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:
- Владимир Маяковский – В Европе кризис (РОСТА №869)
- power-of-thought.html
- Watching Unto God In The Night Season (2) by William Cowper
- The Gate by Marie Howe
- Create Wealth With Creative Thinking
- Василий Жуковский – Человек
- Sonnet 31: Thy bosom is endearèd with all hearts by William Shakespeare
- A Poem For Ashleigh (July) by Stevens Cadet
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Бивак
- I Remember, I Remember by Thomas Hood
- Владимир Маяковский – Поэт рабочий
- The Callous Statues by Shahida Latif
- Sometimes by Vinko Kalinić
- Against A Sickness To The Female Double Principle God
- Kite by Vattacharja Chandan
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
- Tip-Toe-ing by Mahak Raithatha S
- They Would Love To See Me Dead by Mahmoud Darwish
- These nights by Manushya Puthiran
- The Sound Of Your Breathing by Mac McGovern
- The Pigeons Fly by Mahmoud Darwish
- The Mouse by Mac McGovern
- The Most Exquisite Creature Of My Dreams by Mac McGovern
- The Husband’s Black Hands by Mallika Sengupta
- The Frivolity of Dreaming by Mahi Chauhan
- The Eve of Saint Agnes by Malcolm Massiah
- The end by Mahak Raithatha S
- The cake by Mahak Raithatha S
- Thanksgiving by Mac Hammond
- State of Siege by Mahmoud Darwish
- Southern Song by Margaret Walker
- Soul by Malkia Charlee NoCry
- Sonnet V by Mahmoud Darwish
- She’s Flawless by Mandy Williams
- She Looks by Mac McGovern
- She got her wings by Mahak Raithatha S
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.