To make sure
You have not said:
“I love you,”
They smell your breath.
They even smell your heart
Trying times are these, my darling.
They flog love
Tied to the post of the cul-de-sac
We must hide love in the closet.
In this serpentine maze
This crooked cold corner
They feed the fire
With poems and songs
Thinking, too, is risky.
Those who, late at night, knock on the door,
Are there to kill the lamp.
We must hide the light in the closet.
Then there are the butchers
Stationed at all cross-roads,
Armed with a block and a bloody cleaver.
Trying times these are, my darling.
Surgically,
They plant smiles on lips,
And songs in the mouths.
We must hide joy in the closet.
On lilies and lilacs,
They roast the canaries.
Trying times these are, my darling.
Drunk with victory, the Devil,
Celebrates our wake.
We must hide God in the closet.

A few random poems:
- Leaving Early by Sylvia Plath
- Darkness poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Вы с Музой свадьбу золотую
- Оливер Голдсмит – Опровержение логики
- absent-mindedness; or I Dream of Spices by Raj Arumugam
- My Miracle Valentine by Tirtha Raj Baral (Sanu Punatare)
- So Small, So Vital
- A Dream of Rodney King by Mary TallMountain
- Гавриил Державин – Капнисту
- I Am Vertical by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Степанов – Как живете? Что жуете?
- The Hands That Hang Down
- A Thought From Propertius by William Butler Yeats
- Алексей Жемчужников – Письмо к юноше о ничтожности
- Robert Burns: Of A’ The Airts The Wind Can Blaw:
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—Auld Rob Morris by Robert Burns
- Song—Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns
- Song—Anna, thy Charms by Robert Burns
- Song—Ae fond Kiss by Robert Burns
- Song—Address to the Woodlark by Robert Burns
- Song—The Birks of Aberfeldy by Robert Burns
- Song—Sweet Afton by Robert Burns
- Song—Stay my Charmer by Robert Burns
- Song—She’s Fair and Fause by Robert Burns
- Song—O Tibbie, I hae seen the day by Robert Burns
- Song—O let me in this ae night by Robert Burns
- Song—O can ye Labour Lea? by Robert Burns
- Song—Fragment—Leezie Lindsay by Robert Burns
- Song—Farewell to the Highlands by Robert Burns
- Song—Farewell to the Banks of Ayr by Robert Burns
- Song—Blythe hae I been on yon hill by Robert Burns
- Song—Beware o’ Bonie Ann by Robert Burns
- Song—Bessy and her Spinnin Wheel by Robert Burns
- Song—Behold the Hour, the Boat, arrive by Robert Burns
- Song—Behold, my love, how green the groves 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