Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!news.nk.ca!rocksolid2!i2pn2.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: will.dockery@gmail.com (W.Dockery)
Newsgroups: alt.arts.poetry.comments,rec.arts.poems
Subject: Re: Charles Bukowski
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2025 22:31:24 +0000
Organization: novaBBS
Message-ID: <2063d11e5149114a46e5134865da9b0d@www.novabbs.com>
References: <46a53064$0$31389$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au> <69qdnfyXocagQzjbnZ2dnUVZ_hisnZ2d@comcast.com> <1185285659.060724.172660@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com> <1185303375.722919.203710@o61g2000hsh.googlegroups.com> <fc158bbf-2d67-4c95-8df5-1346455a3a62n@googlegroups.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Info: i2pn2.org;
	logging-data="3021284"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@i2pn2.org";
	posting-account="Vf9CM7g99yqfGvzEHTw0bhrjcIfvzYBBhUuRma0rLuQ";
User-Agent: Rocksolid Light
X-Rslight-Site: $2y$10$/Z15SqFXuz7OQGBrn40aDet9HrrGhopINAZ.jlLA72LBkEha660.S
X-Rslight-Posting-User: acd0b3e3614eaa6f47211734e4cbca3bfd42bebc
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 4.0.0
Bytes: 6461
Lines: 122

Zod wrote:
>
>> baloney wrote:
>>> On Jul 24, 2:56 pm, Will Dockery <will.dock...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > baloney wrote:
>>> > > "Vera" wrote
>>>
>>> > > > > His name suggests a Polish background.
>>> >
>>> > > > > 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--
>>> >
>>> > > > > 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.
>>> >
>>> > > > > At least I should know whose style I'm copying!
>>> >
>>> > > > > Thank you!
>>> >
>>> > > > > Vera
>>> >
>>> > > > huh? you're copying Bukowski? I think you like
>>> > > > yourself WAY too much for there to ever be
>>> > > > any confusion about the two.
>>> >
>>> > > I think someone else compared Vera's style to Buk's, and she doesn't
>>> > > know much about him, so she is curious.
>>> >
>>> > 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.
>>> >
>>> > On the Buffett angle, here's probably the ultimate JB song-poem:
>>> >
>>> > A Pirate Looks At Forty
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > (instrumental)
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > Coda:
>>> > I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown
>>> >
>>> > -Jimmy Buffett, 1974
>>> >
>>> > > Wry little poem by Buk, thanks for posting.
>>> >
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > "...My old lady wouldn't let me sleep..." a few more lines "...so I
>>> > killed her."
>>> >
>>> > 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.

There you are, Harry Lime, my thoughts on Charles Bukowski and his
poetry.

😏