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 Visit to Yu’s Cave poem – Yang Wan-Li poems | Poetry Monster
- The Host Of The Air by William Butler Yeats
- Orlando Furioso Canto 16 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Friday Night At The Royal Station Hotel by Philip Larkin
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Коса
- Holidays by Nicolene Kissinger
- A Rajput Love Song by Sarojini Naidu
- The Magic by Preeth Nambiar
- Hope, Like The Short-lived Ray That Gleams Awhile by William Cowper
- Halloween by Robert Burns
- Владимир Высоцкий – Татуировка
- Ianthe’s Question by Walter Savage Landor
- Bantams In Pine-Woods by Wallace Stevens
- Ольга Берггольц – Я тайно и горько ревную
- Thanksgiving Day by Will McKendree Carleton
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
- Bubbles from Eternity by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- Black magic by Mrunmayi Mandan
- Back I Go to My Prison by Ms Tabzeer Yaseen
- Appease by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- St. Roach by Muriel Rukeyser
- The Conjugation of the Paramecium by Muriel Rukeyser
- Whoever Comes From The Earth by Nelly Sachs
- Utopia by Ndue Ukaj
- Tumult by Nicole M Nugent
- Tip tap RAIN by Neelam Sinha
- The Waist of Time by The Waist of Time
- The Shadow of Crows by Ndue Ukaj
- The Red Earth of Kupungarri by Nicole M Nugent
- The man with the blue eye by Neelam Shah
- The Freedom Of Poetry by Ndue Ukaj
- The Emigrant by Ndue Ukaj
- The blanket is same always by Neelam Sinha
- Superficially by Ndue Ukaj
- Sonnet (XII) : O Buddha ! I do wish to follow your golden middle path by Neelam Sinha
- Sonnet (XI) : I know me and I do believe in the causation by Neelam Sinha
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.