If you’ve read
136 poems
by one poet
in, uh, an hour plus,
which is a stupid thing to do
normally
to any poet
and insulting
if you think that way
at least when you do this
you get an aftertaste
of a sort – you get
tired beyond boredom, or
the guy has only three things to say
again and again or
he’s posing as a poet or
subtly unloading his negativity
or his hatred for life or
exploiting your emotions or
even more subtly pleading
for your sympathy
but no
I don’t feel any of these things right now
I just feel
a huge huge love which
somehow isn’t
just focussed on you and
I’ve even tried to set against this
cold lit-crit sorta thoughts
but no
I see you as a man
who looked the ordinary
in the face
and didn’t want to alter it and
asked nothing of it but was
contented in a way
beyond definition that
I can understand
would piss off anyone
with ambition or
so-called American values
although many of your poems
are the stuff of ordinary Americans
in the bar chatting about life
over a beer in B movies
but I’m thinking that maybe
this is the way God sees the world –
‘this is what you’ve made
of what I gave you and
so be it’
I’m a little scared too
that if I met you face to face
unexpectedly with that
wise beat-up face like a
thoughtful ape I might
recoil or something
and be ashamed afterwards
but I hope not
I just hope that
somewhere deep down
you loved yourself
as much as so many people
and you can read them here
love you
for real
and as is
the title of this poem is
A Homage to Charles Bukowski
wow! i started reading the poem and thought 'bukowski' without knowing what would come at the end...i thought bukowski in your style and about the person you portrait...i saw him come alive in front of my eyes and i saw the usa i have seen come alive in front of my eyes...and thus makes for a very good poem! ! ! ! ! thanks for sharing this! ulrike (who gives you 10 on this one)
This is a wonderful piece Michael. Laid out are the feeling the non-feelings and the reason for why you should feel this way. Okay I don't rate Bukowsi much, but I think that this is a beautifully constructed piece with a theme that flows without pause.
I would cite 'Dangling in the Tournefortia' as instrumental in making me view poetry in a different way when I was in my early twenties. I understood the wry way in which Bukowsi viewed life. I haven't even read all the Bukowski poems on Poemhunter yet but I have listened to Chuck reading his work (on disc) and he does it so well, so nonchalantly that it is a joy to hear him read. Bukowski, whether one likes him or not, has turned probably more people in the direction of poetry than perhaps any other poet of the 20th century. One could hardly call him a 'popularist' either. He just sinks under the skin somehow. Well captured experience in your poem too.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
michael, lovely clever stuff.