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:
- To the Fringed Gentian by William Cullen Bryant
- A Faery’s Lament poem – Ysabelle Moriarty poems | Poetry Monster
- A Jewish Cemetery In Germany by Yehuda Amichai
- Dreams poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Sestina: Altaforte poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Владимир Высоцкий – Водой наполненные горсти
- Jacaranda by Norma Martiri
- An Old Doll
- Power poem – Aleister Crowley poems | Poetry Monster
- Youth And The Pilgrim by Sara Teasdale
- Олег Григорьев – Ну, как тебе на ветке
- An Antheme by William Strode
- Integrity
- Language by W. S. Merwin
- Blue-Butterfly Day by Robert Frost
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 Высоцкий – Расскажи, дорогой
- Владимир Высоцкий – Это вовсе не френч-канкан
- Владимир Высоцкий – Величальная отцу
- Владимир Высоцкий – Студенческая песня
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Вани перед студентами
- Владимир Высоцкий – Грустная песня о Ванечке
- Владимир Высоцкий – Свадебная
- Владимир Высоцкий – Солдат и привидение
- Владимир Высоцкий – Серенада Соловья-разбойника
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня солдата на часах
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Марии
- Владимир Высоцкий – Куплеты нечистой силы
- Владимир Высоцкий – Иван да Марья
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заключительная песня Кэрролла
- Владимир Высоцкий – Странные скачки
- Владимир Высоцкий – Шляпник
- Владимир Высоцкий – Про королевское шествие
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Попугая
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о планах
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Лягушонка
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.