Tuesday, February 19, 2013

poem of the day 02.19.13


bukowski guy

the bukowski guy is walking around
the strand bookstore

i have to get more of that bukowski guy
he keeps telling his woman

the bukowski guy is holding a copy of factotum
and his woman has a stack of cookbooks

she looks like she couldn’t care less about that bukowski guy

but he keeps going on about him with such verve
that it’s contagious

and i am bored with the stacks at the strand
as i usually am

because i’ve read all of that bukowski guy
amongst many others just like him

it feels like there’s nothing left to read
so i watch the bukowski guy for a while

watch him walk around the store
picking bukowski books off of the display tables

this bukowski guy in his little tweed coat and scarf
his tight burgundy pants and pointy shoes

gelled hair looking like it was sculpted by the kind folks
at le douche bag

i don’t think he looks like a bukowski guy

this bukowski guy has soft hands
and has probably never done manual labor

doesn’t get drunk on monday because
there’s nothing else to do

he looks more like he should be reading tao lin
instead of that bukowski guy

i’m being judgmental, i know
but i get pissy
when i can’t find anything in the strand

eighteen miles of books
only i almost always go home empty handed

and honestly
i couldn’t tell you the type of people who read tao lin
much less that bukowski guy these days

i mean i’ve read tao lin
so, you know….

but i’m always the lonely consumer at bookstores

money to burn on payday
that i ultimately spend on bills and cheap wine

i feel used up and old
like all those literary gods have sailed on by

and i’m more excited by cold cuts at the grocery store

think maybe i’m jealous of  this bukowski guy
and his jumping from table to table with the same honest exuberance
that i used to have

grabbing women and post office
some ham on rye

love is a dog from hell
and a bunch of other books

that i’ve ingested like a fine meal

prepping his own journey
into the world of booze, bitches, and crystal madness

all written
by that bukowski guy


                                    

No comments: