The British
by A. S. J. Tessimond
We are a people living in shells and moving
Crablike; reticent, awkward, deeply suspicious;
Watching the world from a corner of half-closed eyelids,
Afraid lest someone show that he hates or loves us,
Afraid lest someone weep in the railway train.
We are coiled and clenched like a foetus clad in armour.
We hold our hearts for fear they fly like eagles.
We grasp our tongues for fear they cry like trumpets.
We listen to our own footsteps. We look both ways
Before we cross the silent empty road.
We are a people easily made uneasy,
Especially wary of praise, of passion, of scarlet
Cloaks, of gesturing hands, of the smiling stranger
In the alien hat who talks to all or the other
In the unfamiliar coat who talks to none.
We are afraid of too-cold thought or too-hot
Blood, of the opening of long-shut shafts or cupboards,
Of light in caves, of X-rays, probes, unclothing
Of emotion, intolerable revelation
Of lust in the light, of love in the palm of the hand.
We are afraid of, one day on a sunny morning,
Meeting ourselves or another without the usual
Outer sheath, the comfortable conversation,
And saying all, all, all we did not mean to,
All, all, all we did not know we meant.
A few random poems:
- Владимир Корнилов – Дом
- La Figlia che Piange by T. S. Eliot
- I Am Me by Patrick Neo Mabiletsa
- Ольга Берггольц – А помнишь
- Back To The Border
- What is Poetry? by Mark Olynyk
- Олег Бундур – Яблоко
- Юлия Друнина – В манеже
- Untitled #11 by Nijole Miliauskaite
- Break of Day by Siegfried Sassoon
- Winter Dream poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Portrait by Siegfried Sassoon
- October Journey by Margaret Walker
- Наум Коржавин – Еж и Заяц
- When I’m among a Blaze of Lights by Siegfried Sassoon
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
- Observation Car
- Morning Coffee
- Meditation on a Bone
- Easter Hymn
- Death of the Bird
- Crossing the Frontier
- Conquistador
- Commination
- Australia
- Winter Dream poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Waking poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Vision poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Valedictory poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Topiary poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Reef poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Louse-Hunters poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Life Theoretic poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Flowers poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Elms poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Defeat of Youth poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
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