Home » Poems » Timothy Ray » Another Bukowski Nightmare Begins

Another Bukowski Nightmare Begins

another Bukowski nightmare begins
the castrato sings below
while she calls from the minaret
fossicking thru the memories 
for our linked verse
while i, sitting beneath the coolabah
river on the run 
waiting for some rabbit or Alice
oh incorrigible moon
have you no mercy this night
see the parade pass, the ithyphallic
the trilithon collapsing, time and gravity
another turgid, erubescent symbol deflated
another thought buried by time
and mine to waste
o moon so incorrigible
teach me not emotion 
let me revel in callosity
let the mirror play tu quoque 
let it speak for once
scream from the inner scotopia
where the predatism scutters
read to me another confessional poet 
those in need
of yet another minie ball, open oven door
fill the pockets with rocks and rockets
o god more, more misery
rise and hail your innermost misery
you must suffer for literature
tempus fugit is a lead pipe cinch
that is the diphthong the calliope
never fails to sail thru
while surds and sonants bounce the walls
the coffee shop lustrum, ideomotion
learn to unlearn
supine beneath the coolabah
river on the run
waiting for a rabbit or Alice
the urge for frottage
pushes us beyond logic and reason
suffering polyphagia between the limbs
where the eyes drool in 
bushes of void commandments
now postmodernism 
and i are even
i refuse to die for this revolution
i refuse the pitiful pitfalls
life's a grand adventure
taking in ever larger measures
i refuse to fail its call
i refuse
i refuse
hand me that bottle of rum
let's think about this

   Fergus Falls   97

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Lady Labyrinth

Date: 2/12/2023 12:24:00 PM

supine beneath the Coolibah...good for shading when there’s too much Sun. Such a way with words. Dipthong...I could do something with that. Bukowski is ok, he has his merits. There was truth in what he wrote, he wrote what he saw around him. Like “Crucifix in a Deathhand”, I wonder if this was an emulation, “Howl”/Ginsburg. For plants, one can’t go far wrong with D.H., "Gloire de Dijon", different era of course. Your poems, some of the very best I've read here.

Timothy Ray
Date: 5/21/2023 9:08:00 AM

thank you My Lady Labyrinth, great moniker, love that expression "My Lady", refugee 19th Century novels....anyhow i do like some of Charles...but sometimes my manic moments get the best of me and i do love vocabulary....and i must bid thee adieu...with your permission my lady....i just love that period of respect for women...altho admittedly they probably were thinking, can she cook and clean...also, but we girls don't need to go there...

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 1/16/2023 2:33:00 PM

haha. that ending was my favorite part. for me, pass the wine!!

Timothy Ray
Date: 1/16/2023 3:37:00 PM

thank you Andrea....the ending is pure Bukowski....not that the man does not have some talent....i just tire of his glorification of a lifestyle....Rimbaud finally had to admit to his sorry existence, and what talent was in Arthur was amazing....Rimbaud takes us into the language of the Le Bon Ton of Poetry....Bukowski leaves us in a cheap motel....

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 1/16/2023 12:53:00 AM

Yes, I know he was a shocker about women and probably not a nice person over all. The biographies of a lot of writers don't stand up to examination. I just read your "when I pass." Like it a lot. Elizabeth

Timothy Ray

Date: 1/15/2023 7:07:00 PM

i am not saying Bukowski is without merit...and you are right he is down to earth in a lot of his works....a lot of my criticism of him is his message overall...avoid the documentary the French made of him...but he was very successful at selling Bukowski and there is no blame there....again, it was the lifestyle...i did a reading once with his "woman"....very illuminating, she was a character from his book "Women"...

Timothy Ray

Date: 1/15/2023 7:07:00 PM

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 1/15/2023 1:43:00 PM

Sorrreee! I like his poetry for the lack of pretence, no sacrifice of meaning to try for rhyme, no sparing of delicate sensibility. But, no, not Kerouac. Don't know the movie. I am 91 years sober but my father was not, so I do comprehend your position and that that is of no moment. Nevertheless, Cheers! Elizabeth

Timothy Ray
Date: 1/15/2023 7:16:00 PM

you might like Lawrence Ferlinghetti.....his poem "Dog" was the first i ever read publicly at the Hungry Eye....

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 1/15/2023 2:15:00 AM

Very interesting poem. I haven't read anything else of yours yet, but, hey, a Bukowski fan cannot be bad! Elizabeth

Timothy Ray
Date: 1/15/2023 11:10:00 AM

i am no fan of Burkowski....he is of the same genre as say Kerouac, compare Kerouac's "On The Road" to Henry Millier's "Air Conditioned Nightmare" and you will see an intellectual marvel vs a Beatnik moron...Henry predicted Detroit's collapse....i am not devitrifying all of Bukowski but as someone with 28 years sober, you can see my point. the movie Barfly was disgusting, his movie "Poet" absolutely laughable...this is pure satire and a tad sarcasm....the language herein points to 3 of Bukowski's salient points....his book sales, his bottle, and his turgid member...read my poem The Madonna and you can see what a life closely connected to God and sobriety can accomplish