Poem : Written by Constantinos Grigoriadis
Music : Dean Leontidis
copyright 2007
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Poetry Speaks
When my voice,
Can't describe with words my feelings,
Then I open the door inside me,
And the fantasy drives my thoughts
To make my feelings words.
Where the words use the poetry
To make you see the world
With the eyes of my soul,
And my poems speak to your heart.
Constantinos Grigoriadis ©
Constantinos Grigoriadi's Poems:
Alive
As at the cinema
Confession
Dear soul
Deep in my soul
Eyewitness person
Food to eternity
Identity
Lost inside my Today
Love without tomorrow
My gift
Mystic dialogue
Our best song
Poor words
Previously Intellingent Mammals
Roses between the thorns
Secret love
Shipwrecked person
Small world
Something more
The Aquarium
The bridge
The castle
The cry of my soul
The game
The glass of my life
The greatest loves
The Journey
The mirror
The party
The road of hope
The universe close to me
To live just for you
Truly illusion
We singing just for you
Welcome to the planet earth
When the dreams don’t move
When the night goes
You never can fly like a bird
Your great soul
Your hug
Contact
Survival
Soul sacrifice
Undesirable whispers
A lonely dream
My secret
Refuse
My home
Passage to the reality
Timeless
No compassion for killers
The road of the moon
Thoughts and dreams inside the crashing waves
Soul painting
Dreams of fantasy
Someone behind the door
Give it your name
Bodyquard
Empty room
Reality show
The poetry speaks
Some call this Life
Stand up and fight
Smile... the Death will change to Birth
Life in the Garbage
The punishment of the Paradise
A love frozen in time
Between dark and light
Repatriation
Moments
Prioritys
Mr. "Somebody"
The last Door
Reportaz
Heroes Next Door
An Old Man Thoughts
Tail From an Old Man's Diary
Constantinos Grigoriadis ©
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QUOTES
Let's say you're walking around and you find a watch on the ground. As you examine it, you marvel at the intricately complex interweaving of its parts, a means to an end. Surely you wouldn't think this marvel would have come about by itself. The watch must have a maker. Just as the watch has such complex means to an end, so does nature to a much greater extent. Just look at the complexity of the human eye. Thus we must conclude that nature has a maker too !
William Paley(July 1743 – 25 May 1805)
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You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing,that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.
Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)
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You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.
Woody Allen
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When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
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For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.
John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)
MORE QUOTES
- You cannot change what you refuse to confront.
- Don’t think of cost. Think of value.
- Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
- Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t know.
- No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
- If a person wants to be a part of your life, they will make an obvious effort to do so. Think twice before reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.
- Making one person smile can change the world – maybe not the whole world, but their world.
- Saying someone is ugly doesn’t make you any prettier.
- The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well.
- Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.
- The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.
- It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company.
- As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones.
- Making a hundred friends is not a miracle. The miracle is to make a single friend who will stand by your side even when hundreds are against you.
- Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough and move on.
- Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc…
- If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.
- Don’t choose the one who is beautiful to the world; choose the one who makes your world beautiful.
- Falling in love is not a choice. To stay in love is.
- True love isn’t about being inseparable; it’s about two people being true to each other even when they are separated.
- While you’re busy looking for the perfect person, you’ll probably miss the imperfect person who could make you perfectly happy.
- Never do something permanently foolish just because you are temporarily upset.
- You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.
- In life, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.
- When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.
- Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
- There isn’t anything noble about being superior to another person. True nobility is in being superior to the person you once were.
- Trying to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.
- You will never become who you want to be if you keep blaming everyone else for who you are now.
- People are more what they hide than what they show.
- Sometimes people don’t notice the things others do for them until they stop doing them.
- Don’t listen to what people say, watch what they do.
- Being alone does not mean you are lonely, and being lonely does not mean you are alone.
- Love is not about sex, going on fancy dates, or showing off. It’s about being with in a way nobody else can.
- Anyone can come into your life and say how much they love you. It takes someone really special to stay in your life and show how much they love you.
- Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion; today is special.
- Love and appreciate your parents. We are often so busy growing up, we forget they are also growing old.
- When you have to start compromising yourself and your morals for the people around you, it’s probably time to change the people around you.
- Learn to love yourself first, instead of loving the idea of other people loving you.
- When someone tells you, “You’ve changed,” it might simply be because you’ve stopped living your life their way.
