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:
- English Poetry. Madison Julius Cawein. Evasion. Мэдисон Джулиус Кавейн.
- Николай Заболоцкий – Ласточка
- Epigram—Divine Service at Lamington by Robert Burns
- Song—Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns
- Dawn God039s Sabbath
- Thought. by Walt Whitman
- My Friend by Rabindranath Tagore
- Стихи о советском паспорте – Маяковский: стих “Я достаю из широких штанин” Владимира Маяковского – Poetry Monster
- Tom O’Roughley by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Корнилов – Державинское
- “Sadder than lark when lowering” poem – Alfred Austin
- The New House A-Gettèn’ Wold by William Barnes
- On Tam the Chapman by Robert Burns
- Crow’s Fall by Ted Hughes
- Life by Marvin Bell
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
- Poem (The lump of coal my parents teased) by William Matthews
- Beautiful Balmoral by William Topaz McGonagall
- Beautiful Balmerino by William Topaz McGonagall
- Baldovan by William Topaz McGonagall
- Attempted Assassination of the Queen by William Topaz McGonagall
- Annie Marshall the Foundling by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Ode to the Queen by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Autumn Reverie by William Topaz McGonagall
- An All-Night Sea Fight by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Adventure in the Life of King James V of Scotland by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan by William Topaz McGonagall
- Adventures of King Robert the Bruce by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Mr Murphy and the Blue Ribbon Army by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Mr J. Graham Henderson, The World’s Fair Judge by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Henry M. Stanley by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tribute to Dr. Murison by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tale of the Sea by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tale of Elsinore by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Tale of Christmas Eve by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Summary History of Lord Clive by William Topaz McGonagall
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