Alan Dugan

Here you will find the Poem How We Heard The Name of poet Alan Dugan

How We Heard The Name

The river brought down 
dead horses, dead men 
and military debris, 
indicative of war 
or official acts upstream, 
but it went by, it all 
goes by, that is the thing 
about the river. Then 
a soldier on a log 
went by. He seemed drunk 
and we asked him Why 
had he and this junk 
come down to us so 
from the past upstream. 
?Friends,? he said, ?the great 
Battle of Granicus 
has just been won 
by all of the Greeks except 
the Lacedaemonians and 
myself: this is a joke 
between me and a man 
named Alexander, whom 
all of you ba-bas 
will hear of as a god.?