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:
- Sonnet I by William Shakespeare
- The Need To Love
- Альфред Теннисон – Леди Клара Вер-де-Вер
- The Last Redoubt poem – Alfred Austin
- “Could I but leave men wiser by my song ” poem – Alfred Austin
- Blighters by Siegfried Sassoon
- Николай Рубцов – Воробей
- Lines By Taj Mahomed
- How a Little Girl Sang by Vachel Lindsay
- Ольга Берггольц – Нам от тебя теперь не оторваться
- Dusk In June by Sara Teasdale
- So Small, So Vital
- The Vaïces That Be Gone by William Barnes
- Expressive Moments by Pamela Griffiths
- Book Twelfth [Imagination And Taste, How Impaired And Restored ] by William Wordsworth
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
- Epigram—The Keekin Glass by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Thanks for a National Victory by Robert Burns
- Epigram pinned to Mrs. Riddell’s carriage by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the same Laird’s Country Seat by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the said Occasion by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the Laird of Laggan by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Rough Roads by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Politics by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Parting with a kind Host in the Highlands by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Mr. James Gracie by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Miss Fontenelle by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Jessy Staig’s recovery by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Dr. Babington’s looks by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Andrew Turner by Robert Burns
- Epigram on an Innkeeper (“The Marquis”) by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Swearing Coxcomb by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Suicide by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Country Laird (Cardoness) by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Kirk and State Excisemen 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.