Channel Crossing by Sylvia Plath
On storm-struck deck, wind sirens caterwaul; With each tilt, shock and shudder, our blunt ship Cleaves forward into fury; dark as anger, Waves wallop, assaulting the stubborn hull. Flayed by spray, we take the challenge up, Grip the rail, squint ahead, and wonder how much longer Such force can last; but beyond, the neutral view […]
Candles by Sylvia Plath
They are the last romantics, these candles: Upside-down hearts of light tipping wax fingers, And the fingers, taken in by their own haloes, Grown milky, almost clear, like the bodies of saints. It is touching, the way they’ll ignore A whole family of prominent objects Simply to plumb the deeps of an eye In its […]
Bucolics by Sylvia Plath
Mayday: two came to field in such wise : `A daisied mead’, each said to each, So were they one; so sought they couch, Across barbed stile, through flocked brown cows. `No pitchforked farmer, please,’ she said; `May cockcrow guard us safe,’ said he; By blackthorn thicket, flower spray They pitched their coats, come to […]
Brasilia by Sylvia Plath
Will they occur, These people with torso of steel Winged elbows and eyeholes Awaiting masses Of cloud to give them expression, These super-people! – And my baby a nail Driven, driven in. He shrieks in his grease Bones nosing for distance. And I, nearly extinct, His three teeth cutting Themselves on my thumb – And […]
Blue Moles by Sylvia Plath
1 They’re out of the dark’s ragbag, these two Moles dead in the pebbled rut, Shapeless as flung gloves, a few feet apart — Blue suede a dog or fox has chewed. One, by himself, seemed pitiable enough, Little victim unearthed by some large creature From his orbit under the elm root. The second carcass […]
Berck-Plage by Sylvia Plath
(1) This is the sea, then, this great abeyance. How the sun’s poultice draws on my inflammation. Electrifyingly-colored sherbets, scooped from the freeze By pale girls, travel the air in scorched hands. Why is it so quiet, what are they hiding? I have two legs, and I move smilingly.. A sandy damper kills the vibrations; […]
Barren Woman by Sylvia Plath
Empty, I echo to the least footfall, Museum without statues, grand with pillars, porticoes, rotundas. In my courtyard a fountain leaps and sinks back into itself, Nun-hearted and blind to the world. Marble lilies Exhale their pallor like scent. I imagine myself with a great public, Mother of a white Nike and several bald-eyed Apollos. […]
Aquatic Nocturne by Sylvia Plath
deep in liquid turquoise slivers of dilute light quiver in thin streaks of bright tinfoil on mobile jet: pale flounder waver by tilting silver: in the shallows agile minnows flicker gilt: grapeblue mussels dilate lithe and pliant valves: dull lunar globes of blubous jellyfish glow milkgreen: eels twirl in wily spirals on elusive tails: adroir […]
April Aubade by Sylvia Plath
Worship this world of watercolor mood in glass pagodas hung with veils of green where diamonds jangle hymns within the blood and sap ascends the steeple of the vein. A saintly sparrow jargons madrigals to waken dreamers in the milky dawn, while tulips bow like a college of cardinals before that papal paragon, the sun. […]
April 18 by Sylvia Plath
the slime of all my yesterdays rots in the hollow of my skull and if my stomach would contract because of some explicable phenomenon such as pregnancy or constipation I would not remember you or that because of sleep infrequent as a moon of greencheese that because of food nourishing as violet leaves that because […]
Among The Narcissi by Sylvia Plath
Spry, wry, and gray as these March sticks, Percy bows, in his blue peajacket, among the narcissi. He is recuperating from something on the lung. The narcissi, too, are bowing to some big thing : It rattles their stars on the green hill where Percy Nurses the hardship of his stitches, and walks and walks. […]
Alicante Lullaby by Sylvia Plath
In Alicante they bowl the barrels Bumblingly over the nubs of the cobbles Past the yellow-paella eateries, Below the ramshackle back-alley balconies, While the cocks and hens In the roofgardens Scuttle repose with crowns and cackles. Kumquat-colored trolleys ding as they trundle Passengers under an indigo fizzle Needling spumily down from the wires: Alongside the […]
Aerialist by Sylvia Plath
Aerialist Each night, this adroit young lady Lies among sheets Shredded fine as snowflakes Until dream takes her body From bed to strict tryouts In tightrope acrobatics. Nightly she balances Cat-clever on perilous wire In a gigantic hall, Footing her delicate dances To whipcrack and roar Which speak her maestro’s will. Gilded, coming correct Across […]
