A poem by Alan Dugan
“If you work a body of water and a body of woman
you can take fish out of one and children out of the other
for the two kinds of survival. The fishing is good,
both kinds are adequate in pleasures and yield,
but the hard work and the miseries are killing;
it is a good life if life is good. If not, not.
You are out in the world and in in the world,
having it both ways: it is sportive and prevenient living
combined, although you have to think about the weathers
and the hard work and the miseries are what I said.
It runs on like water, quickly, under the boat,
then slowly like the sand dunes under the house.
You survive by yourself by the one fish for a while
and then by the other afterward when you run out.
You run out a hooky life baited with good times,
and whether the catch is caught or not is a question
for those who go fishing for men or among them for things.”
A few random poems:
- Ок Мельникова – Sha man
- This Aloneness by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- For The Future by Wendell Berry
- Friday Night At The Royal Station Hotel by Philip Larkin
- Ольга Берггольц – К сердцу Родины руку тянет
- Николай Языков – А. М. Языкову (Теперь, когда пророчественный дар)
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Певец
- The New Faces by William Butler Yeats
- Федор Сологуб – Либава, Либава, товарная душа
- Manure by Mark R Slaughter
- Mally’s meek, Mally’s sweet (Song) by Robert Burns
- Rhyming Reply to a Note from Captain Riddell by Robert Burns
- Poetics poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Leaving Early by Sylvia Plath
- Низами Гянджеви – День мой благословен
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
- Golden Eyes
- From Behind The Lattice
- Feroza
- Feroke
- Fate Knows No Tears
- Farewell
- Fancy
- Famine Song
- Early Love
- Disappointment
- Deserted Gipsys Song Hillside Camp
- Dedication
- Dedication To Malcolm Nicolson
- Camp Followers Song Gomal River
- Back To The Border
- Au Salon
- Atavism
- Ashore
- Among The Sandhills
- Among The Rice Fields
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
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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.