Epitaph

Child

What wind is this across the roofs so softly makes his way,
That hardly makes the wires to sing, or soaring smoke to sway ?

Wind

I am a weary southern wind that blows the livelong day
Over the stones of Babylon, of Babylon,
The ruined walls of Babylon, all fallen in decay.

Oh, I have blown o'er Babylon when royal was her state,
When fifty men in gold and steel kept watch at every gate,
When merchantmen and boys and maids thronged early by and late
Under the gates of Babylon, of Babylon,
The marble gates of Babylon, when Babylon was great.

Child

Good weary wind, a little while pray let your course be stayed,
And tell me of the talk they held, and what the people said,
The funny folk of Babylon before that they were dead,
That walked abroad in Babylon, in Babylon,
Before the towers of Babylon along the ground were laid.

Wind

The folk that walked in Babylon, they talked of wind and rain,
Of ladies' looks, of learned books, of merchants' loss and gain,
How such-a-one loved such-a-maid that loved him not again,
( For maids were fair in Babylon, in Babylon; )
Also the poor in Babylon of hunger did complain.

Child

But this is what the people say as on their way they go,
Under my window in the street; I heard them down below.

Wind

What other should men talk about, five thousand years ago?
For men they were in Babylon, in Babylon,
That now are dust in Babylon I scatter to and fro.

THE CHILD AND THE WIND
Lucy Lyttleton

Cast a cold Eye
On Life, on Death.
Horseman, pass by!

Bite Me.

I cannot die
For I never existed
I am immortal

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Drink, and dance and laugh and lie,
Love the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas we never do.)

The Road Not Taken


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Well, you know you make me wanna'
(Shout) Kick my heels up and
(Shout) Throw my hands up and
(Shout) Throw my head back and
(Shout) Come on now
(Shout) Don't forget to say you will

Don't forget to say yeah x5
(Say you will) Say it right now, baby
(Say you will) Come on, come on
(Say you will) Say that you
(Say you will) Say that you love me
(Say) Say that you need me
(Say) Say that you want me
Say) Don't ever leave me

(Say) Come on now x3

(Say)

I still remember
When you use to be nine-years-old
I was a fool for you
From the bottom of my soul
Yeah, yeah

Now that you're grown up
And old enough to know (yeah, yeah)
You wanna leave me
You wanna let me go

I want you to know
I said I want you to know right now
You've been good to me, baby
Better than I've been to myself (Hey, hey)
And you ever leave me
I don't want nobody else (Hey, hey)
I said I want you to know
I said I want you to know right now

You know know you make me wanna
(Shout) Yeah, yeah
(Shout) Yeah, yeah, right
(Shout) All right x 2
(Shout) Come on now x2
(Shout) Yeah, yeah, yeah x 2
(Shout) Come on now, hey, hey x 2
(Shout) Alright now, yeah, yeah

Now wait a minute
I feel all right (Yeah, yeah x2)
Now that I've got my woman
I feel, hey, all right (Yeah, yeah x2)
You've been so good to me x 2

Well, you know you make me wanna'
(Shout) Lift my head up
(Shout) Throw my hands back
(Shout) Come on now x 4
(Shout) Take it easy x 4

A little bit softer now x 12
A little bit louder now x 6
Hey x 12
A little bit louder now x 4
(Shout)

(Shout) Jump up and shout it now x 6

Jump (Shout) x 4

The Temptations

The wall on which the prophets wrote
Is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death
The sunlight brightly gleams.
When every man is torn apart
With nightmares and with dreams,
Will no one lay the laurel wreath
When silence drowns the screams.

Confusion will be my epitaph.
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back
And laugh.
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow I'll be crying.

Between the iron gates of fate,
The seeds of time were sown,
And watered by the deeds of those
Who know and who are known;
Knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules.
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools.

Confusion will be my epitaph.
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back
And laugh.
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow I'll be crying.

