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:
- The One Night Stand : An Approach to the Bridge by Paul Blackburn
- Robert Burns: Epitaph On A Lap-Dog Named Echo:
- Юрий Левитанский – Грач над березовой чащей
- Английская поэзия. Редьярд Киплинг. «Расходы и поступления». (1919-1926). 9. Джейн выходит замуж. Rudyard Kipling. «Debits and Credits». (1919-1926). 9. Jane’s Marriage
- Beguiling by Roger McGough
- Юлия Друнина – Я, признаться, сберечь не сумела шинели
- The New House A-Gettèn’ Wold by William Barnes
- Diary of a Church Mouse poem – John Betjeman poems | Poems and Poetry
- Is Life Worth Living? poem – Alfred Austin
- Love Sonnet LIV poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems | Poetry Monster
- The Demon by Shawn Ervin
- Владимир Британишский – 1848 год в Зимнем дворце
- The First Part: Sonnet 14 – Nor Arne, nor Mincius, nor stately Tiber, by William Drummond
- Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries poem – A. E. Housman
- English Poetry. Madison Julius Cawein. Hymn to Spiritual Desire. Мэдисон Джулиус Кавейн.
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
- No, Love Is Not Dead by Robert Desnos
- Lying Down by Robert Desnos
- Long Long Ago by Robert Desnos
- If You Only Knew by Robert Desnos
- Identity of Images by Robert Desnos
- Fairy Tale by Robert Desnos
- Zero by Robert Creeley
- Water Music by Robert Creeley
- The Way by Robert Creeley
- The Warning by Robert Creeley
- The Rain by Robert Creeley
- The Mirror by Robert Creeley
- The Innocence by Robert Creeley
- The Conspiracy by Robert Creeley
- The Carnival by Robert Creeley
- Song by Robert Creeley
- Something by Robert Creeley
- Other by Robert Creeley
- Myself by Robert Creeley
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.