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 Birch-Tree at Loschwitz poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Moon’s Truth (before the war) by Reena Ribalow
- Inscription For A Hermitage In The Author’s Garden by William Cowper
- Mauve Mittens by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Labyrinth by Sera Jacob
- quickstep.html
- Anticipation poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- My Sad Captains by Thom Gunn
- Олег Бундур – Настроение
- The Sudden Light And The Trees by Stephen Dunn
- Autumn Day by Rainer Maria Rilke
- I love you by Inganathi Ntantiso
- River poem – Yuyutsu Sharma poems | Poetry Monster
- To Heal by Nithin Purple
- A Wife In London by Thomas Hardy
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
- How I Walked Alone in the Jungles of Heaven by Vachel Lindsay
- How a Little Girl Sang by Vachel Lindsay
- How a Little Girl Danced by Vachel Lindsay
- Honor Among Scamps by Vachel Lindsay
- Here’s to the Mice! by Vachel Lindsay
- Heart of God by Vachel Lindsay
- Genesis by Vachel Lindsay
- General William Booth Enters into Heaven by Vachel Lindsay
- Galahad, Knight Who Perished by Vachel Lindsay
- Foreign Missions in Battle Array by Vachel Lindsay
- Factory Windows are Always Broken by Vachel Lindsay
- Euclid by Vachel Lindsay
- Epitaphs For Two Players by Vachel Lindsay
- Epilogue by Vachel Lindsay
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Vachel Lindsay
- Eden in Winter by Vachel Lindsay
- Drying Their Wings by Vachel Lindsay
- Darling Daughter of Babylon by Vachel Lindsay
- Concerning Emperors by Vachel Lindsay
- Caught in a Net by Vachel Lindsay
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.