-K.C. (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) , 1976

Children Of The Night

Late At Night
when All The World Is Safe Within Their Dreams
i Walk The Shadows
late At Night
an Empty Feeling Creeps Within My Soul
i Feel So Lonely

so I Go Into The Darkness Of The Night
all Alone I Walk The Streets Until I Find
someone Who Is Just Like Me
looking For Some Company

children Of The Night

late At Night
a Restless Feeling Takes Control Of Me
and I Can't Fight It
late At Night
i Feel The Need For Someone Who Like Me
needs Understanding

so Once Again I'll Search The Darkness Of The Night
all Alone I'll Walk Each Street Until I Find
someone Who Is Just Like Me
looking For Some Company, No, Yeah, Hea

children Of The Night

so Once Again I'll Search The Darkness Of The Night
all Alone I'll Walk Each Street Until I Find
someone Who Is Just Like Me
looking For Some Company, No, Yeah, Hea

children Of The Night
children Of The Night
children Of The Night


Stylistics.......(from sometime in the 70's......)

There once was a man from Nantucket.....

People come and go
And forget to close the door,
And leave their stains and cigarette butts trampled on the floor,
And when they do, remember me, remember me.

Some of them are old,
Some of them are new,
Some of them will turn up when you least expect them to,
And when they do, remember me, remember me.

Lucy you're my girl,
Lucy you're a star,
Lucy please be still and hide your madness in a jar,
But do beware: it will follow you, it will follow you.

Some of them are old
But it would help if you could smile,
To earn a crooked sixpence you'll walk many a crooked mile,
And when you do, remember me, remember me.

[Brian Eno]

"It's easier to kneel down than it is to bend over."

Frank Zappa

Whatever.

Barack Obama ?

I came to the forums
and found they were gone
My friends and my family
all had moved on

Scattered they were
to the ends of the web
to Slapt and to Slu
and some few were dead

The threads were all frozen
The voices were stilled
Another community
Lindens had killed

I shuffled my feet
in the dust on the floor
Muttered, "Fuck you, LL"
Killed the lights, closed the door

Though the web is so wide
May we all meet again
At the Hangout, in world
or at 2Citizen

(doggerel by Lindal Kidd)

Than asked he, if folk that heer be dede
Have lyf and dwelling in another place;
And African seyde, 'ye, withoute drede,'
And that our present worldes lyves space
Nis but a maner deth, what wey we trace,
And rightful folk shal go, after they dye,
To heven; and shewed him the galaxye.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message "The forum is dead."
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

It was our North, our South, our East and West,
Our working week and our Sunday rest,
Our noon, our midnight, our talk, our song;
We thought that it would last forever: We were wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Yay, an emo poetry thread! \(^_^)/


Short, sweet, to the point... and uncannily appropriate.

Why does that make me wanna cover my ass?

Nice work, Lindal. (Same meter as "The Night Before Christmas".)

I always wanted to be somebody,
but I guess I should have been more specific.
-- Lily Tomlin

This was my angst anthem of choice throughout my adolescence (which lasted until I was about 40 in human years). Better check your dates though. In the Court of the Crimson King is widely considered among prog fans to be the first progressive rock album. It came out in 1969. I still love it and the Crims are still going strong and still out there on the cutting edge 40 year later.

[ETA - well that came out pedantic. That wasn't my intention at all, but I won't change it now. I just love King Crimson and enjoyed seeing someone else post about them. That epic melody rose up in my head as soon as I saw the name of this thread.]

Okay, my turn.

This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
-- Bill.

Th-th-th-that's all folks!

Porky Pig

Hmmm... what should I say here... oh my... nervous... let's see:

"Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned"?

No that's not right for this...

How about...

"In Three Words, I can summon everything I learned in life: It Goes On."
-Robert Frost-

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -
Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -
world serves its own needs, regardless of your own needs. Feed it up a knock,
speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,
down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for
hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies
breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered
crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,
common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its
own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign tower. Slash and burn,
return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform and book burning,
blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate. Light a candle,
light a motive. Step down, step down. Watch
a heel crush, crush. Uh oh,
this means no fear - cavalier. Renegade and steer clear! A tournament,
a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

The other night I tripped a nice continental drift divide. Mount St. Edelite.
Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs.
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You symbiotic, patriotic,
slam, but neck, right? Right.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...fine...

(It's time I had some time alone)