Awake—I tremble before thee - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Awake—I tremble before thee;

Asleep—I may dare to behold thee:

So, life of my life, let me watch

While thou sleepest.

The Duration of Love - Ferdinand Freiligrath

Oh, love as long as you can love,

Oh, love as long as love you may!

The hour will come, the hour will come:

By graves lamenting you will stay.

The Full Moon - Marie Under

Bursting full is the moon,

its weight bends the trees.

The waters desire to be turned 

to wine,

they are so restless.

The Mirror - Dulce María Loynáz

The mirror hanging on the wall,

where I sometimes see myself in passing…

is a dead pond brought

into the house.

The Bathtub - Duy Quang Mai

instead, the poem begins when

the bathroom light brims my hands

High in the Sky - Anonymous

High in the sky a star is aglow,

cast ing bright beauty here below. 

A wave of salvation comes with the dawn:

born of a virgin is the Son.

Heaven and earth sing 

‘Alleluia! Jesus is born! Gloria!’

Mma - Tshifhiwa Itai Ratshiungo

You asked me not to make my words beautiful,

yet you told me of gods who ate butterflies gilded

with honey. I could imagine it, the taste of something

so delicate consecrated by those we give libation.

Under the Sycamores - Zeineb Yassin

I’m burning

To boil you

Las Posadas at Que Pasa - Lucille Sambo

With our hands intertwined we walked in the frosty night,

our feet crunching the left of tortilla leaves from autumn

and I remember you opened the door to Que Pasa

and my heart began to thaw, waters flowed from my skin,

Wings - Rajaa Bushara

In another life, I have wings.

In another life, I can write on the skies… write pieces during the day that’d be watered by the sun then watch them bloom at night… like that I know I can grow light.

Rome /1/10/73 - Víctor Valera Mora

This cigarette butt

This little bit of ground coffee

This cherry yogurt

These few grains of salt

Belizean Lullaby - Leo Bradley

Twilight's myriad hues are cov'ring

Windswept lands beside the sea;

While the lofty trees are bowing

Leafy heads about a caye

Where the loving voice of mother

Whispered lullaby to me.

My Country - Jose Lopes

It was... only God knows, how many thousands of years ago...

From out of Poseidon, the island or continet,

The marvel of the ancient oceans.

The Crying Game - Tanya Ko Hong

One November morning outside Saratoga Springs

over coffee at the Red Roof Inn you say

We’re leaving for Florida

No Need to Savor Youth - Na Hyeseok

Her flesh is soft, soft

her skin radiant

her hair silky black

her eyes sparkling, sparkling

Neighborhood Romance - Homero Manzi

First, a far-off April date—

your dark balcony, your old-fashioned garden.

Later on the feverish pulse of your letters—

lying with “no,” vowing that “yes…”

To a Girl beloved - Bernhard Severin Ingemann

What is it, dear maid, that enraptures me so? 

What holds my fond heart in a chain of control? 

Can the fragile attire of thy spirit below 

Be match'd with the glories that beam in thy soul? 

An Old Cat’s Dying Soliloquy - Anna Seward

Years saw me still Acasto's mansion grace,

The gentlest, fondest of the tabby race;

Before him frisking through the garden glade,

Or at his feet in quiet slumber laid;

Ugly Things - Teresita Fernández

In an old worn out basin

I planted violets for you

and down by the river

with an empty seashell

I found you a firefly.

God Is Not Mad At Me - Olufunke Kolapo

Never ask for much from Him

Just to fill my life with love and calm

Same I asked on this fateful day

That left a huge bump on my way

One moment was walking with my friends

Then the next was flat on my rear

The sun glaring down in all his might

Daylight burning with so much hate

Not one of my limbs I could stir

Just drifting in and out of here

As if undetermined to stay or depart

I knew then my life had taken a new turn

Once I caught a glimpse of my loves

The mask on their faces of fear and tears

This breaks my heart so but not a tear

My whole body been rid of all care

A terrible nightmare was my first thought

Or dead and beyond the blue for reward

Hoping I'd wake and have a good laugh

And return to my simple but stunning life

A great miracle I pulled through they said

Like all miracles mine was not exempted

I paid with endless pain and my freedom

My proof of womanhood torn to shred

Must have erred God was my waking notion

To be so wrath to act without compassion

Life behind bars and endless grief His verdict

Else He would shield me from this raging tempest

But then that He still loves me revived my soul

That He really cares made me whole

Could have been six feet beneath the earth

Then I know His plans surpass my thought

With abundant love He enriched my home

The strength and courage to stand the storm

The grace to look beyond this troubled race

And the faith to trust in His guidance

---

Olufunke Kolapo (born 1980) Nigeria

Source: Ujamaa Christian Poetry

Olufunke's web site is here

Omega - Tibor Babiczky

Street lamps on the closing curve,

off-white silk skirts

swish. It’s midnight.

Uninvited - Althea Mark-Romeo

She can’t say no

to armed hitchhikers

in military uniforms

when they wave her down.

In Istanbul at the Bosphorus - Safet Isović

in istanbul at the bosphorus,

the pasha lies sick.

his soul is on the decline,

and yearns for the black earth.

 

Jaguar - Humberto Ak'abal

Sometimes I’m a jaguar

running through ravines,

leaping boulders,

climbing mountains.

The drink sent down from Truth - Yunus Emre

The drink sent down from Truth, 

we drank it, glory be to God. 

And we sailed over the Ocean of Power, 

glory be to God.

On The News Of The Death Of Lady M.T. - Danilo Kiš

Oh very well done indeed, Death,

what an achievement,

to bring down such a fortress!

A Postcard from the Underworld - Sinan Antoon

I have never seen the Sun

It does not rise here

Lamentations - Funmilayo Omoniyi

Honesty is an essential quality 

But oh, what a rare commodity

In my community!