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:
- Владислав Крапивин – В южных морях и у севера дальнего
- Robert Burns: A Poet’s Welcome To His Love-Begotten Daughter: The First Instance That Entitled Him To The Venerable Appellation Of Father
- General William Booth Enters into Heaven by Vachel Lindsay
- Омар Хайям – Где вы, друзья! Где вольный ваш припев?
- Bathed in War’s Perfume. by Walt Whitman
- Олег Григорьев – К себе домой из дальних стран
- Ольга Берггольц – Осень (Мне осень озёрного края)
- Нина Воронель – Не слишком ли ты многого
- Владимир Высоцкий – Оплавляются свечи на старинный паркет
- Remembering Mountain Men by William Stafford
- Come down, O Maid poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Lord of Burleigh poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Ad Se Ipsum by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Владимир Высоцкий – У Доски, где почётные граждане
- Владимир Маяковский – О чем в наступающем думаем году мы
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
- Song—A Fiddler in the North by Robert Burns
- Song—A Bottle and Friend by Robert Burns
- Sketch—New Year’s Day, 1790 by Robert Burns
- Sketch in Verse, inscribed to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox by Robert Burns
- Second Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintry by Robert Burns
- Second Epistle to J. Lapraik by Robert Burns
- Second Epistle to Davie by Robert Burns
- Scots, Wha Hae Wi’ Wallace Bled by Robert Burns
- Scots Prologue for Mr. Sutherland by Robert Burns
- Sappho Redivivus: A Fragment by Robert Burns
- Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn (Song) by Robert Burns
- Rhyming Reply to a Note from Captain Riddell by Robert Burns
- Reply to the Threat of a Censorious Critic by Robert Burns
- Reply to an Announcement by J. Rankine by Robert Burns
- Reply to a Trimming Epistle, received from a Tailor by Robert Burns
- Remorseful Apology by Robert Burns
- Remorse: A Fragment by Robert Burns
- Prologue, spoken by Mr. Woods at Edinburgh by Robert Burns
- Prologue spoken at the Theatre of Dumfries by Robert Burns
- Prayer—O Thou Dread Power 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