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:
- Новелла Матвеева – Река
- Crazy Jane On The Mountain by William Butler Yeats
- Twas’ the Night Before Christmas and Santa got Drunk by Margaret Marie Hubbard
- Robert Burns: Lines On Meeting With Lord Daer:
- Sonnet CXXXVIII by William Shakespeare
- Delicate Cluster. by Walt Whitman
- Alone by Walter de la Mare
- In Memoriam
- Love Of Life poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Бенедиктов – На пятидесятилетний юбилей Крылова
- From The Long Sad Party by Mark Strand
- The Ballad of East and West by Rudyard Kipling
- The Gipsy Trail by Rudyard Kipling
- Яков Полонский – Откуда
- Иван Киуру – От северной половины земного шара
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
- Fallen Majesty by William Butler Yeats
- Ephemera by William Butler Yeats
- Ego Dominus Tuus by William Butler Yeats
- Easter, 1916 by William Butler Yeats
- Down By The Salley Gardens by William Butler Yeats
- Demon And Beast by William Butler Yeats
- Dedication To A Book Of Stories Selected From The Irish Novelists by William Butler Yeats
- Death by William Butler Yeats
- Cuchulan’s Fight With The Sea by William Butler Yeats
- Cuchulain Comforted by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane Talks With The Bishop by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane Reproved by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane On The Mountain by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane On The Day Of Judgment by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane On God by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane Grown Old Looks At The Dancers by William Butler Yeats
- Crazy Jane And Jack The Journeyman by William Butler Yeats
- Coole Park, 1929 by William Butler Yeats
- Consolation by William Butler Yeats
- Come Gather Round Me, Parnellites by William Butler Yeats
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.