- Someone else doesn’t have to be wrong for you to be right.
- Be happy. Be yourself. If others don’t like it, then let them be. Happiness is a choice. Life isn’t about pleasing everybody.
- When you’re up, your friends know who you are. When you’re down, you know who your friends are.
- Don’t look for someone who will solve all your problems; look for someone who will face them with you.
- If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.
- No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs.
- is worth more than the grandest intention.
- Many people are so poor because the only thing they have is money.
- Learn to appreciate the things you have before time forces you appreciate the things you once had.
- When you choose to see the good in others, you end up finding the good in yourself.
- You don’t drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
- It’s better to know and be disappointed than to never know and always wonder.
- There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.
- Happiness is not determined by what’s happening around you, but rather what’s happening inside you. Most people depend on others to gain happiness, but the truth is, it always comes from within.
- If you tell the truth, it becomes a part of your past. If you lie, it becomes a part of your future.
- What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.
- You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
- Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
- If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.
“I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.” - Dudley Field Malone
“If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.” - Albert Einstein
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” - Bill Copeland
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” - George Eliot
“All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” - Walt Disney
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle
”An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” - M.K. Gandhi
”Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” - John F. Kennedy
”I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” - Thomas Edison
”It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle
”It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” - Howard Ruff
”It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi
”Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” - Sun-Tzu
”Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein
”Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” - Benjamin Franklin
”Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.” - William Shakespeare
”That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
”The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.” - Will Rogers
”Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” - Will Rogers
”To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” - George Washington
”When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt
”Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” - Henry David Thoreau
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
”I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.” - Albert Einstein
“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.” - Albert Einstein
”Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” - Mark Twain
“People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” - Apple Computers
”You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - M.K. Gandhi
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan
“If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” - E. Joseph Cossman
”Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” - Henry Ford
”Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” - Truman Capote
”Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” - Roy Goodman
”In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.” - Sid Caesar
“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.” - Richard Bach
”The only thing worse than a man you can’t control is a man you can.” - Margo Kaufman
“To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.” - Elbert Hubbard
”We see things not as they are, but as we are.” - H. M. Tomlinson
”The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” - Chinese Proverb
”Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare.” - Japanese Proverb
”If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a chance of being a prophet.” - Isaac B. Singer
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” - Jimmy Johnson
“When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’” - Sydney Harris
“The only people who find what they are looking for in life are the fault finders.” - Foster’s Law
”I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” - Winston Churchill
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” - Winston Churchill
”Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” - Voltaire
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” - Abraham Lincoln
“Don’t go through life, grow through life.” - Eric Butterworth
“Positive anything is better than negative thinking.” - Elbert Hubbard
”Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” - William B. Sprague
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” - Albert Einstein
“I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.” - Oprah Winfrey
“In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt
“Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.” - Charles F. Kettering
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” - Dr. Denis Waitley
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” - John Wooden
“Cause change and lead; accept change and survive; resist change and die.” - Ray Norda
“Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it.” - Joe Clark
“Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.” - Richard L. Evans
”A mind is like a parachute, it doesn’t work if it isn’t open.” - Frank Zappa
“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.” - J.M. Power
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” - Thomas Jefferson
MORE QUOTES
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” - Dennis P. Kimbro
“Winners lose much more often than losers. So if you keep losing but you’re still trying, keep it up! You’re right on track.” - Matthew Keith Groves
“An obstacle is often a stepping stone.” - Prescott
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” - Helen Keller
“The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job.” - Zig Ziglar
“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” - Napoleon Hill
“Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.” - Ray Kroc
”Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” - Vince Lombardi
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” - Zig Ziglar
“If not us, who? If not now, when?” - John F. Kennedy
“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” - Dale Carnegie
“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.” - Joe Girard
“Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream things that never were and say why not.” - George Bernard Shaw
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.” - Sidney Greenberg
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” - Bill Cosby
“The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.” - Hasidic Proverb
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” - Peter F. Drucker
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” - Wayne Gretzky
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Dr. Seuss
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” - Pablo Picasso
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” - Robert Brault
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” - Albert Einstein
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin
“Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” - Thomas Edison
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” - Confucius
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” - Theodore Roosevelt
“You make a living by what you earn; you make a life by what you give.” - Winston Churchill
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” - Lao Tzu
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
”Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great.” - Mark Twain
”Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first, it is ridiculed. In the second, it is opposed. In the third, it is regarded as self evident.” - Arthur Schopenhauer
"Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
"You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. – Margaret Young
SOME MORE QUOTES
This is my“depressed stance”. When you’re depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you’ll start to feel better. If you’re going to get any joy out of being depressed, you’ve go to stand like this. – Charlie Brown
Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Jumping for joy is good exercise.
