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:
- Zunsheen In The Winter by William Barnes
- Николай Языков – А. А. Воейковой (На петербургскую дорогу)
- The Lesson by Maya Angelou
- Émigrés by Anna Barkova
- Night In Arizona by Sara Teasdale
- The Pentagram poem – Aleister Crowley poems | Poetry Monster
- Seasons by Tala Bar
- And Still to USA they get! by Tom Mukasa
- Олег Бундур – Ужин
- Twelve Years by Paul Celan
- Yin and Yang by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- The Dandelion by Vachel Lindsay
- “What ails you, Ocean, that nor near nor far” poem – Alfred Austin
- Виктор Гончаров – Когда тебя бессонной ночью
- Robert Burns: On Tam The Chapman:
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
- everything is a lie by tulip
- Dreaming of Li Po by Tu Fu
- Day’s End by Tu Fu
- Can You See The Pride In The Panther? by Tupac Shakur
- By the Lake by Tu Fu
- Ballad of the Old Cypress by Tu Fu
- Ballad of the Army Carts by Tu Fu
- Ballad Of The Press-Gang At Shihao Village by Du Fu
- Aphrodite – The Birth by Uma Maheswari Anandane
- Alone, Looking for Blossoms Along the River by Tu Fu
- Yet Gentle Will the Griffin Be by Vachel Lindsay
- Yankee Doodle by Vachel Lindsay
- Written for a Musician by Vachel Lindsay
- With a Bouquet of Twelve Roses by Vachel Lindsay
- Why I Voted the Socialist Ticket by Vachel Lindsay
- Who Knows? by Vachel Lindsay
- Where Is the Real Non-Resistant by Vachel Lindsay
- Where Is David, the Next King of Israel? by Vachel Lindsay
- When Gassy Thompson Struck It Rich by Vachel Lindsay
- When Bryan Speaks by Vachel Lindsay
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.