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:
- Lines Addressed To Dr. Darwin, Author Of The ‘Botanic Garden.’ by William Cowper
- Moonrise poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Invocation by Marilyn Hacker
- Bliss Of Eternity by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Георгий Иванов – Аспазия, всегда Аспазия
- As Kingfishers Catch Fire poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- This is Love by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- The beauty of the heart by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Федор Сологуб – В его саду растет рябина
- Robert Burns: Young Jockie Was The Blythest Lad:
- Владимир Британишский – В болотах севера Евразии
- Lover’s Gifts LII: Tired of Waiting by Rabindranath Tagore
- The joyful things in life by Martin Smith
- Perseus by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Маяковский – Про гидру контрреволюции сегодня сказ (РОСТА № 79)
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
- Give Me Back My Rags #12 by Vasko Popa
- The Prisoners Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Craftsmen Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Before The Game by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #1 by Vasko Popa
- The Benefactors Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Enemies Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Hide-And-Seek by Vasko Popa
- The Owners Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Race by Vasko Popa
- In The Village Of My Ancestors by Vasko Popa
- Last News About The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Give Me Back My Rags by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #5 by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #4 by Vasko Popa
- A Forgetful Number by Vasko Popa
- A Conceited Mistake by Vasko Popa
- Words – “My only friends forever” by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Winter Wind by Vasil Slavov
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.