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:
- My Mother’s Body by Marge Piercy
- The White Road Up Athirt The Hill by William Barnes
- Николай Заболоцкий – Неудачник
- Василий Жуковский – На первое отречение от престола Бонапарте
- Anterotics by William Ernest Henley
- Владимир Маяковский – Долг Украине
- A Gift poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Pict Song by Rudyard Kipling
- In the Nower poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Absence poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- For The Anniversary Of My Death by W. S. Merwin
- When You Go Away by W. S. Merwin
- Fear No More by William Shakespeare
- Ghouls’ Parade poem – Brako Attafua poems | Poetry Monster
- Smoke by Théophile Gautier
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
- Sonnet (X) : In the search of the physical immortality by Neelam Sinha
- Sonnet (VIII) : Some left crown , some left land and some into exile by Neelam Sinha
- Sonnet (IX) : Flesh o flesh ! The momentous , the mortal , the doomed by Neelam Sinha
- Set me FREE by Neelam Sinha
- Riposte to the Bard: Sonnet 130 remade in my lady’s image by Neil Outar
- Rapture by Neil Outar
- Praises to my motherland ! by Neelam Sinha
- O the Chimneys by Nelly Sachs
- Mirage by Neelam Sinha
- Minnesang by Neil Outar
- Mama, Come Back by Nellie Wong
- Mad Nuclear Mushrooms by Adeola Ikuomola
- Lonely Poets by Ndue Ukaj
- Know thy SELF by Neelam Sinha
- Job by Nelly Sachs
- Immigranten by Ndue Ukaj
- Illusion of Time by Ndue Ukaj
- I too want to ESCAPE by Neelam Sinha
- I know you will remember ME by Neelam Sinha
- Hummingbird by Nicole M Nugent
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.