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:
- Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos
- how far are you? by Raj Arumugam
- Taking yourself too seriously by Raj Arumugam
- Владимир Степанов – Облако-овечка
- Sappho to Phaon (Ovid Heroid XV) poem – Alexander Pope
- River poem – Yuyutsu Sharma poems | Poetry Monster
- This we Have Now by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- The Victory by Shahida Latif
- The Street Sounds to the Soldiers’ Tread poem – A. E. Housman
- Gradual Clearing poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Feroke
- Water-Fowl Observed Frequently Over The Lakes Of Rydal And Grasmere by William Wordsworth
- Вера Полозкова – Это не прихоть, это не блажь
- A Tale of Christmas Eve by William Topaz McGonagall
- The Indian To His Love by William Butler Yeats
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
- First Anniversary poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Eyes And Tears poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Epigramma in Duos montes Amosclivum Et Bilboreum poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Dignissimo Suo Amico Doctori Wittie. De Translatione Vulgi poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Edmundi Trotii Epitaphium poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Daphnis And Chloe poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Damon The Mower poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Cromwell’s Return poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Clorinda And Damon poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Bermudas poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Blake’s Victory poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- An Horatian Ode Upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- An Epitaph poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Ametas And Thestylis Making Hay-Ropes poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Aliter poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- A Poem Upon The Death Of O.C. poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- A Letter To Doctor Ingelo, then With My Lord Whitlock, Amba poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- A Garden, Written after the Civil Wars poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- A Dialogue Between Thyrsis And Dorinda poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- A Dialogue Between The Soul And Body poem – Andrew Marvell 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.