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:
- Peace Or Glory
- Михаил Лермонтов – Баллада (Куда так проворно, жидовка младая)
- Power Of Love by Valentine Mbagu
- My Words Embrace by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Sometimes….Life’s A Beach by Stevens Cadet
- The Cottage Hospital poem – John Betjeman poems
- run home, run home butterfly by Raj Arumugam
- A Zong by William Barnes
- Love Sonnet XVII poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- Robert Burns: Philly And Willy:
- The Scissors-Grinder by Vachel Lindsay
- Set me FREE by Neelam Sinha
- Владимир Британишский – Итальянское путешествие
- Lucid Dreams by Talha Jafri
- the_christening.html
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
- Ольга Берггольц – Бабье лето (надо любить, жалеть, прощать)
- Ольга Берггольц – Анна Ахматова в 1941 году в Ленинграде
- Ольга Берггольц – А помнишь
- Ольга Берггольц – 27 января 1945 года
- Олег Широв – Она бесценна, просто ангел
- Олег Сердобольский – Зимний кот
- Олег Сердобольский – Задумал слово я такое
- Олег Сердобольский – Храбрый червячок
- Олег Сердобольский – Воробышек и крошки
- Олег Сердобольский – Во дворе
- Олег Сердобольский – Угадай, в какой руке
- Олег Сердобольский – У сосульки льет из носа
- Олег Сердобольский – Стой, кто идет
- Олег Сердобольский – Птенчик
- Олег Сердобольский – Пришли цыплята в первый класс
- Олег Сердобольский – Перемена
- Олег Сердобольский – Облачко
- Олег Сердобольский – Мошка Машка
- Олег Сердобольский – Кузнечик
- Олег Сердобольский – Корова и божья коровка
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