Re: Charles Bukowski

baloney wrote:

Will Dockery <will.dock...@gmail.com> wrote:

On Jul 24, 10:00 am, baloney wrote:

"Vera" wrote

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His name suggests a Polish background.

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I found little of his poetry in Google, but maybe I didn't
search well enough. Don't have that much time on the net--

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Would someone be so kind as to post something of his
(not in complete form, of course!) Best to leave out a middle
part rather than that essential last line.

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At least I should know whose style I'm copying!

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Thank you!

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Vera

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huh? you're copying Bukowski? I think you like
yourself WAY too much for there to ever be
any confusion about the two.

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I think someone else compared Vera's style to Buk's, and she doesn't
know much about him, so she is curious.

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Probably the "chopped-up-prose" thing, I guess,
>

Someone at the local strip mall said the old man looked like Jimmy
Buffet, so he asked me who he is for much the same reason. My answer
was, "Well, he isn't Warren Buffet; I think he's a musician." I
looked up Jimmy Buffet, and excepting the ubiquitous Hawaiian shirt, I
still think the old man looks more like Teddy Roosevelt. "Bully!"

>
Interesting that Buffett /and/ Roosevelt come to mind constantly when
I'm around Barfield, he's got the swashbucking sailor-rough riding
warrior poet thing down, and have lived it since I first met him as a
kid.

The old man only looks like Teddy. The old salts I knew were my
father's friends, but they weren't poets. I spent a lot time on boats
as a kid. I cleaned a lot of fish, caught some too.
Anyway, Barfield, whom I only know from what you've written, seems
like a character from a southern gothic novel, eccentric, a little
wild, interesting. I can't fault others for eccentricity, but I'm a
mousy eccentric.

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On the Buffett angle, here's probably the ultimate JB song-poem:
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A Pirate Looks At Forty
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Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all
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Watched the men who rode you switch from sails to steam
And in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream
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Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late
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I've done a bit of smugglin', I've run my share of grass
I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast
Never meant to last, never meant to last
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And I have been drunk now for over two weeks
I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks
But I got stop wishin', got to go fishin'
Down to rock bottom again
Just a few friends, just a few friends
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(instrumental)
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I go for younger women, lived with several awhile
Though I ran 'em away, they'd come back one day
Still could manage to smile
Just takes a while, just takes a while
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Mother, mother ocean, after all the years I've found
My occupational hazard being my occupation's just not around
I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown
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Coda:
I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown
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-Jimmy Buffett, 1974
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Wry little poem by Buk, thanks for posting.

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It probably goes without saying that Buk's one of my favorites, though
his name hasn't come up much lately (the last time was prbably when I
compared Chuck's "shock" style to Buk)... Dale Houstman gave me a very
memorable paperback book blurb quote when he wrote that I was "...a
better poet than Bukowski..." or something similar.
>

It doesn't surprise me that you'd like Buk and Houstman wouldn't. I
like Buk in small doses; he's not my favorite, but there is a certain
appeal. In case you haven't noticed, Earl Nelson's work is highly
influenced by Buk.

Anyhow, I don't have the book handy and no time to Google (a few hours
of sailboat repair await today) but "Boarding House Madrigals" is the
poetry book of Buk's I'd name as a favorite out of the dozens out
there, containing many favorites which were fun to read aloud when the
time came to wake up the audience. The one where Buk writes
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"...My old lady wouldn't let me sleep..." a few more lines "...so I
killed her."
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and the one where he wakes up from a drunken night and finds his
friend with his big toes in his old lady's... well, you can guess
where, or know the poem already... I might look these up later, if
they're online somewhere, and post them here... great stuff.
>

Post one when you find it.
Have fun with the boat. I usually get a boat fixing chore put on me
when I visit my sister.

>
Is this Karen T.....?