"relaxing, like a mouse in a trap" (1 Viewer)

[Hep8urn]

Does anyone know a Bukowski poem, very famous in Germany, with the (German) title of "Mal relaxen, wie eine Maus in der Falle", or, roughly translated, "Relaxing (or more like hanging around), like a mouse in a trap". The first line is:
"In most cases, we end up as senile, good natured fools, rocked backwards and forwards by rosy nurses who snap at us because the bedpan is once again filled to the rim."
The German version is below. This is a very well known and oft quoted poem in Germany, but I can't find any reference to an English original, or English translation.
Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks.

German - First sentence:

In den meisten Fällen
enden wir als senile
gutmütige Narren, hin
und her geschoben von
einer rosigen Kranken-
schwester, die uns an-
blafft, weil die
Bettpfanne wieder rand-
voll ist.

 

[hank solo]

Do you know if this poem appeared in a particular (German) book?

 

[Mark73]

I don't have the book here right now to take a look at it, but the lines above could well be taken from "All the assholes..." in the German version and not be a poem at all.

 

[roni]

Audrey, your poem is in 'Flinke Killer', which is out of print.

To find out the original source is a tough mother:
in the German book, they don't give the exact source of each poem, but it could be in 'While the music played' (BSP, 1973) or 'A Bukowski Sampler' (Druid books, Madison/Wisconsin 1971) both of which I don't have at hand to check.
But we have some cats here, who might be able to look it up.

(other sources for the poems in the German book were 'The Days Run Away' and 'Mockingbird', both of which don't have that poem. Seems, they've also used some unnamed magazines for their collection. As I said, it's a tough mother. My bet would be to start with the two, I've mentioned above. If somebody could post a ToC, I may be able to find out, which it could be. Weissner sometimes had odd ways to make up a title for a poem.)

 

[hank solo]

You're right roni, it is in 'Sampler' - the original poem is called 'I Think of Mice Cooling It.'


And thanks to LickTheStar, here it is...
https://bukowskiforum.com/index.php?threads/a-sampler-of-a-bukowski-sampler.3407/

 

[Mark73]

When the question popped up Cowboy just said to me, if there is a German cat on this board who's able to give the correct answer at the speed of light it will be roni.

 

[roni]

not exactly. hanksolo and Lick were the real problem-solvers.

 

[hank solo]

roni, you're far too modest.

 

[roni]

only to make you say so, which is good for my ego.