A poem by Alan Dugan
For old Billy Dugan, shot in the ass in the Civil War, my father said.
The old wound in my ass
has opened up again, but I
am past the prodigies
of youth’s campaigns, and weep
where I used to laugh
in war’s red humors, half
in love with silly-assed pains
and half not feeling them.
I have to sit up with
an indoor unsittable itch
before I go down late
and weeping to the storm-
cellar on a dirty night
and go to bed with the worms.
So pull the dirt up over me
and make a family joke
for Old Billy Blue Balls,
the oldest private in the world
with two ass-holes and no
place more to go to for a laugh
except the last one. Say:
The North won the Civil War
without much help from me
although I wear a proof
of the war’s obscenity.

A few random poems:
- Poem on Pastoral Poetry by Robert Burns
- Martin’s Tide by William Barnes
- English Poetry. Thomas Moore. From “Irish Melodies”. 85. Oh For the Swords of Former Time. Томас Мур.
- The Aisne
- Вера Павлова – Нежность больше не делится
- Robert Burns: I Murder Hate:
- The Tears of Scotland by Tobias Smollett
- Омар Хайям – Что я дружу с вином, не отрицаю, нет
- V: Some Verses: To The Author Parthenius by William Alexander
- The New Path
- Владимир Высоцкий – Давно, в эпоху мрачного язычества
- By The Fire poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Николай Языков – Водопад
- By The Seaside by William Wordsworth
- The Beginning of the End by Rixa White
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
- Epigram—The Keekin Glass by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Thanks for a National Victory by Robert Burns
- Epigram pinned to Mrs. Riddell’s carriage by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the same Laird’s Country Seat by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the said Occasion by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the Laird of Laggan by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Rough Roads by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Politics by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Parting with a kind Host in the Highlands by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Mr. James Gracie by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Miss Fontenelle by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Jessy Staig’s recovery by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Dr. Babington’s looks by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Andrew Turner by Robert Burns
- Epigram on an Innkeeper (“The Marquis”) by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Swearing Coxcomb by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Suicide by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Country Laird (Cardoness) by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Kirk and State Excisemen by Robert Burns
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.