We are here to unlearn...

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

Charles Bukowski

 (Picture: Laughing eye, Pat Lipsky)

January

here
you see this
hand

here you see this
sky
this
bridge

hear this
sound

the agony of the
elephant

no help for that

there is a place in the heart that
will never be filled
 a space

and even during the
best moments
and
the greatest
times

we will know it

The Laughing Heart

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

An empty man being careful not to trip and bang his empty head

Some men never die and some men never live, but we're all alive tonight.

Here you see this hand ... hear this sound ... while caged parrots sit in a flourish of color, while pieces of people fall over the edge like pebbles like rocks.

An empty man being careful not to trip and bang his empty head.

...now something so sad has hold of us that the breath leaves and we can't even cry.

Charles Bukowski


(Picture: Man with his head in his hands, Vincent van Gogh)

Our laughter is muted by their agony

As the child crosses the street as deep sea divers dive
as the painters paint - the good fight against terrible odds is the vindication
and the glory as the swallow rises toward
the moon -
it is so dark now with the sadness of
people they were tricked, they were taught to expect the
ultimate when nothing is
promised

It's ours

There is always that space there
just before they get to us
that space
that fine relaxer
the breather
while say
flopping on a bed
thinking of nothing
or say
pouring a glass of water from the
spigot
while entranced by
nothing