A Most Serious Fellow - 1977 unpublished poem (1 Viewer)
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HenryChinaski
Founding member
thanks for this
mjp
Founding member
Bukowski resented everyone who he thought didn't have to work for a living, and Richmond would certainly fall in that category during that time.
HenryChinaski
Founding member
so what, if you ask me, he had every right to be bitter. some people get everything handed to them on a silver platter. but what about the ones who have to work to get anything they want? is it just luck?
I'm not sayin that he was a cry baby or anything but some people just get dealt a bad hand in this life. he has every right to show some bitterness towards the more fortunate.
I'm not sayin that he was a cry baby or anything but some people just get dealt a bad hand in this life. he has every right to show some bitterness towards the more fortunate.
ROC
It is what it is
Should I have written "But he was a bitter and petulant curmudgeon at times, wasn't he?:D "?
My presence and contributions to this website should indicate to all that I am not a detractor of the man. I made the previous comment with my tongue firmly in my cheek.
I don't think the poem itself is cruelly mocking. It seems vintage Bukowski in that it is a highly subjective and possibly distorted view of reality masquerading as his signature 'poetic journalism'.
But I want you to know, HenryChinaski, that I reject your premise - Bukowski made his own luck, worked like a MF to get the word on the page and didn't use excuses such as "some people have got it better than me". He wrote about the disparity between rich and poor many times. He wrote of how the masses lacked souls (rich or poor) and how he dreamed of a life of idle - a rich patron to look after him while he 'pretended to be a writer'. But at the end of the day, he made the choices which governed the direction his life took... we all do.
Apart from your immediate family, just about everything in this life is a matter of choices. It seems to me Bukowski chose to live the life he lived in order to write the way he did. And when bad luck comes along (as it most surely will) you have to be able to make something out of it.
(Let me be clear - I am not talking about the child abuse from his parents. I'm talking about the choices we all make as adults.)
But, if he did, on occasion, rail against 'the more fortunate' I would simply say fuck that and get back to work... so that you can upgrade from the BMW to something better - so you could trade the gold Amex for an onyx one - so you can afford a maid and gardener to help with pruning your fruit trees and cleaning your pool.
The harder one works in life, the luckier one gets.
and...
Don't try.
:)
My presence and contributions to this website should indicate to all that I am not a detractor of the man. I made the previous comment with my tongue firmly in my cheek.
I don't think the poem itself is cruelly mocking. It seems vintage Bukowski in that it is a highly subjective and possibly distorted view of reality masquerading as his signature 'poetic journalism'.
But I want you to know, HenryChinaski, that I reject your premise - Bukowski made his own luck, worked like a MF to get the word on the page and didn't use excuses such as "some people have got it better than me". He wrote about the disparity between rich and poor many times. He wrote of how the masses lacked souls (rich or poor) and how he dreamed of a life of idle - a rich patron to look after him while he 'pretended to be a writer'. But at the end of the day, he made the choices which governed the direction his life took... we all do.
Apart from your immediate family, just about everything in this life is a matter of choices. It seems to me Bukowski chose to live the life he lived in order to write the way he did. And when bad luck comes along (as it most surely will) you have to be able to make something out of it.
(Let me be clear - I am not talking about the child abuse from his parents. I'm talking about the choices we all make as adults.)
But, if he did, on occasion, rail against 'the more fortunate' I would simply say fuck that and get back to work... so that you can upgrade from the BMW to something better - so you could trade the gold Amex for an onyx one - so you can afford a maid and gardener to help with pruning your fruit trees and cleaning your pool.
The harder one works in life, the luckier one gets.
and...
Don't try.
:)
I get the feeling I've read one of these before. Maybe a similar one that's been published.
The "poem-dick" metaphor is what Buk's working at here. Nice. Wonder if it really came from Richmond. If it did he should be honored/flattered, not pissed! The worst criticism is ignoring someone. He must have heard most of these comments face on many times before.
The "poem-dick" metaphor is what Buk's working at here. Nice. Wonder if it really came from Richmond. If it did he should be honored/flattered, not pissed! The worst criticism is ignoring someone. He must have heard most of these comments face on many times before.
Perhaps an Oscar quote deserves some mention at this time.
There is only one thing worse than being talked about
Not being talked about.
I bet more people have read SR because of CB's writings than his own.
For what its worth I pulled this from Amazon
Must confess didn;t know Richmond was tied to Buks tit ...still is IMHO
please cancel piece I submitted earlier today, March 30, 2003
Reviewer: A reader
In case I submitted a "review" of my own book earlier today, please don't print it. It's inappropriate to say least.
thanks,
steve richmond
I have no idea if its real but the reviews of his buk book are there for you to chuckle over.
