For The Record

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.

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Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• The Garden by Abraham Cowley by Abraham Cowley
• A Paraphrase on an Ode in Horace’s Third Book, beginning thus:— “Inclusam Danaen turris ahenea.” by Abraham Cowley by Abraham Cowley
• O fortunatus nimium, etc., a translation out of Virgil by Abraham Cowley by Abraham Cowley
• The Essay on Agriculture by Abraham Cowley by Abraham Cowley
• Obscurity, the Essay and Poems on Obscurity by Abraham Cowley by Abraham Cowley
• The Death Of A Fly by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• The Changeling by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• The Breast by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• The Autopsy by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• The Alfresco Moment by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• A Performance At Hog Theater by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• Erasing Amyloo by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• On The Eating Of Mice by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• The Closet by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• Soup Song by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• The Bridge by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• Mr. Brain by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• One Lonely Afternoon by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• Ape And Coffee by Russell Edson by Russel Edson
• Accidents by Russell Edson by Russel Edson

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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.

 

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