by Alan J. Blaustein
Valhalla
by Alan J. Blaustein
High on West Street walking summer day
Sunlight in my face and to my right
Seeing more the Hudson than the street ahead.
I expected factories parking lots and bars,
Nothing else than pleasant afternoon
And then the wonder stopped me seized my sight.
Valhalla?  Yes, it was!
Risen in all magnificence from the street
As proudly massive blocks of—stone.
It instantly awed me reduced me to a speck—
For what great purpose could this be?
Home for a breed of freshly risen gods?
I walked beside amazed and looking up
Until I came upon a massive porch
That stretched before great doors of glass and bronze,
Flanked by pillars, granite guards.
A plaque above the doors, all shining bronze,
Proclaimed the name.
Look what the age of heroes has become,
Look how Odin’s dream has re-emerged,
See how the ordinary conquers all,
How wonder can vanish like a wisp of smoke…
I saw for what my hall of gods was built—
Manhattan Community College!

A few random poems:
- The Smiles Of The Bathers by Weldon Kees
 - Our Soul’s Gestation
 - Letter To A Purist by Sylvia Plath
 - Владимир Маяковский – Сердитый дядя
 - GESTURES by Satish Verma
 - One Step Backward Taken by Robert Frost
 - Николай Языков – Романс (Красой небесною прекрасна)
 - Olney Hymn 56: Hatred Of Sin by William Cowper
 - Alone in Crowds to Wander On by Thomas Moore
 - Convalescent poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
 - One Whisper of the Beloved by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
 - Зинаида Александрова – Сама
 - So You Say by Mark Strand
 - Addiction by Walid Saba
 - Владимир Британишский – Быт
 
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
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочие столицы, крестьяне окраины… (Роста №89)
 - Владимир Маяковский – Рабочей России Красной рыцарь…
 - Владимир Маяковский – Рабкор (Лбом пробив безграмотья горы)
 - Владимир Маяковский – Пятый интернационал
 - Владимир Маяковский – Пустяк у Оки
 - Владимир Маяковский – Птичка божия
 - Владимир Маяковский – Проверь, товарищ, правильность факта
 - Владимир Маяковский – Протекция
 - Владимир Маяковский – Прощанье
 - Владимир Маяковский – Промедление – смерть (Главполитпросвет №339)
 - Владимир Маяковский – Пролетарка, пролетарий, заходите в планетарий
 - Владимир Маяковский – Профсоюзы – производства рычаг… (Главполитпросвет №10)
 - Владимир Маяковский – Профплакаты
 - Владимир Маяковский – Продналог оставил деревне много лишка… (Главполитпросвет №157)
 - Владимир Маяковский – Проч руки от Китая
 - Владимир Маяковский – Про Тита и Ваньку
 - Владимир Маяковский – Про пешеходов и разинь, вонзивших глазки небу в синь
 - Владимир Маяковский – Про гидру контрреволюции сегодня сказ (РОСТА № 79)
 - Владимир Маяковский – Про это
 - Владимир Маяковский – Привет, КИМ
 
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