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:
- Faith and Faiths by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh
- Константин Бальмонт – Эльзи
- Robert Burns: Ode For General Washington’s Birthday :
- A Life Of Lorenzo Da Ponte:Talent Flies; Practical Reason Walks
- Moment’s Indulgence by Rabindranath Tagore
- Василий Жуковский – Торжество победителей
- Владимир Высоцкий – Холодно, метёт кругом
- Battle Stars
- The Survivor by Primo Levi
- Where fair Sabrina’s wand’ring currents flow by William Somervile
- Robert Burns: To Gavin Hamilton, Esq., Mauchline,: Recommending a Boy.
- Song—O can ye Labour Lea? by Robert Burns
- Ольга Берггольц – О, где ты запела
- Иван Демьянов – Одежкин домик
- Ballade Made In The Hot Weather by William Ernest Henley
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
- In Commendation Of Musick by William Strode
- Her Epitaph by William Strode
- For A Gentleman, Who, Kissinge His Friend At His Departure Left A Signe Of Blood On Her by William Strode
- Epitaph On Mr. Bridgeman by William Strode
- Consolatorium, Ad Parentes by William Strode
- Chloris in the Snow by William Strode
- Anthem For Good Fryday by William Strode
- An Epitaph On Sr John Walter, Lord Cheife Baron by William Strode
- An Epitaph On Mr. Fishborne The Great London Benefactor, And His Executor by William Strode
- An Eare-Stringe by William Strode
- An Antheme by William Strode
- A Watch-String by William Strode
- A Watch Sent Home To Mrs. Eliz: King, Wrapt In Theis Verses by William Strode
- A Translation Of The Nightingale Out Of Strada by William Strode
- A Superscription On Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, Sent For A Token by William Strode
- A Strange Gentlewoman Passing By His Window by William Strode
- A Song On The Baths by William Strode
- A Song On A Sigh by William Strode
- A Riddle: On A Kiss by William Strode
- A Purse-String by William Strode
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.