Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
Do not stand
          By my grave, and weep.
     I am not there,
          I do not sleep—
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
     Do not stand
          By my grave, and cry—
     I am not there,
          I did not die.
— Clare Harner, The Gypsy, December 1934
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Stand_at_My_Grave_and_Weep
Kitbag of Words Nov 2024
this fear well known to me,
for my truth is captive held
within, fearing the honesty
that seeks to liberate it
from the cages where it’s hid

lesser my mettle, the truth periodically
spills over. and my fleeing is not
freeing for the fear travels fast,
spine, legs, hands trembling treble
honesty a disease,  never a by your leave,
or a pretty please, just a bandage ripped,
and the skin, rawed from within,
and now from without, and I pray
til the fear in me subsides
Sometimes When We Touch
Song by Dan Hill

You ask me if I love you
And I choke on my reply
I'd rather hurt you, honestly
Than mislead you with a lie
And who am I to judge you
On what you say or do?
I'm only just beginning
To see the real you
And sometimes when we touch
The honesty's too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you 'til I die
'Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you
'Til the fear in me subsides
Romance and all its strategy
Leaves me battling with my pride
But through the insecurity
Some tenderness survives
I'm just another writer
Still trapped within my truth
A hesitant prize fighter
Still trapped within my youth
Sometimes when we touch
The honesty's too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you 'til I die
'Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you
'Til the fear in me subsides
At times I'd like to break you
And drive you to your knees
At times I'd like to break through
And hold you endlessly
At times I understand you
And I know how hard you've tried
I've watched while love commands you
And I've watched love pass you by
At times I think we're drifters
Still searching for a friend
A brother or a sister
But then the passion flares again
And sometimes when we touch
The honesty's too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you 'til I die
'Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you
'Til the fear in me subsides
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Barry Mann / Dan  Hill
Kitbag of Words Sep 2024
not my word juxtaposition,
pleased to still from the
opinion pages of the esteemed
well street journal, on that street
where I plied, played lost some,
won more over the inevitable
longer run

but the phrase oozed familiarity,
we all know the type, the next door
neighbor who stink of shredded
shrewdness under the black slapping
red faced nose a poking, the insurance
salesman who won’t sell u what you
want/need, but the higher premium
is just what you’re looking for, just
sign here

thank god i always wrote poetry so
could not compose with those stains
on my holy souly that would have
****** me to failure as a speculator

no, kept my counsel closed, my enemies
closer, and thank god made through that
thirty year stretch left me with many bad
habits, lying was not one of them, but,
just, don’t ask me for my true name,
and the only liquid I’ll proffer is clean
bottled water
Next page