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 A Goldfinch, Starved To Death In His Cage by William Cowper
- Федор Сологуб – Светлый дом мой всё выше
- Street Circus poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- Practising The Anthem
- Владимир Маяковский – Поэт рабочий
- Holidays by Nicolene Kissinger
- Ballade of Dead Actors by William Ernest Henley
- Cheery Beggar poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- “`Know, Nature, like the cuckoo, laughs at law” poem – Alfred Austin
- Consolation by William Butler Yeats
- Шекспир – Мои глаза в тебя не влюблены – Сонет 141
- Disdain Returned by Thomas Carew
- Михаил Лермонтов – Венеция
- Dica by Sappho
- Владимир Высоцкий – Нынче мне не до улыбок
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
- Imitation Of Spenser poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion. Book III poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion. Book II poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion. Book I poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion, A Vision: Attempted Reconstruction Of The Poem poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment. Where’s The Poet? poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment. Welcome Joy, And Welcome Sorrow poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment Of “The Castle Builder.” poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment Of An Ode To Maia. Written On May Day 1818 poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment: Modern Love poem – John Keats poems
- Faery Songs poem – John Keats poems
- Extracts From An Opera poem – John Keats poems
- Epistle To John Hamilton Reynolds poem – John Keats poems
- Endymion: Book I poem – John Keats poems
- Dedication To Leigh Hunt, Esq. poem – John Keats poems
- Dawlish Fair poem – John Keats poems
- Character Of Charles Brown poem – John Keats poems
- Calidore: A Fragment poem – John Keats poems
- Ben Nevis: A Dialogue poem – John Keats poems
- Asleep! O Sleep A Little While, White Pearl! poem – John Keats 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.