a wisdom,
Are ignored as bores!

Keep it in the right perspective.
Keep it in the right perspective.
No need for probing deeper,
For those reasons to dissect this.

Upheaval seen upon the streets.
Keep it in the right perspective.
And...
Poverty increases and defeats.
Keep it in the right perspective.
No need for probing deeper,
For those reasons to dissect this.

And the songs heard they sing,
Sound as if,
They are...
Human beings!

Keep it in the right perspective.
Keep it in the right perspective.

And the songs heard they sing,
Sound as if,
They are...
Robotic things!

Keep it in the right perspective.
Keep it in the right perspective.
No need for probing deeper,
For those reasons to dissect this.

Signs come!
And...
Keep it in the right perspective.
Those exposing a wisdom,
Are ignored as bores!

And the songs heard they sing,
Sound as if,

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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What A Difference Youve Made

What a difference youve made in my life.
What a difference youve made in my life.
Youre my sunshine day and night.
Oh, what a difference youve made
In my life.
What a change you have made in my heart.
What a change you have made in my heart.
You replaced all the broken parts.
Oh, what a change you have made
In my heart.
Love to me was just a word in a song
That had been way overused.
But you gave love a meaning,
So I joined in the singing,
Thats why I wanna spread the news.
What a difference youve made in my life.
What a difference youve made in my life.
Youre my sunshine day and night.
Oh, what a difference youve made,
(what a difference youve made,)
What a difference youve made in my life.
What a difference youve made in my life.
What a difference youve made in my life.
Youre my sunshine day and night.
What a difference youve made.
(what a difference youve made in my life.)
What a difference youve made in my life.
(what a difference youve made in my life.)
Difference youve made in my life.
(youre my sunshine day and night.)
What a difference youve made.
(what a difference youve made in my life.)
Difference youve made in my life.
(difference youve made in my life.)
Youre my sunshine day and night.
What a difference youve made.
(what a difference youve made in my life.)
Youve made a difference in me.
(what a difference youve made in my life.)
Youve made a change in my life.
Youre my sunshine day and night.

song performed by Amy Grant
Added by Lucian Velea
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Perspective

I need perspective cos Im facing the wall
I need perspective cos Im not that tall
I need perspective heard the trumpet call
Dont trust my eyes want to know where things fall
I need perspective party time for the newly wed
I need perspective colours ran as the images bled
I need perspective like confetti on the flower bed
Dont trust my eyes priest crying hes got fire in his head
Oh gaia, if thats your name
Treat you like dirt, but I dont want to blame
Oh gaia, the wind heats the fire and blows the ash away
I need perspective sitting in a long long hall
I need perspective staring at the white white wall
I need perspective waiting for the phone to call
Dont trust my eyes theres one thing Ive got to tell you all
I need perspective to see through red red skies
I need perspective to carry merchandise
I need perspective I dont trust my eyes
Dont trust my eyes and I dont like surprise
Oh gaia, etc
I used to be industrial giant
Sitting in a garden full of chemical plant
Trying very hard to get you off my mind
Acting like any man
Taking you for everything I can
Just the same, the same as all my kind
-- so blind
I need perspective

song performed by Peter Gabriel
Added by Lucian Velea
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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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Speeeeeech!

does it make difference you speak in front of many people or alone
does it make difference you speech in historic place or in your toilet
does it make difference you are charismatic leader or unknown beggar from streetside

it makes difference you speak to clash conflict or for better world
it makes difference you speech bonded by past or to move forward
it makes difference you depend by fact or just soap service

does it make difference you read from text or speak fluently
does it make difference you speech in busy market or deserted mountain
does it make difference you write words yourself or scrap it from books and paper

it makes difference everybody exitedly listens or sleeps peacefully on their seats
it makes difference you have freedom to speak or prisoned by intimidation
it makes difference it gives effect or just a long boring speech

poem by Maria Sudibyo
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Were All Water

