Internal Migration On Being On Tour

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.

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Poems in English

An Arab Shepherd Is Searching For His Goat On Mount Zion by Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Иехуда (Ludwig ) Amichai ‏יהודה עמיחי‏ Амихай (Pfeuffer)
A Precise Woman by Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Иехуда (Ludwig ) Amichai ‏יהודה עמיחי‏ Амихай (Pfeuffer)
A Pity, We Were Such A Good Invention by Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Иехуда (Ludwig ) Amichai ‏יהודה עמיחי‏ Амихай (Pfeuffer)
A Jewish Cemetery In Germany by Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Иехуда (Ludwig ) Amichai ‏יהודה עמיחי‏ Амихай (Pfeuffer)
A Dog After Love by Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Иехуда (Ludwig ) Amichai ‏יהודה עמיחי‏ Амихай (Pfeuffer)
Straw sandal half sunk by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Sparrow singing by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Ploughing the land by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Old well by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Not quite dark yet by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
My arm for a pillow by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Listening to the moon by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Lighting one candle by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Yosa Buson – Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Hokku Poems in Four Seasons by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
His Holiness the Abbot by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
He’s on the porch by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Harvest moon by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Evening wind by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村
Elegy to the Old Man Hokuju by Yosa Buson by Yosa Ёса Buson Бусон 与謝蕪村