One joy scatters a hundred griefs. – Chinese proverb
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate. – Thornton Wilder
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. – Mahatma Gandhi
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. – Walt Disney
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Every now and then go away and have a little relaxation. To remain constantly at work will diminish your judgment. Go some distance away, because work will be in perspective and a lack of harmony is more readily seen. – Leonardo DaVinci
The path involves respect for all small and subtle things. Learn to recognize the right moment to strike the necessary attitudes. – Manual of the Warrior of Light
I say “Out” to every negative thought that comes to my mind. No person, place, or thing has any power over me, for I am the only thinker in my mind. I create my own reality and everyone in it. – Louise Hay
The thing that is really hard and really amazing is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. – Anna Quindlen
I am woman! I am invincible! I am pooped!
If you’re going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill
Your problem is you’re too busy holding onto your unworthiness. – Ram Dass
Trust your gut. – Barbara Walter
Action is the antidote to despair. – Joan Baez
She took the leap and built her wings on the way down.
You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go. – Dr. Seuss
You had the power all along my dear. – Glinda the Good Witch.
Today is a new day. – Chicken Little
When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either. – Leo Burnett
What the caterpillar calls a tragedy, the Master calls a butterfly. – Richard Bach
Earth’s crammed with heaven. – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself. – Michel de Montaigne
She decided to enjoy more and endure less.
I am unfolding in fulfilling ways. Only good can come to me. I now express health, happiness, prosperity, and peace of mind
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desire can be won. It exists. It is real. It is possible. It is yours. – Ayn Rand
There is a connection between self-nurturing and self-respect. – Julia Cameron
Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation. – Andre Gide
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions all life is an experience. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If the future road loom ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. – Maya Angelou
Breath in experience. – Muriel Rukeyser
Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.
I rejoice in what I have and I know that fresh new experiences are always ahead. I greet the new with open arms. I trust life to be wonderful. – Louise Hay
Too much of a good thing can be wonderful. – Mae West
You must do the thing you think you cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Sprinkle joy. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. – Johann von Goethe
She realized that she was missing a great deal by being sensible.
She was kind and loving and patient…with herself.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I’ve ended up where I needed to be. – Douglas Adams
You’ll never be sad if you remember all the good things that have happened to you. Karolina Grekov
What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.
Conquering any difficulty always gives on a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary line and adding to one’s liberty. – Henri Frederic Amiel
When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.
People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet. – Sa’Di
When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there. – Cecil Selig
A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts. – Nancy Rathburn
Everything you do prepares you for the next thing. – John Abel
It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. – Sally Kempto
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself. – Lemony Snicket
A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at her. – David Brinkley
Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be. – Dorothy Parker
I begin now, today, to open myself to ever-increasing prosperity. – Louise Hay
Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert. – Erma Bombeck
Anything you are good at contributes to happiness. – Bertrand Russell
The only way to save our dreams is by being generous with ourselves. – The Pilgramage
Never miss an opportunity to see anything that is beautiful. – Janet Hobson
There is plenty for everyone, including me. – Louise Hay
I focus my energy on my true intentions. I will not be distracted by noise, chatter, or setbacks. Patience, commitment, grace, and purpose will guide me. – Louise Hay
A strong woman understands the importance of creating space for personal well-being, spiritual nourishment, and regeneration in order to maintain her authenticity, especially when the universe whacks her with its two-by-four and hands her days when it takes a great deal of courage just to show up. – Laura Folse
Strength means recognizing that it is impossible to be strong all the time. – Sally Franser
Just go out there and do what you’ve got to do. – Martina Navratilova
You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you. – Mary Tyler Moore
I breathe in the fullness and richness of life. I observe with joy as life abundantly supports me and supplies me with more good than I can imagine. – Louise Hay
Keep breathing. – Sophie Tucker
Dwell in possibility. – Emily Dickinson
Improve your spare moments and they will become the brightest gems in your life. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
While you are upon the earth, enjoy the good things that are here. – John Selden
Women really do rule the world. They just haven’t figured it out yet. When they do, and they will, we’re all in big trouble. – Dr. Leon
It’s okay to be fat. So you’re fat. Just be fat and shut up about it. – Roseanne
I accept myself and create peace in my mind and heart. I now choose to free myself from all destructive fears and doubts. I am loved and I am safe. – Louise Hay
Being strong means rejoicing in who you are, complete with imperfections. – Margaret Woodhouse
Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. – John Lennon
Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination. – Roy Goodman
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.