There may not be much difference
Between chairman mao and richard nixon
If we strip them naked
There may not be much difference
Between marilyn monroe and lenny bruce
If we check their coffins
There may not be much difference
Between white house and hall of people
If we count their windows
There may not be much difference
Between raquel welch and jerry rubin
If we hear their heartbeat
Were all water from different rivers
Thats why its so easy to meet
Were all water in this vast, vast ocean
Someday well evaporate together
There may not be much difference
Between eldrige cleaver and queen of england
If we bottle their tears
There may not be much difference
Between manson and the pope
If we press their smile
There may not be much difference
Between rockefeller and you
If we hear you sing
There may not be much difference
Between you and me
If we show our dreams
Were all water from different rivers
Thats why its so easy to meet
Were all water in this vast, vast ocean
Someday well evaporate together
Whats the difference?
Whats the difference?
Theres no difference!
Theres no difference!
Whats the difference?

song performed by Lennon John
Added by Lucian Velea
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We Came From Outer Space

(lowe/tennant)
-----------------
Hi -i- (hello)
Hello? my name is -
- very complicated with the -
With the police?
Yes, all
Were, were just here
What is this? what is that?
- complication high of it -
Do you know the difference between the two genders? no.
Do you know the difference between the two genders? no.
We came from outer space to
To our parents parents, ... parents
Parents?
Hi -i- (hello)
Hello? my name is -
- very complicated with the -
Do you know the difference between the two genders?
Yes, all
What is this? what is that? no.
We came from outer space to
Somebody from california said something about men and women
Do you know the difference between the two genders? no.
Do you know anything about what -
We came from outer space to
(laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry)
(laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry)
(laugh, cry) dont leave me
(laugh, cry) dont leave me
(laugh, cry) dont leave me
(laugh, cry) I love you
Weve been having some problems with the communication now and then
Do you know the difference between the two genders?
- black rain -
Somethings not right, I cant work it out
Do you know the difference between the two genders?
Somethings not right, I cant work it out
Do you know the difference between the two genders? no.
Somethings not right, I cant work it out
We came from outer space to
Somethings not right, I cant work it out
Do you know the difference between the two genders? no.
We came from outer space to
Hi -i- (hello)
Hello? my name is -
(laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry)
(laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry)
(laugh, cry) dont leave me
(laugh, cry) dont leave me

[...] Read more

song performed by Pet Shop Boys
Added by Lucian Velea
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V. Count Guido Franceschini

Thanks, Sir, but, should it please the reverend Court,
I feel I can stand somehow, half sit down
Without help, make shift to even speak, you see,
Fortified by the sip of … why, 't is wine,
Velletri,—and not vinegar and gall,
So changed and good the times grow! Thanks, kind Sir!
Oh, but one sip's enough! I want my head
To save my neck, there's work awaits me still.
How cautious and considerate … aie, aie, aie,
Nor your fault, sweet Sir! Come, you take to heart
An ordinary matter. Law is law.
Noblemen were exempt, the vulgar thought,
From racking; but, since law thinks otherwise,
I have been put to the rack: all's over now,
And neither wrist—what men style, out of joint:
If any harm be, 't is the shoulder-blade,
The left one, that seems wrong i' the socket,—Sirs,
Much could not happen, I was quick to faint,
Being past my prime of life, and out of health.
In short, I thank you,—yes, and mean the word.
Needs must the Court be slow to understand
How this quite novel form of taking pain,
This getting tortured merely in the flesh,
Amounts to almost an agreeable change
In my case, me fastidious, plied too much
With opposite treatment, used (forgive the joke)
To the rasp-tooth toying with this brain of mine,
And, in and out my heart, the play o' the probe.
Four years have I been operated on
I' the soul, do you see—its tense or tremulous part—
My self-respect, my care for a good name,
Pride in an old one, love of kindred—just
A mother, brothers, sisters, and the like,
That looked up to my face when days were dim,
And fancied they found light there—no one spot,
Foppishly sensitive, but has paid its pang.
That, and not this you now oblige me with,
That was the Vigil-torment, if you please!
The poor old noble House that drew the rags
O' the Franceschini's once superb array
Close round her, hoped to slink unchallenged by,—
Pluck off these! Turn the drapery inside out
And teach the tittering town how scarlet wears!
Show men the lucklessness, the improvidence
Of the easy-natured Count before this Count,
The father I have some slight feeling for,
Who let the world slide, nor foresaw that friends
Then proud to cap and kiss their patron's shoe,
Would, when the purse he left held spider-webs,
Properly push his child to wall one day!

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Is There A Difference?

