A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
I know you are reading this poem
late, before leaving your office
of the one intense yellow lamp-spot and the darkening window
in the lassitude of a building faded to quiet
long after rush-hour. I know you are reading this poem
standing up in a bookstore far from the ocean
on a grey day of early spring, faint flakes driven
across the plains’ enormous spaces around you.
I know you are reading this poem
in a room where too much has happened for you to bear
where the bedclothes lie in stagnant coils on the bed
and the open valise speaks of flight
but you cannot leave yet. I know you are reading this poem
as the underground train loses momentum and before running
up the stairs
toward a new kind of love
your life has never allowed.
I know you are reading this poem by the light
of the television screen where soundless images jerk and slide
while you wait for the newscast from the intifada.
I know you are reading this poem in a waiting-room
of eyes met and unmeeting, of identity with strangers.
I know you are reading this poem by fluorescent light
in the boredom and fatigue of the young who are counted out,
count themselves out, at too early an age. I know
you are reading this poem through your failing sight, the thick
lens enlarging these letters beyond all meaning yet you read on
because even the alphabet is precious.
I know you are reading this poem as you pace beside the stove
warming milk, a crying child on your shoulder, a book in your
hand
because life is short and you too are thirsty.
I know you are reading this poem which is not in your language
guessing at some words while others keep you reading
and I want to know which words they are.
I know you are reading this poem listening for something, torn
between bitterness and hope
turning back once again to the task you cannot refuse.
I know you are reading this poem because there is nothing else
left to read
there where you have landed, stripped as you are.
A few random poems:
- Father Divine poem – A. D. Winans poems | Poetry Monster
- Labels
- The house where I was born (03) by Yves Bonnefoy
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вы были у Беллы
- Marsh Hymns by Sidney Lanier
- Blow, Bugle, Blow poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Sinfonia Eroica poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Иван Дмитриев – Сверчки
- English Poetry. Philip James Bailey. Festus – 41. Филип Джеймс Бэйли.
- Sonnet 28: How can I then return in happy plight by William Shakespeare
- Иннокентий Анненский – Франсис Жамм. Когда для всех меня не станет меж живыми
- Late September poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Old Ireland. by Walt Whitman
- A Magic Moment I Remember poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Desmond’s Song by Thomas Moore
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
- Fleeting Thoughts by Mac McGovern
- Father And Son by Mac McGovern
- Eco en la madrugada by Mara Romero Torres
- Down in the valley by Marcin Malek
- Diary of a Palestinian Wound by Mahmoud Darwish
- Childhood by Margaret Walker
- As He Walks Away by Mahmoud Darwish
- An Interchanging Poetry Expression Of Love by Mac McGovern
- AN INSPIRATIONAL VILLANELLE: by Manish Thakur
- An Honest Poet’s Life Is Full Of Care by Malcolm Massiah
- Al calor de una guitarra by Mara Romero Torres
- Ahmad Al-Za’tar by Mahmoud Darwish
- A Noun Sentence by Mahmoud Darwish
- A Lover From Palestine by Mahmoud Darwish
- Your choice by Mrunmayi Mandan
- Yin and Yang by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- Worry by Mridula Makkuni
- Twiddle-de-dee by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- The Wedding Night by Mukeshkumar Raval
- The Storm by Muralidharan Mudaliar
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.