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:
- Николай Заболоцкий – Когда вдали угаснет свет дневной
- Bones by Walter de la Mare
- Not Youth Pertains to Me. by Walt Whitman
- Composed At The Same Time And On The Same Occasion by William Wordsworth
- Christmas Star by Walter William Safar
- Distant View Of England From The Sea by William Lisle Bowles
- ‘In the Pink’ by Siegfried Sassoon
- Villion’s Ballade Of Good Counsel, To His Friends Of Evil Life poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Time’s Weariness poem – Alfred Austin
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Песня пахаря
- Robert Burns: On James Grieve, Laird Of Boghead, Tarbolton :
- Зинаида Александрова – Баиньки
- Ольга Седакова – Дикий шиповник
- Владимир Британишский – Добравшись до водораздела
- Ballade Of His Books poem – Andrew Lang poems
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
- What the Sexton Said by Vachel Lindsay
- What the Rattlesnake Said by Vachel Lindsay
- What the Moon Saw by Vachel Lindsay
- What the Miner in the Desert Said by Vachel Lindsay
- What the Gray-Winged Fairy Said by Vachel Lindsay
- What the Ghost of the Gambler Said by Vachel Lindsay
- What the Coal-Heaver Said by Vachel Lindsay
- What Semiramis Said by Vachel Lindsay
- The Trap by Vachel Lindsay
- The Tale of the Tiger-Tree by Vachel Lindsay
- The Spider and the Ghost of the Fly by Vachel Lindsay
- The Soul of the City Receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit by Vachel Lindsay
- The Song of the Garden-Toad by Vachel Lindsay
- The Scissors-Grinder by Vachel Lindsay
- The Rose of Midnight by Vachel Lindsay
- The Raft by Vachel Lindsay
- The Proud Farmer by Vachel Lindsay
- The Prarie Battlements by Vachel Lindsay
- The Perfect Marriage by Vachel Lindsay
- The Mysterious Cat by Vachel Lindsay
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.