We are a people living in shells and moving
Crablike; reticent, awkward, deeply suspicious;
Watching the world from a corner of half-closed eyelids,
Afraid lest someone show that he hates or loves us,
Afraid lest someone weep in the railway train.

We are coiled and clenched like a foetus clad in armour.
We hold our hearts for fear they fly like eagles.
We grasp our tongues for fear they cry like trumpets.
We listen to our own footsteps. We look both ways
Before we cross the silent empty road.

We are a people easily made uneasy,
Especially wary of praise, of passion, of scarlet
Cloaks, of gesturing hands, of the smiling stranger
In the alien hat who talks to all or the other
In the unfamiliar coat who talks to none.

We are afraid of too-cold thought or too-hot
Blood, of the opening of long-shut shafts or cupboards,
Of light in caves, of X-rays, probes, unclothing
Of emotion, intolerable revelation
Of lust in the light, of love in the palm of the hand.

We are afraid of, one day on a sunny morning,
Meeting ourselves or another without the usual
Outer sheath, the comfortable conversation,
And saying all, all, all we did not mean to,
All, all, all we did not know we meant.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 

• Parabola by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Observation Car by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Morning Coffee by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Meditation on a Bone by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Easter Hymn by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Death of the Bird by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Crossing the Frontier by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Conquistador by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Commination by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Australia by Alec Derwent-Hope
• Winter Dream poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• Waking poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• Vision poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• Valedictory poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• Topiary poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• The Reef poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• The Louse-Hunters poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• The Life Theoretic poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• The Flowers poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley
• The Elms poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster by Aldous Huxley

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.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works