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:
- Robert Burns: On Glenriddell’s Fox Breaking His Chain: A Fragment
- Mafeking poem – Alfred Austin
- Николай Заболоцкий – Вчера, о смерти размышляя
- Feast of the Eyes
- The Unsound Utterance by Raju Baruah
- In the Waters of Purity by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Омар Хайям – Если ты не впадаешь в молитвенный раж
- To A Young Writer by Yvor Winters
- Федор Сологуб – Сладко мечтается мне
- How Sweet It Is, When Mother Fancy Rocks by William Wordsworth
- Алексей Ржевский – Ода Императору Петру Феодоровичу
- Hyperion. Book II poem – John Keats poems
- Proactive Responses to Recession – 7 Creative Ways to Make Extra Money With Real Estate
- At Malvern by William Lisle Bowles
- Владимир Бенедиктов – На пятидесятилетний юбилей Крылова
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
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Праздник на биваке
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Пожар
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Потоки
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Пируя праздник возвращенья
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Певец
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Песнь соловья
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Пещеры Кизиль-коба
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Переход
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Переселение
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Отзыв на вызов
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Звездочет
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Знакомое место
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Желания
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Затмение
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Запретный плод
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Южная ночь
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Я знаю, люблю я бесплодно
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Я. П. Полонскому
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Христианские мысли перед битвами
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Вьющееся растение
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