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 – Подводный город
- Chase, The – Book 1 by William Somervile
- The Lover Mourns For The Loss Of Love by William Butler Yeats
- Address to the Toothache by Robert Burns
- After An Epigram Of Clement Marot
- Who Goes With Fergus? by William Butler Yeats
- Какое это счастье – Материнство
- Ольга Седакова – Луг, юго-западный ветер
- the_prison_of_the_past.html
- THE WAX PALACE by Satish Verma
- Николай Глазков – Последний зимний
- Poem on Pastoral Poetry by Robert Burns
- epitaph_for_our_children.html
- calling-the-spirits.html
- Олег Бундур – Папа возмущается
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
- Like Truthless Dreams, So Are My Joys Expired by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Life by Sir Walter Raleigh
- His Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Her Reply by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Farewell to the Court by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Epitaph by Sir Walter Raleigh
- A Literature Lesson. Sir Patrick Spens in the Eighteenth Century Manner by Sir Walter Raleigh
- A Farewell to False Love by Sir Walter Raleigh
- On Catullus by Walter Savage Landor
- Of Clementina by Walter Savage Landor
- Corinna, from Athens, to Tanagra by Walter Savage Landor
- Ianthe! You are Call’d to Cross the Sea by Walter Savage Landor
- Mother, I cannot mind my Wheel by Walter Savage Landor
- Ianthe by Walter Savage Landor
- Child of a Day by Walter Savage Landor
- Late Leaves by Walter Savage Landor
- One Lovely Name by Walter Savage Landor
- On An Eclipse Of The Moon by Walter Savage Landor
- Mild is the Parting Year by Walter Savage Landor
- I Entreat You, Alfred Tennyson by Walter Savage Landor
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.