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 Лермонтов – В рядах стояли безмолвной толпой
- Rhapsody on a Windy Night by T. S. Eliot
- Владимир Маяковский – За истекший декабрь добыча по Подмосковному… (РОСТА №896)
- Untitled IV by Yunus Emre
- Юнна Мориц – Букет котов
- Robert Burns: She’s Fair And Fause:
- Points And Lines poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- I Am In Pain For You by Patrick Neo Mabiletsa
- Sonnet (VIII) : Some left crown , some left land and some into exile by Neelam Sinha
- Юнна Мориц – Зейдер-Зее
- if_i_were_king.html
- Зинаида Александрова – Колокольчики
- Linda Deäne by William Barnes
- STRIPED NOTHINGS by Satish Verma
- Sonnet Xiii
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
- Give Me Back My Rags #12 by Vasko Popa
- The Prisoners Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Craftsmen Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Before The Game by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #1 by Vasko Popa
- The Benefactors Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Enemies Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Hide-And-Seek by Vasko Popa
- The Owners Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Race by Vasko Popa
- In The Village Of My Ancestors by Vasko Popa
- Last News About The Little Box by Vasko Popa
- Give Me Back My Rags by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #5 by Vasko Popa
- Far Within Us #4 by Vasko Popa
- A Forgetful Number by Vasko Popa
- A Conceited Mistake by Vasko Popa
- Words – “My only friends forever” by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Winter Wind by Vasil Slavov
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.