Prison Song

A poem by Alan Dugan

The skin ripples over my body like moon-wooed water,

rearing to escape me. Where could it find another

animal as naked as the one it hates to cover?

Once it told me what was happening outside,

who was attacking, who caressing, and what the air

was doing to feed or freeze me. Now I wake up

dark at night, in a textureless ocean of ignorance,

or fruit bites back and water bruises like a stone.

It’s jealousy, because I look for other tools to know

with, and other armor, better girded to my wish.

So let it lie, turn off the clues or try to leave:

sewn on me seamless like those painful shirts

the body-hating saints wore, the sheath of hell

is pierced to my darkness nonetheless: what traitors

labor in my face, what hints they smuggle through

its arching guard! But even in the night it jails,

with nothing but its lies and silences to feed upon,

the jail itself can make a scenery, sing prison songs,

and set off fireworks to praise a homemade day.

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Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

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Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Adieu to a Soldier by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Aboard at a Ship’s Helm. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Woman Waits for Me. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Sight in Camp. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Paumanok Picture. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A March in the Ranks, Hard-prest. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Leaf for Hand in Hand. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Hand-Mirror. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Farm-Picture. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A child said, What is the grass by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• The Well Of Love by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• Conscience by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• A Port Of Refuge Agleam With The Aura Of Love by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• A poem to mankind by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• A Poem Of Love by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• The Huntsmen by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• The Ghost by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• Snow by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• The Mocking Fairy by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• The Keys of Morning by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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.

 

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