Friday, September 3, 2010

Play The Piano Drunk Like A Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin To Bleed A Bit

the night I was going to die
I was sweating on the bed
and I could hear the crickets
and there was a cat fight outside
and I could feel my soul dropping down through the
mattress
and just before it hit the floor I jumped up
I was almost too weak to walk
but I walked around and turned on all the lights
then made it back to the bed
and again my soul dropped down through the mattress
and I leaped up
just before it hit the floor
I walked around and turned on all the lights
and then I went back to bed
and down it dropped again and
I was up
turning on all the lights

I had a 7 year old daughter
and I felt sure she didn't want me dead
otherwise it wouldn't have
mattered

but all that night
nobody phoned
nobody came by with a beer
my girlfriend didn't phone
all I could hear were the crickets and it was
hot
and I kept working at it
getting up and down
until the first of the sun came through the window
through the bushes
and then I got on the bed
and the soul stayed
inside at last and
I slept.
now people come by
beating on the doors and windows
the phone rings
the phone rings again and again
I get great letters in the mail
hate letters and love letters.
everything is the same again.

4 comments:

Dorothy said...

And the name of the book is......................?

Andy said...

Play The Piano Drunk Like A Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin To Bleed A Bit ~ by Charles Bukowski

Dorothy said...

Oh.

Andy said...

A pretty incredible book of poetry. If you like books of poetry.

The verification word to enter this comment is: perse. That's a funny code word.