The British
by A. S. J. Tessimond
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.

A few random poems:
- forever blue by Steve Troyanovich
- The Old Lowe House Staten Island
- America To Great Britain by Washington Allston
- Arabia by Walter de la Mare
- In Memory of a Child by Vachel Lindsay
- Гавриил Державин – Осень
- After Yesterday poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Sonnet To Sleep poem – John Keats poems
- Mary’s Son – A Tale of Christmas – An Inspiring Read
- Emotions in exile by Shailendra Chauhan
- Владимир Степанов – Енот (Буква Е)
- Apology to Mr. Syme for not dining with him by Robert Burns
- Sea Dreams poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Кондратий Рылеев – Меня пленяли наши деды
- The Great Lament Of My Obscurity Three by Tristan Tzara
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
- New Year’s Dawn – Broadway by Sara Teasdale
- In Memoriam F.O.S. by Sara Teasdale
- Madeira From The Sea by Sara Teasdale
- In David’s “Child’s Garden Of Verses” by Sara Teasdale
- Love In Autumn by Sara Teasdale
- In a Subway Station by Sara Teasdale
- Less Than The Cloud To The Wind by Sara Teasdale
- In A Restaurant by Sara Teasdale
- Interlude: Songs Out Of Sorrow by Sara Teasdale
- In A Railroad Station by Sara Teasdale
- In The Train by Sara Teasdale
- In A Garden by Sara Teasdale
- In The Metropolitan Museum by Sara Teasdale
- In A Cuban Garden by Sara Teasdale
- In The End by Sara Teasdale
- In the Carpenter’s Shop by Sara Teasdale
- In Spring, Santa Barbara by Sara Teasdale
- In Memoriam F.O.S. by Sara Teasdale
- In David’s “Child’s Garden Of Verses” by Sara Teasdale
- In a Subway Station by Sara Teasdale
More external links (open in a new tab):
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
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works