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:
- A Hairline Fracture poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Conviction (i) by Stevie Smith
- A Man Young And Old: IX. The Secrets Of The Old by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Британишский – Другу
- Кипение
- Cuckoo Song by Rudyard Kipling
- Hours Continuing Long. by Walt Whitman
- Яков Полонский – Блажен озлобленный поэт
- Владимир Высоцкий – Люблю тебя
- Валерий Брюсов – После ночи бессонной
- Patience, Hard Thing! The Hard Thing But To Pray poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- All Night in Savannah the Wind Wrote Poetry by Aberjhani
- Владимир Маяковский – Тамара и демон
- A Song by Robert Creeley
- Water-Fowl Observed Frequently Over The Lakes Of Rydal And Grasmere by William Wordsworth
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
- Николай Языков – А. Н. Вульфу (Мой брат по вольности и хмелю)
- Николай Языков – А. Н. Татаринову (Здорово, брат! Поставь сюда две чаши)
- Николай Языков – А. Н. Очкину (Было время, мой приятель)
- Николай Языков – А. М. Языкову (Теперь, когда пророчественный дар)
- Николай Языков – А. И. Готовцевой (Влюблен я, дева-красота)
- Николай Языков – А. А. Воейковой (На петербургскую дорогу)
- Николай Языков – А. А. Елагину (Была прекрасна, весела…)
- Николай Тихонов – Ленинград
- Николай Тихонов – Крутили мельниц диких жернова
- Николай Тихонов – Когда уйду
- Николай Тихонов – Когда людям советским
- Николай Тихонов – Как след от весла
- Николай Тихонов – Инд
- Николай Тихонов – И сказал женщине суд
- Николай Тихонов – Гулливер играет в карты
- Николай Тихонов – Другу
- Николай Тихонов – Длинный путь
- Николай Тихонов – Даль полевая, как при Калите
- Николай Тихонов – Берлин 9 мая
- Николай Тихонов – Баллада о гвоздях
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.