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:
- Robert Burns: A Man’s A Man For A’ That:
- Владимир Маяковский – В 12 часов по ночам
- Off Mesolongi poem – Alfred Austin
- Holy Day by Philip Levine
- Gorgeous Surfaces by Thomas Lux
- Who is now Reading This? by Walt Whitman
- Омар Хайям – Не бойтесь дарить согревающих слов
- Epitaph on William Hood, Senior by Robert Burns
- All Night In Savannah The Wind Wrote Poetry
- A HYMN TO VENUS AND CUPID by Robert Herrick
- Николай Карамзин – Из мелодрамы Петр Великий (Жил был в свете добрый царь)
- At Ease by Walter de la Mare
- Flowers By The Sea by William Carlos Williams
- Aboard at a Ship’s Helm. by Walt Whitman
- An Antheme by William Strode
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 Garden by Abraham Cowley
- A Paraphrase on an Ode in Horace’s Third Book, beginning thus:— “Inclusam Danaen turris ahenea.” by Abraham Cowley
- O fortunatus nimium, etc., a translation out of Virgil by Abraham Cowley
- The Essay on Agriculture by Abraham Cowley
- Obscurity, the Essay and Poems on Obscurity by Abraham Cowley
- The Death Of A Fly by Russell Edson
- The Changeling by Russell Edson
- The Breast by Russell Edson
- The Autopsy by Russell Edson
- The Alfresco Moment by Russell Edson
- A Performance At Hog Theater by Russell Edson
- Erasing Amyloo by Russell Edson
- On The Eating Of Mice by Russell Edson
- The Closet by Russell Edson
- Soup Song by Russell Edson
- The Bridge by Russell Edson
- Mr. Brain by Russell Edson
- One Lonely Afternoon by Russell Edson
- Ape And Coffee by Russell Edson
- Accidents by Russell Edson
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.