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:
- Sonet 5 by William Alexander
- I Just Wanna Be Your Valentine by Miraj Patel
- Ten Years After by Graham Rowlands
- Eclogue X by Virgil
- Анатолий Жигулин – Коломенское
- On A World Of Imaginary & Freedom Dwell by Nithin Purple
- Вероника Тушнова – Мне говорят, нету такой любви
- SNAKE CHARMING by Satish Verma
- Gipsies by William Wordsworth
- Владимир Корнилов – Гумилев
- still the leaves fall… and dream by Steve Troyanovich
- The Two Terrors poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Алексей Жемчужников – Весна
- Зинаида Александрова – Новый снег
- The Child and the Mariner by William Henry Davies
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
- Come up from the Fields, Father. by Walt Whitman
- City of Ships. by Walt Whitman
- City of Orgies. by Walt Whitman
- City Dead-House, The. by Walt Whitman
- Chanting the Square Deific. by Walt Whitman
- Centenarian’s Story, The. by Walt Whitman
- Cavalry Crossing a Ford. by Walt Whitman
- Carol of Words. by Walt Whitman
- Carol of Occupations. by Walt Whitman
- Camps of Green. by Walt Whitman
- By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame. by Walt Whitman
- By Broad Potomac’s Shore. by Walt Whitman
- Brother of All, with Generous Hand. by Walt Whitman
- Bivouac on a Mountain Side. by Walt Whitman
- Behold this Swarthy Face. by Walt Whitman
- Behavior. by Walt Whitman
- Beginning my Studies. by Walt Whitman
- Beginners. by Walt Whitman
- Beautiful Women. by Walt Whitman
- Beat! Beat! Drums! by Walt Whitman
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.