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:
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Море и капля
- Sonnet 83: I never saw that you did painting need by William Shakespeare
- Juvenilia An Ode To Natural Beauty
- Федор Сологуб – Кольцо и венок
- Song Of The Wandering Jew by William Wordsworth
- Crouchin’ On The Outside by Shel Silverstein
- Ballade Of The Dream poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Synchronicity by Marina Cecilia Kohon
- My prayers must meet a brazen heaven poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Holy Thursday (Experience) by William Blake
- Robert Burns: Third Epistle To J. Lapraik:
- Translated poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Year’s End by Marilyn Hacker
- Robert Burns: Talk Of Him That’s Far Awa:
- The River by Mark Olynyk
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 Stwonèn Pworch by William Barnes
- The Stage Coach by William Barnes
- The Sparrow Club by William Barnes
- The Slantèn Light O’ Fall by William Barnes
- The Sky A-Clearen by William Barnes
- The Shy Man by William Barnes
- The Shepherd O’ The Farm by William Barnes
- The Settle An’ The Girt Wood Vire by William Barnes
- The Scud by William Barnes
- The Rwose In The Dark by William Barnes
- The Railroad by William Barnes
- The Poplars by William Barnes
- The Pleäce Our Own Ageän by William Barnes
- The Pleäce A Teäle’s A-Twold O’ by William Barnes
- The Pillar’d Geäte by William Barnes
- The Peasant’s Return by William Barnes
- The New House A-Gettèn’ Wold by William Barnes
- The Neäme Letters by William Barnes
- The Music O’ The Dead by William Barnes
- The Motherless Child 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