A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
The world’s
not wanton
only wild and wavering
I wanted to choose words that even you
would have to be changed by
Take the word
of my pulse, loving and ordinary
Send out your signals, hoist
your dark scribbled flags
but take
my hand
All wars are useless to the dead
My hands are knotted in the rope
and I cannot sound the bell
My hands are frozen to the switch
and I cannot throw it
The foot is in the wheel
When it’s finished and we’re lying
in a stubble of blistered flowers
eyes gaping, mouths staring
dusted with crushed arterial blues
I’ll have done nothing
even for you?
A few random poems:
- In Prison by William Morris
- I Thought Of You by Sara Teasdale
- The Judge by Rabindranath Tagore
- Sonnet. The Day Is Gone poem – John Keats poems
- A Precise Woman by Yehuda Amichai
- All’s Well! by John Oxenham
- English Poetry. Thomas Moore. From “Irish Melodies”. 85. Oh For the Swords of Former Time. Томас Мур.
- The Moon’s the North Wind’s Cooky by Vachel Lindsay
- Inscription to Chloris by Robert Burns
- Юрий Коринец – Тишина
- Illusion of Time by Ndue Ukaj
- Владимир Маяковский – Счастье искусств
- The First Part: Sonnet 14 – Nor Arne, nor Mincius, nor stately Tiber, by William Drummond
- Ode 1957: An intellectual by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Inscription to Jessie Lewars by Robert Burns
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
- Nature’s Law: A Poem by Robert Burns
- My Highland Lassie, O by Robert Burns
- My Heart’s In The Highlands by Robert Burns
- My Girl she’s Airy: A Fragment by Robert Burns
- My Father was a Farmer: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Mr. William Smellie: A Sketch by Robert Burns
- Motto prefixed to the Author’s first Publication by Robert Burns
- Monody on a Lady, famed for her Caprice by Robert Burns
- Masonic Song—Ye Sons of Old Killie by Robert Burns
- Mary Morison by Robert Burns
- Man was made to Mourn: A Dirge by Robert Burns
- Lord Gregory: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Lines Written under the Picture of Miss Burns by Robert Burns
- Lines written on a Bank-note by Robert Burns
- Lines to Sir John Whitefoord, Bart by Robert Burns
- Lines to Mr. John Kennedy by Robert Burns
- Lines to John Syme, Esq., with a dozen of Porter by Robert Burns
- Lines to John M’Murdo of Drumlanrig by Robert Burns
- Lines to an Old Sweetheart by Robert Burns
- Lines to a Gentleman who sent a Newspaper 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

Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and feminist.