Study in Hands by Théophile Gautier
Study in Hands by Théophile Gautier I Imperia I saw a plaster hand, on view In sculptor’s studio, set apart… Aspasia’s? Cleopatra’s?… Who? This fragment’s human work of art? Like lily silvered by the dawn, Frozen in kiss of snow, its light Loveliness dazzled me, and shone In poetry of purest white. Though pallid, wan, […]
Smoke by Théophile Gautier
Smoke by Théophile Gautier Over there, trees are sheltering A hunchedback hut… A slum, no more… Roof askew, walls and wainscoting Falling away… Moss hides the door. Only one shutter, hanging… But Seeping over the windowsill, Like frosted breath, proof that this hut, This slum, is living, breathing still. Corkscrew of smoke… A wisp of […]
Last Wish by Théophile Gautier
Last Wish by Théophile Gautier A long time have I known you… Why, Full eighteen years, I must confess! All pink are you; pale, blear am I. Winters, mine; yours, spring’s comeliness! White cemetery lilacs sprout Over my temples; but soon, now, The grove entire will bloom about My head, to shade my withered brow. […]
Weak by Tanisha Avarsekar
I think my memories are starting to wrinkle, Bonds seem to have started to shrivel. My energy to duel with reality is slowly depleting. But until this battle is over, I don’t think I’ll be leaving. The future is fogged up, The past turning pale. Not sure where I’m standing anymore. Not sure where to […]
The battle of fire by Tanisha Avarsekar
The battle of fire, rages on and on. Turning all black. Turning all hard. No difference does it make of the arrival of dawn. However affected the outside world is barred. Fiercely ablaze, everything here is equal. There is no difference, between the next sequel. You fight back, and the fire will rebel. A little […]
Taketh away by Tanisha Avarsekar
When what was there now is gone. When now it’s dusk, but what I’d seen was dawn. When what I’d embraced, now is mist. When I held a hand, but found an empty fist. All is lost and it’s a lonely day. ‘Cos what the Lord giveth, he taketh away. ————— The End And that’s […]
So tired by Tanisha Avarsekar
Sometimes, I get tired of never being able to forgive myself. Tired of being forced to repeat my mistakes. Sometimes, I get tired of being misunderstood. Tired of choosing to battle alone. Sometimes, I get tired of having to be who I’m not. Tired of lying to myself. Sometimes, I get tired of having to […]
Silent consolation by Tanisha Avarsekar
When I sit alone in the quiet of the night, Knowing that I’m all alone. Surrounded by what has generously been showered on me, Nothing that I’m worth. The silence of midnight comes to offer consolation, With a gentle breeze and a rush of strength. Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Life a chess game by Tanisha Avarsekar
Life is like a chess game. Every move you make is challenged. The slightest of your mistakes is avenged. The entire game lies on your choices. It is hard to keep a count of your losses. To get something you have to give up something else. And what you get is always compared to what […]
Life a battlefield by Tanisha Avarsekar
An armor of love you enter wearing. This war is a tough one, so say even the most daring. When betrayal stabs in the heart, and your self confidence starts to fall apart. Someone’s kindness comes to help you heal. Teaching you to for others feel. Then just when you’re recovering there is a new […]
Late realizations by Tanisha Avarsekar
Failed at every part. Failed at every stage. With the dark ink of past fears, ruined every fresh page. Permitted myself to drown in the ocean of my tears. Let my future by others be steered. Walked stamping on all the new leaves, I had once turned. And realized my mistakes, only after it all […]
Halo by Tanisha Avarsekar
Have a clean conscience, As white as can be. Pure and transparent, Not a speck of negativity. Not a bout of guilt, or a drop of grief, All your thoughts, a little more deep. And then you’ll see a halo… Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Grey eyed Goddess by Tanisha Avarsekar
Oh Athena! Oh Grey eyed Goddess! Oh queen of wisdom! Oh lady of knowledge! Oh mother of all skill! Oh Pallas! Oh virgin mother! Oh sister of love! Bless me. Blessed be. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate […]
Everything ends by Tanisha Avarsekar
Flames will turn to ash, Feelings will be abashed. Thrills will come to an end, Rules are meant to be bent. Money will not forever survive, We will be bored of everything that we’ve tried. It will rain on a sunny day, The sea will rise and wash the glee away. Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Damned by Tanisha Avarsekar
