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:
- Станислав Востоков – Стой, кто идёт
- The Winners by Rudyard Kipling
- Иван Киуру – Теленок Леня
- A Sculptor’s Vow by Nikhil Srinivas
- Ок Мельникова – Let it be
- Our Singing Strength by Robert Frost
- English Poetry. Rupert Chawner Brooke. The Vision of the Archangels. Руперт Брук.
- March Evening poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Lines on Curll poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Anticipation poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- MANY NAMESAKES by Satish Verma
- Epitaph for Mr. W. Cruickshank by Robert Burns
- Robert Burns: The Lover’s Morning Salute To His Mistress:
- Shema by Primo Levi
- Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot poem – Alexander Pope
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
- Ок Мельникова – All I want, all I need
- Ок Мельникова – 3. 45 a. m
- Огюст Барбье – Жертвы
- Огюст Барбье – Зеленая Дева
- Огюст Барбье – Хвала Хафизу
- Огюст Барбье – Видимость
- Огюст Барбье – Васильки
- Огюст Барбье – Тициан
- Огюст Барбье – Собачий пир
- Огюст Барбье – Шекспир
- Огюст Барбье – Сегодня я в пути
- Огюст Барбье – Роберт Эммет
- Огюст Барбье – Рафаэль
- Огюст Барбье – Прогресс
- Огюст Барбье – Покинутый
- Огюст Барбье – Отъезд
- Огюст Барбье – Ни кротостью, ни негой ясной
- Огюст Барбье – Мельпомена
- Огюст Барбье – Мазаччио
- Огюст Барбье – Любовь к песням
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