The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow but the rainbow won’t wait while you do the work.
One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves. – L. Tom Perry
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. – Hans Hofmann
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. – Bill Gates
Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. – Marianne Williamson
The joy of a spirit is the measure of its power. – Ninon de l’Enclos
Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path to joy. – Sarah Ban Breathnach
There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way. – Christopher Morley
Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rogers
She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. – Henry David Thoreau
Nothing we learn in this world is ever wasted.
Eleanor Roosevelt
It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. – Margery Williams
Nearly every glamorous, wealthy, successful career woman you might envy now started out as some kind of schlep. – Helen Gurley Brown
The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed. – William Gibson
As soon as people decide to confront a problem, they realize that they are far more capable than they thought they were. – The ZahirShe discovered that she was the one she’d been waiting for.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Constantinos Grigoriadis' Photos
Heroes Next Door
(Dedicated to all Heroes of the next door)
By Constantinos Grigoriadis
There are some different heroes.
They do not exist in the books of history
and very few people speak about them.
There are some heroes that they fight with death every day.
They know very well the value of life, living, death.
There are some heroes that they get the medal of honor of life.
They are the neighbors of the next country, the next city, the next house...
The heroes next door.
©Constantinos Grigoriadis, 2007
VIETNAM WAR VETERAN'S POETRY
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
A Poem by G. R. Webster - 68th Pilot
-----------------------------------
La Belle Dame sans Merci
by John Keats
"O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.
"O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
And the harvest's done.
"I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew;
And on thy cheek a fading rose
Fast withereth too."
"I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful - a faery's child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
"I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look'd at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
"I set her on my pacing steed
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery's song.
"She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said -
'I love thee true.'
"She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh'd full sore;
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
"And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream'd - Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream'd
On the cold hill's side.
"I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried-'LaBelle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!'
"I saw their starv'd lips in the gloom,
With horried warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill's side.
"And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing."
John Keats
------------------------------------------
Drive-on Rag
© Richard P. Guthrie, 2002. All rights reserved.
Your Ruck must weigh over sixty pounds
and somewhere a strap has worked loose
letting the load rock with your stride,
pulling you off balance with each step,
making the walk twice as hard.
Then battalion calls to say you need to be another three klicks
straight up the same ridgeline you have humped for the last three hours.
Darkness approaches and you really need to get
Your soldiers set up before all light's gone.
And you don't feel right about hurrying up this narrow trail
So deep in "Indian Territory".
Time to untie, I'd say,
that greasy square of olive drab cotton
from around the neck,
wipe your brow...
and,
DRIVE ON!!!
Dick Guthrie
--------------------------------------
A Prayer to Start the Day.
© Martha Sarlin, 2003. All rights reserved.
Inspire me, Lord, throughout the day
to seek Thy help along the way;
before I act, before I speak,
teach me, Lord, Thy Word to seek.
Inspire me, Lord, to take good care
of Thy creation everywhere:
family, home, pets, garden, wealth, -
my mind, my body and my health.
Inspire me, Lord, to use my mind
to do my best at tasks I find;
to be creative: wise, not smart;
Thy words to guide me from the heart.
Inspire me, Lord, to use my heart
to live a life that’s set apart;
in everything be led by love;
in serving man, serve God above.
Martha Sarlin
--------------------------------------
Seasoned Combat Boots.
© Ray Sarlin, 2003. All rights reserved.
Spring:
Combat boots straight from the box
Begin to hurt my feet
Blister toes and crack my soles
Stiff leather retains the heat.
Summer:
When they've covered many miles
They take on a bright shine
Mould themselves to my skin
Then look and feel real fine.
Autumn:
Softly caressed joints and bone
I hardly know they're worn
So well drilled they shine themselves
Yet still resist a thorn.
Winter:
Re-heeled once, can't hold a shine
No longer looking cute
Rolling ankles, twisting toes
It's time they got the boot.
Ray Sarlin
-------------------------------
Parade.
