A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
The clouds and the stars didn’t wage this war
the brooks gave no information
if the mountain spewed stones of fire into the river
it was not taking sides
the raindrop faintly swaying under the leaf
had no political opinions
and if here or there a house
filled with backed-up raw sewage
or poisoned those who lived there
with slow fumes, over years
the houses were not at war
nor did the tinned-up buildings
intend to refuse shelter
to homeless old women and roaming children
they had no policy to keep them roaming
or dying, no, the cities were not the problem
the bridges were non-partisan
the freeways burned, but not with hatred
Even the miles of barbed-wire
stretched around crouching temporary huts
designed to keep the unwanted
at a safe distance, out of sight
even the boards that had to absorb
year upon year, so many human sounds
so many depths of vomit, tears
slow-soaking blood
had not offered themselves for this
The trees didn’t volunteer to be cut into boards
nor the thorns for tearing flesh
Look around at all of it
and ask whose signature
is stamped on the orders, traced
in the corner of the building plans
Ask where the illiterate, big-bellied
women were, the drunks and crazies,
the ones you fear most of all: ask where you were.
A few random poems:
- All-Accomplished Rover by William Somervile
- Death Of Captain Cooke, by William Lisle Bowles
- I have been tricked by flying too close by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Алексей Ржевский – Рок все теперь свершил, надежды больше нет
- The tragic tale of Bobby Magee by Ross D Tyler
- The Wolf and the Dog by William Somervile
- Robert Burns: A Fiddler In The North:
- My Mouth Hovers Across Your Breasts
- I Sing the Body Electric. by Walt Whitman
- Иван Мятлев – Старушка
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня про правого инсайда
- Robert Burns: Complimentary Versicles To Jessie Lewars: Jessie’s illness
- A Form Of Women by Robert Creely
- Everymaid by John Oxenham
- Labels
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
- Muse poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Morpheus poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Lyric written in 1830 poem – Alexander Pushkin
- I’ve Lived To See Desire Vanish poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Impromtu On Ogareva poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Imitation poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Goblins Of The Steppes poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Goblins Of The Steppes poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Friendship poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Don’t Ask Me Why poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Devils poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Day’s Rain Is Done poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Confession (to Alina Osipova, 1826) poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Bound for your distant home poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Boris Godunov poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Arion poem – Alexander Pushkin
- An Invocation poem – Alexander Pushkin
- An Elegy poem – Alexander Pushkin
- A Little Bird poem – Alexander Pushkin
- A Winter Evening poem – Alexander Pushkin
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
Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and feminist.