A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
Far back when I went zig-zagging
through tamarack pastures
you were my genius, you
my cast-iron Viking, my helmed
lion-heart king in prison.
Years later now you’re young
my fierce half-brother, staring
down from that simplified west
your breast open, your belt dragged down
by an oldfashioned thing, a sword
the last bravado you won’t give over
though it weighs you down as you stride
and the stars in it are dim
and maybe have stopped burning.
But you burn, and I know it;
as I throw back my head to take you in
and old transfusion happens again:
divine astronomy is nothing to it.
Indoors I bruise and blunder
break faith, leave ill enough
alone, a dead child born in the dark.
Night cracks up over the chimney,
pieces of time, frozen geodes
come showering down in the grate.
A man reaches behind my eyes
and finds them empty
a woman’s head turns away
from my head in the mirror
children are dying my death
and eating crumbs of my life.
Pity is not your forte.
Calmly you ache up there
pinned aloft in your crow’s nest,
my speechless pirate!
You take it all for granted
and when I look you back
it’s with a starlike eye
shooting its cold and egotistical spear
where it can do least damage.
Breath deep! No hurt, no pardon
out here in the cold with you
you with your back to the wall.
A few random poems:
- Федор Сологуб – Тень решётки прочной
- Вера Павлова – Покамест я всем детям тётя
- Valley-dawn by Sunil Sharma
- Fiction Tips – The Snare of Coincidence
- Спиридон Дрожжин – В деревне
- It Nods and Curtseys and Recovers poem – A. E. Housman
- The Lent Lily by A. E. Housman
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Ночная песня
- Aliens poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Last Battle Of The Cid
- A Dog’s Grave by Winifred Mary Letts
- Владимир Корнилов – Ворон
- A Watch Sent Home To Mrs. Eliz: King, Wrapt In Theis Verses by William Strode
- Minoan Porcelain poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- In My Own Shire, If I Was Sad poem – A. E. Housman
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
- Earthy Anecdote by Wallace Stevens
- A Dish Of Peaches In Russia by Wallace Stevens
- Depression Before Spring by Wallace Stevens
- A Clear Day And No Memories by Wallace Stevens
- In The Carolinas by Wallace Stevens
- Another Weeping Woman by Wallace Stevens
- Anecdote Of Canna by Wallace Stevens
- You Felons on Trial in Courts. by Walt Whitman
- Yet, Yet, Ye Downcast Hours. by Walt Whitman
- Years of the Modern. by Walt Whitman
- Year that Trembled. by Walt Whitman
- Year of Meteors, 1859 ’60. by Walt Whitman
- World, Take Good Notice. by Walt Whitman
- World Below the Brine, The. by Walt Whitman
- With Antecedents. by Walt Whitman
- With All Thy Gifts. by Walt Whitman
- Whoever You are, Holding Me now in Hand. by Walt Whitman
- Who Learns My Lesson Complete? by Walt Whitman
- Who is now Reading This? by Walt Whitman
- Whispers of Heavenly Death. by Walt Whitman
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
Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and feminist.