© Michael Koplin, 1985-2003. All rights reserved.
So many didn't make it home.
Their innocence was ended
fighting for the honor and
the glory they defended.
Who explains it to the children
of the men who lost their lives.
Who consoles the grief
of the mothers and the wives.
What of those whose legs were torn,
who walk within their dreams.
Who comforts those who call for help
with silence in their screams.
In time, when history will tell,
and memories will fade...
when soldiers remember deeds of past
each has their own parade.
Michael Koplin
--------------------------------------
Arlington.
© Michael Koplin, 1985-2003. All rights reserved.
They're buried now,
those brave and valiant men
who had to die.
Although we fought to win the war
some say we didn't try.
Taps is sounded in their honor,
as wives and children cry.
The flower is lost forever,
and all I ask is why?
Michael Koplin
-----------------------------------
Bali!
© Anonymous, 2002.
You hurt us bombing Bali, but we can take the pain,
But if you think you'll beat us you can think a-bloody-gain
We battled at Gallipoli and we fought the bloody hun
Of all the arseholes we've had to face you're just another one
You won't get your hands dirty, you won't fire a gun
Whenever danger threatens you just pack your gear and run
You brainwash innocent children to do your evil deeds
Careful not to let them know just where it really leads
You get them to believe all your bigotry and lying
Until they cannot see that there's no glory in their dying
Now we'd like to pose a question, answer if you can
Where does your holy book tell you to kill your fellow man?
Now listen hard and listen well, we're giving you the word
You're never gonna beat us you spineless bloody turd
You'd never face us personally you haven't got the guts
You know that if you ever did we'd have your bloody nuts
Our spirit is unbroken, and our heads are still unbowed
We sure as hell aren't scared of you and your gutless crowd
So get your act together -- you'll never win because
What you're really up against is the spirit that is OZ
Anonymous (provided to Ray Sarlin
by an Australian Vietnam Veteran)
-----------------------------------------
Patrol!
© Dennis Driscoll, 2002. All rights reserved.
Another patrol, short or long
It felt the same.
The thoughts of war and pain.
That feeling in our stomach.
Hollow and frail,
time to follow another trail.
Gather your weapon, check the gear,
buckle up! The Chopper is here!
Please press here for the complete poem.
Comrades!
© Dennis Driscoll, 2002. All rights reserved.
I stand at the graves
with the flags.
I think about the untold
stories beneath each tomb.
They are my comrades
and those standing near.
We share the common bond.
The horrors of war.
Please press here for the complete poem.
---------------------------------------
Pain!
© Richard Guthrie, 2002. All rights reserved.
And oh, not five minutes before,
He had dug Zippo from sweat-muddy Jungle Fatigues,
And respectfully lit the soggy last Marlboro,
His Cap'n had tugged from the crumpled pack.
Now, a booming flash, and he writhes, stunned, bloodied...
So maimed that if he survives at all,
He'll never make babies with the waiting girl of the snapshot on his helmet,
Nor read again with those blue eyes,
Her three letters from this morning's Mail Call.
At that black scar in the earth on the Mall, tears flow,
As numbly you rub your fingers yet again over the engraved names of those,
You led... you loved... and you lost.
There's pain with us each, and no store of wisdom, no thickening scar tissue,
Can make it go away.
The Great Spirit likely made us thus, so we'll think twice,
Before we put figurative or literal hand back on the proverbial hot stove.
And yet, the pain so focuses our memory,
That we celebrate better the living stored there:
The loving and the loved ones, the triumphs, joys, satisfactions,
That define our very souls,
That shape and form our essence.
And this is the same celebrating
Isn't it, that keeps us pressing ahead,
So full of hope.
Richard Guthrie
-----------------------------------------
International War Veteran's Poetry Archives
September 2002
Follow Me!
© Ray Sarlin, 2002. All rights reserved.
"Here's your new A.O.," says the major,
"Your troops won't go in blind."
"Check it out,' says the colonel,
"And see what y'all can find!"
"Follow me."
"Situation, mission, execution," says the cap'n,
"The objective's over there."
"Logistics, command and signal,' says the cap'n,
"This is a tough 'un, so beware!"
"Follow me."
"We move at oh four hundred," says the el tee,
"The Old Man says it will be tough."
"Oh four hundred we move out," says the el tee,
"Get ready to do your stuff."
"Follow me."
