Dear fellow Chianski-lovers, a query. I am writing a short piece in defense of Bukowski's poems, in response to a friend of a mine who is a critic and a non-Bukowski lover (and also in response to a poet who recently pissed me off by talking elitist crap about Bukowski). However, the problem I face is logistical and two-fold:
1) I am traveling at the moment, and I don't have access to my usual library where I would likely just go sit with stacks of Bukowski's work pulled from the shelves. Or, I would go hang out with my neighbor whom I drink with and I know has many, many Bukowski books of poetry.
2) Years ago I had many, many books of Bukowski's poetry, most which were destroyed in Hurricane Isabel in 2003 (when I was basically living out of my car and keeping my books in the trunk. The trunk flooded and sank my heart and since then I haven't quite resumed my collection of Bukowski) and since then I have forgotten the titles of the specific poems I am searching for.
Here is where a forum like this does wonders. I am looking for a specific "type" or "genre" of Bukowski poem, of which I believe he wrote many (because I've read many of them). They are combination of a) those poems of his that are essentially lists of other writers/poets who have gone mad, or killed themselves, or been killed and b) poems of his where the poet is awake in the middle of the night, listening to classical radio, with that radical sense of isolation that some of Bukowski's work can have.
So, the poems I am looking for are the one's where the speaker (Bukowski) is up late at night, in his room, at the typewriter, alone, listening to classical music, and thinking of the many poets/writer who've gone mad/killed themselves/been killed.
I would love any suggestions of poems to look at, and how many of these types of Bukowski poems you might think there are. And thank you for reading through the post, both for your time and consideration.
1) I am traveling at the moment, and I don't have access to my usual library where I would likely just go sit with stacks of Bukowski's work pulled from the shelves. Or, I would go hang out with my neighbor whom I drink with and I know has many, many Bukowski books of poetry.
2) Years ago I had many, many books of Bukowski's poetry, most which were destroyed in Hurricane Isabel in 2003 (when I was basically living out of my car and keeping my books in the trunk. The trunk flooded and sank my heart and since then I haven't quite resumed my collection of Bukowski) and since then I have forgotten the titles of the specific poems I am searching for.
Here is where a forum like this does wonders. I am looking for a specific "type" or "genre" of Bukowski poem, of which I believe he wrote many (because I've read many of them). They are combination of a) those poems of his that are essentially lists of other writers/poets who have gone mad, or killed themselves, or been killed and b) poems of his where the poet is awake in the middle of the night, listening to classical radio, with that radical sense of isolation that some of Bukowski's work can have.
So, the poems I am looking for are the one's where the speaker (Bukowski) is up late at night, in his room, at the typewriter, alone, listening to classical music, and thinking of the many poets/writer who've gone mad/killed themselves/been killed.
I would love any suggestions of poems to look at, and how many of these types of Bukowski poems you might think there are. And thank you for reading through the post, both for your time and consideration.