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:
- On the Subject of Poetry by W. S. Merwin
- Sonnet 18 poem – John Milton poems
- Untitled IX by Yunus Emre
- Stanzas poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Станислав Востоков – Не умею
- Francesca poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Эмиль Верхарн – Занавески
- If I could tell you by W. H. Auden
- For The Future by Wendell Berry
- The Working Party by Siegfried Sassoon
- Song poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Pheasant by Sylvia Plath
- One Lonely Afternoon by Russell Edson
- Heart To Heart by Rita Dove
- Эмиль Верхарн – Хлебопечение
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
- Константин Батюшков – Любовь в челноке
- Константин Бальмонт – Народные поверья
- Константин Бальмонт – Нам нравятся поэты
- Константин Бальмонт – Надгробные цветы
- Константин Бальмонт – Над морем
- Константин Бальмонт – На вершине
- Константин Бальмонт – На мотив псалма XVIII-гo
- Константин Бальмонт – На мотив экклезиаста
- Константин Бальмонт – На дальнем полюсе
- Константин Бальмонт – Мы шли в золотистом тумане
- Константин Бальмонт – Мы прячем, душим тонкой сетью лжи
- Константин Бальмонт – Музыка
- Константин Бальмонт – Мудрецы говорят
- Константин Бальмонт – Можно жить с закрытыми глазами
- Константин Бальмонт – Мост
- Константин Бальмонт – Морское дно
- Константин Бальмонт – Морская песня
- Константин Бальмонт – Морская пани
- Константин Бальмонт – Морозные узоры
- Константин Бальмонт – Море – вечное стремленье, горы – царственный покой
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.