"Keep movin'," says the sergeant,
"The enemy's just ahead."
"Smartly now," says the sergeant,
"Stop and you'll be dead."
"Follow me."
"Spread out now," says the corporal,
"Don't give 'em a good shot."
"Keep your place," says the corporal,
"Pretty soon she'll get real hot."
"Follow me."
"What the fuck," says the private,
"I got but one life to live."
"Fuck this shit," says the private,
"Them mothers'll have to give."
"Follow me."
"Follow me!" they shout together,
Firing on the run.
"Follow me!" they shout together.
The battle has begun.
"Follow me."
"Keep going," says the cap'n,
"Through fire, smoke and shell!"
"Keep going," says the cap'n,
"Into the jaws of hell!"
"Follow me."
"Keep going," says the el tee,
"Through their mines and wire!"
"Keep going," says the el tee,
"Maintain the base of fire!"
"Follow me."
"Keep movin'," says the sergeant,
"Together me and you!"
"Keep movin'," says the sergeant,
"We're gonna make it through!"
"Follow me."
"Keep movin'," says the corporal,
"Don't think about your pain."
"Keep movin'," says the corporal,
"There's one more yard to gain."
"Follow me."
"What the fuck," says the private,
"Their rounds are shootin' high."
"Keep movin'," says the private,
"It's time for them to die."
"Follow me."
"Push on now," says the fallen,
"To that bright light just ahead."
"I'm coming," says the fallen,
"There's nothing left to dread!"
"Follow me."
Ray Sarlin
------------------------------------
Unexpected
© Richard P. Guthrie, 2002. All rights reserved.
Back then, tales abounded of the way: life in the service
Had brought this one around, made a man of that one, and,
How the other had performed incredible feats in the face of enemy fire.
No, we didn't expect a Church picnic,
The Talking Heads had warned us it wouldn't be easy.
Some did evade, but for us the citizen's role was clear.
Slinking North was not our particular American way.
So we swallowed hard, stepped up to the plate, did our duty best we could.
We expected that fighting for America would test us to new limits back then.
And nobody promised we'd all come home in one piece...and sure enough...
We expected the ordeal of it, the threatening flora, fauna and humana,
In the bleak loneliness, we found all the excitement we could stand.
We knew the heat, the mud, the stench, the sleep-deprivation all were coming.
Yet although we'd been warned, the rape of our innocence
Plunged us to depths we'd never known possible.
Sent off by a populace ambivalent, on a mission ill-defined,
We were right to be scared, to expect some measure of the terrible we got.
The real unexpected, though, was the bewildering "welcome home", when,
Just as - relieved and exhausted - we limped back for the familiar, the warmth,
And as we came up the walk, you slammed the door in our faces, America.
The same folk we thought we'd been sent off to defend, who paid our way,
Happily voted us over to that ordeal, then somehow thought it fitting
To pin on us all blame for the complexities of the problem.
We surely didn't see that part coming, and - hope you'll understand -
A few are having a hard time, just ... getting over it.
Dick Guthrie
--------------------------------------
Fiftieth Infantry Man
© John Smerdon, 2002. All rights reserved.
When duty called he gave his all
he risked both life and limb
he was a Fiftieth Infantry man.
He rode a track and carried a ruck
he scouted and he ambushed
he was a Fiftieth Infantry man.
His road was hard and his load was heavy
there wasn't a task he couldn't do
he was a Fiftieth Infantry man.
When friends fell and when friends died
he never faltered and he never failed
he was a Fiftieth Infantry man.
When his time came he feared not
he lived his life as men should
he was a Fiftieth Infantry man.
John Smerdon
----------------------------------
Fifteen Men
© Ray Sarlin, 2002. All rights reserved.
Organized like Rangers to forge a common bond
Seasoned, highly motivated, trained to respond
Making many a quick, bold and deadly strike
On enemy troops, weapons, and supplies alike
Just one of many irregular commando bands.
Holloway's Raiders in Nam's Central Highlands.
That evening of the twentieth of March, sixty-nine,
Fifteen Raiders stepped through razor wire and mines
Leaving LZ Action for infamous Mang Yang Pass
To lay a deadly ambush in the long, dry grass.
