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:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня парня у обелиска космонавтам
- A Lover To His Mistress by William Strode
- A Requisition to the Queen by William Topaz McGonagall
- Владимир Высоцкий – Космонавту Ю. Гагарину
- Pensive and Faltering. by Walt Whitman
- Федор Сологуб – Сладко мечтается мне
- The 9th Inning poem – Ygor Noblott poems | Poetry Monster
- In Christ there is No East Or West by John Oxenham
- Entranced by Satish Verma
- The Easter Egg Hunt by Roger Turner
- Sonnet 11 poem – John Milton poems
- Just A Dance by Tiffany M
- Альфред де Мюссе – Вспомни обо мне
- A Song at Weicheng. by Wang Wei
- Mr Anonymous, a life by Raj Arumugam
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
- The Scarecrow by Ross D Tyler
- The (REAL) Tale of the Tortoise and the Hare by Ross D Tyler
- The missing pen by Ross D Tyler
- The Appointment by Ruth Padel
- Ten Years After by Graham Rowlands
- Telescopes In The Square by Graham Rowlands
- South Africa by Ronald G. Auguste
- Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. by Russell James
- Savour Your Life by Ronald G. Auguste
- Rosslyn To The Prime Minister by Graham Rowlands
- Writing to Onegin by Ruth Padel
- Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel
- Pan’s Lament by Rose Mary Boehm
- On The Menu by Graham Rowlands
- Night by Ruth Padel
- Nanna by Ross D Tyler
- My Views of Man by Ronald G. Auguste
- Multi-Miners & Co. Present Ned Kelly by Graham Rowlands
- Miss Worthington by Rose Mary Boehm
- Meant To Be by Russ Pergram
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