Bukowski & Literature
Poem by Charles Bukowski
I lived with women madder than the gods themselves. I consumed enough booze to get an army drunk. I lived in shacks without windows, without electricity, without plumbing, without heat. I climbed off the park bench to engage the giants of literature in battle. I was beaten in alleys, robbed I searched the cities for sanity. I read great books and they made me sleepy. I starved in rooms fat with rats. my parents were in shame of me. the beautiful ladies thought me ugly. I climbed off the park bench to engage the giants of literature in battle. the world considered me insane. I slept in deserted graveyards. I sat in bars through the mornings and into the night and back into morning. I engaged the giants of literature. all my work came back. one editor wrote, "what is this stuff?" I worked the factories, the warehouses. I got married and divorced. I was 40 years old when my first thin pamphlet of poems was published. it wasn't that good. at the age of 50 I decided to become a professional writer. I earned $980 the first year. I lived on a candy bar a day. I was engaging the giants of literature. the ladies descended like locusts. I threw people off my front porch. I was engaging the giants. the giants were not aware of this. only I was aware. I climbed off the park bench to engage the giants of literature. I didn't think that they were all that good. tell me, do you? ~ Charles Bukowski