People who are afraid of themselves Multiply themselves into families And so divide themselves And so become less afraid.
People who might have to go out Into clanging strangers' laughter, Crowd under roofs, make compacts To no more than smile at each other.
People who might meet their own faces Or surprise their own voices in doorways Build themselves rooms without mirrors And live between walls without echoes.
People who might meet other faces And unknown voices round corners Build themselves rooms all mirrors And live between walls all echoes.
People who are afraid to go naked Clothe themselves in families, houses, But are still afraid of death Because death one day will undress them.
Volunteers needed to translate poetry into different languages. Please help us correct the translation of these poems. We currently have 79,663 translations and are trying to create the largest and most accurate database of world poetry translations. We have started with machine translations which are very inaccurate. Please translate your favorite poem on this site. You will be given credit for your translation and a link to your site if desired. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: These poems have been gathered and submitted by many of people, and from many sources. Most have no copyright. However, some may may have copyrights. We have tried to collect poems that appear on many external sites where the author seems to want to disseminate. If you are an author and do not want your poetry translated into other languages then send a removal request and it will be promptly removed.