A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
The clouds and the stars didn’t wage this war
the brooks gave no information
if the mountain spewed stones of fire into the river
it was not taking sides
the raindrop faintly swaying under the leaf
had no political opinions
and if here or there a house
filled with backed-up raw sewage
or poisoned those who lived there
with slow fumes, over years
the houses were not at war
nor did the tinned-up buildings
intend to refuse shelter
to homeless old women and roaming children
they had no policy to keep them roaming
or dying, no, the cities were not the problem
the bridges were non-partisan
the freeways burned, but not with hatred
Even the miles of barbed-wire
stretched around crouching temporary huts
designed to keep the unwanted
at a safe distance, out of sight
even the boards that had to absorb
year upon year, so many human sounds
so many depths of vomit, tears
slow-soaking blood
had not offered themselves for this
The trees didn’t volunteer to be cut into boards
nor the thorns for tearing flesh
Look around at all of it
and ask whose signature
is stamped on the orders, traced
in the corner of the building plans
Ask where the illiterate, big-bellied
women were, the drunks and crazies,
the ones you fear most of all: ask where you were.
A few random poems:
- Dedication poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- High school crush……lonesome awaits by Stephen Allen
- On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic by William Wordsworth
- Нина Воронель – Я не хочу опять вернуться в детство
- On An Old Woman (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- The Birth Of Love by William Wordsworth
- Edmonton, thy cemetery by Stevie Smith
- Neither Out Far Nor In Deep by Robert Frost
- Lifetime Of Death by Steve Sant
- Алексей Жемчужников – Знакомая картина
- Drapple-thorned Aphrodite, by Sappho
- Sonnet 78: So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse by William Shakespeare
- Нина Воронель – Дан приказ
- The Admirers Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Омар Хайям – Лучше впасть в нищету, голодать или красть
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
- Sonnet VII. To Solitude poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet VI. To G. A. W. poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet V. To A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To The Nile poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To Spenser poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To Sleep poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To Mrs. Reynolds’s Cat poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To John Hamilton Reynolds poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To Homer poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To George Keats: Written In Sickness poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To Chatterton poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet To Byron poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. To A Young Lady Who Sent Me A Laurel Crown poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. To A Lady Seen For A Few Moments At Vauxhall poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. The Human Seasons poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. The Day Is Gone poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. On The Sea poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet On Sitting Down To Read King Lear Once Again poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. On Peace poem – John Keats poems
- Sonnet. On Leigh Hunt’s Poem ‘The Story of Rimini’ poem – John Keats poems
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.