by Alissia Lyons
In white beds by white walls
a fresh candle flickers
as it rises and as it stalls
and the baby
turned to its side
a heart born on a sleeve
with no place to hide
and if there’s one thing
it doesn’t need
that’s another life to lead
no mother could simply walk by
for this was a child
with eyes of stone worn
against tides of change
and this child born to die
was never to wear away
and the mother transfixed
with white palms to clear glass
the baby lay still
fists clenched around thumbs
at peace, a mask already held well
yet surmass this small flame
that holds the one light
through falls
through triumphs
births, deaths
and endless lifetimes
the baby reaches to a mother
whose fingers already burn
a mind racing, thoughts chafing
for a detachment
she will never feel again
a new life consuming
old phases exhuming
stripping, ripping away every why
grieving it’s leaving
and in it’s blaze
a natal love, like that fire
lapping both their lives away
Copyright ©:
Alissia Lyons

A few random poems:
- The Upstairs Room by Weldon Kees
- Sonnet 102: My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming by William Shakespeare
- Battle Stars
- Николай Гумилев – Заклинание
- Lover’s Gifts IV: She Is Near to My Heart by Rabindranath Tagore
- Юлия Друнина – Ты должна
- The Princess (The Conclusion) poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- To a Beloved Child by Patrick Pearse
- Владимир Корнилов – На колоннаде
- In A Vacant House by Philip Levine
- Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone by Sylvia Plath
- Cradle Song by Sarojini Naidu
- After Apple-Picking by Robert Frost
- Sonnet 45: The other two, slight air and purging fire by William Shakespeare
- Георгий Иванов – Танцуй, монах, танцуй, поэт
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
- Waking In March by Philip Levine
- Told by Philip Levine
- They Feed They Lion by Philip Levine
- Then by Philip Levine
- The New World by Philip Levine
- The Helmet by Philip Levine
- The Distant Winter by Philip Levine
- Gangrene by Philip Levine
- Noon by Philip Levine
- Making Light Of It by Philip Levine
- Making It Work by Philip Levine
- Magpiety by Philip Levine
- Mad Day In March by Philip Levine
- M. Degas Teaches Art & Science At Durfee Intermediate School–Detroit, 1942 by Philip Levine
- Late Moon by Philip Levine
- Late Light by Philip Levine
- Last Words by Philip Levine
- Philip Levine – Philip Levine
- Philip Levine – Philip Levine
- Philip Levine – Philip Levine
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