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:
- Владимир Корнилов – Встреча
- Владимир Высоцкий – Хрущёву
- Николай Заболоцкий – Ходоки
- Mr. Apollinax by T. S. Eliot
- Elemental Drifts. by Walt Whitman
- Song—O let me in this ae night by Robert Burns
- Sweet Fire by Samuel Stephen Wakdok
- Олег Бундур – Умный кот
- French kiss to knickers poem – Andrew Vassell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Sonnet 39: O, how thy worth with manners may I sing by William Shakespeare
- I have a dream
- The islands of happiness
- Владимир Маяковский – Октябрьские частушки
- Вера Павлова – Плачу, потому что не можешь со мной жить
- The Harbour by Winifred Mary Letts
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
- A Sleepless Night poem – Alfred Austin
- A Shakespeare Memorial poem – Alfred Austin
- A Royal Home-Coming poem – Alfred Austin
- A Reply To A Pessimist poem – Alfred Austin
- A Rare Guest poem – Alfred Austin
- A Question poem – Alfred Austin
- A Question Answered poem – Alfred Austin
- A Portrait poem – Alfred Austin
- A Point Of Honour poem – Alfred Austin
- A Poet’s Eightieth Birthday poem – Alfred Austin
- A November Note poem – Alfred Austin
- A Night In June poem – Alfred Austin
- A Meeting poem – Alfred Austin
- A March Minstrel poem – Alfred Austin
- A Letter From Italy poem – Alfred Austin
- A Last Request poem – Alfred Austin
- A Fragment poem – Alfred Austin
- A Florilegium poem – Alfred Austin
- A Farmhouse Dirge poem – Alfred Austin
- A Farewell To Youth poem – Alfred Austin
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.