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The Charwoman

If only 'twere not Christmas Eve,
Nor bright other places,
Nor loaded the boards I perceive,
Nor happy the faces,

And not so wretched at home,
And none of this whining
And begging for bread when I come
By little cheeks pining

Today for hunger again.
To deeply depress me!
If they, who forget now my pain,
Could see it distress me!

Too listlessly come I and go;
All dirty I never
Must faint in the twilight glow
But toil on forever.

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poem by Carmen Sylva
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Carpenter's Song

My lot grew lighter day by day;
The children grew apace;
I built a little house last May--
No palace like that place.
And--"Father," said she, "sure you know
That once we ate dry bread?
Into our own house now we go!"--
The mother, she is dead!

Her house the undertaker made,
And not the carpenter;
My grace unsaid, the pastor prayed
In loud tones over her.
The day that's spent with merriment,
'Mid blossoms blue and red,
No music lent--my heart was rent!--
The mother, she is dead.

We pulled together many a year;
Like old bird-mates were we;

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poem by Carmen Sylva
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

poem by Derek Walcott (1986)
Added by Dan Costinaş
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When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.

Chinese proverbs
Added by Lucian Velea
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Those who thought that democracy meant bread now fight for salt.

aphorism by Vasil Tolevski, translated by Dan Costinaş
Added by Dan Costinaş
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Wanting to Die

Since you ask, most days I cannot remember.
I walk in my clothing, unmarked by that voyage.
Then the almost unnameable lust returns.

Even then I have nothing against life.
I know well the grass blades you mention,
the furniture you have placed under the sun.

But suicides have a special language.
Like carpenters they want to know which tools.
They never ask why build.

Twice I have so simply declared myself,
have possessed the enemy, eaten the enemy,
have taken on his craft, his magic.

In this way, heavy and thoughtful,
warmer than oil or water,
I have rested, drooling at the mouth-hole.

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poem by Anne Sexton
Added by Dan Costinaş
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The Walrus and The Carpenter

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

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poem by Lewis Carroll from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

quote by Mother Teresa
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Vain is the chiming of forgotten bells That the wind sways above a ruined shrine. Vainer his voice in whom no longer dwells Hunger that craves immortal Bread and Wine. Light songs we breathe that perish with our breath Out of our lips that have not kissed the rod. They shall not live who have not tasted death. They only sing who are struck dumb by God.

quote by Joyce Kilmer
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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He who shares out bread with his sword shall not be trusted.

aphorism by Valeriu Butulescu from Immensity of the Point, translated by Eva A. Ziem
Added by Lucian Velea
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