Richard Brautigan Poems

A collection of select Richard Brautigan famous poems that were written by Richard Brautigan or written about the poet by other famous poets. PoetrySoup is a comprehensive educational resource of the greatest poems and poets on history.

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We Stopped at Perfect Days

by Richard Brautigan
 We stopped at perfect days
and got out of the car. 
The wind glanced at her hair. 
It was as simple as that. 
I turned to say something--...Read more of this...

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

by Richard Brautigan
 I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammels and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky. 

I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms. 

I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of...Read more of this...

Surprise

by Richard Brautigan
 My heart went fluttering with fear
Lest you should go, and leave me here
To beat my breast and rock my head
And stretch me sleepless on my bed.
Ah, clear they see and true they say
That one shall weep, and one shall stray
For such is Love's unvarying law....
I never thought, I never saw
That I should be the first to go;
How pleasant that...Read more of this...

Discovery

by Richard Brautigan
 The petals of the vagina unfold
like Christofer Columbus
taking off his shoes.

Is there anything more beautiful
than the bow of a ship
touching a new world?...Read more of this...

Please

by Richard Brautigan
 Do you think of me 
as often 
as I think 
of you?...Read more of this...

Hinged To Forgetfulness Like A Door

by Richard Brautigan
 Hinged to forgetfulness 
like a door, 
she slowly closed out of 
sight, 
and she was the woman I loved, 
but too many times she slept like 
a mechanical deer in my caresses, 
and I ached in the metal silence 
of her dreams....Read more of this...

December 30

by Richard Brautigan
 At 1:30 in the morning a fart 
smells like a marriage between
an avocado and a fish head.

I have to get out of bed
to write this down without
my glasses on....Read more of this...

Donner Party

by Richard Brautigan
 Forsaken, fucking in the cold, 
eating each other, lost 
runny noses, 
complaining all the time 
like so many 
people 
that we know...Read more of this...

Boo Forever

by Richard Brautigan
 Spinning like a ghost
on the bottom of a
top,
I'm haunted by all
the space that I
will live without
you....Read more of this...

Autobiography (polish It Like A Piece Of Silver)

by Richard Brautigan
 I am standing in the cemetery at Byrds, Texas.
What did Judy say? "God-forsaken is beautiful, too."
A very old man who has cancer on his face and takes
care of the cemetery, is raking a grave in such a
manner as to almost (polish it like a piece of silver.

An old dog stands beside him. It's a hot day: 105.
What am I...Read more of this...

Yes the Fish Music

by Richard Brautigan
 A trout-colored wind blows
through my eyes, through my fingers,
and I remember how the trout
used to hide from the dinosaurs
when they came to drink at the river.
The trout hid in subways, castles,
and automobiles. They waited patiently for the dinosaurs to go away....Read more of this...

Mating Saliva

by Richard Brautigan
 A girl in a green mini-
skirt, not very pretty, walks
down the street.

A businessman stops, turns
to stare at her ass
that looks like a moldy
refrigerator.

There are now 200,000,000 people
in America....Read more of this...

I Live In The Twentieth Century

by Richard Brautigan
 I live in the Twentieth Century 
and you lie here beside me. You 
were unhappy when you fell asleep. 
There was nothing I could do about 
it. I felt hopeless. Your face 
is so beautiful that I cannot stop 
to describe it, and there's nothing 
I can do to make you happy while 
you sleep....Read more of this...

Haiku Ambulance

by Richard Brautigan
 A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?...Read more of this...

-2

by Richard Brautigan
 Everybody wants to go to bed 
with everybody else, they're
lined up for blocks, so I'll 
go to bed with you. They won't 
miss us....Read more of this...

Man

by Richard Brautigan
 My God, I heard this day, 
That none doth build a stately habitation, 
But he that means to dwell therein. 
What house more stately hath there been, 
Or can be, than is Man? to whose creation 
All things are in decay. 

For Man is ev'ry thing, 
And more:
He is a tree, yet bears no fruit; 
A beast, yet is,...Read more of this...

Gee Youre So Beautiful That Its Starting To Rain

by Richard Brautigan
 Oh, Marcia, 
I want your long blonde beauty
to be taught in high school,
so kids will learn that God
lives like music in the skin
and sounds like a sunshine harpsicord.
I want high school report cards 
to look like this:

Playing with Gentle Glass Things
A

Computer Magic
A

Writing Letters to Those You Love
A

Finding out about Fish
A

Marcia's Long Blonde Beauty
A+!...Read more of this...

At the California Institute of Technology

by Richard Brautigan
 I don't care how God-damn smart
these guys are: I'm bored.

It's been raining like hell all day long
and there's nothing to do.

Written January 24, 1967
while poet-in-residence at
the California Institute of 
Technology....Read more of this...

My Nose Is Growing Old

by Richard Brautigan
 Yup.
A long lazy September look
in the mirror
say it's true.

I'm 31
and my nose is growing
old.

It starts about 1/2
an inch
below the bridge
and strolls geriatrically
down
for another inch or so:
stopping.

Fortunately, the rest
of the nose is comparatively
young.

I wonder if girls
will want me with an
old nose.

I can hear them now
the heartless bitches!

"He's cute
but his nose
is old."...Read more of this...

Romeo and Juliet

by Richard Brautigan
 If you will die for me, 
I will die for you 
and our graves will be like two lovers washing 
their clothes together 
in a laundromat 
If you will bring the soap 
I will bring the bleach....Read more of this...

Milk For The Duck

by Richard Brautigan
 ZAP!
unlaid / 20 days

my sexual image
isn't worth a ****.

If I were dead
I couldn't attract
a female fly....Read more of this...

Coffee

by Richard Brautigan
 Sometimes life is merely a matter of coffee and whatever intimacy a cup of coffee
affords. I once read something about coffee. The thing said that coffee is good for you;
it stimulates all the organs.
I thought at first this was a strange way to put it, and not altogether pleasant, but
as time goes by I have found out that it...Read more of this...

The Moon Versus Us Ever Sleeping Together Again

by Richard Brautigan
 I sit here, an arch-villain of romance, 
thinking about you. Gee, I'm sorry 
I made you unhappy, but there was nothing 
I could do about it because I have to be free. 
Perhaps everything would have been different 
if you had stayed at the table or asked me 
to go out with you to look at the moon, 
instead...Read more of this...

Love Poem

by Richard Brautigan
 It's so nice
to wake up in the morning
 all alone
and not have to tell somebody
 you love them
when you don't love them
 any more....Read more of this...

Man

by Richard Brautigan
 With his hat on
he's about five inches taller
than a taxicab....Read more of this...

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