Is there a difference between yes and no
Is there a difference between up and down
Must I fear what others fear
What nonsense
Some people are content
Enjoying things that belong to tradition
With the seasons they cast their lot
Without a question
Other men are clear and bright and solid
Other men are sharp and clever and jolly
And we go wo oh oh wo oh oh oh wo
Is there a difference between high and low
Is there a difference between then and now
Do we have to live in pain and fear
What nonsense
People are drifting like the waves on the sea
Without direction like the restless wind
Not knowing forward not knowing back
Just existing
Other men are strong and full of courage
Other men are witty and full of knowledge
And we go wo oh oh wo oh oh wo
Other men are clear and bright and solid
I alone am drifting on the sea
Other men are sharp and clever and jolly
Restless like the wind
And we go wo oh oh wo oh oh wo
Is there a difference
Is there really a difference
Yes and no
Is there a difference
Up and down
Is there a difference
High and low
Is there a difference
Then and now
Is there a difference
Yes and no
Is there a difference
Up and down
Is there a difference

song performed by Howard Jones
Added by Lucian Velea
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We Came From Outerspace (Space Mix '98)

Hi, guys! Hello? My name is -
Very complicated with the
With the police? Yes, all
We're, we're just here
What is this? What is that?
Complication high of it!
You know the difference between the two genders? No.
You know the difference between the two genders? No.
We came from outer space to
To our parents parents, ... parents
Parents?
Hi, guys! Hello? My name is -
Very complicated with the
You know the difference between the two genders?
What is this? What is that? No.
We came from outer space to
You know the difference between the two genders? No.
We came from outer space to
(Aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry)
(Aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry)
(Aah, cry)
It's a nice place to live, it's a nice place to live
(Aah, cry)
It's a nice place to live, it's a nice place to live
(Aah, cry)
It's a nice place to live, it's a nice place to live
(Aah, cry)
It's a nice place to live, it's a nice place to live
Look from heaven
We're crawling through the communication on the air
Black rain
Something's not right, I can't make it out
Something's not right, I can't make it out
You know the difference between the two genders? No.
Something's not right, I can't make it out
We came from outer space to
Something's not right, I can't make it out
You know the difference between the two genders? No.
We came from outer space to
Hi, guys! Hello? My name is -
(Aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry)
(Aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry)
(Nice place, nice place, nice place, nice place)
(Aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry, aah, cry)
(Nice place, nice place, nice place, nice place)
Wanna try again to be on the quarter too?
No, this will come aha
Female or male? He
Is "he" female or male? Male
Hi, guys! Hello? My name is -

[...] Read more

song performed by Pet Shop Boys
Added by Lucian Velea
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What is the difference between....?

What is the difference between black and white?
What is the difference between day and night?
What is the difference between love and hate?
What is the difference between a woman and a mate?
The answers seem to be so easy
as the difference between to be free and to be busy.
But! Can you tell me the difference between a lie and a truth?
Can you tell me the difference between old age and youth?
Will you tell me the difference between a grant and a sob?
If you don’t know this difference you can flop.
I would like to know the difference between wrong and right,
I would like to know the difference between a war and a fight.
If you know the answers please, write.
It will be interesting to know your opinion,
And may be I will find it to be brilliant.

Larisa R (Odessa, Ukraine)

poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska
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XII. The Book and the Ring

Here were the end, had anything an end:
Thus, lit and launched, up and up roared and soared
A rocket, till the key o' the vault was reached,
And wide heaven held, a breathless minute-space,
In brilliant usurpature: thus caught spark,
Rushed to the height, and hung at full of fame
Over men's upturned faces, ghastly thence,
Our glaring Guido: now decline must be.
In its explosion, you have seen his act,
By my power—may-be, judged it by your own,—
Or composite as good orbs prove, or crammed
With worse ingredients than the Wormwood Star.
The act, over and ended, falls and fades:
What was once seen, grows what is now described,
Then talked of, told about, a tinge the less
In every fresh transmission; till it melts,
Trickles in silent orange or wan grey
Across our memory, dies and leaves all dark,
And presently we find the stars again.
Follow the main streaks, meditate the mode
Of brightness, how it hastes to blend with black!

After that February Twenty-Two,
Since our salvation, Sixteen-Ninety-Eight,
Of all reports that were, or may have been,
Concerning those the day killed or let live,
Four I count only. Take the first that comes.
A letter from a stranger, man of rank,
Venetian visitor at Rome,—who knows,
On what pretence of busy idleness?
Thus he begins on evening of that day.

