Your Favorite Poems

[MCT]

"If"

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling--

[Aava]

I Love You (But You?re Green) by Pete Doherty


I was a troubled teen
Who put an advert in a magazine
To the annoyance of my imaginary lover
She questioned my integrity
And this is what she said to me

She said, you, you're green
You don't know what love means
Let me tell you
It tickles you pink
But it likes to hear you scream
Fire and damnation, lamentations
For the likes of you

When she goes, just let her go
If she says she's going
Just make sure she goes
Make sure she goes

I was a troubled teen
Untroubled only in my daydreams
To the annoyance of someone or others
They doubted my philosophy
And this is what they said to me

You, you'll soon be up where you belong
But it's only blood from broken hearts
And write the words to every song
And there's a beatific smile
For the fawners and the servants
But I, only I

I can see the serpent
You, you're green
You don't know what love means
Let me tell you
It tickles you pink
Everybody likes to hear you scream
Fire and damnation, lamentations
For the likes of you

When she goes, just let her go
If she says she's going
Just make sure she goes


"Pete Doherty's passion for poetry is often neglected in the tabloid furor over troubles with The Libertines and his struggle with a destructive drug addiction. But the famed Babyshambles' frontman is also a published poet. Doherty's poetry won him the opportunity to work with The British Council in Russia, aged just 16. His work can be found in the underground publications 'Rising Poets' and 'Full Moon Empty Sports Bag'."

[Jim]

Wow.

Okay, so it borders on cliche at times, but for Pete Doherty I'm really impressed.   

Is that one of the published poems then, or is it from a song?

Have you got any other poems of his?

You got me curious...

[Aava]

It?s a song.

Here?s few of my faves (also songs).


Albion

Down in Albion
They're black and blue
But we don't talk about that
Are you from 'round here?
How do you do?
I'd like to talk about that
Talk over
Gin in teacups
And leaves on the lawn
Violence at bus stops
And the pale thin girl with eyes forlorn

Gin in teacups
And leaves on the lawn
Violence in dole queues
And the pale thin girl behind the checkout

If you're looking for a cheap sort
Set in false anticipation
Ill be waiting in the photo booth
At the underground station
So come away, won't you come away
We can go to
Deptford, Catford, Walford, Digbeth, Mansfield
Anywhere in Albion

Yellowing classics
And canons at dawn
coffee wallows and pith helmets
and an English sun

New bought classics
And canons at dawn
Terrible warlords, good warlords
and an English song

But if you're looking for a cheap sort
Glint with perspiration
There's a four-mile queue
Outside the disused power station

Ah come away, say you'll come away
We're going to...
Semford, Woville, Newcastle
Anywhere

If you're looking for a cheap tart
Glint with perspiration
Theres a five mile queue
Outside the dissused power station

Now come away, won't you come away
We're going to...

Rexham,Oldham,.. Bristol
Anywhere in Albion



Back From The Dead

I heard it said
You had come back from the dead
You were playing so fine
Scooping up the soul of the wine
Now courage my boy
When they look you in the eye
Try not to look too scummy
If you need some money
And you want their money

Now I know...
This ain't no happy place to be
You know they're nice around me
You know they're nice about me
And everyone agrees

About what's won in a year from here, my friend
Promises, promises...
You've heard it all before

But nobody ever
Ever get me more...

Oh yes courage my boy
When you look them in the eye
That they laugh if they try to be funny

All along...
Belong
You're still my son
And coin my words
Oh it's absurd how you get so
Very old, man
Typical tan
Took me in hand
To ...

... hour
Banged or bruised



from Gang Of Gin

...
In this industry of fools
Musclemen and ghouls
If you're not a puppet or a muppet
Then you might as well call it a day-ayay

The truth here gets distorted
The wall scrapings get snorted
I'm welcome back if I give up crack
But you gave me my first pipe anyway
...


