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:
- Collateral Damage by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Оливер Голдсмит – Послание в прозе и стихах
- Владимир Высоцкий – У нас вчера с позавчера
- Владимир Корнилов – Жара
- A Little Te Deum Of The Commonplace by John Oxenham
- After The Visit by Thomas Hardy
- Нина Воронель – С моим житьем, поспешным и тряпичным
- The Merchant of Copan [In English and Spanish]
- Владимир Высоцкий – Татуировка
- Владимир Маяковский – Вместо 2 280 товарных вагонов… (РОСТА №920)
- On Invalids (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- missing.html
- An Enigma by William Cowper
- Crazy Jane On The Mountain by William Butler Yeats
- Clouds by Philip Levine
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
- Commemoration of Rodney’s Victory by Robert Burns
- Coming Through The Rye by Robert Burns
- Caledonia: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Burlesque Lament fo Wm. Creech’s Absence by Robert Burns
- Bonnie Lesley by Robert Burns
- Bonie Jean: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Boat Song—Hey, Ca’ Thro’ by Robert Burns
- Birthday Ode for 31st December, 1787 by Robert Burns
- Ballad on the American War by Robert Burns
- Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 4 by Robert Burns
- Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 3 by Robert Burns
- Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 2 by Robert Burns
- Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 1 by Robert Burns
- Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns
- Apology to Mr. Syme for not dining with him by Robert Burns
- Another on the said Occasion by Robert Burns
- Ah, woe is me, my Mother dear by Robert Burns
- Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever by Robert Burns
- Address to Wm. Tytler, Esq., of Woodhouselee by Robert Burns
- Address to the Unco Guid 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.