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:
- Михаил Кузмин – Возможно ль: скоро четверть века
- Федор Сологуб – Кукушка кукует
- Transcience by Sarojini Naidu
- Telescope by Mark R Slaughter
- Book Fourth [Summer Vacation] by William Wordsworth
- When I Watch the Living Meet poem – Alfred Edward Housman
- Robert Burns: Lass Of Cessnock Banks, The:
- Владимир Маяковский – Переворот в Германии (Роста №42)
- I think it rains by Wole Soyinka
- Шекспир – Бессмертную хоронят красоту – Сонет 83
- Says. by Walt Whitman
- Ash-Boughs poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Юнна Мориц – Ёжик резиновый
- Sword Blades and Poppy Seed poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Владимир Маяковский – Реклама Моссукно
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
- The Blessed by William Butler Yeats
- The Black Tower by William Butler Yeats
- The Balloon Of The Mind by William Butler Yeats
- The Ballad Of The Foxhunter by William Butler Yeats
- The Ballad Of Moll Magee by William Butler Yeats
- The Ballad Of Father O’Hart by William Butler Yeats
- The Ballad Of Father Gilligan by William Butler Yeats
- The Arrow by William Butler Yeats
- The Apparitions by William Butler Yeats
- That The Night Come by William Butler Yeats
- Symbols by William Butler Yeats
- Swift’s Epitaph by William Butler Yeats
- Sweet Dancer by William Butler Yeats
- Supernatural Songs by William Butler Yeats
- Stream And Sun At Glendalough by William Butler Yeats
- Statistics by William Butler Yeats
- Spilt Milk by William Butler Yeats
- Song For The Severed Head In `The King Of The Great Clock Tower’ by William Butler Yeats
- Solomon To Sheba by William Butler Yeats
- Solomon And The Witch 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.