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:
- The True Lover poem – A. E. Housman
- Written With A Slate Pencil On A Stone, On The Side Of The Mountain Of Black Comb by William Wordsworth
- Алексей Плещеев – Песня
- Main to piya say naina lada aayi ray poem – Amir Khusro poems | Poems and Poetry
- Speaking the Language of Deer by Martin Willitts Jr.
- A Pact poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Hound Voice by William Butler Yeats
- Thanksgiving by Mac Hammond
- Владимир Высоцкий – Слева бесы, справа бесы
- Robert Burns: On John Bushby, Esq., Tinwald Downs:
- Audley Court poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Ольга Седакова – Несчастен
- The Queen’s Men by Rudyard Kipling
- Free Men Of God by John Oxenham
- Art by Washington Allston
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 Wind In Woone’s Feäce by William Barnes
- The Wind At The Door by William Barnes
- The Widow’s House by William Barnes
- The White Road Up Athirt The Hill by William Barnes
- The Wheel Routs by William Barnes
- The Welshnut Tree by William Barnes
- The Weepen Leady by William Barnes
- The Weather-Beaten Tree by William Barnes
- The Water-Spring In The Leäne by William Barnes
- The Water Crowvoot by William Barnes
- The Waggon A-Stooded by William Barnes
- The Vrost by William Barnes
- The Vier-Zide by William Barnes
- The Veairy Veet That I Do Meet by William Barnes
- The Vaïces That Be Gone by William Barnes
- The Two Churches by William Barnes
- The Turnstile by William Barnes
- The Turn O’ The Days by William Barnes
- The Thorns In The Geäte by William Barnes
- The Stwonen Bwoy Upon The Pillar by William Barnes
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