Don't disturb the dead bird
Its dry cry goes unheard
Poked at by sticks broken off a nearby rotted tree
Near its body underneath the marquee
With young knuckles wrapped around its imagined hilt
Its body tossed like a rag doll embossed
With cheap black tattered imitation leather
The slick tick of time on rain pattered feathers
A charred cheap treasure
With cracked wings amongst other small things
Pulled joints, and ligaments, tied with strings
It will never be buried, only spat at
Small children squeek "look at that!"
And run off giggling with their swords
Pretending to be ladies and lords
Daily Quote: Let us be kind;
The way is long and lonely,
And human hearts are asking for this blessing only --
That we be kind.
We cannot know the grief that men may borrow,
We cannot see the souls storm-swept by sorrow,
But love can shine upon the way to-day, to-morrow --
Let us be kind.
- W. Lomax Childress
Very hard for one to see,
Even harder to actually be.
Skeletal existence a tragic sight,
A heavy heart knowing their plight.
..
Only crime was being born,
To a world full of scorn.
They are God’s children none the same,
The whole World should be ashamed.
..
We go about our daily lives,
Unconcerned with their strife.
Little ones with naught to eat,
We quibble about what’s on our feet.
..
In this world of material excess,
Not one child should be in distress.
Children starving is not a game,
Many countries are to blame.
..
People sit with all their riches,
Ignoring ones lost in the ditches.
It's their fault is their usual cry,
This they mutter with a dry eye.
..
My heart is heavy and full of tears,
Their cries are falling on deaf ears.
No reason for a child to starve,
While turkey and beef we doth carve.
..
It's time we take a look at others,
After all they are our brothers.
They need our help it's to be expected,
A starving child can never be accepted.
..
Children starving throughout the world,
It's all around don't take my word.
They are Gods children and not to blame,
The whole World should be ashamed.
..
Butch Phillipps
Daily Quote: I have found the paradox,
that if you love until it hurts,
there can be no more hurt, only more love.
- Mother Teresa
Linguist Corner-ITALIAN: prezzo: price / noun
Example sentence: I prezzi sono aumentati ancora!
Translation: Prices have increased again!
The end-game has swept the board at last,
Cutting through the serried ranks.
The pieces captured and others traded,
Discarded now wait out the match.
Rooks assaulted and Bishops taken,
Knights fallen after some fateful jump.
While in some corner or on a border,
A lone Pawn holds a King at bay.
You fool! You fool! You poor deluded fool,
You’re left to man these stations all alone.
Too late aware promotion was token
And your Queen seeks cheque and mate.
Fergus Carty
Daily Quote: Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?
- Henry David Thoreau
Linguist Corner-ITALIAN: rispondere: to reply
Example sentence: Non abbiamo risposto alla tua mail perché ce ne siamo dimenticati.
Translation: We did not reply to your e-mail because we forgot to do it.
Daily Quote:
Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.
~Ouida
Linguist Corner-ITALIAN: volo / flight /noun
Example: Il volo per Bari è stato cancellato a causa della nebbia.
Translation: The flight to Bari was canceled due to the fog.
If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.
- George S. Patton
a day like
any other
preparing evening
meal for all
change quickly
happened
first rattle
sense uneasiness
feeling spread
quickly
sense of doom
unable to stand
walls shaking
flying through air
goods from walls
run they screamed
outside now
knocked to ground
crawling to door
who made it out
not me
walls collapsed
ceiling soon followed
cascade
tumbling
falling
weight of the world
no feeling in legs
unable to breathe
crushed below
gasping last breath
how quickly it ends
no goodbyes
no hug
no kiss
no last words
no time to say
love you
walking down hallway
fancy place in town
best place to stay
columns in place
sandy soil
short cuts taken
building heaves
earth shakes
snap crackle
foundation buckle
like a pancake
floor on top
of floor
collapse as one
no time to scream
gone
stagger into street
people crying
babies wander
blood washes roads
running running
after shock
again again
no end
why why
help me
all cry as one
policeman
fireman
doctor
no more
water gone
food gone
bodies waste
help us
no one cares
world unites
rally to help
docks gone
airport gone
roads gone
help on way
looking searching
pull back rubble
dog sniffs
cry is heard
baby brought out
cheer goes up
one is saved
pits are dug
deep and wide
bodies stacked
thousands now
pushed in covered
buried unknown
recovery begins
once again
slow and painful
how do you
take away
everything
from people
who have
nothing
As I wake up to my world I'm exposed to the
streets, another day, another struggle just to find food to eat, I see
myself to the world as an abandoned little girl, no respect by the rich,
so my name is third world, If that's not enough what more disaster shall
i face, that will be big enough to bring attention to my face?
