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:
- A New Year’s Gift, Sent To Sir Simeon Steward by Robert Herrick
- Михаил Лермонтов – В рядах стояли безмолвной толпой
- Peace
- False Intimacy by Vaishnavi Prakash
- A Dedication
- Омар Хайям – День каждый услаждай вином
- Константин Бальмонт – Мы шли в золотистом тумане
- The Net Of Memory
- Days and Nights by Murali Sivaramakrishnan
- Константин Бальмонт – Эльзи
- Стефан Малларме – Вздох
- Afterwards by Thomas Hardy
- Rainbow by Ria De Torres
- Absence: A Farewell Ode On Quitting School For Jesus College by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Гавриил Державин – Ключ
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
- Cold Eyes by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Bridesmaid From Rio by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Bottles Of Sunshine by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Bliss Of Eternity by Vaishnavi Prakash
- A Stepmother’s Vain Love by Vaishnavi Prakash
- A Slice Of School by Vaishnavi Prakash
- A Palanquin Of Love by Vaishnavi Prakash
- a deceving reflection by vanessa anderson
- The Tenants Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Judges Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Admirers Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #6 by Vasko Popa
- Give Me Back My Rags #4 by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #7 by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #3 by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #2 by Vasko Popa
- Give Me Back My Rags #1 by Vasko Popa
- Between Games by Vasko Popa
- Anne Pennington by Vasko Popa
- Give Me Back My Rags #11 by Vasko Popa
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.