Liber III: Ye Venuses and Cupids mourn, - Catullus

Ye Venuses and Cupids mourn,
Ye whom the graces most adorn.
Come, and your tears of sorrow shed:
My Lesbia's little bird is dead—

White Blindness - Pireeni Sundaralingam

My country is a white blindness,
an absence of newsprint,
a vacuum of words,
the falling snow of radio static.

Psalm 1 - Ezra

Happy is the man
    who does not follow the advice of the wicked,
nor take his stand on the sinner's road,
    nor sit at ease among the scornful.
But his delight is in the teaching of the Lord,
    reflecting on His teaching day and night.

Tail and Coma of Augustine Confessions - Celia Sorhaindo

Tail and Coma of Augustine Confessions

Go! Go hide that joy, boy:
Spread your bony fingers across
wide smile; smother and stifle
escaping giggles.

A Night-mooring on the Jiande River - Meng Hao-jan

While my little boat moves on its mooring of mist,
And daylight wanes, old memories begin....
How wide the world was, how close the trees to heaven,
And how clear in the water the nearness of the moon!

The Hour before Dawn - William Butler Yeats

A one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed man,
A bundle of rags upon a crutch,
Stumbled on windy Cruachan
Cursing the wind. It was as much
As the one sturdy leg could do
To keep him upright while he cursed.

Asmeret - Asghedom W. Michael

You whose eyes are like stars
         You walk so beautifully
You're like the rays of the setting sun
         As night is about to fall
Your silken hair and golden neck
         I'm drowning in your love.

The Refuge - Ludwig August Frankl

When sorrow round thy heart is stealing, 
Deep pain that will not be gainsaid,
Seek not in haunts of men for healing, 
But to the forest turn for aid.

Remember, body - Carmen Ollé

Remember now, defeated by his scorn and parting,
those moments at the ridiculous motel with painted
orange blossoms and jazmines.

Charity - Maimonides

There are eight degrees in the giving of charity, one higher than the other:
He who gives grudgingly, reluctantly, or with regret.
He who gives less than he should, but gives graciously.

Travel Song - Austral

‘Come, before the summer passes
Let us seek the mountain land:’
So they called me, happy playmates,
And we left the dawn-lit strand:
Riding on till later sunbeams slanted
On dark hills and downward-plunging streams,
And the solemn forest softly chanted
Old, old dreams.

To his Friend in Elysium - Joachim du Bellay

So long you wandered on the dusky plain,
Where flit the shadows with their endless cry,
You reach the shore where all the world goes by,
You leave the strife, the slavery, the pain;

And then I sat me down - Gustaf Rosenhane

And then I sat me down, and gave the rein
To my wild thoughts, till many a song that rang
From boughs around where hidden warblers sang
Recalled me from myself; then “Oh! in vain,”
I said, “do these outpour the tender strain?

St. Martin’s Wall - Anastasius Grün

Ferdinand Graf zu Harrach's painting
of the emperor praying in the Martins wall
Source: Inns'bruck Region

Welcome, ye hearts of Tyrol, which beat so honestly,
Welcome, ye glaciers of Tyrol, which bear the heavens on high,
Ye dwellings of Fidelity, ye verdant, fragrant vales,
Welcome, ye streams and pastures, freedom and mountain gales!

Man Without Fear - Sholeh Wolpé

I hear shots.
It’s the wind, I say.
Then, loud murmurs.
Surely the fountain below my room.
The moon is a bruised fist tonight.
It has obliterated the stars.

The Snowy-breasted Pearl - George Petrie

There's a colleen fair as May,
For a year and for a day
I've sought by every way her heart to gain.
There's no art of tongue or eye
Fond youths with maidens try
But I've tried with ceaseless sigh, yet tried in vain.

A prayer in prospect of judgment - Ephrem the Syrian

Before my offences
Are brought against me
At the tribunal of justice;
And cause me to stand
In the presence of the Judge
With confusion of face:—

Have mercy on me, oh Lord, for Thou
art abundant in mercy!

A Dog in the Quarry - Miroslav Holub

The day was so bright
that even birdcages flew open.
The breasts of lawns
heaved with joy
and the cars on the highway
sang the great song of asphalt.

Your scent is in the air - Rauf Tagiyev

Beside me, a cup of tea has gone cold,
My days and months keep passing as I stare at the roads.
I forgot the seasons,
I can’t even tell if it’s winter or summer anymore.
Where are you, my love?
My voice, my cry… it can’t reach you.

The Martyr - Nick Joaquin

Being in love means never having to say you’re sorry
After all, at some point in your life
That love was the most important thing to you,
That love might be the one that you hoped would last forever,
That love made you believe that destiny does exist,
And that love made you question,
Why you were afraid to fall in love in the first place.

A painful memory - Haris Chand Adhikari

She is a painful memory
Collaged in my mental picture,
Deep somewhere she comes to caress me
And feeds me from her life