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:
- I bring hope and love by Raj Arumugam
- Низами Гянджеви – Где путь в кумирню
- Summer Enclosed In A Semi-Dark Cup by Nijole Miliauskaite
- The Reply Of Q. Horatius Flaccus To A Roman “Round-Robin” poem – Alfred Austin
- The First Part: Sonnet 12 – Ah! burning thoughts, now let me take some rest, by William Drummond
- Sappho to Phaon (Ovid Heroid XV) poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Morning Poem #40 by Wanda Phipps
- Ce N’est Jamais Le Même Jardin by Martine Morillon-Carreau
- The Bridge by Shel Silverstein
- Inscription. by Walt Whitman
- To Ellen Terry poem – Alfred Austin
- Purgatory by Maxine Kumin
- Bathed in War’s Perfume. by Walt Whitman
- Tobias Smollett – Tobias Smollett
- Us Two by AA Milne
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
- Poem (The lump of coal my parents teased) by William Matthews
- Beautiful Balmoral by William Topaz McGonagall
- Beautiful Balmerino by William Topaz McGonagall
- Baldovan by William Topaz McGonagall
- Attempted Assassination of the Queen by William Topaz McGonagall
- Annie Marshall the Foundling by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Ode to the Queen by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Autumn Reverie by William Topaz McGonagall
- An All-Night Sea Fight by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Adventure in the Life of King James V of Scotland by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan by William Topaz McGonagall
- Adventures of King Robert the Bruce by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Mr Murphy and the Blue Ribbon Army by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Mr J. Graham Henderson, The World’s Fair Judge by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Henry M. Stanley by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Dr. Murison by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tale of the Sea by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tale of Elsinore by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tale of Christmas Eve by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Summary History of Lord Clive by William Topaz McGonagall
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.