Training and comraderie were to save the day
For, unbeknownst to intell, a company plus of NVA
Dispatched by 5th Battalion, Regiment Nine Five B
To chop off Pump Station Number 8 at the knee
Just east on QL19 from where the Viet Minh
Annihilated Group Mobile 100's nine hundred men
An Indochina battle that as much as Dien Bien Phu
Forced once mighty France to bid Vietnam adieu.
In the early hours, the tiny patrol became aware
Of North Vietnamese regulars moving to ensnare
The understrength American force guarding PS8,
Despite heavy incoming, still oblivious of their fate.
The radio packed it in as Raiders alerted in place
Forcing 'em to blow their 'bush just to warn the base.
Heavily outnumbered, with futures looking blank
Thirty seconds of hurt poured into the enemy flank.
Many enemy soldiers fell, their shit blown away
Then the tide of battle changed; causing hell to pay.
For fifteen Holloway's Raiders, surrounded and cut off
Bullets whipped, rockets pounded, mortars coughed.
Hearing intense gunfire to the south and seeing smoke
The boys in Pump Station 8 called in arty as a cloak
Battalion heard the calls, and sent Alpha Company
Along with 69th Armor, aboard tank and APC.
Air Force fighter bombers vectored in by FAC
Decimated enemy were bloodily forced back.
Fifteen men quietly left LZ Action just the night before
Fifteen men held out against one hundred Cong or more
Fifteen men hanging on when Alpha's APCs rolled in,
Fifteen men wanted ammo in case Charlie attacked again
Fifteen men battered, half bloody, some barely still alive.
Quick medivac and surgeon's care saw every man survive.
SRAP accomplished more than their number may suggest
They had a bastard of a job, but each gave all his best.
Ably led by Rangers and comprised of special troops
Holloway's Raiders - just one of many little groups.
Ray Sarlin
---------------------------------------
A Hero with no Name
© Ray Sarlin, 2002. All rights reserved.
Was there ever meaning truer
Than that one from Viet Nam,
From a young man I remember
Who lay dying in Binh Thuan.
Old eyes staring far away,
Past dead and dying friends,
Dying alone amongst a crowd,
While his body slowly mends.
Drifting far away from them,
Into a vast and dark unknown
Nothing to tell waiting parents
Or friends and love at home,
Purple shade dropped o'er his eyes
As youth slowly slipped away
Courage and duty didn't desert him
But his future died that day.
He went to Nam a young man, standing tall to play the game
A year's hard yards for Uncle Sam, came home his place to claim.
"It was like…" he started saying
Voice fraught with pain and grief,
But there were none who listened
To his tangled feelings or beliefs.
Mother cooked her apple pies
In pretense he'd never left
While dad avoided questioning
The ghosts he tried to heft.
Friends still speaking to him
Closed their ears to words he'd say
His girlfriend married another man
Twelve months too long not to stray.
Hollow silence echoed in his mind
Time to simply drift away,
Out into the dark, alone again
With no reason left to stay.
He went to Nam a young man, standing tall to play the game
A year's hard yards for Uncle Sam, but home was not the same.
Married once or twice or more
Still alone amongst the crowd
Future becoming present, then past
Hiding that he'd once been proud
Until a time the dam was breached,
Hallowed ground stained red again
Memories flooding back he cried,
"I was once a better man."
Was there ever meaning truer
Than that one from Viet Nam,
From a young man I remember
Who lay dying in Binh Thuan.
Old eyes staring far away,
Past dead and dying friends,
Dying alone amongst a crowd,
And with God his story ends.
He went to Nam a young man, standing tall to play the game
A year's hard yards for Uncle Sam, he's a hero with no name.
Ray Sarlin
-----------------------------------------
Drive-on Rag
© Richard P. Guthrie, 2002. All rights reserved.
Your Ruck must weigh over sixty pounds
and somewhere a strap has worked loose
letting the load rock with your stride,
pulling you off balance with each step,
making the walk twice as hard.
Then battalion calls to say you need to be another three klicks
straight up the same ridgeline you have humped for the last three hours.
Darkness approaches and you really need to get
Your soldiers set up before all light's gone.
And you don't feel right about hurrying up this narrow trail
So deep in "Indian Territory".
Time to untie, I'd say,
that greasy square of olive drab cotton
from around the neck,
wipe your brow...
and,
DRIVE ON!!!
Dick Guthrie
-----------------------------------
A Moment
© Ray Sarlin, 2002. All rights reserved.
