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:
- Олег Сердобольский – Во дворе
- The Quest XII (Vocation) by W H Auden
- Sonnet 102: My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 45: The other two, slight air and purging fire by William Shakespeare
- We are Africa by Timileyin Gabriel Olajuwon
- On the Nativity of Christ by William Dunbar
- The Squirrel by Todd H. C. Fischer
- The End by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Haymakers’ Song poem – Alfred Austin
- He Who Creates Re Creates Himself
- Иван Мятлев – День рождения
- Couplet 3 poem – Amir Khusro poems | Poems and Poetry
- Dedication To Lady Windsor poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Высоцкий – Тюменская нефть
- Владимир Маяковский – Бюрократиада
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
- houses.html
- flight_of_stairs.html
- epitaph_on_a_disturber_of_his_times.html
- epitaph_for_our_children.html
- cats.html
- Attack On The Ad-Man
- When I Was Young the Silk poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Weathering poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Their Sex Life poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- The City Limits poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Still poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- So I Said I Am Ezra poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Small Song poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Shit List; Or, Omnium-gatherum Of Diversity Into Unity poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Rogue Elephant poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Rivulose poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Release poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Recovery poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Rapids poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Poetics poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
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.