Dostoevsky
-Charles Bukowski-
against the wall, the firing squad ready.
then he got a reprieve.
suppose they had shot Dostoevsky?
before he wrote all that?
I suppose it wouldn't have
mattered
not directly.
there are billions of people who have
never read him and never
will.
but as a young man I know that he
got me through the factories,
past the whores,
lifted me high through the night
and put me down
in a better
place.
even while in the bar
drinking with the other
derelicts,
I was glad they gave Dostoevsky a
reprieve,
it gave me one,
allowed me to look directly at those
rancid faces
in my world,
death pointing its finger,
I held fast,
an immaculate drunk
sharing the stinking dark with
my
brothers.
VIEW 18 of 18 COMMENTS
In other news (and very deliquent responses) the book about the pirates sounds mighty interesting, especially since I have a love/fear relationship with children. It's definitely going on my "to be read" list.
I would love to trade you a doodle for a chair. (Big empahsis on doodle.) The chairs look like just the thing for wave watching on the Oregon coast.
I have often browsed Bukowski, but he seems to depress me mostly. Tell me what is it in his words that connects with you. And who are the faces in the photo? (I am a very curious girl this evening.
As always . . .
[Edited on Feb 18, 2006 8:25PM]