Is this poem by bono?

[*sofia*]

In cold blood

I read a book once, called "In Cold Blood"
About a murder in the neighborhood
Pages of facts did me no good
I read it like a blind man, in cold blood
So the story of a three-year-old child
Raped by soldiers though she'd already died
Made the mother watch as they fucked her in the mud
I'm reading the story now in cold blood
More now coming off the wire
City surrounded, funeral pyre
Life is cheaper than talking about it
People choke on their politicians' vomit
On cable television I saw a woman weep
Live by satellite, from a flood-ridden street
Boy mistaken for a wastepaper bin
Body that a child used to live in
I saw plastic explosives and an alarm clock
And the wrong men sitting in the dock
Karma is a word I never understood
How God could take a four-year-old in cold blood
I live by a beach but it feels like New York
I hear about ten murders before I get to work
What's it going to be, Lord, fire or flood
An act of mercy or in cold blood?

www.wherethesitehasnoname.com

the page says it's by bono, so I assume they're right..? Does anyone know where this is from? There are other poems by bono on that page too.

 

[biff]

Yes, that's by Bono. It was quoted in Bill Flanagan's book.

 

[Carek1230]

Yes I have seen this before. Bono has been known to carry a notebook with him and pen poetry as the mood hits him. I'd imagine some of it turns to lyrics. That's how artists work, how their creativity hits at any given time. I've read some of Bono's poetry-like his lyrics, quite introspective, poignant. I enjoy it.

 

[BonosBaby12]

As a fellow poet I would love to read more of Bono's poems. He was really deep with the one posted above.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

http://www.u2.com/news/index.php?mode=full&news_id=1814

here's the poem he wrote for Mo Mowlam

When you grow up
You're supposed to stop wanting to change the world
And instead better adapt to it
When you grow up
You're supposed to stop believing
That
People can change

Today
We give thanks
For the girl in Mo Mowlam
For humour
In the face of serious bigotry
For naiveté when it was necessary
For wisdom when it wasn't
Today
We give thanks
For youthful stubbornness
In the face of mockery
For honesty
When illness cheats
For grace
Amongst the clumsy
Today
We give thanks
For a girl who refused
To grow up and out of her old friends
Beautiful
At Durham
More beautiful
Bringing it out of others
In housing estates
In her labour
In her family
In the Irish...
More faith
...Than the Irish themselves
Faith
That we would eventually see sense...
Peace
She's there
We're nearly there...’

Bono, November 20th, 2005

 

[hotpepper]

Thanks MrsSpringsteen and *sofia* for sharing Bono's poetry. Those are really something.

 

[BonosBaby12]

Really loved the one he wrote about Mo Mowlam. Bono just never ceases to amaze me with his talent.

 

[VertigoGal]

those are awesome! i also like the thing he wrote for bob marley's induction to the R&R HoF...it was sort of poetic, and really touching and funny.

he's a really good writer

 

[*sofia*]

Thanks everyone! I was wondering where that poem is from. It's pretty dark stuff. I was a bit.. shocked the first time I read that. But isn't that a good thing? There are more poems in the lyrics-section, in www.wherethesitehasnoname.com

 

[Jamila]

thanks for posting the link, *sofia*

Here is another poem by Bono (I really like this one):


Perfect Day
Just a perfect day, drink sangria in the park
And then later when it gets dark
We go home

Just a perfect day
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later a movie too
And then home

Oh it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

Just a perfect day
Problems are left alone
Weekenders on our own
It's such fun

Just a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was someone else
Someone good

Oh such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

You're gonna reap just what you sow
f Reap reap reap
Gonna reap just what you sow
Reap reap reap
You're gonna reap just what you sow
Reap reap reap
You're going to reap just what you sow
Reap reap reap
You're going to reap just what you sow
Rreap reap reap
What you sow
Oh what a perfect day

--------------------------------------------

What a BRILLIANT man -

 

[KUEFC09U2]

wow bono is really great with poetry, and just shows he is ALOT more than he seems, he come across as a very clever person, specially in the book, bono, conversations with Michka Assays, very good read imo

 

[biff]

thanks for posting the link, *sofia*

Here is another poem by Bono (I really like this one):


Perfect Day
Just a perfect day, drink sangria in the park
And then later when it gets dark
We go home

Just a perfect day
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later a movie too
And then home

Oh it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

Just a perfect day
Problems are left alone
Weekenders on our own
It's such fun

Just a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was someone else
Someone good

Oh such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

You're gonna reap just what you sow
f Reap reap reap
Gonna reap just what you sow
Reap reap reap
You're gonna reap just what you sow
Reap reap reap
You're going to reap just what you sow
Reap reap reap
You're going to reap just what you sow
Rreap reap reap
What you sow
Oh what a perfect day

--------------------------------------------

What a BRILLIANT man -

Uh....That's actually a really well-known song by Lou Reed. It appeared on his album Transformer in 1972. (I'm dating myself by saying that I listened to it, and lots of Bowie, pretty constantly back then. Maybe an adolescent Bono did as well, but that's the only connection.) Some of you might remember this song from the movie Trainspotting, where it was featured prominently on the soundtrack. It's a great song, with the classic Lou Reed deadpan delivery making it all the more poignant.
I do agree Bono's writing is often brilliant, but he can't be credited with this one.

 

[Jamila]

As I'm not a Lou Reed person, I didn't know.

It was listed on the website provided by the original poster as a poem by Bono, so I assumed the web host knew what they were doing when they posted that on their web site.

As I had never seen that particular poem as attributed by Bono, I found it very interesting.

Maybe you should contact that website and let them know if they have wrongly attributed any other of those poems listed as Bono's since you seem to know so much about the subject.

 

[*sofia*]

really weird that they put that song there as a poem by bono. I thought that that's a pretty well known song... I've loved it ever since I saw trainspotting

 

[biff]

If you look at the poems listed at that site as being by Bono, you'll also see Driving to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
This is actually by John F. Dean, an Irish poet. But if you click on the link to that poem, the site acknowledges that it is by Dean.
So I think they're just being sloppy or something.

 

[mumbler]

poem by Bono

To keep believing when all around you doubt. Thank you Bono-you inspire me to keep my book and pen close by and to keep writing. Thank you mom and dad for always teaching me that Good does win in the end, not always in our time frame (darn) but ALWAYS in God's. "" Listen to me now, I need to let you know, you don't have to go it alone-sometimes you can't make it on your own.

 

[beegee]

In cold blood

I read a book once, called "In Cold Blood"
About a murder in the neighborhood
Pages of facts did me no good
I read it like a blind man, in cold blood
So the story of a three-year-old child
Raped by soldiers though she'd already died
Made the mother watch as they fucked her in the mud
I'm reading the story now in cold blood
More now coming off the wire
City surrounded, funeral pyre
Life is cheaper than talking about it
People choke on their politicians' vomit
On cable television I saw a woman weep
Live by satellite, from a flood-ridden street
Boy mistaken for a wastepaper bin
Body that a child used to live in
I saw plastic explosives and an alarm clock
And the wrong men sitting in the dock
Karma is a word I never understood
How God could take a four-year-old in cold blood
I live by a beach but it feels like New York
I hear about ten murders before I get to work
What's it going to be, Lord, fire or flood
An act of mercy or in cold blood?

wow.

his poetry is better than most of his lyrics.