Halt --- I have a feeling
The enemy is ahead,
Take up a fighting position,
My ruck must now be shed
Filthy, wet and weary
Put all out of my mind
Sharply focus my attention
On the tasks I've been assigned.
Trembling, shirking, joking,
No longer have a place,
All my senses fully tuned,
Fear I must erase
In this instant before battle
Kneeling down in muddy sod
Not knowing fate or future
I share a moment with my God.
Ray Sarlin
-------------------------------------
M.I.A.
© Ray and Marti Sarlin, 2002. All rights reserved.
They came from all across the land,
Forged bonds in blood and sweat,
Then quickly went their separate ways,
Though memories bind them yet.
Some aren’t around to reminisce,
Attrition there was high,
Tom Pipkin was the first to fall,
Cokley last in Nam to die.
Over two hundred of our brethren
Didn’t see the States again,
Others came back wounded
In spirit, head or limb.
Most made it back to fight
Humdrum battles every day,
Going through the motions
With a heart still M.I.A.
Ray and Marti Sarlin
----------------------------------
Muggy Afternoon
© Richard P. Guthrie, 2002. All rights reserved.
All it takes is a muggy afternoon
When you seem to feel before you hear, the wop-wop-wop
Of main rotors slap-flapping on damp air, and the high-pitched whine,
To launch a jumble of fast-forwarded film clips three decades old.
Sharp images of other muggy afternoons race by,
Other flights of Hueys :
The resupply bird inbound,
'Hots' for supper, ammunition, grenades, fresh water,
And maybe even mail at last,
With promised picture of the new firstborn
I pray I'll live to see.
A MEDEVAC bird
Rushing to take away our brothers,
Youngsters we'd shared a joke and a smoke with
Minutes before, and who now lie
Dazed, bloodied, maimed, stunned
At the edge of the clearing
We frantically cut for a Pickup Zone.
A flight of "Six, Two and Two"
Hauling on Combat Assault yet again, the Bravo Braves.
Jaws clenched, knuckles white,
Their lips recite prayers unheard above the turbine scream,
While eyes bulging with fear dart and comb every inch
Of the bald pockmarked knob that dances and shudders in the distance
Under artillery "Prep Fires" and aerial rockets.
If only fires and collective will could assure a 'cold' Landing Zone.
On this muggy afternoon,
My mind takes me again among those brave, sweaty, sleep-deprived heroes.
Fighting terror, boredom, relentless fear, unseen foe, hidden mines.
They slogged on, defending:
The "whole fuckin' free world against Godless Communism...
Ain't that what the man said we was here for, Jim?"
On an adventure they had not asked for -- one uglier by far
Than any a clueless Walter Cronkite ever could describe --
Our soldiers gave of themselves day in and day out,
With valor and dignity their countrymen still won't acknowledge.
So this muggy Monterey afternoon, I sing again their praises.
Then return to my current mission,
First giving thanks to my Maker for the fact that,
The only weapon I heft at 'high-port' today
Is a Brush, Anti-cobweb, M-1,
With ten-foot telescoping handle.
Dick Guthrie
------------------------------------------- The Guns
© Private Baldrick, 2002. All rights reserved.With a little help from the Webmaster converting lyrics to Haiku.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom
Private S. Baldrick, originally titled "The German Guns"
----------------------------------------
Memory of a Fallen Ranger
© Ray Sarlin, 2002. All rights reserved.
I'd like to think I knew him,
Since in my arms he died...
Shredded by tiny fragments,
God knows the medics tried.
That he lived so long at all
Once the explosives blew...
Testifies to God knows what,
I wish that I knew too.
Thirty-two years later on
I can't recall his name...
Though I swore to not forget
My God, I feel such shame.
But if his name has vanished,
And God knows that is real...
His heroism hasn't dimmed,
His mem'ry stirs me still.
But my real disgrace I fear
Not his forgotten name,
But other's expectations
I tried but couldn't claim.
He'd written wife and children
Cheap Charlie had his pic
To draw a velvet painting
And make them less heartsick.
Reply to my condolence
Came as this simple plea
If I didn't mind too much
Send his picture cross the sea.
I wrote back that I would try...
And try we did in vain....
Days aall his name
Though thirty years have passed.
May his actions give me strength
To write his kin at last.
I'd like to think I knew him,
Since in my arms he died...
Shredded by tiny fragments,
God, help my pain subside.
Ray Sarlin
---------------------------------------
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