What Kind Of God? - Kabir

What kind of God would He be
if He did not hear the
bangles ring on
an ant’s
wrist

To the Moon - Giacomo Leopardi

Oh gracious moon, now as the year turns,
I remember how, heavy with sorrow,
I climbed this hill to gaze on you,

Between going and staying the day wavers - Octavio Paz

Between going and staying the day wavers,
in love with its own transparency.
The circular afternoon is now a bay
where the world in stillness rocks.

The Half Door - Seumas O’Sullivan

Dark eyes, wonderful, strange and dear they shone
  A moment’s space;
And wandering under the white stars I had gone
  In a strange place.

Relativity - A. H. Reginald Buller

There was a young lady named Bright

The Audience - Eqrem Basha

The head of the protocol department asked
What are you involved in
We are tired I said

To a Creole Lady - Charles Baudelaire

In a country perfumed with the sun’s embrace,
I knew ‘neath a dais of purpled palms,
And branches where idleness weeps o’er one’s face,
A Creolean lady of unknown charms.

The nymphs (The Hunter and the Hero - Book VII) - Bhāravi

The beauteous nymphs then left the sky,
Attended by Gandharvas¹ skilled,
And joyous notes of drum and shell
And sound of cars the blue vault filled.

The Absence - Paul Éluard

I speak to you over cities
I speak to you over plains

The Garmont of Gud Ladeis - Robert Henryson

Wald my gud lady lufe me best
And wirk eftir my will,
I suld ane garmond gudliest
Gar mak hir body till.

Quand vous serez bien vieille - Pierre de Ronsard

When you are old, in evening's candle-light
and skeining wool before the fireside blaze,
you'll read my verses, marvel, speak of days
‘when I was beautiful in Ronsard's sight.’

I Bear No Anger - Heinrich Heine

I bear no anger, though my heart must break,
Love lost forever! No, not for thy sake.
Resplendent though thou be with diamonds bright,
No beam can fall into thy bosom’s night.

Truce - Abdourahman Waberi

I scatter my voice all over of the town
There water outlines time

Where I become You - Antjie Krog

Where I become You
Star-stung blind and dying in gravitation
You come
Hard stained and upwards

A Good Play - Robert Louis Stevenson

We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of the back-bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of soft pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

She wears a round skirt - Amir Khosrow

She wears a round skirt, stands on one leg,
That lady has eight legs,

The Shining Hours (I) - Emile Verhaeren

Oh, splendour of our joy and our delight,
Woven of gold amid the silken air!
See the dear house among its gables light,
And the green garden, and the orchard there!

Tears - Wang Seng-ju

High o’er the hill the moon barque steers.
      The lantern lights depart.

Akure - Feyisayo Anjorin

Words are beautiful,
Some things are more than words;
Words could bind like cords,
Words could capture and keep in bounds.

Bertrand Russell 1872 - 1970 - Jaan Kaplinski

THIS OLD HAMMER IT SHINES LIKE SILVER
IT HAS NO MORE WEIGHT - THE OLD SILVER HAMMER
FLEW AWAY FROM THE HANDS OF THE BLACKSMITH
AND IS CLICKING ON THE NAILHEADS HIGH IN THE WINTER SKY

To Sayf al-Dawla - Al-Mutanabbi

Resolutions are measured against those who make them;
generosity in accordance with the giver.

The pawn - C.F. Cavafy

As I often watch people playing chess
my eye follows one Pawn
that little by little finds his way
and manages to reach the last line in time.

Fire - Hagiwara Sakutarō

I saw fire burning red
like a beast
you keep silent and do not say.

An Essay on Birthing - Akiko Yosano

1.
As I climb into
The car, I know I am not
Coming back alive.
The hospital gate looks much
Like an execution ground.

A Heavenly Woman's Imprisoned in the Palace (Buddhist Dancers) - Li Yu

A heavenly woman's imprisoned in the palace at Penglai Hill,
All are silent as she sleeps by day in the painted hall.

Creator of the Earth and Sky - Ambrose of Milan (Augusta Treverorum)

Creator of the earth and sky,
Ruling the firmament on high,
Clothing the day with robes of light,
Blessing with gracious sleep the night.