To Althea From Prison: By Richard Lovelace

When Love with unconfined wings

Hovers within my gates,

And my divine Althea brings

To whisper at the grates;

When I lie tangled in her hair

And fetter'd to her eye,

The birds that wanton in the air

Know no such liberty.



When flowing cups run swiftly round

With no allaying Thames,

Our careless heads with roses crown'd,

Our hearts with loyal flames;

When thirsty grief in wine we steep,

When healths and draughts go free,

Fishes that tipple in the deep

Know no such liberty.



When, linnet-like confined, I

With shriller throat shall sing

The sweetness, mercy, majesty

And glories of my King;

When I shall voice aloud how good

He is, how great should be,

Enlarged winds, that curl the flood,

Know no such liberty.



Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage;

Minds innocent and quiet take

That for an hermitage:

If I have freedom in my love

And in my soul am free,

Angels alone, that soar above,

Enjoy such liberty.

Nice guys finish second

A man is out shopping and discovers a new brand of Olympic condoms.
Clearly impressed, he buys a pack. When he arrives home, he tells
his wife about the purchase he's just made.
"Olympic condoms?" she blurts, "What makes them so special?"
"There are three colors," he explains, "gold, silver and bronze."
"So what color are you gonna wear tonight?" she asks with a grin.
"Gold of course," says the proud man.
The wife responds, "Why don't you wear silver -- it would be nice
if you came second for a change!"

The Dream: By John Donne

Dear love, for nothing less than thee

Would I have broke this happy dream;

It was a theme

For reason, much too strong for fantasy.

Therefore thou waked'st me wisely; yet

My dream thou broke'st not, but continued'st it.

Thou art so true that thoughts of thee suffice

To make dreams truths and fables histories;

Enter these arms, for since thou thought'st it best

Not to dream all my dream, let's act the rest.



As lightning, or a taper's light,

Thine eyes, and not thy noise, waked me;

Yet I thought thee -

For thou lov'st truth - an angel, at first sight;

But when I saw thou saw'st my heart,

And knew'st my thoughts beyond an angel's art,

When thou knew'st what I dreamt, when thou knew'st when

Excess of joy would wake me, and cam'st then,

I must confess it could not choose but be

Profane to think thee anything but thee.



Coming and staying show'd thee, thee,

But rising makes me doubt that now

Thou art not thou.

That love is weak where Fear's as strong as he;

"Tis not all spirit pure and brave

If mixture it of Fear, Shame, Honour have.

Perchance as torches, which must ready be,

Men light and put out, so thou deal'st with me.

Thou cam'st to kindle, go'st to come: then I

Will dream that hope again, but else would die.

Never Give All The Heart

Never give all the heart, for love

Will hardly seem worth thinking of

To passionate women if it seem

Certain, and they never dream

That it fades out from kiss to kiss;

For everything that's lovely is

But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.

O never give the heart outright,

For they, for all smooth lips can say,

Have given their hearts up to the play.

And who could play it well enough

If deaf and dumb and blind with love?

He that made this knows all the cost

For he gave all his heart and lost.

African Shakespeare

Dear white fella
Couple things you should know
When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in sun, I black
When I cold, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black.

You white fella
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you grey.
And you have the cheek to call me colored?????