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:
- Шекспир – День без тебя казался ночью – Сонет 43
- Владимир Высоцкий – Однако, втягивать живот
- Happy Victory Day – May 9, 2022
- In Seditionem Horrendam, Corruptelis Gallicus Ut Fertue, Londini Nuper Exortam by William Cowper
- Lapis Lazuli by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Маяковский – Вон самогон
- A November Note poem – Alfred Austin
- To Sea by Martin Zakovski
- The Amaranth by Vachel Lindsay
- Bob The Fiddler by William Barnes
- Robert Burns: Remorseful Apology:
- Show me by Rixa White
- English Poetry. Philip James Bailey. Festus – 34. Филип Джеймс Бэйли.
- Love’s Confession poem – Yuvraj Johri poems | Poetry Monster
- Владимир Маяковский – Порядочный гражданин
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
- A June-Tide Echo poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Greek Girl poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Farewell poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Cross-Road Epitaph poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Vacant Lot With Pokeweed poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Sun Underfoot Among The Sundews poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Syrinx poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Salvage poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- On The Disadvantages Of Central Heating poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Nothing Stays Put poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Fog poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Exmoor poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Vacant Lot With Pokeweed poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Easter Morning poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Beach Glass poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Sun Underfoot Among The Sundews poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Silence poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Syrinx poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Salvage poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Hermit Thrush poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
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.