by Alan Noakes
Yes the ‘if onlys’ seem to persist for ever
As hovering wraithlike used-up dreams.
‘if only ‘ this or that
On such and such a day
Had varied by an hour or an inch
Or something neglected had been done
Or that something done had been neglected
Then ‘perhaps’ the other might have been:
But then
‘perhaps’ and ‘if only’ are first cousins
Addicted to survival only in our minds.
Copyright ©:
Alan Noakes

A few random poems:
- Barmaid by William Ernest Henley
- Владимир Луговской – Пепел
- Sonnet 121: Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed by William Shakespeare
- Best Society by Philip Larkin
- A Prophecy. February 1807 by William Wordsworth
- To A Young Lady Who Had Been Reproached For Taking Long Walks In The Country by William Wordsworth
- The Surgeon At 2 A.M. by Sylvia Plath
- Олег Бундур – Дома
- Stanzas. In A Drear-Nighted December poem – John Keats poems
- FREEDOM by Mac McGovern
- Pied Beauty by Ted Hughes
- Ballades I – To Theocritus, In Winter poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Sound O’ Water by William Barnes
- A Bit O’ Fun by William Barnes
- A Song From ‘The Player Queen’ by William Butler Yeats
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
- Lines on the Fall of Fyers by Robert Burns
- Lines on the Author’s Death by Robert Burns
- Lines on Meeting with Lord Daer by Robert Burns
- Lines on Fergusson, the Poet by Robert Burns
- Lines Inscribed under Fergusson’s Portrait by Robert Burns
- Lines Inscribed in a Lady’s Pocket Almanack by Robert Burns
- Lament For Culloden by Robert Burns
- John Barleycorn: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- John Barleycorn by Robert Burns
- John Anderson by Robert Burns
- Inscription to Miss Graham of Fintry by Robert Burns
- Inscription to Jessie Lewars by Robert Burns
- Inscription to Chloris by Robert Burns
- inscription on Mr. Syme’s crystal goblet by Robert Burns
- Inscription for the Headstone of Fergusson the Poet by Robert Burns
- Inscription at Friars’ Carse Hermitage by Robert Burns
- Inscribed on a Work of Hannah More’s by Robert Burns
- Impromptu on Mrs. Riddell’s Birthday by Robert Burns
- Impromptu on Carron Iron Works by Robert Burns
- Impromptu Lines to Captain Riddell by Robert Burns
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