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:
- Владимир Бенедиктов – К точкам
- Gravity Suspended
- The Ring of Stars by Robert Desnos
- Identity of Images by Robert Desnos
- Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Высоцкий – Утренняя гимнастика
- Miscast I poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Юнна Мориц – Свежий бублик
- IV: Some Verses: To The Author by William Alexander
- America by Walter William Safar
- Sonnet Xiii
- Anne Pennington by Vasko Popa
- A Fragment poem – Alfred Austin
- La Nuit Blanche by Rudyard Kipling
- The Colloquy Beneath by Margaret Marie Hubbard
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 little ink more or less! by Stephen Crane
- A god in wrath by Stephen Crane
- Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind by Stephen Crane
- Charity thou art a lie, by Stephen Crane
- Blustering God by Stephen Crane
- Black riders came from the sea. by Stephen Crane
- Behold, the grave of a wicked man by Stephen Crane
- Behold, from the land of the farther suns by Stephen Crane
- Ay, workman, make me a dream, by Stephen Crane
- And you love me by Stephen Crane
- A youth in apparel that glittered by Stephen Crane
- A spirit sped by Stephen Crane
- A slant of sun on dull brown walls, by Stephen Crane
- A newspaper is a collection of half-injustices by Stephen Crane
- With No Experience In Such Matters by Stephen Dunn
- Welcome by Stephen Dunn
- Walking The Marshland by Stephen Dunn
- The Sudden Light And The Trees by Stephen Dunn
- The Routine Things Around The House by Stephen Dunn
- Story by Stephen Dunn
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.