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:
- Низами Гянджеви – Ты рукой мне сжала сердце
- Robert Burns: To Miss Cruickshank, a very Young Lady : Written on the Blank Leaf of a Book, presented to her by the Author.
- Иван Бунин – Не видно птиц
- Haven Woones Fortune A-Twold by William Barnes
- To The Nameless Soldier
- Autumn by Walter Savage Landor
- Selecting A Reader by Ted Kooser
- The West Wind by William Cullen Bryant
- Алексей Жемчужников – Зимнее чувство
- Robert Burns: Meg O’ The Mill : Another Version
- Владимир Маяковский – Нас потеснили… (РОСТА №337)
- Robert Burns: Deluded Swain, The Pleasure:
- Ольга Седакова – Филемон и Бавкида
- The Future Promise Letter by Stevens Cadet
- Олег Бундур – Что будет, если
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
- The Poetic Principle by Mark Olynyk
- She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter
- The Other Side of Panic by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Question mark remarks by Mark Miller
- The joyful things in life by Martin Smith
- The Frantic by Mark Miller
- Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry
- The End of the Argument by Martina Reisz Newberry
- My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin
- The Dreadful Has Already Happened by Mark Strand
- The Dragon and The Unicorn by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller
- Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf
- The Last Wolf by Mary TallMountain
- Nestling by Mark R Slaughter
- The Homeless Man by Mary TallMountain
- My Words Embrace by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Telescope by Mark R Slaughter
- My Mother On An Evening In Late Summer by Mark Strand
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.