The burden I carry, I shouldn’t be. Just one question… I don’t deserve it. Why me? Forced to trust and smile. Forced to cherish that I’m alive. Punish myself harder, but not the guilt. The land is there, but never the silt. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. […]
Compromising my ego by Tanisha Avarsekar
Only for the sake of victory, am I taking this. Otherwise I would’ve long showed you your place. I’m not afraid to disrupt your pride. My obedience to your wishes is only because I have been taught to respect. Don’t cross the line with me. You won’t win the fight with my fury. Remember, you […]
Both ways I lose by Tanisha Avarsekar
When you jog, I’ll run. And when you run, I’ll sprint. When you win, I’ll lose. But when you lose, I still won’t win. Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Blue flower by Tanisha Avarsekar
Just when life was starting to bloom, Karma came and turned it to gloom. With only anguish the plant was fed, It had a beautiful blue flower, Now all its petals are dead. Their colors lost in my memory. Copyright ©: 2011 Tanisha Avarsekar ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry […]
Blue eyes by Tanisha Avarsekar
Those blue eyes, they tell a story, Of far beyond and life not merely. Their mysterious coldness too has a reason. Sometime ago, they too had freedom. Now they just beg to be heard. Loss of glory once occurred. They just want another chance. Another look or another glance. ————— The End And that’s the […]
Be there for me by Tanisha Avarsekar
When it finally happens, I expect you to be there for me. I may not have enough energy then to be able to ask… But stand by me, and tell me what’s right. Be my courage, and make me fight. Make sure I survive that ugly phase. ‘Cause I may not even want to live […]
An ode to you by Tanisha Avarsekar
I have made many mistakes in my life. Quite a few of which, you have had to pay for. For some of them, I have gotten an opportunity to apologize. And for some I never will. But however, you must know… That I appreciate everything you do for me. All the misery that you bear. […]
What time are we living in by T. Wignesan
What time are we living in It’s not if but since the future can be told To a broadly verifiable degree What time are we living in: present old Future or has it all gone past already Don’t tell it for honours to politicos They hanker after two-bit history lines Don’t even […]
Villanelle: Oscar Victorius by T. Wignesan
Lock not the door in the face of your fate The intruder lies dimly in your place Will he die for you were he your true mate Soft the dark wind taps in every haste late Makes your darling come lie by your fire-place Lock not the door in the face of your fate Harsh […]
To the author(s) of Manimekalai by T. Wignesan
“Apart from its popular conception of transmigration, (which is) sometimes almost humouristic, Manimekhalai offers a documentary contribution of immense value, under an easily accessible form, on the philosophical speculations of Ancient India. The cosmology of Sankya, the scientism of Vaisheshika, the logic of Nyaya, the materialism of Lokayata, originally related to the Ajivika tradition, (all […]
To Don Quixote, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s A Don Quichotte by T. Wignesan.
To Don Quixote, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s A Don Quichotte by T. Wignesan. To Don Quixote, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : A Don Quichotte (Poem written in March 1861 that I would Verlaine had dedicated to the Grand Dear Old Man of Letters : Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – with kind permission, of course, […]
To a woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: A une femme by T. Wignesan.
To a woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: A une femme by T. Wignesan. To a woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : A une femme (In this traslation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : « A une femme », I have retained the rhyme scheme to the letter, I hope. T. Wignesan) To you these […]
To a person, they say, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: A celle que l’on fit froide by T. Wignesan
To a person, they say, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: A celle que l’on fit froide by T. Wignesan To the person, they call, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem : A celle que l’on dit froide (Poem written on September 5, 1889 at Aix-les-Bains, which I found a bit jarring with abrupt exclamations […]