Fuck Forever

Its one and the same, one and the same,
So whats the use between death and glory?
How can you choose between death and glory?
Happy endings, no, they never bored me
Happy endings, they still don't bore me
But they, they have a way
They have a way to make you pay
And to make you toe the line
Sever the ties
Because I'm so clever
But clever ain't wise

Fuck forever
If you don't mind
Fuck forever?
If you dont mind, dont mind

Whats the use between death and glory?
I cant tell between death and glory?
New labour and Tory
Purgatory and no happy families

Its one and the same, one and the same
No, its not the same
Its not supposed to be the same
You know about that way
The way they make you pay
And the way they make you toe the line
I've severed my ties
You're so clever, you're so clever
But you're not very nice
So fuck forever
If you don't mind
I'm stuck forever
In your mind, your mind

But have you heard about that way,
To make you feel I should soon make you pay
And to make you toe the line, line
I Sever my ties
Oh well i never
Sever the ties
And fuck forever
If you don't mind
See i'm stuck forever
Oh i'm stuck in your mind, your mind

I never played this on the radio
They never played this on the radio



Do You Know Me (I Don't Think So)

Do you know me? I don't think so!
You romanticize the dark and gloomy past
Trying to escape from the underclass
You darkened the bright and beautiful day
You're breaking my heart in every way
And tell me everything is dandy and fine
You're no friend of mine

I took you in and you stole from me
But you still got everything I need
You're walking so tall, you're looking so mean
You're walking so tall, you're looking so mean
But you tell me everything is dandy and fine
You're no friend of mine

Do you know me? I don't think so!
You romanticize the dark and gloomy past
Trying to escape from the upper class
You darkened the bright and beautiful day
You're fucking up my head in every way
And tell me everything's dandy and fine
You're no friend of mine



My Darling Clementine

My darling Clementine, you know I love you
My darling Clementine, you know I do
I bless and curse the day I found you
I wonder why
I get lost in the wonderland around you

But you're always welcome here
I keep love handy, I keep it near
And I take note of all of your witty reposts
And I follow with the famous quotes and
If i say I care, I really mean it

She's got the money, and she
She's moving on
She's thinking on
She's thinking on all the good advice
Because there's always good advice

The man with the golden arm rarely deals a joker
But he kept two aside, just for you
He burnt your fingers in the fire

[Jim]

Is it a Libertines song then?

Maybe I might actually listen to it...

[Aava]

Nope, all Babyshambles. About Libs songs, i?m not sure which are Petes, which Carls and which they wrote together.

[Jim]

Very encouraging.

As I say, I might actually listen to boths bands properly...

I did always like Can't Stand Me Now. 

[Aava]

As you have MySpace account (well, you don?t even need one to check them out...)

http://www.myspace.com/thelibs

(Start with Up The Bracket)


http://www.myspace.com/wearebabyshambles


Now, ihave ruin almost every thread with this Libs/Babyshambles nonsense..

I?m talented!?

[AxlsMainMan]

Here is a poem by one of my favorite authors, Jim Carroll:

Love Story

The penalty for desertion
is death by firing squad.

I'm saving you this trouble

enclosed is a pistol.
loaded with only one bullet.
squeeze the trigger once
perhaps nothing will happen.

but squeeze it a second time...
a third time...           You see

I know the games you love

[Aava]

Heres few poems of Peter, which later became a Libertine-songs.


Tomblands (this one he wrote while he was in prison at the first time)

In the land of the gauching skiving sun
There's bodies in the room, lad
Never an honest day's work is done
They call it the Tomblands

No, they're never gonna get me no
Never gonna get me no

Fifteen holes in the dealer's chest
Yo ho ho he was a mini martial man
Social unrest
Pieces of eight in the jukebox

Oh, you know
Didn't wanna be the one to tell you
She was only 14
Sussed out your dirty sorded little scene

No, they're never gonna get me no
Never gonna get me no



Music When the Lights Go Out

Is it cruel or kind
Not to speak my mind
And to lie to you
Rather than hurt you

Well, I'll confess all of my sins
After several large gins
But still I'll hide from you
Hide what's inside from you

And alarm bells ring
When you say your heart still sings
When you're with me
Oh darling, please forgive me

But I no longer hear the music

And all the memories of the pubs
And the clubs and the drugs and the tubs
We shared together
Will stay with me forever

But all the highs and the lows
And the to?s and the fro?s
They left me dizzy
Oh won?t you please forgive me

But I no longer hear the music

Well I no longer hear the music when the lights go out
Love goes cold in the shades of doubt
The strange fate in my mind is all too clear
Music when the lights come on
The girl I thought I knew has gone
And with her my heart it disappeared

Well I no longer hear the music

And all the memories of the fights and nights
And the blue lights and all the kites
We flew together
I thought they'd fly forever

And I no longer hear the music



The Saga

A problem, becomes a problem
When you let down your friends
When you let down the people
When you let down yourself
And only fools, vultures and undertakers
Will have any time for you

A problem, becomes a problem
When you lie to your friends
And you lie to your people
And you lie to yourself
And the truth's too harsh to comprehend
You just pretend there isn't a problem

I am a pimp and a slave
I dig my bed you dig my bed
I dig my grave
And the truth's too harsh to comprehend
You just pretend there isn't a problem

No no, I ain't got a problem
It's you with the problem!

