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:
- Михаил Ломоносов – На Сарское село августа 24 дня 1764 года
- Василий Курочкин – Мчит меня в твои объятья
- A Wall Flower poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Федор Сваровский – Путешественники во времени — копенгаген 1969
- Grand Slam Night poem – A. D. Winans poems | Poetry Monster
- Михаил Лермонтов – Беглец
- Жан де Лафонтен – Предостережение богов Симониду
- Least In A List
- Наум Коржавин – Есть у тех, кому нету места
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мажорный светофор, трёхцветье, трио
- Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Sonnet 95: How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame by William Shakespeare
- Point Shirley by Sylvia Plath
- A Love Song from the North by Sarojini Naidu
- A Poet! He Hath Put His Heart To School by William Wordsworth
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
- Михаил Лермонтов – Я не хочу, чтоб свет узнал
- Михаил Лермонтов – Я не люблю тебя
- Михаил Лермонтов – Я не для ангелов и рая
- Михаил Лермонтов – Хоть давно изменила мне радость
- Михаил Лермонтов – Хаджи Абрек
- Выхожу один я на дорогу – Лермонтов: Стихотворение, читать текст стиха Михаила Лермонтова – Poetry Monster
- Михаил Лермонтов – Всевышний произнес свой приговор
- Михаил Лермонтов – Время сердцу быть в покое
- Михаил Лермонтов – Воля
- Михаил Лермонтов – Война
- Михаил Лермонтов – Вид гор из степей Козлова
- Михаил Лермонтов – Весна
- Михаил Лермонтов – Венеция
- Михаил Лермонтов – Вечер после дождя
- Михаил Лермонтов – Валерик
- Михаил Лермонтов – В рядах стояли безмолвной толпой
- Михаил Лермонтов – Чума в Саратове
- Михаил Лермонтов – Что толку жить!.. Без приключений
- Михаил Лермонтов – Черкесы
- Михаил Лермонтов – Челнок (Воет ветр и свистит пред недальной грозой)
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.