"Here are we at our end of Carnival;
"Prodigious gaiety and monstrous mirth,
"And constant shift of entertaining show:
"With influx, from each quarter of the globe,
"Of strangers nowise wishful to be last
"I' the struggle for a good place presently
"When that befalls fate cannot long defer.
"The old Pope totters on the verge o' the grave:
"You see, Malpichi understood far more
"Than Tozzi how to treat the ailments: age,
"No question, renders these inveterate.
"Cardinal Spada, actual Minister,
"Is possible Pope; I wager on his head,
"Since those four entertainments of his niece
"Which set all Rome a-stare: Pope probably—
"Though Colloredo has his backers too,
"And San Cesario makes one doubt at times:
"Altieri will be Chamberlain at most.

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
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I remember, I remember - Past and Present after Thomas Hood and William Wordsworth - Lucy

I remember, I remember
the house where I was born
before foreclosure took away
the homestead I had sworn
in good faith, all attest 'tis true,
to leave grandchildren three: -
times change, leave little rest, I rue
that difference to me!

It seems so very long ago
the liberating Yanks
found welcome everywhere they'd go -
though some were pita swanks,
but since the Shah announced 'I ran'
our bearings all at sea
became - time reeled again would ban
all difference for me!

I remember, I remember
the sun porch, now in pawn,
proud flag a flying red, white, blue,
which now hangs so forlorn
Sun, moon spun round each priceless day,
or so I seemed to see,
four bucks a gallon gas I pay -
what difference to me!

My mind thought then nostalgic ease
eternally could last,
all my desires, priorities
seemed sated very fast,
The fever on my brow shoots higher
now Sheiks of Araby,
up ante for crude imports, tire -
what difference to me!

I remember, I remember
before Alaskan oil
had spilled upon once pristine shore,
polluting fauna, soil.
With climate change I'm feeling sore,
note each commodity
continues rising more and more -
what difference to me!

Back then I'd travel aimlessly,
cared not I ran Iraq,
from dawn till dark, from sea to sea
could, rising with the lark,
ignore the cost of gasoline

[...] Read more

poem by Jonathan Robin
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The Columbiad: Book VII

The Argument

Coast of France rises in vision. Louis, to humble the British power, forms an alliance with the American states. This brings France, Spain and Holland into the war, and rouses Hyder Ally to attack the English in India. The vision returns to America, where the military operations continue with various success. Battle of Monmouth. Storming of Stonypoint by Wayne. Actions of Lincoln, and surrender of Charleston. Movements of Cornwallis. Actions of Greene, and battle of Eutaw. French army arrives, and joins the American. They march to besiege the English army of Cornwallis in York and Gloster. Naval battle of Degrasse and Graves. Two of their ships grappled and blown up. Progress of the siege. A citadel mined and blown up. Capture of Cornwallis and his army. Their banners furled and muskets piled on the field of battle.

Thus view'd the Pair; when lo, in eastern skies,
From glooms unfolding, Gallia's coasts arise.
Bright o'er the scenes of state a golden throne,
Instarr'd with gems and hung with purple, shone;
Young Bourbon there in royal splendor sat,
And fleets and moving armies round him wait.
For now the contest, with increased alarms,
Fill'd every court and roused the world to arms;
As Hesper's hand, that light from darkness brings,
And good to nations from the scourge of kings,
In this dread hour bade broader beams unfold,
And the new world illuminate the old.

In Europe's realms a school of sages trace
The expanding dawn that waits the Reasoning Race;
On the bright Occident they fix their eyes,
Thro glorious toils where struggling nations rise;
Where each firm deed, each new illustrious name
Calls into light a field of nobler fame:
A field that feeds their hope, confirms the plan
Of well poized freedom and the weal of man.
They scheme, they theorize, expand their scope,
Glance o'er Hesperia to her utmost cope;
Where streams unknown for other oceans stray,
Where suns unseen their waste of beams display,
Where sires of unborn nations claim their birth,
And ask their empires in those wilds of earth.
While round all eastern climes, with painful eye,
In slavery sunk they see the kingdoms lie,
Whole states exhausted to enrich a throne,
Their fruits untasted and their rights unknown;
Thro tears of grief that speak the well taught mind,
They hail the æra that relieves mankind.

