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:
- Wind by Ted Hughes
- The Complaint Of Prometheus
- The Tables Turned by William Wordsworth
- Владимир Набоков – Ты многого, слишком ты многого хочешь
- I Keep Six Honest… by Rudyard Kipling
- Medicine to my brain poem – Andrew Vassell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Harry Ploughman poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- A Fixed Idea poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Федор Тютчев – Как птичка, раннею зарей
- The Soul of the City Receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit by Vachel Lindsay
- Владимир Британишский – Коптилки многолетний свет
- Picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den at Hamilton Palace by William Wordsworth
- A Witch by William Barnes
- come on in, baby by Raj Arumugam
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мы просто куклы
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
- Show It At The Beach by Shel Silverstein
- She’s My Ever Lovin’ Machine by Shel Silverstein
- Scum Of The Earth by Shel Silverstein
- Sarah Cynthia Slyvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out by Shel Silverstein
- Rosalie’s Good Eats Cafe by Shel Silverstein
- Rock ‘N’ Roll Band by Shel Silverstein
- Ring Of Grass by Shel Silverstein
- Recipe For A Hippopotamus Sandwich by Shel Silverstein
- Put Something In by Shel Silverstein
- Polly In A Porny by Shel Silverstein
- Point Of View by Shel Silverstein
- Pathetic Way Of Getting Over Me by Shel Silverstein
- On The Way To The Bottom by Shel Silverstein
- Never Bite A Married Woman On The Thigh by Shel Silverstein
- My Mind Keeps Movin’ by Shel Silverstein
- Morgan’s Curse by Shel Silverstein
- Melinda Mae by Shel Silverstein
- Mama I’ll Sing One For You by Shel Silverstein
- Makin’ It Natural by Shel Silverstein
- Lookin’ For Myself by Shel Silverstein
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.