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 Best Friend by William Henry Davies
- Владимир Луговской – Береза Карелии
- Green Thumb by Philip Levine
- A Little While by Sara Teasdale
- My Daughter at 14, Christmas Dance, 1981 by Maria Mazziotti Gillan
- Treat Well Your Wife by William Barnes
- Distant Time by Rabindranath Tagore
- Love’s Paradox by Vishü Rita Krocha
- Dark House by Sylvia Plath
- Sonnet 49: Against that time, if ever that time come by William Shakespeare
- The Love Child by William Barnes
- Schoolroom On A Wet Afternoon by Vernon Scannell
- Олег Бундур – Там, где мы родились
- I Want To Die In My Own Bed by Yehuda Amichai
- Ein Yahav by Yehuda Amichai
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
- Николай Гумилев – Лесной пожар
- Николай Гумилев – Леопарди (Набросок)
- Николай Гумилев – Леонард
- Николай Гумилев – Лаос
- Николай Гумилев – Куранты любви
- Николай Гумилев – Крыса
- Николай Гумилев – Крест
- Николай Гумилев – Корабль
- Николай Гумилев – Командиру 5-го Александровского полка
- Николай Гумилев – Колокол
- Николай Гумилев – Когда я был влюблен
- Николай Гумилев – Когда спокойно так и равнодушно мы
- Николай Гумилев – Ключ в лесу
- Николай Гумилев – Кенгуру
- Николай Гумилев – Кармен худа, коричневатый
- Николай Гумилев – Капитаны
- Николай Гумилев – Канцона вторая
- Николай Гумилев – Канцона (Лучшая музыка в мире)
- Николай Гумилев – Канцона (Бывает в жизни человека)
- Николай Гумилев – Какою музыкой мой слух взволнован
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