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:
- Dirge by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Корнилов – Трофейный фильм
- Владимир Маяковский – Вперед, комсомольцы
- Proud Music of The Storm by Walt Whitman
- Robert Burns: Halloween: The following poem will, by many readers, be well enough understood; but for the sake of those who are unacquainted with the manners and traditions of the country where the scene is cast, notes are added to give some account of the principal charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland. The passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature in its rude state, in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind, if any such honour the author with a perusal, to see the remains of it among the more unenlightened in our own.-R.B.
- Стефан Малларме – Весеннее обновление
- Fancy
- Владимир Маяковский – Театры
- A Patch of Old Snow by Robert Frost
- Robert Burns: Inscription To Miss Jessy Lewars: On a copy of the Scots Musical Museum, in four volumes, presented to her by Burns.
- Reading Moby-Dick at 30,000 Feet by Tony Hoagland
- Sound and Spirit by Oladele Hussein
- Song of the Wise Children by Rudyard Kipling
- The Beginning of the End by Rixa White
- The time has come for us to become madmen in your chain by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
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
- Covenent by Rudyard Kipling
- Columns by Rudyard Kipling
- Cold Iron by Rudyard Kipling
- Cleared by Rudyard Kipling
- Cities and Thrones and Powers by Rudyard Kipling
- Christmas in India by Rudyard Kipling
- Cholera Camp by Rudyard Kipling
- Chapter Headings by Rudyard Kipling
- Chant-Pagan by Rudyard Kipling
- Certain Maxims Of Hafiz by Rudyard Kipling
- Cells by Rudyard Kipling
- Cain and Abel by Rudyard Kipling
- By the Hoof of the Wild Goat by Rudyard Kipling
- Butterflies by Rudyard Kipling
- Brookland Road by Rudyard Kipling
- Bridge-Guard in the Karroo by Rudyard Kipling
- Boots by Rudyard Kipling
- Blue Roses by Rudyard Kipling
- Bill ‘Awkins by Rudyard Kipling
- Belts by Rudyard Kipling
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.