Will it be when Walls start breaking, and cores start shaking?, when all
hearts are racing, and minds are moving faster?, leaving us asking
questions like where's our pastor? As we all run rapid because of
oncoming disaster will this be the conclusion that will end with trouble?,
bodies laid out on the streets, some buried under rubble, screaming
words of panic saying god help me please! As the room shakes and
rumbles, I get upon my knees, begging the lord to please take care of me,
walls crumbling and tumbling down, barricading so many into the abyss of
the ground, blood soaked on streets, as i hear horrible sounds, what the
hell is going on!? As hearts just pound, little babies crying as mothers
shield them from the sight,
holding them close to their chests as they're filled with much fright,
too much danger in the house! Get in your cars they say! You'll be much
safer, but yet I stay, I don't have a car, so I just stay and pray,
asking my god to please help me today,
After the worse has ended, and bodies are left on display we all look
around without a word to say, with blank expressions on our faces, like
what went wrong? As we're left in pure shock, hoping that some one comes along,
there's looting as criminals from jail break free, and some who were
never caught, but now they feel free, free to make a horrible situation
even worse, we're confused, and sad and can't make sense of the
situation, but our first obligation is to find the ones who are living,
and hope word gets to the u.s. For some type of support
We scream and we shout, and now we start to scratch, asking ourselves
questions like what caused all that?, that's the question that is asked
after a disaster has occurred, you form relief efforts, in hopes to gain
cash, begging every celebrity when you shouldn't have to ask!
Third world countries fighting to survive, earning one dollar a day just
so we can stay alive, but shame on the rich cause they now want to
arrive, a little to late the death toll is now 5! Meaning 5,000 or maybe
even more, yes the earth quake killed a lot, but in a way you've done more!,
don't get me wrong we're happy and blessed to see your face, but you
showing up late, makes you out as a disgrace, you showed up after the
storm, but where were you before the rain? Cause even before the quake
we were was going through a lot of pain,
what is it about walls breaking and tumbling down, and roads being
cracked, and people being shot down, that makes you act fast? Silently
it was already occurring, but now that nature makes noise, our relief is
now soaring, but why we're not getting relief when we can't afford
shoes?, or when our house is the size of a cardboard box?, or when our
ribs are showing cause we can't afford food?
you give us money now, when it seems like it's the end, but where was
that money when we needed to begin!?, to begin our lives earning more
than one buck, but you neglected us sadly, so we remained here stuck!
haiti as well as any other third world place, is fighting to survive!
why give money now? When we can't open up our eyes!, you left us alone
this long, so why are you helping out now?, did some one make you do
this? Did someone tell you to step it up?, cause now you're coming out the
pocket like you want to help us up!
but if disaster never happened, would we still be in the same
position?, cause it was already disaster before nature got on its
mission, left with no commission, and you never helped us out!,
you celebrities with no hearts, with little bit, or no smarts, with the
only concern being money, and how you do on the charts, then the
ignorant ask questions like why are they obligated,
simple question answered by the word that seems to be eliminated, and
that word is empathetic, and in their brains it's not embedded,
therefore not their hearts, so apathetic is the weapon that shines on the mark,
I'm sure you watch tv all the time, and the ones who need it the most
come to view, you see starving children in africa crying out to be
saved, with all the rich moguls in the world you say this has to be staged!
cause no way we could be asking for small cents a day, when bill gates
has a billion for us to be ok, and not all of africa's poor, contrary to
your belief, there's some small rich parts, that they failed to oversee!,
but when disaster breaks out we beg money from you, the so called middle
class, but you're just trying to make it to, so as of right now the change
is not you, and we understand, but all the rich moguls they seem to have
it all,
but most don't give back cause they're afraid they may fall, all of
their cash spent daily on the mall, or those big rims, or a million
dollar house, or paying off a mistress so they can hide it from a spouse,
I'm about to ask a question that is truly dumb to me, and that same
question is asked by the ones who are free, and that questions is, why
are you obligating me? But I will answer that question as simple as can be,
god blessed you with the money, so set some free, set it free into the
lives of the ones who need it more than you, when you have everything,
and we can't even afford a shoe, and you complain about not having the
latest pair so you can wear,
when somebody somewhere don't even have legs, I really hope this
message gets stuck inside your head, so you can change the way your're
living, so you can finally start giving, cause it's obvious to me that
you have it all to give, but another day that god bless you, and you
decide not to fulfill, that will be another day, and another life you
will steal! God bless the third world, and I mean that for real!
ideal setting
coastal town
postcard perfect
sunny day
blue skies
crowded beaches
busy time
paradise for some
ominous signs
suddenly
water recedes
like never before
beach quickly grows
out further and further
sea shells
fish flopping
children playing
men and women
gaze and wonder
all is quiet
somewhere deep
in the bowels
of ocean
earthquake strikes
land shifts
water gathers
hurtling forward
tremendous speed
hundreds of miles
an hour
unsuspecting
people
unaware disaster
lurking
on horizon
a cry
from lips
water rising
ever higher
ocean wall
monster heights
angry god
lashing out
inland racing
gathering all
before it
smothering life
objects ravenous
all succumb
draws out to sea
nothingness
left behind
bewildered
survivors cry
stunned once more
ocean releases
flotsam and jetsam
only signs
of happening before
tsunami by name
destructive force
time heals all
wounds
nature like crouching
tiger in ambush
waiting waiting
once more
He waited to collect
the image, for the moment
when the bird would open its wings and lunge
for the child, starving in the Sudanese sand.
