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 

• Fragment – Wee Willie Gray (Song) by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Farewell to Eliza (Song) by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• On a Scotch Bard, gone to the West Indies by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Impromptu on Dumourier’s Desertion of the French Republican Army by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Grace before and after Meat by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Robert Aiken by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to a Young Friend by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Address to Beelzebub by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• A Grace after Meat by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• A Dream by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• A Dedication to Gavin Hamilton by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• A Bard’s Epitaph by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Zion by Rudyard Kipling by Rudyard Kipling
• You Must n’t Swim… by Rudyard Kipling by Rudyard Kipling
• With Scindia to Delphi by Rudyard Kipling by Rudyard Kipling
• Wilful Missing by Rudyard Kipling by Rudyard Kipling
• White Horses by Rudyard Kipling by Rudyard Kipling
• When the Great Ark by Rudyard Kipling by Rudyard Kipling

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