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:
- Notice What This Poem Is Not Doing by William Stafford
- The Voice of Robert Desnos by Robert Desnos
- Treat Well Your Wife by William Barnes
- Raindrops by Michael Mulcahy
- The Cornfields by Vachel Lindsay
- Sonnet IV by William Shakespeare
- Will Remain Unseen by Vasil Slavov
- Deity of my dreams by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Writing Science Poetry
- Владимир Британишский – Екатеринбургский модерн
- This Morning by Raymond Carver
- Aubade poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Epistle to William Simson by Robert Burns
- The Example by William Henry Davies
- Gods. by Walt Whitman
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
- Sonnet CXXX: My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet CXXX by William Shakespeare
- Winter by William Shakespeare
- When to the sessions of sweet silent thought (Sonnet 30) by William Shakespeare
- When that I was and a little tiny boy by William Shakespeare
- When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes (Sonnet 29) by William Shakespeare
- Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare
- Under the Greenwood Tree by William Shakespeare
- Three Songs by William Shakespeare
- The Quality of Mercy by William Shakespeare
- The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare
- Spring in New Hampshire by William Shakespeare
- Sonnets CXVI: Let me not to the marriage of true minds by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXXI by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXX by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXVII by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXVI by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXV by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXIX by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet LXIV: When I Have Seen by Time’s Fell Hand Defac’d by William Shakespeare
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.