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 

• Another Way Of Love by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• An Epistle Containing the Strange Medical Experience of Kar by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• Among the Rocks by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• Aix In Provence by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• Abt Vogler by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Woman’s Last Word by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Toccata Of Galuppi’s by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Serenade At The Villa by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Pretty Woman by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Lovers’ Quarrel by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Light Woman by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• A Grammarian’s Funeral by Robert Browning by Robert Browning
• The Song of Death by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• The Ploughman’s Life by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• The Ordination by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• The Inventory by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• The Farewell to the Brethren of St. James’s Lodge by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• The Brigs of Ayr by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Suppressed Stanzas of “The Vision” by Robert Burns by Robert Burns

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