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:
- Halloween by Mac Hammond
- Федор Сологуб – Слышу голос милой
- Set out by Mahak Raithatha S
- Владимир Маяковский – Стихотворение о проданной телятине
- Hail, Zaragoza! If With Unwet eye by William Wordsworth
- No Regrets by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- The Dream of Eugene Aram by Thomas Hood
- The Temple of Fame poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Tulips by Sylvia Plath
- Among the Multitude. by Walt Whitman
- Николай Некрасов – Великодушный поступок
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Лесная дева
- Morning-Glory by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Dawn by William Butler Yeats
- The Best Time Of The Day by Raymond Carver
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
- Piera Chen – Piera Chen
- IN VINCULUM by PEGGY AYLSWORTH
- I threaded a garland with the memories of a spring… by Preeth Nambiar
- Hoppleroopleoopledook by Pornika Ganguly
- Greece Madum…! by Perugu Ramakrishna
- Frozen by Priyanka Tungana
- From Another Sky by Pierre Reverdy
- Forgotten by Priya Prithviraj
- Forbidden Silence by Preeth Nambiar
- For The Moment by Pierre Reverdy
- For The Moment by Pierre Reverdy
- Elijah by Peter Bardsley
- Eating a Wampee by Piera Chen
- Dying Love!!! by Praveen Parasar
- Diving Deep by Pawan Kumar
- Dead On Arrival by Preethi Saravanakumar
- Creators by Pawan Kumar
- Composition by Peter Cooley
- Coconut by Paul Hostovsky
- Childhood Memories by Preethi Saravanakumar
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.