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Poem of the day - To The Whore Who Took My Poems - by Charles Bukowski

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Charles Bukowski

(1920 - 1994) Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Bukowski's writing was heavily influenced by the geography and atmosphere of his home city of Los Angeles, and is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. A prolific author, Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories, and six novels, eventually having over 60 books in print. In 1986 Time called Bukowski a "laureate of American lowlife."

To The Whore Who Took My Poems

some say we should keep personal remorse from the
poem,
stay abstract, and there is some reason in this,
but jezus;
twelve poems gone and I don't keep carbons and you have
my
paintings too, my best ones; its stifling:
are you trying to crush me out like the rest of them?
why didn't you take my money? they usually do
from the sleeping drunken pants sick in the corner.
next time take my left arm or a fifty
but not my poems:
I'm not Shakespeare
but sometime simply
there won't be any more, abstract or otherwise;
there'll always be mony and whores and drunkards
down to the last bomb,
but as God said,
crossing his legs,
I see where I have made plenty of poets
but not so very much
poetry.

I once knew a drinker who had a moderating problem...

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I can see why you like this(smiles). It's very much your style. It reminds me slightly of your poems in a certain way Gritiness/Keeping it real etc from 'Trash Talk' and 'Under Cover of darkness' and the humour from many others you've published. Good choice and slightly different...
New Poem out

The Observer
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In fact (giggles) it's similar to 'Steal this poem'
New Poem out

The Observer
Rest in Peace
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Quote by Louise
In fact (giggles) it's similar to 'Steal this poem'


Thanks Louise, I think...I think he may have stole it from me...

The way I came across it, I had just started posting on another poetry site the other day...Hello Poetry, and was checking to see how many views I got on my poems...two views on each poem, in two days...btw, if anyone thinks this site doesn't get many views, try posting on poetry sites...except for Poetry Craze, which I have issues with I've mentioned before here in the forum, Stories Space frankly blows the poetry sites out of the water as far as views go...

And it's actually a really nice site...it's like All Poetry...it has everything except visitors...

Anyway, I was perusing the "Classic Poets" section, and this one caught my eye...with that title, how could I not read it?

I did a quick Google search, because I wanted to verify that spelling of "money" and came across the YouTube vid, which I think is a nice touch, and something to consider for future "Poem of the Day" postings...

And I appreciate the comparison to my poems, I think...lol...and that poem is called "Under Darkness Of Night" btw...

I have a lot to learn about poetry, I'm the first to admit that...I don't ever see my poems getting too "high brow" so to speak...I like to keep my poetry "accessible" and really don't mind considering myself a "popular poet"...

I don't care if someone in the LinkedIn Poets group called my work "tawdry"...lol...

Btw, I don't see myself submitting much more to Hello Poetry...
I once knew a drinker who had a moderating problem...

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Quote by DirtyMartini
Quote by Louise
In fact (giggles) it's similar to 'Steal this poem'


Thanks Louise, I think...I think he may have stole it from me...

The way I came across it, I had just started posting on another poetry site the other day...Hello Poetry, and was checking to see how many views I got on my poems...two views on each poem, in two days...btw, if anyone thinks this site doesn't get many views, try posting on poetry sites...except for Poetry Craze, which I have issues with I've mentioned before here in the forum, Stories Space frankly blows the poetry sites out of the water as far as views go...

And it's actually a really nice site...it's like All Poetry...it has everything except visitors...

Anyway, I was perusing the "Classic Poets" section, and this one caught my eye...with that title, how could I not read it?

I did a quick Google search, because I wanted to verify that spelling of "money" and came across the YouTube vid, which I think is a nice touch, and something to consider for future "Poem of the Day" postings...

And I appreciate the comparison to my poems, I think...lol...and that poem is called "Under Darkness Of Night" btw...

I have a lot to learn about poetry, I'm the first to admit that...I don't ever see my poems getting too "high brow" so to speak...I like to keep my poetry "accessible" and really don't mind considering myself a "popular poet"...

I don't care if someone in the LinkedIn Poets group called my work "tawdry"...lol...

Btw, I don't see myself submitting much more to Hello Poetry...


