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:
- София Парнок – И голос окликнул тебя среди ночи
- Sonnet Vi
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Смерть
- lines_and_squares.html
- In Imitation of Chaucer poem – Alexander Pope
- Lover’s Gifts XLVII: The Road Is by Rabindranath Tagore
- MANY NAMESAKES by Satish Verma
- Зинаида Александрова – Кролики
- My Father by Yehuda Amichai
- Яков Полонский – На искусе
- Нина Пикулева – Читайте, дети
- O mother, O Merry by Nikunj Sharma
- Stopped Dead by Sylvia Plath
- Sonnet II: Not At First Sight by Sir Philip Sidney
- Shit List; Or, Omnium-gatherum Of Diversity Into Unity poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
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
- A Florida Ghost. by Sidney Lanier
- A Dedication. To Charlotte Cushman. by Sidney Lanier
- A Birthday Song. To S. G. by Sidney Lanier
- A Ballad Of The Trees And The Master by Sidney Lanier
- The Triumph by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Portrait by Siegfried Sassoon
- Sporting Acquaintances by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Triumph by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon
- Sassoon’s Public Statement Of Defiance by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Portrait by Siegfried Sassoon
- Sporting Acquaintances by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon
- Solar Eclipse by Siegfried Sassoon
- Return Of The Heroes by Siegfried Sassoon
- Return Of The Heroes by Siegfried Sassoon
- Prelude: The Troops by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon
- On Passing The New Menin Gate by Siegfried Sassoon
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.