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:
- The Choice of Trees by P.J.Reed
- Song: Eternity of Love Protested by Thomas Carew
- I’m My Own Grandpa by Shel Silverstein
- Владимир Набоков – Санкт-Петербург
- Winter Wind by Vasil Slavov
- The Allies poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- In Memory Of Major Robert Gregory by William Butler Yeats
- A Jog-Trot Pair by Thomas Hardy
- Жан де Лафонтен – Орел и Сова
- Robert Burns: On The Death Of Robert Dundas, Esq., Of Arniston,: Late Lord President of the Court of Session.
- Владимир Корнилов – Собака подлеца
- To A Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing by William Butler Yeats
- Ольга Высотская – Звёздочки
- Валерий Брюсов – Фламандцам
- The Dancer At Cruachan And Cro-Patrick by William Butler Yeats
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
- The Hut
- The Hospital On The Shore
- The Garden Of Kama Kama The Indian Eros
- The Garden By The Bridge
- The First Wife
- The First Lover
- The Dying Prince
- The Convert
- The Cactus
- The Cactus Thicket
- The Bride
- The Aloe
- Syed Amir
- Surface Rights
- Surf Song
- Sunstroke
- Story Of Udaipore Told By Lalla Ji The Priest
- Story Of Lilavanti
- Story By Lalla Ji The Priest
- Starlight
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.