A poem by Alan Dugan
As an American traveler I have
to remember not to get actionably mad
about the way things are around here.
Tomorrow I’ll be a thousand miles away
from the way it is around here. I will
keep my temper, I will not kill the dog
next door, nor will I kill the next-door wife,
both of whom are crazy and aggressive
and think they live at the center of culture
like everyone else in this college town.
This is because I’m leaving, I’m taking off
by car, by light plane, by jet, by taxicab,
for some place else a thousand miles away,
so I caution myself: control your rage,
even if it causes a slight heart attack.
Stay out of jail tonight before you leave,
and don’t get obstreperous in transit tomorrow
so as to stay out of jail on arrival tomorrow night.
Think: the new handcuffs are sharp inside
and meant to cut the wrists. You’re not too old
to be raped in their filthy overcrowded jails
and you’ll lose your glasses and false teeth.
How would you eat, study and be
a traveling lecturer if you got out alive and sane?
So remember to leave this place peacefully,
it’s only Asshole State University at Nowheresville,
and remember to get to the next place peacefully,
it’s only Nowhere State University at Assholesville
and you must travel from place to place for food and shelter.
A few random poems:
- Weathering poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- missing.html
- At Sea by Sara Teasdale
- Chronicles by Mark Olynyk
- F?sulan Idyl by Walter Savage Landor
- The Stinging Nettle poem – A. E. Housman
- Three Songs Of Zahir U Din
- Bituminous? by Shel Silverstein
- Ode to Wine
- Confused and Distraught by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- The Rape of the Lock: Canto 1 poem – Alexander Pope
- Новелла Матвеева – Дома без крыш
- Владимир Корнилов – Черный день
- An April Fool poem – Alfred Austin
- Альфред де Мюссе – Песнь барберины
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Demeter And Persephone poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Dedication poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Cradle Song poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Come not when I am dead poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Come Into The Garden, Maud poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Come Into the Garde, Maud poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Come down, O Maid poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Claribel: A Melody poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Claribel poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- by_an_evolutionist.html
- Break, Break, Break poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Boadicea poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Blow, Bugle, Blow poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Beautiful City poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Battle Of Brunanburgh poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Balin and Balan poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Audley Court poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Ask Me No More poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- And ask ye why these sad tears stream? poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Amphion poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.