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:
- Seaside Golf poem – John Betjeman poems
- Mourning poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Владимир Маяковский – Реклама журнала “Огонек”
- Dear Alzheimer’s by Maria Knox
- The Great Carbuncle by Sylvia Plath
- Виктор Гончаров – Прощайте, спасибо
- The Old House poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Paradise On Earth! by V. Muthu Manickam
- Низами Гянджеви – Розу пологом колючим
- No Worst, There Is None. Pitched Past Pitch Of Grief poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Mannahatta. by Walt Whitman
- Study of an Elevation, In Indian Ink by Rudyard Kipling
- Robert Burns: Blythe Was She:
- An Essay on Man: Epistle II poem – Alexander Pope
- The Dree Woaks by William Barnes
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
- Il Penseroso poem – John Milton poems
- Hymn on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity poem – John Milton poems
- How Soon Hath Time poem – John Milton poems
- From ‘Samson Agonistes’ i poem – John Milton poems
- From ‘Arcades’ poem – John Milton poems
- Comus poem – John Milton poems
- At A Vacation Exercise In The Colledge, Part Latin, Part English. The Latin Speeches Ended, The English Thus Began poem – John Milton poems
- At A Solemn Musick poem – John Milton poems
- Arcades poem – John Milton poems
- Another On The Same poem – John Milton poems
- An Epitaph On The Marchioness Of Winchester poem – John Milton poems
- An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramatic Poet W. Shakespeare poem – John Milton poems
- Winter Seascape poem – John Betjeman poems
- Winter Landscape poem – John Betjeman poems
- Westgate-On-Sea poem – John Betjeman poems
- Verses Turned… poem – John Betjeman poems
- Upper Lambourne poem – John Betjeman poems
- Trebetherick poem – John Betjeman poems
- The Plantster’s Vision poem – John Betjeman poems
- The Olympic Girl poem – John Betjeman 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.