And later, he cannot decide how long after
he walked away she rasped air through her body:
Arabic, “further, further,” a kilometer from food.
His attempts to photograph his adaptation
of life as something more leave
hardwood floors hidden behind stories.
Pulitzers go to eye-trapping,
shadow filled falsehoods and pretty discrepancies.
His photograph promises she reached the camp.
He tells himself that humanity is hungry for similarity,
but he trips over his own evolutionary dreams,
ideals lost in the replication of each mutation.
Individuals do not expose with the light,
leaving stem cells to slip through the lenses,
proving passion never makes it past the UV filter.
Traces of each subject’s DNA linger
along the edges of the camera cap
With blocked out A’s and G’s, common grime.
This haunting survives.
His starving babe.
His waiting vulture.
Touched by the image captured by Kevin Carter in 1994 this award winning poem was written by Eliza Heath which the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation has been privileged to feature.
Kevin who was awarded the Pulitzer for his photograph committed suicide three months after taking the picture.
Join us NOW to help those who are most at risk of starvation
Eliza Heath was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended boarding school in Massachusetts and has come back to the area for college, despite the cold weather. Currently a student at Tufts University, Eliza has also worked and studied internationally, most recently spending a year teaching in the Middle East. She received the Elizabeth Bishop Prize for Poetry, and her poems and short stories have been featured in a handful of small publications. She can be reached at eliza.alden@gmail.com or @eheat on Twitter.
Quote of the Day: "Misery, mutilation, destruction, terror, starvation and death characterize the process of war and form a principal part of the product."
~Louis Mumford
Loud shots reverberating across the emptied square,
neighbour’s bullets smashing, splintering through window,
one viciously driving into this man’s chest,
exploding, his back erupting,
two others into the wall slamming, splattering,
waking terrified mother and screaming baby from rest.
Through mattress passing and over bodies,
violating and shattering,
showering this sacred room,
with innocent blood and pitiless lead,
these soft-nosed dumdum bullets,
hatefully shouting of doom.
A mortally wounded husband wife trembling arms cradling,
amidst her child’s frightening wailing,
in his breast his spirit to hold she is desperately trying,
but in torrents of blood before her eyes his life is ending……
Fergus Carty
"For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery."
~Jonathan Swift
When beauty through the breath of mere despair
Engages nigh to live within the days
That come with every little thought I bear
It is by sweet Melpomene I praise
For boundless is the realm she does ignite
And with her eyes she declares I am dead
While with a candle glows the tragic light
Which holds my thoughts to find the tears I shed
They sway me with the will to reap my cause
And kindle what relinquishes my pride
I will not lift my weary head because
It feels so right to know I'm lost inside
Though sweet Melpomene can understand
Death grants me reason to walk through its land
Robert E. Anderson
Copyright 2009
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
~W.M. Lewis
If you enjoy visiting Coffee Table GUEST BOOK, please click the button below so we may continue sharing your own poems with other poetry lovers.
Popular Pages
HOME
Guest Book
Search GUEST BOOK
Custom Search
Welcome Friends
Welcome to Coffee Table Poetry GUEST Book. We are happy to post your poems, photographic or other art, short stories and all artistic works on our main web site Coffee Table Poetry as we are no longer able to maintain this site.
To have your work posted, simply submit it with any titles or quotes, accreditation, and blog link if applicable to:
Your work will be posted within the week. Thank you for letting us showcase your creativity. Enjoy also Coffee Table Poetry's classic poets (link on top right of page).
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uuGi4Wd6TVngKCzsHzcslqJlQKe9oqv4Epbyi5c611bgR87nP0ULEoXwrWYwQ16aV0hMgrLue3iyNuJD7AhLniXRZ-3zdC03imzbhfXcTCe74vysEtAxwvqbNKSR3utRsUDjH-gkeTHnqzgCQvujKJ=s0-d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uXMi7BtPnR9fh1vtiA91QlJTwajseViAOp_V-xBdtF_ovd9jazerqrpmAiFPLzxJm_f2-0Vh8Yeq5zHUIVS4-PrDxMQjxWhuZOvm6dh4sv1Ku7D7lwyP0e3F78fe1mbVdRyjpDRVBVNnLpkOnsAw3a=s0-d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sEtllK31fTXI_YILCvE4Ayi1dgefFXi7Yf8ELd9JHRP_FWotSUOXk45EiEO0_cVEZ6tWm30B6r_5x2bO16ntHzj761rtXGYkJPR_RZbhIRessYLFB9AbAbegrcjChyFuwp2JgKPkzcwp1jpfYKuqx8=s0-d)
