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:
- A Tempest in a Teacup poem – A. Van Jordan poems | Best Poems
- Free Poetry Competitions – Prepare to Win The Next Poetry Competition That You Enter!
- We’re Late by W H Auden
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Ryssel Guzman
- M. Degas Teaches Art & Science At Durfee Intermediate School–Detroit, 1942 by Philip Levine
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Не называй далекой бездной
- Николай Рубцов – Ветер всхлипывал, словно дитя
- Ольга Берггольц – Порука
- Hope Holds to Christ poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- In the Name of Eternal Love by Walter William Safar
- After A Journey by Thomas Hardy
- She’s My Ever Lovin’ Machine by Shel Silverstein
- The Scud by William Barnes
- A Message to Commissioner Li At Zizhou by Wang Wei
- Виталий Ревякин – Самарский край
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
- Canadian Winter by Mike Yuan
- CAESAR’S LAST BREATH by MICHAEL SALCMAN
- Birthday Love Song by Miraj Patel
- Before it is Time by Minal Sarosh
- Bearhug by Michael Ondaatje
- Bang-Bang by Mikey D Wentworth
- Baltimore Was Always Blue by Michael Salcman
- Awakening by mike yuan
- At the Kitslano Beach by Mike Yuan
- Artery by Michelle Bonczek Evory
- Application For A Driving License by Michael Ondaatje
- Apologize by Miraj Patel
- Admiration of the Peach and the Light by Miles
- A Domestic Dialogue by Mike Yuan
- 19-19 by Michelle Bonczek Evory
- Leopard by Stanley Wilkin
- YOU by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- Woodchucks by Maxine Kumin
- Woman Work by Maya Angelou
- When You Come by Maya Angelou
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.