why Charles Bukowski inspires flabby old white
guys to remain true to cheap booze, endurance
and unadulterated sexual poetics:

i was gonna write a long winded 10 page scholarly
essay on the zen of imbalance but then i drank
too much beer and came to my senses

because Bukowski told us to forget about fame
and reputation and snooty literary tomes
too pretentious to open or puke on

Buk encouraged us to love ourselves first
then love women all kinds of women in all kinds
of loving lusty immortal impermanent ways

celebrate the seedy! (never forget one low rent whore
artful alcoholic or used car pimp has more soul
than all of manicured suburbia combined)

elevate cramped roach infested rooms he counseled
with refined classical vibe and drive beatup cars
on the grinding pulse of rock 'n roll

he urged himself to drink beer and more beer and
cheap wine and more beer and said red wine is better
than white wine unless you only have white

Buk told us to fail and try and fail again and try again
and succeed at your own risk and fail and try