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:
- Cologne by Samuel Coleridge
- Николай Языков – Романс (Красой небесною прекрасна)
- I Chide Not At The Seasons poem – Alfred Austin
- Огюст Барбье – Известность
- Lines on Curll poem – Alexander Pope
- Whitsuntide An’ Club Walken by William Barnes
- The Old Lowe House Staten Island
- Cartographies Of Silence
- Алексей Толстой – Слова для мазурки
- Николай Языков – Песня (Налей и мне, товарищ мой)
- Огюст Барбье – Шекспир
- To A Little Girl That Has Told A Lie
- Владимир Маяковский – Не только для того, чтоб тебя накормить… (Главполитпросвет №2)
- Counting My Past
- Robert Burns: In The Prospect Of Death:
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
- Off the Turnpike poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Obligation poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Number 3 on the Docket poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Number 3 on the Docket poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Nightmare: A Tale for an Autumn Evening poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- New York at Night poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- New York at Night poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Music poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Music poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Monadnock in Early Spring poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Miscast II poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Miscast II poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Miscast I poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Miscast I poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Mirage poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- March Evening poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- March Evening poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Malmaison poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Madonna of the Evening Flowers poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Loon Point poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
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.