Category — poetry

World is a staircase Man has tried to climb
— Beasts, stars, the slag of flesh.
They served him as ascending steps
As he clutched high along the path
of his rebel’ous mind.

Rebellion or adaptation?
From these two ways that creatures earnestly beseech
the former is sheer madness
(for Nature never yields);
Yet who can stop a madman from his craze?
Some’ve chosen [...]

If I
Could feed you light,
Set you free
In a field
Of August vines bearing
Sweets –

If I
Could feed you air,
Set you free
At mountain peak
Mouth blue with berries–
Wind —

If I
Could feed you fire,
Set you free
To warm a night
Of deep woods and stars,
Peace –

If I
Could feed you rain
Set you free
Open-armed
At the end of drought,
Naked —

If I
Could feed you bread,
Set you [...]

For this hell,
For this toll,
Gimme an orchard
When I’m old.

When I’m old,
Aged with grief,
When I’m tired
Of hunchback years…

When I’m old,
Gimme a treasure,
For the scorched years –
a cool pleasure…

For a fugitive,
Give an orchard,
To a faceless one,
Give a fortune.
With no overseers,
With no ears,
With no wanderers,
And no sneers

Can the orchard be
A [...]

Is anywhere as magnificent, as lovely, as lush
As my home?
“My home?”

I’m no more than an insecure egg
In a nest in a tree
Which has itself grown through magma and ice
Which held mastodon and dragons
And not so long ago
Was crushed
Miles deep by glaciers.

I am in awe of June rains as daisies bloom
And comfrey leaves overtake
Bravely flowering Iris [...]

heartlessness to oneself –
mutilation as well.
has the time for your laziness come?
manifest the humaneness, at least, to yourself.
make it calm.
be relaxed.
get the books you have always adored,
do not argue with fools of your dole,
do not fear if you will be ignored,
how to urgently talk, how to urgently walk…
be relaxed.
and behold ancient shadow of hills,
that survived [...]

This leaf, this withered leaf,
Which listlessly downward drifts,
Tomorrow will rise again,
Will settle on a branch’s sprig
This snow, this purest snow,
Which lies on the ground still,
To the heavens tomorrow will soar,
To the stars it will steer
This bow-backed, grey-haired man,
Like a mirrored light in space,
Will come to his derelict home,
Will start living anew his days
We [...]

by J. A. Cleminson
hard-blowing, ice-throwing northern wind
could render me, and mine, asunder
yet you, familiar friend of life
split to forks before my eyes
pass around my naked self
touch not my child
take on breath, mild
and render, your whistling mouth
to regions south
where my fellows
rubbing sleep from eyes
emerging from the deep
see you as funnels
seek the tunnels of escape
from rape and [...]

The main premise of the poetic paradigm is that the mind has an intimate connection with poetry, which imparts greater meaning to life. This connection has been recognized by many poets and philosophers of the past; however, it is now that their ideas seem vital for raising human consciousness and saving the planet. Writer, poet, and translator Victor Postnikov traces the poetic vision of humanity as a constant struggle for greater consciousness, and shows its relevancy for contemporary society.