Swing Shift Blues

A poem by Alan Dugan

What is better than leaving a bar

in the middle of the afternoon

besides staying in it or not

having gone into it in the first place

because you had a decent woman to be with?

The air smells particularly fresh

after the stale beer and piss smells.

You can stare up at the whole sky:

it’s blue and white and does not

stare back at you like the bar mirror,

and there’s Whats-‘is-name coming out

right behind you saying, “I don’t

believe it, I don’t believe it: there

he is, staring up at the fucking sky

with his mouth open. Don’t

you realize, you stupid son of a bitch,

that it is a quarter to four

and we have to clock in in

fifteen minutes to go to work?”

So we go to work and do no work

and can even breathe in the Bull’s face

because he’s been into the other bar

that we don’t go to when he’s there.

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Poems in English 

• Adieu to a Soldier by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Aboard at a Ship’s Helm. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Woman Waits for Me. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Sight in Camp. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Paumanok Picture. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A March in the Ranks, Hard-prest. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Leaf for Hand in Hand. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Hand-Mirror. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A Farm-Picture. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• A child said, What is the grass by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• The Well Of Love by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• Conscience by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• A Port Of Refuge Agleam With The Aura Of Love by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• A poem to mankind by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• A Poem Of Love by Walter William Safar by Poetry In English
• The Huntsmen by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• The Ghost by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• Snow by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• The Mocking Fairy by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare
• The Keys of Morning by Walter de la Mare by Walter de la Mare

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