Frank's Poetry Page
This page features links to some samples of my poetry
and lyrics.
Some of the poems were written under the pen name Segalt specifically
for fans of Star Trek
and are concerned with the state of being Vulcan and
the Vulcan condition.
Some of these poems, as noted, have been published
by www.poetry.com.
O Brave New World
Well it's late 2002 as I write and post this collection.
Mostly it's about
the state of the world and how bad things are looking from my tiny corner of it.
911
With the disasters of September 11th 2001 in our nation, I found myself needing
to express my experiences and my sorrow.
After many crying bouts (Yes,
I cry!) and a lot of soul searching I created the 911 page.
It's a collection
of poems and images about my feelings and experiences that day and in the days
that followed.
Much of it is intensely personal and one piece "Post Attack"
is about an experience with my daughter, Jessica, a few days after the attack.
I considered leaving this piece out but to be fair and honest I didn't really
think I could.
The picture that accompanies that piece was taken many
years ago from the interior observation deck of the World Trade Center.
I hope that by sharing my experiences and perspective in this fashion I may provide
some small comfort to anyone, anywhere.
An
Ode to Pioneer 10
I wrote this after getting an E-mail from a friend
that pointed to an article about how we had
suddenly heard from Pioneer
10.
For Jessica
Written
for my daughter published on Poetry.com.
Dragons
Written specifically for publication on Poetry.com.
Dwellers
of the Dark
An ode to the modern vampire.
The
Wizard's Way
An ode to Wizards.
Probability
Man
A strange little piece of quantum level poetry.
Dancer
An older poem I wrote after listening to a lot of Jane Siberry.
I was infatuated
with her style and was deliberately trying to reflect it.
Real
Life
That Boy
Inspired by Calvin and Hobbes.
Written as a song lyric and with the help of
Peter N. Gilman
The Truth of
You
The Box
One of the very first poems I ever produced.
It's about how terrible television
can be and was written as a song lyric.
Poems written as Segalt:
Caution: If you're not a major Star
Trek fan these may not make any sense to you.
The
Kas-Wan
Originally written as a song lyric. About the Vulcan rite
of passage.
Whispering T'hyla
Written for a friend.
Windrider
An ode to Vulcan love.
Touching
Once
An ode to the Vulcan betrothal ritual.
Eridani's
Face
An ode to Vulcan's sister planet.
The
A'Kweth
An ode to the Horta like creatures beneath the surface of
Vulcan.
Turning
A
reflection on Vulcan meditation.
In
the Pursuit of Logic, In the Pursuit of Peace
A lament to Segalt's
lost love and the acceptance of his fate.
Other
People's LYRICS and POETRY
This section may seem a little strange
because I'll be listing things from many different sources.
My taste are
very, very eclectic.
I love Shakespeare, and the lyrics of Neil Peart and
Ian Anderson, and a lot of other stuff besides.
Also I'll be including references
to other lyrics by artist who I don't really care for that much
but who have
perhaps turned a phrase or two that really stuck with me over the years.
So
where I list the title and artist first I'm endorsing the whole piece.
Conversely,
where I list the quote first and the artist second I'm just pointing out the particular
quote.
First up RUSH
OK! Here is my take on all the
best Rush lyrics.
Everything in this section is Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson,
and Geddy Lee!
What can I say; the sense of life of these songs and
lyrics really matches my own.
I want to stress that I'm talking here
about the lyrics, the poetry, the words and not the music.
(Just for
the record though the music totally kicks ass too!)
"Dancing
fires on the beach,
Singing songs together
Though it's just a memory,
Some memories last forever. "
- Lakeside Park, Caress of Steel
2112
The whole song. Science Fiction rock? Based
on Anthem by Ayn Rand?
YES, PLEASE!
"I see the works of gifted
hands
That grace this strange and wondrous land
I see the hand of man
arise
With hungry mind and open eyes"
"What would touch
me deeper
Tears that fall from eyes that only cry?
Would it touch you
deeper
Than tears that fall from eyes that know why?"
- Tears,
2112
A Farewell to Kings
The whole album! Learn it!
Know it! Live it!
Here's a sample from Closer to the Heart.
"And
the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new
reality
Closer to the heart"
Hemispheres
The whole album again! Brilliant, Beautiful, Epic!
"Let the Truth
of Love be lighted,
Let the Love of Truth shine clear.
Sensibility,
Armed with sense and liberty,
With the Heart and Mind united in a single
. . . Perfect . . . Sphere"
Permanent Waves
The
whole album. Different but very stylish!
Here's a sample from Jacob's Ladder
"All at once, the clouds are parted. Light streams down in bright unbroken
beams . . .
Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies.
The shifting
shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams . . ."
Moving
Pictures
The whole album. Clean, simple, effective.
Here's a sample
from Witch Hunt
"Quick to judge, Quick to anger,
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand . . ."
"You move me, You move me, With your buildings and your eyes
Autumn
woods and winter skies
You move me, You move me, Open sea and city lights
Busy streets and dizzy heights
You call me, You call me"
- The Analog Kid, Signals
"And those who push us down that they
might climb
Is any killer worth more than his crime?"
- The
Weapon, Signals
Power Windows
The whole album again! Just
incredible.
"So much style without substance
So much stuff without
style
It's hard to recognize the real thing
It comes along once in a
while"
Hold Your Fire
The whole album yet again.
This is really some of Mr. Peart's best work in my opinion.
Here is a sample
from Mission.
"If their lives were exotic and strange
They would
likely have gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane"
"Sun dogs fire on
the horizon
Meteor rain stars across the night
This moment may be brief
But it can be so bright"
- Chain Lightning, Presto
Dreamline
The whole song. From Roll the Bones.
"We travel
on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the
sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We're
only at home when we're on the run
On the run... "
"I'm
old enough not to care too much
About what you think of me
But I'm young
enough to remember the future
And the way things ought to be"
- Cut To The Chase, Counterparts
The Color Of Right
The whole song from Test For Echo
"Make it easy on yourself
There's nothing more you can do
You're so full of what is right, You can't
see what is true"
That's enough
Rush for now lads.
Here are some other good sources for great lyrics, poems,
rhymes, and words.
"And as you cross the circle
line, where the ice-wall creaks behind,
you're a rabbit on the run.
And
the silver splinters fly in the corner of your eye,
shining in the setting
sun."
- Jethro Tull
from Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The
New Day on the album Warchild
Minstrel In The Gallery by Jethro
Tull
The whole album. Here's a sample from Cold Wind to Valhalla
"Rough-shod
winging sky blue flight on a cold wind to Valhalla.
And join with us please,
Valkyrie maidens cry
above the cold wind to Valhalla."
Songs From the Wood by Jethro Tull
The whole album again! Here's
a sample from the title track.
"Life's long celebration's here.
I'll toast you all in penny cheer.
Let me bring you all things refined:
galliards and lute songs served in chilling ale.
Greetings well met fellow,
hail!"
Stormwatch by Jethro Tull
The whole album.
Here's a sample from Orion
"Orion, light your lights: come guard the
open spaces
from the black horizon to the pillow where I lie.
Your faithful
dog shines brighter than its lord and master
Your jeweled sword twinkles
as the world rolls by."
Wouldn't It Be Good by Nik Kershaw
"I got it bad, you don't know how bad I got it
You got it easy, you
don't know when you've got it good
It's getting harder just keeping life
and soul together
I'm sick of fighting even though I know I should"
You Don't Know Me by Ray Charles
"You give your hand
to me, And then you say goodbye
I watch you walk away, Beside the lucky guy
You'll never, never know, The one who loves you so
You just don't know
me"
Kubla Kahn by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"His
flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice, And close
your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk
of Paradise."
Hamlet by William Shakespear
"Tis
now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself
breathes out
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,
And
do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on"
-
Hamlet
Vincent by Don McLean
"Now I think I know
What you tried to say, to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And
how you tried to set them free
They would not listen; they're not listening
still;
Perhaps they never will."
American Pie by
Don McLean
"Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were
clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan's
spell"
Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel
"I
will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them
what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom, boom, boom
'Hey'
I said 'You can keep my things, they've come to take me home.'"
Allies by Heart
". . . in a world of too much choice
I only need your voice
To tell me you care,
I'll be anywhere for you
. . ."
On The Turning Away
by David Gilmour / Anthony
Moore (Pink Floyd)
"Just a world that we all must share
It's
not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away? "
"The sun in your eyes made some
of the lies worth believing."
- Alan Parsons Project, The Eye in
the Sky
Just this one line.
I hear that line and I think "Oh, you
dated her too?"
Who Learns My Lesson Complete?
by Walt
Whitman
"Is it wonderful that I should be immortal? as every one is
immortal;
I know it is wonderful"
When I Heard the Learn'd
Astronomer
by Walt Whitman
"Till rising and gliding out, I
wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to
time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars."
"'Tis strange - but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction."
- Lord Byron
This page
by: 
All original poems and lyrics are protected by copyright and may not be used without the express permission of the author.
If you ask nicely, however, the author is a very reasonable fellow and will probably not mind at all.