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:
- Extempore on some commemorations of Thomson by Robert Burns
- The Song of the Sons by Rudyard Kipling
- Passing by Shaunna Harper
- Нина Воронель – Мой дед был слепым
- Crush by Muhereza Louis
- An Epitaph On Mr. Fishborne The Great London Benefactor, And His Executor by William Strode
- Christmas Dance of the Hours by Michael T. Bee
- The Mocking Bird by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Hey! Mr.Pothole by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- Repose In God by William Cowper
- Владимир Маяковский – Стой!.. (РОСТА №416)
- What the People Said by Rudyard Kipling
- Владимир Маяковский – Права кооперации расширены декретом… (Главполитпросвет №154)
- Michael Robartes And The Dancer by William Butler Yeats
- The Mirror by Robert Creeley
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
- When ‘Omer Smote ‘Is Bloomin’ Lyre by Rudyard Kipling
- When Earth’s Last Picture Is Painted by Rudyard Kipling
- What the People Said by Rudyard Kipling
- What Happened by Rudyard Kipling
- Ulster by Rudyard Kipling
- Two Months by Rudyard Kipling
- Two Kopjes by Rudyard Kipling
- Troopin’ by Rudyard Kipling
- Tommy by Rudyard Kipling
- Tin Fish by Rudyard Kipling
- The Young British Soldier by Rudyard Kipling
- The Wishing-Caps by Rudyard Kipling
- The Winners by Rudyard Kipling
- The Widow at Windsor by Rudyard Kipling
- The Truce of the Bear by Rudyard Kipling
- The Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling
- The Story of Uriah by Rudyard Kipling
- The Story of Ung by Rudyard Kipling
- The Sons of Martha by Rudyard Kipling
- The Songs of the Lathes 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