For The Record

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.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 

• River poem – Yuyutsu Sharma poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Rising Early poem – Yang Wan-Li poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Retake, Union Square poem – Yuyutsu Sharma poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Requiem For A Bartender’s Dream poem – Ysabelle Moriarty poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Repentance poem – Ygor Noblott poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Prisoners poem – Yusef Komunyakaa poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Potions poem – Yusef Komunyakaa poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Once Upon A Wandering Mind poem – Ysabelle Moriarty poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• On A May Glory-A Welcome Song poem – Nithin Purple poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Now, What is Poetry? poem – Yang Wan-Li poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Night poem – Yahya Kemal Beyatli poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• My Father’s Love Letters poem – Yusef Komunyakaa poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Mules poem – Yuyutsu Sharma poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Love’s Confession poem – Yuvraj Johri poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Life poem – Yahya Kemal Beyatli poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• La Vie Boheme poem – Ysabelle Moriarty poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Journal Entry poem – Ysabelle Moriarty poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• [ I think I’m there? ] poem – Ygor Noblott poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee poem – Zameer Careem poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File
• Heartbreak at 2 A.M. poem – Yuvraj Johri poems | Poetry Monster by Anglo File

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works