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:
- Константин Бальмонт – Эльзи
- Roger Casement by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Маяковский – Вместо 2 280 товарных вагонов… (РОСТА №920)
- In The Pass Of Killicranky by William Wordsworth
- Николай Заболоцкий – Рыбная лавка
- Autumn Song by Sarojini Naidu
- Robert Burns: Versified Reply To An Invitation:
- The Riddle
- Владимир Маяковский – Помогай фронту… (РОСТА №480)
- Зинаида Александрова – Шарик
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Весенний дождь
- Youth And The Pilgrim by Sara Teasdale
- Ode to Beer, an Irish Song
- On The Death Of The Vice-Chancellor, A Physician (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Свети мне, солнышко
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
- TEMPORARY AND NOW by PEGGY AYLSWORTH
- Swimming Pool by Piera Chen
- Summer by Pornika Ganguly
- Still Life by Piera Chen
- So Long! by Precious Tahula
- Silence by Preeth Nambiar
- Shema by Primo Levi
- Second Poem by Peter Orlovsky
- Reveille by Primo Levi
- Poetic Dilemma by Pawan Kumar
- Snow & Ice by Quincy Troupe
- Untitled by Quincy Troupe
- Poem Reaching For Something by Quincy Troupe
- The Survivor by Primo Levi
- Shema by Primo Levi
- Reveille by Primo Levi
- Snail Poem by Peter Orlovsky
- My Bed is Covered Yellow by Peter Orlovsky
- Second Poem by Peter Orlovsky
- First Poem by Peter Orlovsky
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.