A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
When the ice starts to shiver
all across the reflecting basin
or water-lily leaves
dissect a simple surface
the word ‘drowning’ flows through me.
You built a glassy floor
that held me
as I leaned to fish for old
hooks and toothed tin cans,
stems lashing out like ties of
silk dressing-gowns
archangels of lake-light
gripped in mud.
Now you hand me a torn letter.
On my knees, in the ashes, I could never
fit these ripped-up flakes together.
In the taxi I am still piecing
what syllables I can
translating at top speed like a thinking machine
that types out ‘useless’ as ‘monster’
and ‘history’ as ‘lampshade’.
Crossing the bridge I need all my nerve
to trust to the man-made cables.
The blades on that machine
could cut you to ribbons
but its function is humane.
Is this all I can say of these
delicate books, scythe-curved intentions
you and I handle? I’d rather
taste blood, yours or mine, flowing
from a sudden slash, than cut all day
with blunt scissors on dotted lines
like the teacher told.
A few random poems:
- Apology poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- On Chloris being ill (Song) by Robert Burns
- Morning Poem #59 by Wanda Phipps
- Eclogue:–The ‘Lotments by William Barnes
- Pain Became My Friend Today © by Shannen Wrass
- Not Fear by Rafael Guillen
- Ode on Solitude poem – Alexander Pope
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня солдата на часах
- Олег Григорьев – Дождь
- Стефан Малларме – Отходит кружево опять
- Владимир Маяковский – Смотри, крестьянин (РОСТА №463)
- In Memoriam A. H. H.: The Prelude poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Complimentary versicles to Jessie Lewars by Robert Burns
- At His Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- The Rhyme of the Three Sealers by Rudyard Kipling
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
- Алексей Плещеев – Цветок
- Алексей Плещеев – Бабушка и внучек
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Золото
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Земля
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Хлоя
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Весенний дождь
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Утро
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Талисман
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Суд
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Семик
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Приворот
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Плач
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Осеннее золото
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Москва
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Лесная дева
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Лель
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Купальские игрища
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Колыбельная
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Гроза
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Егорий, волчий пастырь
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.