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:
- Greece Madum…! by Perugu Ramakrishna
- In Praise Of England poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Высоцкий – Лукоморья больше нет
- Epistle II: To A Lady (Of the Characters of Women) poem – Alexander Pope
- Как просто было в юности
- Владимир Маяковский – Врангель прет… (РОСТА №363)
- Central Park At Dusk by Sara Teasdale
- Ольга Седакова – Я жизнь в порыве жить
- The Gladness of Nature by William Cullen Bryant
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Элегия (Мысль в разлуке с вещим сном)
- Sonnet 125: Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy by William Shakespeare
- The Boa Constrictor Song by Shel Silverstein
- Владимир Высоцкий – Упрямо я стремлюсь ко дну
- Come From The Daisied Meadows by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Free Fantasia On Japanese Themes poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
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
- Robert Burns: The Captain’s Lady:
- Robert Burns: Sweet Tibbie Dunbar:
- Robert Burns: I Love My Love In Secret:
- Robert Burns: Jamie, Come Try Me:
- Robert Burns: The Banks Of Nith:
- Robert Burns: Young Jockie Was The Blythest Lad:
- Robert Burns: On A Bank Of Flowers:
- Robert Burns: The Gard’ner Wi’ His Paidle:
- Robert Burns: Delia, An Ode : “To the Editor of The Star.-Mr. Printer-If the productions of a simple ploughman can merit a place in the same paper with Sylvester Otway, and the other favourites of the Muses who illuminate the Star with the lustre of genius, your insertion of the enclosed trifle will be succeeded by future communications from-Yours, &c., R. Burns. Ellisland, near Dumfries, 18th May, 1789.”
- Robert Burns: The Wounded Hare:
- Robert Burns: Sketch In Verse: Inscribed to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox.
- Robert Burns: A New Psalm For The Chapel Of Kilmarnock: On the Thanksgiving-Day for His Majesty’s Recovery.
- Robert Burns: Epistle To James Tennant Of Glenconner:
- Robert Burns: Ode On The Departed Regency Bill:
- Robert Burns: Beware O’ Bonie Ann:
- Robert Burns: To Miss Cruickshank, a very Young Lady : Written on the Blank Leaf of a Book, presented to her by the Author.
- Robert Burns: Caledonia -A Ballad :
- Robert Burns: Lines To John M’Murdo, Esq. Of Drumlanrig: Sent with some of the Author’s Poems.
- Robert Burns: Impromptu Lines To Captain Riddell: On Returning a Newspaper.
- Robert Burns: She’s Fair And Fause:
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.