I can't have it
and you can't have it
and we won't
get it
so don't bet on it
or even think about
it
just get out of bed
each morning
wash
shave
clothe
yourself
and go out into
it
because
outside of that
all that's left is
suicide and
madness
so you just
can't
expect too much
you can't even
expect
so what you do
is
work from a modest
minimal
base
like when you
walk outside
be glad your car
might possibly
be there
and if it is-
that the tires
aren't
flat
then you get
in
and if it
starts—you
start.
and
it's the damndest
movie
you've ever
seen
because
you're
in it—
low budget
and
4 billion
critics
and the longest
run
you ever hope
for
is
one
day.
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Comments
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What a way to put that average Joe on an average day. Mr. Bukowski was way before his time in his writings. The line about the car still being there is so today. Too bad he didn't live to see his words come into fuition. He is a surreal poet. This is great!
Renee -
This poem really inspires the working stiff. I think it is great how Bukowski takes his limited fame and mocks it-- it goes perfectly with how he makes a myth of himself. But at the same time, it adopts the carpe diem motto, of one day at a time, and this almost comes back to the issue of celebrity-- the fifteen minutes of fame are what, 1/96 of one day?...
The issue at hand is we need to take each of our poems for what they are, something we write as a person, and we don't need to make some official statement that turns them into art, we just need to take it one word at a time, and if it turns out well, then we have one more thing to be grateful for. -
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If the poems are good
They were meant to be good
If the poems are bad likewise
Though there is a minor arc
Of struggle.
CB
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