Long Toils Poems

World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - IV - Primo Levi

Shema
by Primo Levi
translation by Michael R. Burch

You who live secure
in your comfortable houses, 
who return each evening to find
warm food, 
welcoming faces...

consider whether this...

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One small little country which houses 
one of the highest paid governments 
in this modern world joke ran upside down

A big part of our life existing reality 
when the backbone is gone snakes appear with...

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Translation of Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s poem: “Asai Mugam” or “Beloved Face”
                         ...

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Ledger of Love

In the dim-lit chambers of the Victorian home,
Resides a wife, her heart a silent tome.
Once, love’s flame burned bright within her breast,
But now a thin whisp, a ghostly jest.

Her gaze averts from her...

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Sam woke up all excited, his first circle would take place tonight,
He saw Crimson Fire sat deep into mediation, still as a rock
and noticed the white robes, belts and staffs laid out ready.
He knew from...

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Together we are like crisp morning snow and dry sooty oil poured onto the ground in our different ways. I putter around the home like puppy dog waiting for his next meal and she toils...

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Come with me, take my hand and don’t let me go
Let’s feel our way through the ocean’s sand 
Drink in my seawater and keep swimming low
I’m glad our sorrows are but a small fraction of...

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The horse is a fascinating creature that serves us so well


Having had a life long relationship with horses
I am full of admiration for their endless toils.
They are fiery yet mainly gentle giants
and give hours of...

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Lay down your old ink pen...
Rise from the table...
Push back your chair.
Gather them all up...
Put them out of sight now...
Place them safely in the cupboard 
Bare.
Wrapped in stiff brown paper,
Strung tightly together
With thin white string;
Turn...

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So let us fly away like an eagle to our soul mate's space the throne room the habitation in the flesh-  the soul, the spirit- the mind- the song the joy the peace be...

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A Farmer’s Plight
The field is ready
The work is done
Toiling in the soil
Under the sun.
 We wait now for the monsoon rain
To end our hunger and our pain.
Loans, in part will be paid
When we harvest our...

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In the winds, old histories tossed, 
To speak of it, freedom that’s lost,
From the hill tops Dostoevsky screams aloud, 
Lost their God indeed, the proud.

Much can’t say but, tis I tell,
Where is this, that conflicts...

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~ (~) "Because yes I believe as well-true abhorrence is the springboard for more pain, love 
is the land of peace that lie between." "Denial the raging river running through it!" (~) ~


~ (~) "Who...

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Its effects are all around us,
this great addiction we can’t break,
the old human lust for power,
and we all know it’s a mistake.

I’ve even seen ‘Rest in Power’
said for activists who have died,
so that even in...

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Men: A Wife of Noble Character
 Proverbs 12:4 

A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown.
   United as one, a vow husband and wife, declare to the town.

   And to...

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A long, long, long, long time ago

                            ...

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o my dear mother, please do not grieve on this tragic death
the death that your son has to under go

although, as a son, i had a strong affection for you dear mother
i hadn’t even once...

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The spider Queen, aloofly vain!
She rules a silent ruthless reign,
with black-bead eyes like pearls of rain
that damp the depths of her demesne. 
          .
  ...

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PASSION

Passion, what is it?
Why do some people have it?
Why don't some people have it?
What is so intriguing about it?

Passion, an intense feeling; a conviction;
a deep interest; a strong desire; a devotion
to an activity, an object,...

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I awake from a distant dream....

Thinking of all I'd seen
Remembering what was in my mind's eye
Such sad, sad thoughts of a time gone by

I remember the heat of the desert and the dangers of camouflage...

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I slash with my sword and I push with my shoulder. Every muscle and every tendon is screaming in agony. I can feel every pressure when my blade makes contact. I’m grunting with passion as...

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Seeking a better life and with chance at hand, our new life awaits
Wife hires on as servant, daughter and I stowaway as it departs
Our life's dreams sail on the USS Titanic, a new future to...

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We lost our “UMOJA”, the basic concept and core value of our being “We, therefore, I am”, at the time of our history that began some 300 years ago. We didn’t step on the soil...

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I Asked Myself A Rhetorical Question...

Asper daily expounding fostering
     inchoate manifesting mod
     er writ writing quality,
     solitary scrimmage tackling
    ...

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bitter truth
my soul fails to see the rising sun
all my days i can only recall total darkness
not even the day of light brings hope to my heart
deserted by all i see no value to live
it's...

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