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:
- Олег Бундур – Из магазина
- Валерий Брюсов – Гимн Афродите
- The Quality of Mercy by William Shakespeare
- Twins by Vinko Kalinić
- Robert Burns: Halloween: The following poem will, by many readers, be well enough understood; but for the sake of those who are unacquainted with the manners and traditions of the country where the scene is cast, notes are added to give some account of the principal charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland. The passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature in its rude state, in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind, if any such honour the author with a perusal, to see the remains of it among the more unenlightened in our own.-R.B.
- Sunshine through a Cobwebbed Window poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Princess: A Medley: Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Владимир Британишский – А Новый год мы встретили в лесу
- The Match poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Огюст Барбье – Васильки
- a-tempest-in-a-teacup.html
- Psalm 80 poem – John Milton poems
- Flickering Dream by Satish Verma
- Thoughts On The Works Of Providence by Phillis Wheatley
- Василий Тредиаковский – Видеть все женские лица
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
- discovery.html
- day_dream.html
- cocoon_for_a_skeleton.html
- cinema_screen.html
- chaplin.html
- Cats by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
- black_on_black.html
- black_morning_lovesong.html
- birch_tree.html
- betrayal.html
- bells_pool_and_sleep.html
- attack_on_the_ad_man.html
- any_man_speaks.html
- woken_up_by_beautiful_dreams.html
- was_then.html
- vestiges.html
- un-chien-andalou-an-andalusian-dog.html
- the_poet_angels_who_came_to_dinner.html
- the_nomad039s_vision_ode_to_a_skylark_dressed_in_black.html
- the_man_that_poetry_made.html
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.