A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
If I’ve reached for your lines (I have)
like letters from the dead that stir the nerves
dowsed you for a springhead
to water my thirst
dug into my compost skeletons and petals
you surely meant to catch the light:
-at work in my wormeaten wormwood-raftered
stateless underground
have I a plea?
If I’ve touched your finger
with a ravenous tongue
licked from your palm a rift of salt
if I’ve dreamt or thought you
a pack of blood fresh-drawn
hanging darkred from a hook
higher than my heart
(you who understand transfusion)
where else should I appeal?
A pilot light lies low
while the gas jets sleep
(a cat getting toed from stove
into nocturnal ice)
language uncommon and agile as truth
melts down the most intractable silence
A lighthouse keeper’s ethics:
you tend for all or none
for this you might set your furniture on fire
A this we have blundered over
as if the lamp could be shut off at will
rescue denied for some
and still a lighthouse be

A few random poems:
- Владимир Маяковский – Спросили раз меня: “Вы любите ли НЭП?”
- Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee poem – Zameer Careem poems | Poetry Monster
- in praise of the moon by Raj Arumugam
- A Little While by Sara Teasdale
- Владимир Маяковский – За истекший декабрь добыча по Подмосковному… (РОСТА №896)
- An Hymn To Humanity by Phillis Wheatley
- Both ways I lose by Tanisha Avarsekar
- Олег Бундур – И до моря 15 шагов
- Аля Кудряшева – Рыбный вальсок
- It is the Muses by Sappho
- Boadicea. An Ode by William Cowper
- Couplet 1 poem – Amir Khusro poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Olympic Girl poem – John Betjeman poems
- Time To Transplant by Nijole Miliauskaite
- Busy Heart, The by Rupert Brooke
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
- Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on John Rankine by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on John Busby, Esq., Tinwald Downs by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on James Grieve by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on Holy Willie by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on Captain Lascelles by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on a noted coxcomb by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on a Noisy Polemic by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on a Henpecked Squire by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, Edinburgh by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. William Michie, Schoolmaster by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. W. Cruickshank by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. Gabriel Richardson, Brewer by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for James Smith by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns
- Epistle to William Simson by Robert Burns
- Epistle to the Rev. John M’Math by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintry by Robert Burns
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.