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:
- Robert Burns: Address To The Toothache:
- Limericks by Robby Charters
- Illusions by Mark R Slaughter
- A Tale, Founded On A Fact, Which Happened In January, 1779 by William Cowper
- Владимир Костров – То в ночи она вспыхнет, как спичка
- Excerpt from “What’s O’Clock” poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Dream by Robert Burns
- Never Bite A Married Woman On The Thigh by Shel Silverstein
- Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
- Little angel by Vladimir Marku
- Sunshine by Vin lan
- Robert Burns: I’m O’er Young To Marry Yet:
- Lines of John M’Murdo by Robert Burns
- Robert Burns: The Rigs O’ Barley:
- Offerings. by Walt Whitman
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
- Юнна Мориц – Зейдер-Зее
- Юнна Мориц – За невлюбленными людьми
- Юнна Мориц – Ёжик резиновый
- Юнна Мориц – Хорошо быть молодым
- Юнна Мориц – Вместо сноски
- Юнна Мориц – Веселый завтрак
- Юнна Мориц – Вечерний свет
- Юнна Мориц – В серебряном столбе
- Юнна Мориц – В цирке
- Юнна Мориц – Трудно светиться и петь не легко
- Юнна Мориц – Свежий бублик
- Юнна Мориц – Страна вагонная, вагонное терпенье
- Юнна Мориц – Собственное небо
- Юнна Мориц – Снег в ноябре
- Юнна Мориц – Смелый гусь
- Юнна Мориц – Сказка про песенку
- Юнна Мориц – Ручеек
- Юнна Мориц – Разноцветные котята
- Юнна Мориц – Приход вдохновения
- Юнна Мориц – Попрыгать-поиграть
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