by Alden Nowlan
A mysterious naked man has been reported
on Cranston Avenue. The police are performing
the usual ceremonies with coloured lights and sirens.
Almost everyone is outdoors and strangers are conversing
excitedly
as they do during disasters when their involvement is
peripheral.
‘What did he look like? ‘ the lieutenant is asking.
‘I don’t know, ‘ says the witness. ‘He was naked.’
There is talk of dogs-this is no ordinary case
of indecent exposure, the man has been seen
a dozen times since the milkman spotted him and now
the sky is turning purple and voices
carry a long way and the children
have gone a little crazy as they often do at dusk
and cars are arriving
from other sections of the city.
And the mysterious naked man
is kneeling behind a garbage can or lying on his belly
in somebody’s garden
or maybe even hiding in the branches of a tree,
where the wind from the harbour
whips at his naked body,
and by now he’s probably done
whatever it was he wanted to do
and wishes he could go to sleep
or die
or take to the air like Superman.

A few random poems:
- Hail, Zaragoza! If With Unwet eye by William Wordsworth
- Николай Заболоцкий – Монолог в лесу
- Sitting atop the mountain hill by Swami Aaron Thomas
- Robert Burns: Death And Dying Words Of Poor Mailie, The Author’s Only Pet Yowe., The. An Unco Mournfu’ Tale:
- Since you asked by Radames Antonio Cruz
- A Lost Friend, I Never Had by Renu Ayyar
- Braga by Walid Saba
- In Memoriam
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 04 – part 01 by Torquato Tasso
- Владимир Высоцкий – Студенческая песня
- Владимир Набоков – Воскресение мёртвых
- Journey Of The Magi by T. S. Eliot
- The Family Monkey by Russell Edson
- Scars on Paper by Marilyn Hacker
- Miracle Ice Cream
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- The Milk-Maid O’ The Farm by William Barnes
- The Mead A-Mow’d by William Barnes
- The Meäd In June by William Barnes
- The May-Tree by William Barnes
- The Maid Vor My Bride by William Barnes
- The Maid O’ Newton by William Barnes
- The Lovely Maïd Ov Elwell Meäd by William Barnes
- The Love Child by William Barnes
- The Little Worold by William Barnes
- The Linden On The Lawn by William Barnes
- The Lilac by William Barnes
- The Lew O’ The Rick by William Barnes
- The Leäne by William Barnes
- The Leädy’s Tower by William Barnes
- The Lark by William Barnes
- The Ivy by William Barnes
- The Hwomestead A-Vell Into Hand by William Barnes
- The Humstrum by William Barnes
- The Homestead by William Barnes
- The Hollow Woak by William Barnes
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works