(giggles) I think your style is a reflection of your character, Alan. You can't please everyone. I once had someone call my poetry 'flowery'. It irked me no end until I came to the decision that it was his opinion.

I love the choice. It was different.
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The Observer
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Quote by Louise


I love the choice. It was different.


Thanks Louise...like I said, it was a bit of an arbitrary decision...

I realized there were a couple of poems on this site that had a similar theme...I believe Sharon's last poem touched on the topic of "poem theft" as well...and finding a video to go with it sort of cemented my decision...

And yeah, being called "flowery" is not all that bad, the fact that someone has an opinion on your poetry at all means that it is, in fact, being read...

Imagine if you will, that you have spent the last twenty or so years writing poems which you consider "serious" and strive for "artistic merit" but nobody actually reads them...

And then imagine if you will, someone who comes along and openly admits he only started writing poems on an "adult" story site...and then, within a couple of years, his poems have found some level of popularity...even to the point of getting "in print"...

Not going to mention any names, but I think you get the idea...and yeah, I'm the first to admit that I'd rather write poems that are actually read by people, over writing poems that strive for some impossible level of "artistic merit" and are read and discussed only by members of poetry discussion groups...a concept that seems to be pure heresy to some "poets"...

And yeah...you really should check out the Poets group over on LinkedIn...very interesting...and yeah, it does get a bit heated at times, to the point where I find it rather comical really...

I don't get over there much, not because I can't take the heat...I think you know me better than that...but, rather the level of discussion...it's not unusual for there to be sixty or more posts in a day...and I just can't keep up with it...

But, the discussions really are good...and thought provoking...it would be nice if there were some actual poetry discussion here, with a bit less drama perhaps...we don't need any Llamas as members of Stories Space...

And yeah, don't get me wrong...I'm still very new at this poetry thing, and there is a lot to learn for me, and a lot of directions to explore...and yeah, I feel I can most definitely increase the "artistic merit" of my poetry...

I just hope I never get so "artistic" that people stop reading my poems...
I once knew a drinker who had a moderating problem...

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Quote by DirtyMartini
Quote by Louise


I love the choice. It was different.


Thanks Louise...like I said, it was a bit of an arbitrary decision...

I realized there were a couple of poems on this site that had a similar theme...I believe Sharon's last poem touched on the topic of "poem theft" as well...and finding a video to go with it sort of cemented my decision...

And yeah, being called "flowery" is not all that bad, the fact that someone has an opinion on your poetry at all means that it is, in fact, being read...

Imagine if you will, that you have spent the last twenty or so years writing poems which you consider "serious" and strive for "artistic merit" but nobody actually reads them...

And then imagine if you will, someone who comes along and openly admits he only started writing poems on an "adult" story site...and then, within a couple of years, his poems have found some level of popularity...even to the point of getting "in print"...

Not going to mention any names, but I think you get the idea...and yeah, I'm the first to admit that I'd rather write poems that are actually read by people, over writing poems that strive for some impossible level of "artistic merit" and are read and discussed only by members of poetry discussion groups...a concept that seems to be pure heresy to some "poets"...

And yeah...you really should check out the Poets group over on LinkedIn...very interesting...and yeah, it does get a bit heated at times, to the point where I find it rather comical really...

I don't get over there much, not because I can't take the heat...I think you know me better than that...but, rather the level of discussion...it's not unusual for there to be sixty or more posts in a day...and I just can't keep up with it...

But, the discussions really are good...and thought provoking...it would be nice if there were some actual poetry discussion here, with a bit less drama perhaps...we don't need any Llamas as members of Stories Space...

And yeah, don't get me wrong...I'm still very new at this poetry thing, and there is a lot to learn for me, and a lot of directions to explore...and yeah, I feel I can most definitely increase the "artistic merit" of my poetry...

I just hope I never get so "artistic" that people stop reading my poems...



Ah yes! I'm going to quote someone who knew something about writing. He wrote really serious plays and sonnets and a lot of humourous low brow works too. It was the bard himself, William Shakespeare. This is from Hamlet and said by Polonius to his son.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Applicable to writing too...I think you shouldn't change yourself or your writing to please others unless YOU want to...
New Poem out

The Observer