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:
- Омар Хайям о Боге и религии: Рубаи, стихи Хайяма про Бога – Poetry Monster
- The Explanation by Rudyard Kipling
- “Why should I, from this long and losing strife ” poem – Alfred Austin
- High school crush……lonesome awaits by Stephen Allen
- Владимир Вишневский – Тем, что в женщине разбудишь
- Иннокентий Анненский – Еврипид. Геракл (перевод)
- Far Within Us #2 by Vasko Popa
- Николай Гумилев – О, если я весь мир постиг
- To Arms! (II) poem – Alfred Austin
- In a Vale by Robert Frost
- An Aquarium poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Владимир Маяковский – Дом Герцена
- To His Dead Body by Siegfried Sassoon
- Everything ends by Tanisha Avarsekar
- Константин Бальмонт – Электрон
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
- Dancing by Robert Hass
- Children Are Like Water by Robert Lloyd Jaffe
- Cascade by Robert Desnos
- Between The Wars by Robert Hass
- What We Leave Behind by Robert Saltzman
- Water by Robert Lowell
- Waking in the Blue by Robert Lowell
- The Wound by Robert McNamara
- The Withdrawal by Robert Lowell
- The Ruins Of Time by Robert Lowell
- The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket by Robert Lowell
- The Drunken Fisherman by Robert Lowell
- Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell
- Promise Me Rain Retold by Roberto Cocina
- San Francisco Night Windows by Robert Penn Warren
- True Love by Robert Penn Warren
- Tell Me a Story by Robert Penn Warren
- Mortal Limit by Robert Penn Warren
- Evening Hawk by Robert Penn Warren
- A Way to Love God by Robert Penn Warren
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.