So You Thought

So you thought Charles Bukowski was nothing but an insensitive, drunken, misguided lout.

You would have a point if you did not dig deep enough.

As far as the drunkenness and insanity goes, in a way I admire that in a human.

Talk about flaunting convention; causing tongues to cluck and heads to wag in disapproval.

Isn't that what we all want? As opposed to being the well behaved sheep that we are?

I have had enough of a run in with whiskey and song to know I really do not want to live my life that way. Waking up every day with a ravaged body and a foggy head.

It is enjoyable to erase it all with a bit of hair of the dog and start all over again, provides one with a measurable sense of accomplishment but, and maybe this is proof that I am getting older and wiser (?) here, it feels pretty good these days to wake up feeling healthy.

Or as healthy as a 61 year old body can feel.

I'm not sure an aching hip, a weak back (Stooges - How long have you had a weak back? Oh, about a week back), a throbbing hip, painful knees, and an uncomfortable neck/shoulder thing can be considered healthy, but sometimes you gotta take what you get.

Anyway, as proof that Mr. Bukowski had a sensitive nature, I present the following.

The poem is titled "My Cats."

I am just laying it out here long form and not following the structure that Bukowski conceived.

Don't you sometimes wonder how poets decide to break up their sentences? Why one line can be one word, or a phrase is split between two lines?

Is it pretentiousness or is it creativity?

How the hell do I know? I am just a liquor store hack.

Anyway, here it is:

"My Cats"

"I know, I know, they are limited, have different needs and concerns. But I watch and learn from them. I like the little they know, which is so much. They complain but never worry, they walk with a surprising dignity. They sleep with a direct simplicity that humans just can't understand. Their eyes are more beautiful than our eyes and they can sleep 20 hours a day without hesitation or remorse. When I am feeling low all I have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns.  I study these creatures. They are my teachers."

I love my cats.

I love Bukowski.