A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
1.
Sex, as they harshly call it,
I fell into this morning
at ten o’clock, a drizzling hour
of traffic and wet newspapers.
I thought of him who yesterday
clearly didn’t
turn me to a hot field
ready for plowing,
and longing for that young man
pierced me to the roots
bathing every vein, etc.
All day he appears to me
touchingly desirable,
a prize one could wreck one’s peace for.
I’d call it love if love
didn’t take so many years
but lust too is a jewel
a sweet flower and what
pure happiness to know
all our high-toned questions
breed in a lively animal.
2.
That “old last act”!
And yet sometimes
all seems post coitum triste
and I a mere bystander.
Somebody else is going off,
getting shot to the moon.
Or a moon-race!
Split seconds after
my opposite number lands
I make it–
we lie fainting together
at a crater-edge
heavy as mercury in our moonsuits
till he speaks–
in a different language
yet one I’ve picked up
through cultural exchanges…
we murmur the first moonwords:
Spasibo. Thanks. O.K.
A few random poems:
- Sonnet 42: That thou hast her, it is not all my grief by William Shakespeare
- Being Underwater by Sahiti Siddharth
- Sonnet L by William Shakespeare
- Song—O Tibbie, I hae seen the day by Robert Burns
- To A Castillan Song by Sara Teasdale
- Poem of Joys. by Walt Whitman
- Wake Oslo up again by Philo Ikonya
- Robert Burns: Tam O’ Shanter: A Tale
- Ольга Берггольц – Борису Корнилову
- Ярослав Смеляков – Стихи, написанные в псковской гостинице
- Poema LX, El albergue by Mara Romero Torres
- “Come listen, ye students of every degree” by Tobias Smollett
- On Returning To England poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, граждане, берегите воду!.. (Главполитпросвет №249)
- Tiny Warrior by Sharmagne Leland-St. John
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
- Альфред Теннисон – Сёстры
- Альфред Теннисон – Странствия Мальдуна
- Альфред Теннисон – Смерть Старого Года
- Альфред Теннисон – Рыцарь Галаад
- Альфред Теннисон – Прощание
- Альфред Теннисон – Пересекая Черту
- Альфред Теннисон – Нищая и король
- Альфред Теннисон – Morte d’Arthur
- Альфред Теннисон – Лорд Борлей
- Альфред Теннисон – Леди Клара Вер-де-Вер
- Альфред Теннисон – Королева мая
- Альфред Теннисон – Годива
- Альфред де Мюссе – Вспомни обо мне
- Альфред де Мюссе – Все мною предано забвенью
- Альфред де Мюссе – Слова отчаянья прекрасней всех других
- Альфред де Мюссе – Прости
- Альфред де Мюссе – Песнь барберины
- Альфред де Мюссе – Печаль
- Альфред де Мюссе – Ночи
- Альфред де Мюссе – Не забывай! Когда заря рассвета
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

Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and feminist.