First Verse
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To Richard Wagner
"I saw a sky of stars that rolled in grime.
All glory twinkled through some sweat of fight,
From each tall chimney of the roaring time
That shot his fire far up the sooty night
Mixt fuels -- Labor's Right and Labor's Crime --
Sent upward throb on throb of scarlet light
Till huge hot blushes in the heavens blent
With golden hues of Trade's high firmament.
"Fierce burned the furnaces; yet all seemed well,
Hope dreamed rich music in the rattling mills.
`Ye foundries, ye shall cast my church a bell,'
Loud cried the Future from the farthest hills:
`Ye groaning forces, crack me every shell
Of customs, old constraints, and narrow ills;
Thou, lithe Invention, wake and pry and guess,
Till thy deft mind invents me Happiness.'
"And I beheld high scaffoldings of creeds
Crumbling from round Religion's perfect Fane:
And a vast noise of rights, wrongs, powers, needs,
-- Cries of new Faiths that called `This Way is plain,'
-- Grindings of upper against lower greeds --
-- Fond sighs for old things, shouts for new, -- did reign
Below that stream of golden fire that broke,
Mottled with red, above the seas of smoke.
"Hark! Gay fanfares from halls of old Romance
Strike through the clouds of clamor: who be these
That, paired in rich processional, advance
From darkness o'er the murk mad factories
Into yon flaming road, and sink, strange Ministrants!
Sheer down to earth, with many minstrelsies
And motions fine, and mix about the scene
And fill the Time with forms of ancient mien?
"Bright ladies and brave knights of Fatherland;
Sad mariners, no harbor e'er may hold,
A swan soft floating tow'rds a magic strand;
Dim ghosts, of earth, air, water, fire, steel, gold,
Wind, grief, and love; a lewd and lurking band
Of Powers -- dark Conspiracy, Cunning cold,
Gray Sorcery; magic cloaks and rings and rods;
Valkyries, heroes, Rhinemaids, giants, gods!
* * * * *
"O Wagner, westward bring thy heavenly art,
No trifler thou: Siegfried and Wotan be
Names for big ballads of the modern heart.
Thine ears hear deeper than thine eyes can see.
Voice of the monstrous mill, the shouting mart,
Not less of airy cloud and wave and tree,
Thou, thou, if even to thyself unknown,
Hast power to say the Time in terms of tone."
1877.1
New
A child’s voice
I didn’t come here to see you cry I came here to see the passion in your eye Angry or sad, you always fought back the tears But this time I don’t think you’re ready for next year As the soft tone of your gentle voice flows through my ear It makes me wonder : what will happen next year? As we went to bed, I wanted to write a poem So I thought, what rhymes with “oh my gosh”? But then I realized, a poem doesn’t have to rhyme or not It comes in an instant as you have a thought.
1
New
Mighty Steed
The knight would rest on him his mighty stead. His auburn mane of flowing fire and flame. Upon four mighty legs he cantered so. Across the plains they traveled far to find the valiant hero many fought before. To best him now would prove the knight’s own mount, but this is when the knight did find him so upon the back of hippopotamus.
5
New
The Best for Bees
The bees would buzz and buzz around the hive, the hive that sat on branches high above the garden flush with blooming roses red and rhododendron, lily, daisies bright. Their smell was strong and what a sight to see, it seems the best of all the world for bees. But no! It seems they were not satisfied- Instead they went to sting the nearby kids.
4
New
Excellence in Everything
A woman of virtue and character is hard to find You stay constantly on your grind securing your bag of green sage wisdom in kind Excellence drags more than a slogan to you but its actively in you and through you I cannot complete a day without you showing me a way to be a better man A man who prides in showing off your mental agility like a tiger cheetah craving up a termite hill You leave no holes of imperfection or inconsistency in my life I love to talk about excellent things with you because your positive nature propels me to share my innermost dreams and desires.
1
New
drought
the day after you left an oppressive heat settled over the city and smothered everything a dehydration desiccation devastation that parched oceans and suffocated forests and sent a scourge of insects seeking futile refuge in withered crumbling homes your departure did not come with weeping skies your absence is not rain or flood it’s desert it’s drought interminable drought
1
New
Girlfriend
Her hair is silky as it sparkles in the light Her skin is so smooth as it sparkles through the night Her eyes are blue like the ocean and the sea Her lips are big when she's kissing me Her teeth are white like a clean T-shirt Her breath smells good even when she burps Her nails are pretty is even though they're fake Her hair stays silky as it runs down her face
1
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