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:
- Sow by Sylvia Plath
- The Soul’s Prayer by Sarojini Naidu
- Низами Гянджеви – Увы, на этой лужайке, где согнут страстью я,
- Humankind – How Limitless In Genius by Michael Levy
- One Whisper of the Beloved by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Владимир Набоков – Безумец
- Epitaph on a Noisy Polemic by Robert Burns
- Her smile by Vladimir Marku
- Laus Mariae by Sidney Lanier
- How Sleep the Brave by Walter de la Mare
- Ольга Седакова – Несчастен
- A Coat by William Butler Yeats
- Under Saturn by William Butler Yeats
- Remembrance by Maya Angelou
- Criss-Cross Acrostic*: Ai My Eye ! by T. Wignesan
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
- Олег Григорьев – Угро
- Олег Григорьев – Участковый стал в двери стучать
- Олег Григорьев – Ты боишься высоты
- Олег Григорьев – Тонет муха в сладости
- Олег Григорьев – Схватили за ногу правую
- Олег Григорьев – Стаканы
- Олег Григорьев – Совершенно откровенно
- Олег Григорьев – Слезы
- Олег Григорьев – Сказал я девушке кротко
- Олег Григорьев – Шмель
- Олег Григорьев – Секрет
- Олег Григорьев – С длинным батоном под мышкой
- Олег Григорьев – Разбил в туалете сосуд
- Олег Григорьев – Прометей
- Олег Григорьев – Приехала жена из Сочи
- Олег Григорьев – Полосатая оса
- Олег Григорьев – Пляж давно опустел
- Олег Григорьев – Пьет оса кисель из чашки
- Олег Григорьев – Папа вазу опрокинул
- Олег Григорьев – Однажды Сережа и Оля
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
