A poem by Alan Dugan
Because of the unaccountable spirit of the troops
oh we were marched as we were never marched before
and flanked them off from home. Stupid Meade
was after them, head on to tail, but we convinced
him, finally, to flank, flank, cut off their head.
He finally understood, the idiot, and got a fort
named after him, for wisdom. He probably thought
Lee would conquer Washington from Appomattox
if he, Meade, should march his infantry behind
him, Lee. Ah well, the unaccountable spirit of the troops
triumphed, Meade got his fort, Grant got his presidency,
Sherman got his motto, what was it? War is heck?, Lee got a military school
for the education of young Southern gentlemen, and the Union
Army was taken over by Southern noncommissioned officers
in the wars against the Indians to the west. I know all
about this, I know who won, I served under them
for three hundred and fifty years in World War II,
just long enough not to be called a rookie but a veteran,
and realized the rank and order of my enemies:
first, the West Point officers; second, the red-neck sergeants;
third, the Nazis and perhaps the Japanese. I won
all of these wars as a private soldier, for a while,
and am happy to have done so: without me
Hitler and Hirohito would he ruling the world
instead of America and Russia, but I still will not
drive through Georgia with New York license plates.
A few random poems:
- Hesperus The Bringer by Sappho
- Robert Burns: Inscription To Miss Jessy Lewars: On a copy of the Scots Musical Museum, in four volumes, presented to her by Burns.
- The Red Earth of Kupungarri by Nicole M Nugent
- Николай Карамзин – Алина
- Convalescence poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day poem – Alexander Pope
- Song of the Bowmen of Shu poem – Ezra Pound poems
- the_dormouse_and_the_doctor.html
- Владимир Луговской – Жестокое пробужденье
- Яков Полонский – На закате
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня солдата на часах
- To One Shortly to Die. by Walt Whitman
- On The Move ‘Man, You Gotta Go. by Thom Gunn
- Here War Is Simple by W H Auden
- The Dreadful Has Already Happened by Mark Strand
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
- The Song of the Women by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of the Sons by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of the Old Guard by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of the Little Hunter by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of the Dead by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of the Cities by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of Seven Cities by Rudyard Kipling
- The Settler by Rudyard Kipling
- The Servant When He Reigneth by Rudyard Kipling
- The Sergeant’s Weddin’ by Rudyard Kipling
- The Secret of the Machines by Rudyard Kipling
- The Second Voyage by Rudyard Kipling
- The Sea-Wife by Rudyard Kipling
- The Sea And the Hills by Rudyard Kipling
- The Sacrifice of Er-Heb by Rudyard Kipling
- The Rupaiyat of Omar Kal’vin by Rudyard Kipling
- The Rowers by Rudyard Kipling
- The Rhyme of the Three Sealers by Rudyard Kipling
- The Rhyme of the Three Captains by Rudyard Kipling
- The Return by Rudyard Kipling
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
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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.