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:
- An Evening Walk by William Wordsworth
- In Praise Of Henna by Sarojini Naidu
- An Encounter by Robert Frost
- Вероника Тушнова – Зеркало
- Niagara by Vachel Lindsay
- Sometimes….Life’s A Beach by Stevens Cadet
- American Feuillage. by Walt Whitman
- Омар Хайям – Не зарекайся пить бесценных гроздий сок
- In The Carolinas by Wallace Stevens
- Robert Burns: Extempore Reply To An Invitation:
- Defamation by Rabindranath Tagore
- Miracles by Siegfried Sassoon
- Олег Бундур – Папа пристал
- Ольга Ермолаева – Будет весь день долбить
- Вера Павлова – Сражаться с прошлым
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
- Владимир Корнилов – Прямота
- Владимир Корнилов – Пророк
- Владимир Корнилов – Происхождение
- Владимир Корнилов – Прежнее слово
- Владимир Корнилов – Повторение
- Владимир Корнилов – Погодинка
- Владимир Корнилов – Платформа 126-го км
- Владимир Корнилов – Пишущая машинка
- Владимир Корнилов – Париж
- Владимир Корнилов – Отходная
- Владимир Корнилов – Останкинская башня
- Владимир Корнилов – Одиссей
- Владимир Корнилов – Обещание
- Владимир Корнилов – Нищий
- Владимир Корнилов – Незадача
- Владимир Корнилов – Неподвижность
- Владимир Корнилов – Небо
- Владимир Корнилов – Надежда
- Владимир Корнилов – На колоннаде
- Владимир Корнилов – Музыка для себя
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.