A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
Reading the menu at the morning service:
– Iced Venusberg perhaps, or buttered bum;
Orders the usual sex-ersatz, and, nervous,
Glances around; Will she or won’t she come?
The congregation dissected into pews
Gulping their strip teas in the luminous cavern
Agape’s sacamental berry stews;
The nickel-plated light and clatter of heaven
Receive him, temporary Tantalus
Into the Lookingglassland’s firescape.
Suckled on Jungfraumilch his eyes discuss,
The werwolf twins, their mock Sabellian rape.
This is their time to reap the standing scorn,
Blonde Rumina’s crop. Beneath her leafless tree
Ripe-rumped she lolls and clasps the plenteous horn.
Cool customers who defy his Trinity
Feel none the less, and thrill, ur-vater Fear
Caged in the son. For, though this ghost behave
Experienced daughters recognize King Leer:
Lot also had his daughters in a cave.
Full sail the proud three-decker sandwiches
With the eye-fumbled priestesses repass;
On their swan lake the enchanted icecreams freeze,
The amorous fountain prickles in the glass
And at the introit of this mass emotion
She comes, she comes, a balanced pillar of blood,
Guides through the desert, divides the sterile ocean,
Brings sceptic Didymus his berserk food,
Sits deftly, folding elegant thighs, and takes
Her time. She skins her little leather hands,
Conscious that wavering towards her like tame snakes
The polyp eyes converge…. The prophet stands
Dreading the answer from her burning bush:
This unconsuming flame, the outlaw’s blow,
Plague, exodus, Sinai, ruptured stones that gush,
God’s telegram: Dare Now! Let this people go!
A few random poems:
- Sonnet 41: Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet Iii
- The Death Of A Fly by Russell Edson
- St. Winefred’s Well poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Broomfield Hill poem – Andrew Lang poems
- FREEDOM by Mac McGovern
- Indian Wedding Customs – Eastern and Western Indian Wedding Traditions
- Parting by William Butler Yeats
- Ольга Берггольц – Мы предчувствовали полыханье
- Василий Жуковский – Цветок
- Маяковский – Стоит баба с жопой метр на метр: стих, текст стихотворения Владимира Маяковского – Poetry Monster
- Иван Барков – Улика подьячего
- A daily prayer by a kid by Sunil Sharma
- Look You, I’ll Go Pray by Vachel Lindsay
- Innocent Steps by Vaishnavi Prakash
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
- Without You by Miraj Patel
- Wild Soul by Michael Yuan
- Why Me? by Michael Yuan
- Why Do All Good Things Come To An End? by Michael Yuan
- Urban Caterpillar by Minal Sarosh
- Umbrella by Mike Yuan
- To A Sad Daughter by Michael Ondaatje
- There Can Never Be Another You by Miraj Patel
- Their Reposessions by Michael P Amram
- The Wild Goose’s Will by Mike Yuan
- The Tree and the Marble by Mike Yuan
- The Time Around Scars by Michael Ondaatje
- The Only One I Can’t Live Without, Its You by Miraj Patel
- The Only One I Can’t Live Without, Its You by Miraj Patel
- The Natural History of Elephants by Milton Acorn
- The lords above by Michael Nikoletseas
- The Lonely Climber: A Seed Poem by Mike Yuan
- The King by Michael Yuan
- The Island by Milton Acorn
- The Fraser River by Mike Yuan
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

Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.