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.

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 

• Владимир Корнилов – В Македонии by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Утро by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Учитель by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Трофейный фильм by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Тоска by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Сызнова by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Суворов by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Стих стиху by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Старость by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Спортлото by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Спасенье by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Сорок лет спустя by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Соперник by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Собака подлеца by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Слово by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Слепец by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Щитовидка by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Рифма by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Репертуар by Владимир Корнилов
• Владимир Корнилов – Разговор by Владимир Корнилов

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