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:
- Love In Reverse by Talha Jafri
- Владимир Корнилов – Останкинская башня
- Николай Заболоцкий – Офорт
- The Ballad of Fisher’s Boarding-House by Rudyard Kipling
- Address to the Deil by Robert Burns
- Владимир Маяковский – Слегка нахальные стихи товарищам из ЭМКАХИ
- Василий Курочкин – Ни в мать, ни в отца
- The Return by Sara Teasdale
- Face To Face by Rabindranath Tagore
- Василий Жуковский – Бедный певец
- Robert Burns: Sonnet On Receiving A Favour: Addressed to Robert Graham, Esq. of Fintry.
- My Paramour Was Loneliness
- Wreath For A Bridal by Sylvia Plath
- Яков Полонский – Орел и голубка
- Ode 1957: An intellectual by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
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
- Ок Мельникова – Тоской тома йорка
- Ок Мельникова – Сохрани
- Ок Мельникова – Sha man
- Ок Мельникова – Птицей
- Ок Мельникова – Профессия рок-звезда
- Ок Мельникова – Подростковые драмы
- Ок Мельникова – Плацкарт-блюз
- Ок Мельникова – От киева до сантьяго
- Ок Мельникова – Обет молчания
- Ок Мельникова – Не в этот раз
- Ок Мельникова – Не горим, не светим
- Ок Мельникова – Моя муза любитель блюза
- Ок Мельникова – Let it be
- Ок Мельникова – Карниз
- Ок Мельникова – Hey jude
- Ок Мельникова – Где-то на приморском
- Ок Мельникова – Гасите звёзды
- Ок Мельникова – Если есть от кого ждать писем
- Ок Мельникова – Что рассказать?
- Ок Мельникова – Блюз-16
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.