Of these the first, the Gallic sages stand,
And urge their king to lift an aiding hand.
The cause of humankind their souls inspired,
Columbia's wrongs their indignation fired;
To share her fateful deeds their counsel moved,
To base in practice what in theme they proved:
That no proud privilege from birth can spring,
No right divine, nor compact form a king;
That in the people dwells the sovereign sway,
Who rule by proxy, by themselves obey;

[...] Read more

poem by Joel Barlow
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A Map Of Culture

Culture

Contents

What is Culture?

The Importance of Culture

Culture Varies

Culture is Critical

The Sociobiology Debate

Values, Norms, and Social Control

Signs and Symbols

Language

Terms and Definitions

Approaches to the Study of Culture

Are We Prisoners of Our Culture?

What is Culture?

I prefer the definition used by Ian Robertson: 'all the shared products of society: material and nonmaterial' (Our text defines it in somewhat more ponderous terms- 'The totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior. It includes ideas, values, and customs (as well as the sailboats, comic books, and birth control devices) of groups of people' (p.32) .

Back to Contents

[...] Read more

poem by Nyein Way
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To Enact

To use statistics like fanatics.
To control and to attack!
With one purpose to achieve...
The holding of 'some' people back!

To enact...
A meaningful existence.
To enact...
A control without resistance.
To enact...
A rule no one refuses.
No matter who's abused.
Or who's left to be confused!

To enact...
A meaningful existence.
To enact...
A control without resistance.
To enact...
A rule no one refuses.
No matter who's abused.
Or who's left to be confused!

To use statistics like fanatics.
To control and to attack!
With one purpose to achieve...
The holding of 'some' people back!
And this is done effectively...
To hide this as a fact!

To enact...
A meaningful existence.
To enact...
A control without resistance.
To enact...
A rule no one refuses.
No matter who's abused.
Or who's left to be confused!

To enact...
A meaningful existence.
To enact...
A control without resistance.
To enact...
A rule no one refuses.
No matter who's abused.
Or who's left to be confused!

To enact,
Like a coup...

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Keeping An Agenda Makes A Difference

Hoping I'd awaken next to someone who had thrilled,
Is a heartache I had dumped.
Wishing for someone to come to undo all my ills,
Is a heartached I had dumped.
Keeping faith and praying I would find somebody real,
Is a heartache I had dumped.

And I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.

Yes I believe...
Priorities kept in sight,
Eventually makes things turn out right...
If a patience isn't hit by a car,
Or struck by lightening.

Yes I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.

Hoping I'd awaken next to someone who had thrilled,
Is a heartache I had dumped.

And I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.

Wishing for someone to come to undo all my ills,
Is a heartached I had dumped.

And I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.

Keeping faith and praying I would find somebody real,
Is a heartache I had dumped.

Yes I believe...
Priorities kept in sight,
Eventually makes things turn out right...
If a patience isn't hit by a car,
Or struck by lightening.

And I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.
With eyes opened wide.

And I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.
With eyes opened wide.

And I believe...
Keeping an agenda makes a difference.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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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
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Frammento

A fragment is something incomplete
Something broken-off, severed,
Detached, segregated,

A fragment of a conversation,
Extant fragments of an ancient
Document written on stone,
A fragment of my poetry,

How

do

i

say

it?

………………………………….
Some fragments of myself
Missing some fragments of
Myself hidden, and you will
Not find them, too many fragments
like lice in a native woman's
hair spreading on her head

I place them where
You cannot find them because
You presume too much
To know me to love me,

Along this line, so many parts
are detached, perhaps my navel

my mole, my thumb
my right ear, my left eye

So many parts severed, perhaps
My head from my heart
my mind from my soul

my past from my future

Some extant fragments of
My past self, written on some
Stones still unturned, yes

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poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Simple Thoughts

Simple thoughts
Simple minds
Draw up the curtain blinds
Lets see what is inside

A long weary journey home
built in a city far from Rome
With each gear the thoughts accelerate
Dreading the point when home is near

Shortly they disintegrate into fragments
Framents of love
Fragments of hope
Fragments of light in
the middle of night
Fragments of a peaceful bed
To rest ones tired swollen body
from a days work
after been well fed

They disintegrate into
Fragments of a night drink
All the bitterness and sorrow
can now sink
The mind can no longer think

Copyright 2005 - Sylvia Chidi

poem by Sylvia Chidi
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