A poem by Alan Dugan
Who knows whether the sea heals or corrodes?
The wading, wintered pack-beasts of the feet
slough off, in spring, the dead rind of the shoes’
leather detention, the big toe’s yellow horn
shines with a natural polish, and the whole
person seems to profit. The opposite appears
when dead sharks wash up along the beach
for no known reason. What is more built
for winning than the swept-back teeth,
water-finished fins, and pure bad eyes
these old, efficient forms of appetite
are dressed in? Yet it looks as if the sea
digested what it wished of them with viral ease
and threw up what was left to stink and dry.
If this shows how the sea approaches life
in its propensity to feed as animal entire,
then sharks are comforts, feet are terrified,
but they vacation in the mystery and why not?
Who knows whether the sea heals or corrodes?:
what the sun burns up of it, the moon puts back.

A few random poems:
- Our Fathers Also by Rudyard Kipling
- Владимир Маяковский – Не предаваясь “большевистским бредням” (Красный перец)
- The Song of My Heart by Olawuyi Mutiu
- Олег Бундур – Жёлудь
- A Wasted Illness by Thomas Hardy
- How to Die by Siegfried Sassoon
- Юлия Друнина – Я порою себя ощущаю связной
- The Sun Underfoot Among The Sundews poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Dying Christian to His Soul poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Stretch Mark Cream – How Creams Help Remove Stretch Marks
- Cavalier Tunes: Give a Rouse by Robert Browning
- The Human Tragedy ACT II poem – Alfred Austin
- Erin, Oh Erin by Thomas Moore
- What Semiramis Said by Vachel Lindsay
- Владимир Высоцкий – Запись в книге почётных гостей ВНИИФТРИ
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
- Ольга Седакова – Баллада
- Ольга Седакова – Азаровка
- Ольга Седакова – Ангел Реймса
- Ольга Седакова – Актеон
- Ольга Повещенко – Фотограф смотрит в объектив
- Ольга Ермолаева – За Волгой, ударившись озем
- Ольга Ермолаева – Я так же, как ты, от стыда опускаю ресницы
- Ольга Ермолаева – Всю эту печаль невозможно вместить целиком
- Ольга Ермолаева – Вот сойдешь с ума и станешь Юрия
- Ольга Ермолаева – В кирзовых сапогах скользить по горной глине
- Ольга Ермолаева – Ты где летал, мой падающий с Фанских гор
- Ольга Ермолаева – Симферопольский скорый
- Ольга Ермолаева – Псевдоготика для русских романтических сердец
- Ольга Ермолаева – Просила тебя у мертвой и выпросила у мертвой
- Ольга Ермолаева – Напиши мне стишок
- Ольга Ермолаева – На каблуках-то и то к голове удалой
- Ольга Ермолаева – Мир неприбран, подозрителен
- Ольга Ермолаева – Когда распрямлюсь, озирая работу мою
- Ольга Ермолаева – Герасим Грачевник
- Ольга Ермолаева – Этот позорный ужас
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
Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.