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:
- What General has a Good Army. by Walt Whitman
- A Wreath Of Immortelles poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- To Fanny poem – John Keats poems
- Chanting the Square Deific. by Walt Whitman
- Владимир Солоухин – Теперь-то уж плакать нечего
- Death Fugue by Paul Celan
- Lyfe by Stevens Cadet
- Other by Robert Creeley
- Hey birds by Raj Arumugam
- Strange Fruit by Seamus Heaney
- Arabian Night’s Entertainments by William Ernest Henley
- “Mike Teavee…” by Roald Dahl
- Ballad de soul by Neelam Sinha
- I Loved
- Валерий Брюсов – Песня североамериканских индейцев
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
- Stepping Westward by William Wordsworth
- Star-Gazers by William Wordsworth
- Stanzas by William Wordsworth
- Stanzas Written In My Pocket Copy Of Thomson’s “Castle Of Indolence” by William Wordsworth
- Spanish Guerillas by William Wordsworth
- Sonnet: On seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams weep at a tale of distress by William Wordsworth
- Sonnet: “It is not to be thought of” by William Wordsworth
- Song Of The Wandering Jew by William Wordsworth
- Song Of The Spinning Wheel by William Wordsworth
- Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle by William Wordsworth
- Simon Lee: The Old Huntsman by William Wordsworth
- Siege Of Vienna Raised By Jihn Sobieski by William Wordsworth
- She Was A Phantom Of Delight by William Wordsworth
- September, 1819 by William Wordsworth
- September 1815 by William Wordsworth
- September 1, 1802 by William Wordsworth
- Scorn Not The Sonnet by William Wordsworth
- Say, What Is Honour?–‘Tis The Finest Sense by William Wordsworth
- Ruth by William Wordsworth
- Rural Architecture by William Wordsworth
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.