Lesson 2: Favourite poet

POET: Henry Charles Bukowski (August 16 1920- March 9 1994 )

HENRY Charles Bukowski was a German-American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was heavily influenced by the geography and atmosphere of his home city, Los Angeles. He writes mainly about the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing itself, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Charles wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, having over 60 books in print.

AT 24, Charles' short story "Aftermath of a lengthy rejection slip" was published in Story magazine. Two years later, another of his short stories "20 Tanks from Kesseldown" was published in Portfolio III's broadside collection. His failure to break in the literary world resulted in him quitting writing for almost a decade, a time which he referred to as "ten-year drunk". These years formed the basis of his later autobiographical chronicles.

IN 1955, he was hospitalised for a bleeding ulcer which was nearly fatal. When he left the hospital, he began to write poetry and pick up writing again. To support his writing, he worked a wide variety of jobs. The jobs included being a dishwasher, a gas station attendant, stock boy, truck driver and loader, mail carrier, guard, warehouse worker, shipping clerk, post office clerk , parking lot attendant, red cross orderly and elevator operator.

IN 1966, Charles accepted an offer from Black Sparrow Press and quit his post office job to dedicate himself to full-time writing. With growing fame, Charles embarked on a series of one-night stands and love affairs. His most important relationship was with Linda King a poet and sculptress, Liza Williams, a recording executive, and Pamela O' Brien, a red-headed single mother. All these relationships provided material for his stories and poems.

CHARLES was a man who devoted his entire life to writing. Though he might have stopped writing before, he managed to pick it up again, and he never stopped. His works reflected his life, as those were the easiest things a man could write. He was willing to support his writing by doing all sorts of low-paying jobs, giving up whatever hopes of being a millionaire to literature. I believed he enjoyed writing for what is was. He understood writing as not just a mean of communication, but expressing his feelings and ideas.

His Theme: relationships with women, his own personal experiences
Some of his works:
Poems
ANOTHER BED
from :Love is a Mad Dog from Hell

Another bed
Another women

More curtains
Anotherbathroom
Anotherkitchen

Other eyes
Other hair
Other feet and toes

Everybodys looking.
The eternal serach.

You stay in bed
She gets dressed for work
And you wonder what happened
to the last one
and the one after that...
It's all so comfortable-
this love making
this sleeping together
the gentle kindness...

AFter she leaves you get up and use her
bathroom,

It's all so intimate and strange.
You go back to bed and
sleep another hour.

When you leave its with sadness
but you'll see her again
whether it works or not
you drive down to the shore and sit
in your car. It's almost noon.

-another bed, other ears, other earrings,
other mouths, other slippers, other dresses.

Colors, doors, phone numbers.

You were once strong enough to live alone.
For a man nearing sixty you should be more sensible.
You start the car and shift,
thinking, i'll phone Jeanie when i get in,
I haven't seen her since Friday.

NIGHT SCHOOL
from: Dangling In the Tournefortia

In the drunk driver's class
Assigned there by division 63
We are given tiny yellow pencils
to take the test
to see if we have been listening
to the instructor.
Questions like: the minimum sentence for a
2nd drunk driving conviction is:
A)48 days
B) 6 months
C) 90 days
There are 9 other questions.
After the instructor leaves the room
the students begin asking the questions:
"Hey, how about question 5? That's a tough one!"
"Did he talk about that?"
"I think its 48 days."
"Are you sure?"
"No, but that's what i'm putting down."
One woman circles all 3 answers on all questions
even though we've been told to select only one

On our break i go down and
drink a can of beer
outside a liquor store.
I watch a black hooker
on her evening stroll.
A car pulls up.
She walks over and they talk.
The door opens.
She gets in and they drive off.

Back in class
the students have gotten to know each other.
They are a not-very-intersting
bunch of drunks.
I visualise them sitting in a bar.
And i remember why i started drinking alont.

The class begins again.
It is discovered that i am
the only one to have gotten
100 percent on the test.

I slouch my back in my chair
with my dark shades on.
I am the class
intellectual.

THE ALIENS
from: The Last Night Of the Earth Poems

You may not believe it
But tehre are people
who go through life with very little
friction of distress.
They dress well, sleep well.
They are contented with
their family
life.
They are undisturbed
and often feel
very good.
And when they die
it is an easy death, usually in their sleep.

You may not believe
it
but such people do exist.

But i am not one of them.
Oh no, i am not one of them,
I am not even near to being one of them.
But they are there
and i am here.