There is only one thing worse than being talked about
Not being talked about.
I bet more people have read SR because of CB's writings than his own.
For what its worth I pulled this from Amazon
Must confess didn;t know Richmond was tied to Buks tit ...still is IMHO
please cancel piece I submitted earlier today, March 30, 2003
Reviewer: A reader
In case I submitted a "review" of my own book earlier today, please don't print it. It's inappropriate to say least.
thanks,
steve richmond
I have no idea if its real but the reviews of his buk book are there for you to chuckle over.
For what it's worth, I find the poem vicious (in relation to other poems, not in relation to Buk's). I mean how would you feel if someone wrote that about you? That being said, it's got fucking chops and in the end, that's all that matters.
ROC
It is what it is
Let's say the poem was about me (ha!)...
If it was true (or I felt it to be true) it would make me take a hard look at myself and maybe address some issues.
If it was not true, I would be chuffed that I was important enough for Buk to write about and, as it doesn't mention my name, would not give a flying ____.
At any rate, a couple of Buk poems and a book dedication is all Richmond will be remembered for in 50-100 years. It certainly wont be for his skills as a writer.
In a way he should be thankful ;)
If it was true (or I felt it to be true) it would make me take a hard look at myself and maybe address some issues.
If it was not true, I would be chuffed that I was important enough for Buk to write about and, as it doesn't mention my name, would not give a flying ____.
At any rate, a couple of Buk poems and a book dedication is all Richmond will be remembered for in 50-100 years. It certainly wont be for his skills as a writer.
In a way he should be thankful ;)
i like richmonds stuff. i think bukowskis thing was kind of like shooting fish in a bucket, though. i mean - hes an out there kind of guy - obviously - bukowski knew this - why push the fucking matter? indeed - move on.
all right. listen - google in "steve richmond poet" - and you may find a little article - "downfall of a dopefiend"? or something like that. a bit of an innerveiw. i didnt realize he was a heroin addict. he only stopped about a year or so ago. maybe no one here gives a shit. have any of you read his stuff? he really is a fine poet. im glad that i discovered him through reading bukowski. "hitler painted roses". what else to say?
all right. listen - google in "steve richmond poet" - and you may find a little article - "downfall of a dopefiend"? or something like that. a bit of an innerveiw. i didnt realize he was a heroin addict. he only stopped about a year or so ago. maybe no one here gives a shit. have any of you read his stuff? he really is a fine poet. im glad that i discovered him through reading bukowski. "hitler painted roses". what else to say?
Bukfan
"The law is wrong; I am right"
ROC
It is what it is
Maybe they "dance around the rare book market leaving Richmond's erotic demons on the shelf" because they feel the same way about his writing as I do. I mean...
Hey
Hey, I woke up today!
And there was the sun again
shooting in through the shades
and spearing me in the eye!
And the clock! Still alive!
and the rug was not on fire!
and the lawn! The trees! The gutter!
All there! Once again!
Today!
...is pure crap.
If you've got nothing to say, you should not take 9 lines to say it in.
A poetry rope-pissing exercise.
Hey
Hey, I woke up today!
And there was the sun again
shooting in through the shades
and spearing me in the eye!
And the clock! Still alive!
and the rug was not on fire!
and the lawn! The trees! The gutter!
All there! Once again!
Today!
...is pure crap.
If you've got nothing to say, you should not take 9 lines to say it in.
A poetry rope-pissing exercise.
When he says...
I hope my poem-dick gets limp
before the other one
does
...what I like is that his last line interjects needed humor into a poem that's about taking poetry too seriously... and I don't think he's bashing his friend, whom he calls "a good fellow." Bukowski is talking about his friend's grimness of approach, and writing things down that he wouldn't say to him and hurt his feelings directly. To me that's what poems are for: they are a private avenue of expression to get things out of our system and onto the paper as a statement of the our ironic perceptions... And the way Buk builds creative tension and then releases it seems so easy; but just try to do it sometime and it's not so simple. Such relaxed, effortless writing in his poem-parts...
Beautiful.
This poem is mentioned in a letter to John Martin, collected in 'Living on Luck' p. 236.
The poem xerox was dated 21 October 1977. The letter below was from just a few weeks later, 15 November 1977.
The poem xerox was dated 21 October 1977. The letter below was from just a few weeks later, 15 November 1977.
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