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 Feb 7
Dr Peter Lim
Humility
is the greatest victory :
the self-conquered
has nothing to dread
steel can't pierce at all
its impregnable wall
grounded and steadfast
every glory it will surpass
 Feb 7
Nylee
am I an observer
or a participator,
this life, a reel or real
am I whole, or partial?
this is all surreal
are we living
or watching time spill
doing nothing
rotating in this cosmic realm,
starting where we started,
ending where we end,
rolling the rock up the mountain
watching it fall
traveling back up again.
what is the deal?
we know the prison,
let's dig up the tunnel.


am I a spectator,
or a perpetrator,
this death, a dream or dire,
am I fractured, or entire?
this is all infernal,
are we decaying,
or watching shadows crawl,
doing something,
descending into this chthonic realm,
starting where we're buried,
ending where we're born,
our remains part of the earth,
watching it crumble,
crawling back down again.
what is the ordeal?
we know the freedom,
Are we combusting chemical?
 Jan 29
irinia
Lord, how much life can reside in a tree?
I don’t even know his name, but then
I write down my poems every day
On pieces of paper made from his skin.

He has witnessed my winter tears
And I have enjoyed his blossoms when it’s warm
Even though my window, looking to the sky,
Doesn’t reach as far as his outstretched arms.

When I’m in pain, he
Sings my tribulations.
Even then, between us
There’s a silence so enormous
That it takes in everything
From madness to desperation:
Blasphemy, the miracle above,
Prayer and a cry of love.

Sometimes, after ages of this silence between
Us, a single leaf falls down. And then,
Without knowing why, or what the cost,
A grateful universe learns by heart
What it’s lost.

by Ana Blandiana, translated by Paul Scott Derrick and Viorica Patea
 Jan 29
irinia
You were so absent while washing
your face in the morning, you never saw
how the linden in the courtyard reached a limb
through the bathroom window and shook
sticky seeds into your hair. Your hair grayed
in this working class neighbourhood you’d heard
already as a child smelled like a ruined life.
The turrets of the little Russian church
once looked so fragile to you – you wanted
to feed them carrots from your hand
and croutons. Your heart was alive.
Your heart was like an iodine rain
over a crowd of crushed heads.

By Dan Sociu, from Sentimental and Naïve Poetry, translated
by Oana Sanziana Marian
 Jan 19
irinia
No one needs to answer to eternity
not beings – lovers or birds
nor things
nor even the elements linked in dark conspiracy
No need to have stopped just there
set down time’s suitcase
(someone once wrote: shaking the dust from his shoes)
to stretch toward what in you always escapes you
but find shelter in blood
salvation will not come from anywhere
but the counted passage of hours
beings and things would pass by like green water between
           riverbanks

lush with grass
or clouds at the edge of a storm
salvation will not come from elsewhere
at the cathedral’s base so many shadows flutter
mortals waiting or wandering
they were the ones you followed down narrow lanes
transfixed by desire
they were carrying time’s suitcase
what law impelled them forward and circling
if not the endless cycle of the seasons?
Finally they broke the spell
perhaps they’ll lead their gangs again between the Rhine and the
    Moselle
saviours of sacks and string
swallows swirled with hawks at the storm’s edge
they sketched your fate

by Emmanuel Moses, from  Preludes and Fugues, translated by Marilyn Hacker
I’m a man named Elon Musk -
Rich beyond imagining;
And I just bought myself a country.
I get to say which way it goes
And who will do my bidding.
My monkeys are well trained and willing
Waiting for my every word
And I have many bold ideas.

I decide what papers print
And who is running Germany.
I may buy myself an island.
Greenland may not be for sale
But there are ways to cinch the deal
If I decide I want it.
Each dollar is a warrior
And I control that army.

I’m a man of untold power
Derived from marks on modern scrolls
Stored in vaults of 1s and Os
That multiply at my behest
And give me rights the ancients never had
To buy my way from Egypt’s sand
Into the gilded halls of history
Ensconced in Washington DC.
ljm
We may have a President, but like it or not, we also have an Emperor
and he wears handmade clothes.
 Jan 16
David
This shrinking violet that created Man
A fragile pawn of innocence
So many years
Why must I shrivel and die
Why must this tree ravage my fruits
I'm laid bare, this visible me
A Cold Day In Florida

A cold day in Florida
It happens now and then
To keep our families warm
We lock ourselves within

It gets down to freezing
For just one day or two
We say it just cant happen
We have no coats to use

We cant see through the windows
Ice covers all our views
Not knowing how to drive
Black Ice is something new

We go down to the ocean
The water's ice cold too
The beach is almost empty
Tourist didnt get the news

Now we sit and wait for sunshine
Hope it will come soon
For a cold day in Florida
To us its something new

A cold day in Florida

Poem by; Carl Joseph Roberts (Joe)
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