[Kujo]

If I am lost for a day; try and find me
But if I don't come back, then I won't look behind me
All of the things that I thought were so easy
Just got harder and harder each day
December is the darkest and June is the light but this empty bedroom won't make anything right
While out on the landing theres a friend I forgot to send home
Who waits up for me all through the night

I dreamed I was dying; as I so often do
And when I awoke I was sure it was true
I ran to the window; threw my head to the sky
And said whoever is up there,please don't let me die
But I can't live forever,I can't always be
One day I'll be sand on a beach by a sea
The pages keep turning, I'll mark off each day with a cross
And I'll laugh about all that we've lost

[Aava]

Proverbs burn away the hard
Words unprotected from
The fierce elements of history

Every story has an ending
Up and down the land
Plots everywhere are defiant
Too proud to recognise their
Reliance on one and all the others

Voices ruined the best stories
And such are the choices that
Muddle the tongue we follow
The pre-set spontaneity of punchlines
And sub-plots like myrmidons.


By Peter Doherty from issue #11 of Full Moon Empty Sports Bag

[Mandy.]

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.



By Shakespeare

[Aava]

TO THE BUTTERFLY IN THE MONASTRY

you little fucker
what are you thinking?
I saw you bright yellow in the
smudged sunlight.
Now the rain is here, so heavy
and almost warm.
I stand in the downpour
strangely click my tongue
in time to the thunder
that rolls like drums
around the forest thick mountains.
where have you gone?
You couldn't stand this torrent
could you? you little fucker
I hope you're alright.
I'm safe and warm at least.
Grey smoke filters through
the thick foggy downpour
dissipating, dispending
loose coloured particles
broken in the afternoon light

By Pete Doherty from the Books Of Albion

[journey]

Absence

My cup is empty to-night,
Cold and dry are its sides,
Chilled by the wind from the open window.
Empty and void, it sparkles white in the moonlight.
The room is filled with the strange scent
Of wistaria blossoms.
They sway in the moon's radiance
And tap against the wall.
But the cup of my heart is still,
And cold, and empty.

When you come, it brims
Red and trembling with blood,
Heart's blood for your drinking;
To fill your mouth with love
And the bitter-sweet taste of a soul.

From Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds By Amy Lowell

 

[journey]

EQUALITY by Maya Angelou

You declare you see me dimly
through a glass which will not shine,
though I stand before you boldly,
trim in rank and making time.

You do own to hear me faintly
as a whisper out of range,
while my drums beat out the message
and the rhythms never change.


Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.


You announce my ways are wanton,
that I fly from man to man,
but if I'm just a shadow to you,
could you ever understand?


We have lived a painful history,
we know the shameful past,
but I keep on marching forward,
and you keep on coming last.


Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.


Take the blinders from your vision,
take the padding from your ears,
and confess you've heard me crying,
and admit you've seen my tears.


Hear the tempo so compelling,
hear the blood throb through my veins.
Yes, my drums are beating nightly,
and the rhythms never change.


Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.

[journey]

To a Friend - Amy Lowell

I ask but one thing of you, only one,
That always you will be my dream of you;
That never shall I wake to find untrue
All this I have believed and rested on,
Forever vanished, like a vision gone
Out into the night. Alas, how few
There are who strike in us a chord we knew
Existed, but so seldom heard its tone
We tremble at the half-forgotten sound.
The world is full of rude awakenings
And heaven-born castles shattered to the ground,
Yet still our human longing vainly clings
To a belief in beauty through all wrongs.
Stay your hand, and leave my heart its songs.

[Aava]

Mad Girl's Love Song by Sylvia Plath
   
 
"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"


 
 

[journey]

Mad Girl's Love Song by Sylvia Plath

That's my favorite by her.

[Aava]

Really?
I haven?t read too many of her poems yet. But so far that?s my fave too!


This is nice too.

"Mushrooms"
   
Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly

Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.

Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.

Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,

Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,

Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We

Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking

Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!

We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,

Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:

We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.