The Children Look At The Parents
by A. S. J. Tessimond
We being so hidden from those who
Have quietly borne and fed us,
How can we answer civilly
Their innocent invitations?
How can we say “we see you
As but-for-God’s-grace-ourselves, as
Our caricatures (we yours), with
Time’s telescope between us”?
How can we say “you presumed on
The accident of kinship,
Assumed our friendship coatlike,
Not as a badge one fights for”?
How say “and you remembered
The sins of our outlived selves and
Your own forgiveness, buried
The hatchet to slow music;
Shared money but not your secrets;
Will leave as your final legacy
A box double-locked by the spider
Packed with your unsolved problems”?
How say all this without capitals,
Italics, anger or pathos,
To those who have seen from the womb come
Enemies? How not say it?

A few random poems:
- The Ordination by Robert Burns
- Sonnet CXXXVIII by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 62: Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye by William Shakespeare
- The Sash by Sharon Olds
- In Praise Of England poem – Alfred Austin
- Valgovinds Song In The Spring
- Шекспир – Прекрасный облик в зеркале ты видишь – Сонет 3
- The Challenge Answered poem – Alfred Austin
- Woods by Wendell Berry
- The Gift of the Sea by Rudyard Kipling
- Lit Instructor by William Stafford
- On Moonlit Heath and Lonesome Bank poem – A. E. Housman
- Perseus by Sylvia Plath
- Юрий Верховский – Зачем, паук, уходишь торопливо
- Robert Burns: The Henpecked Husband:
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
- Set out by Mahak Raithatha S
- Rita And The Rifle by Mahmoud Darwish
- Psalm Three by Mahmoud Darwish
- Psalm 9 by Mahmoud Darwish
- Pride and Fury by Mahmoud Darwish
- Postip by Manolo Arriola
- Poema LX, El albergue by Mara Romero Torres
- Poema II, “Pañuelos de La Alhambra” by Mara Romero Torres
- Pequeña niña mía by Mara Romero Torres
- Passport by Mahmoud Darwish
- Pañuelos de La Alhambra by Mara Romero Torres
- Ontological by Maggie Anderson
- Only Iraq by Mahmoud Darwish
- Oh My Father, I am Yusif by Mahmoud Darwish
- October Journey by Margaret Walker
- Nube by Manolo Arriola
- No Matter What You Write by Mac McGovern
- Neighing at the Slope by Mahmoud Darwish
- My Mother by Mahmoud Darwish
- For My People by Margaret Walker
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