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:
- Юлия Друнина – Да, сердце часто ошибалось
- Epistle on J. Lapraik by Robert Burns
- Владимир Высоцкий – Студенческая песня
- When ‘Omer Smote ‘Is Bloomin’ Lyre by Rudyard Kipling
- From Afar by Rabindranath Tagore
- Cuckoo Song by Rudyard Kipling
- Moonrise by Sylvia Plath
- Carol of a Father by Samuel Hazo
- Владимир Гиляровский – Кузьма Орел
- Sonnet I: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase by William Shakespeare
- Ellen Irwin Or The Braes Of Kirtle by William Wordsworth
- The Dead by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка-представление орлёнком Эдом Атаки Гризли
- He Tells Of A Valley Full Of Lovers by William Butler Yeats
- Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? by William Shakespeare
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
- Fragment – Wee Willie Gray (Song) by Robert Burns
- Farewell to Eliza (Song) by Robert Burns
- On a Scotch Bard, gone to the West Indies by Robert Burns
- Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots by Robert Burns
- Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn by Robert Burns
- Impromptu on Dumourier’s Desertion of the French Republican Army by Robert Burns
- Grace before and after Meat by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Robert Aiken by Robert Burns
- Epistle to a Young Friend by Robert Burns
- Address to Beelzebub by Robert Burns
- A Grace after Meat by Robert Burns
- A Dream by Robert Burns
- A Dedication to Gavin Hamilton by Robert Burns
- A Bard’s Epitaph by Robert Burns
- Zion by Rudyard Kipling
- You Must n’t Swim… by Rudyard Kipling
- With Scindia to Delphi by Rudyard Kipling
- Wilful Missing by Rudyard Kipling
- White Horses by Rudyard Kipling
- When the Great Ark by Rudyard Kipling
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