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:
- For K. J., Leaving and Coming Back by Marilyn Hacker
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Стучись, упорствуя, Кирка
- Геннадий Айги – Два эпилога
- The Morning Breeze by Mousumi Guha Roy
- Владимир Орлов – Ночной листок
- Алексей Хомяков – Русская песня
- Run to Death poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Алексей Плещеев – Цветок
- A Message from my Lodge at Wangchuan to Pei Di by Wang Wei
- Medusa by Sylvia Plath
- Стефан Малларме – Милостыня
- Robert Burns: Duncan Davison :
- The Answer by Sara Teasdale
- Николай Языков – А. С. Дириной
- Fears Get Away
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
- Юнна Мориц – Осень
- Юнна Мориц – О жизни, о жизни
- Юнна Мориц – Не вспоминай меня
- Юнна Мориц – На Трафальгарской площади ночной
- Юнна Мориц – На смерть Джульетты
- Юнна Мориц – Мой подвал
- Юнна Мориц – Малиновая кошка
- Юнна Мориц – Лето
- Юнна Мориц – Котик
- Юнна Мориц – Комарово
- Юнна Мориц – Это вьюги хрустящий калач
- Юнна Мориц – Это да, это нет
- Юнна Мориц – Дышать любовью, пить её, как воздух
- Юнна Мориц – Дрожащие губы и скрежет плаща
- Юнна Мориц – Цветок
- Юнна Мориц – Букет котов
- Юнна Мориц – Большой секрет для маленькой компании
- Юнна Мориц – Благолепие света
- Юнна Мориц – Бетани
- Юнна Мориц – Балтийское лето
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