The Creation of the Morning Line (1 Viewer)

[cirerita]

View attachment 378 Originally intended to appear in the cirerita press-less series #1 :D, it was dropped at the very last minute in favor of a different unpublished poem.

Though this poem is available on a CD where B reads his poems, it's technically unpublished -at least with this title. It was probably written in '70 or '71, though an earlier date is possible as well.

 

[hank solo]

Thanks c. Heard that on the 'Poems and Insults' CD - nice to see it in print, of sorts.

 

[cirerita]

I just heard the poem and he reads it verbatim...

 

[Rekrab]

Thanks for posting, cirerita. Interesting structure in that poem.

 

[riverrat]

yawl
i enjoy the cd (poems and insults) often -
recently i crawled from under a pile of bleeding hearts - each lamented a decline of the 'modern' poet (ghram - pinsky - dunn) - a scant few seemed real in their show of emotion - which of bukowski's works would you rank as most 'emotional?'

i'm not doing a paper - no study...nothing - simply weighing my likes as opposed (or unopposed) to your's -

rrat

 

[cirerita]

which of bukowski's works would you rank as most 'emotional?

that's a tough question for sure. I'd say most poetry by B is "emotional" somehow. There was this period in the 70's when he wrote quite a lot of "play-upon-poetry" or "poetry within poetry" poems, which I find more shallow on the emotional level.

obviously, he's more exposed emotionally in the really late poems, from 1989 onwards. but if you read closely the early stuff, the emotion is there as well.

 

[chronic]

obviously, he's more exposed emotionally in the really late poems, from 1989 onwards. but if you read closely the early stuff, the emotion is there as well.

Pretty much all of the poems he wrote for or about Jane Cooney Baker were deeply emotional.

 

[Bukfan]

Pretty much all of the poems he wrote for or about Jane Cooney Baker were deeply emotional.

Yeah, all the poems about his girlfriends were deeply emotional, as
we can see in B.I.T. when he reads "The shower" about Linda King. The ones
about Scarlet aka Cupcakes also comes to mind and "Confession" about leaving Linda B. behind...

 

[riverrat]

the a.a.a.'s notwithstanding bukowski's works did indeed display much emotion - perhaps some (of the aforementioned 'aaa's) missed it due to his
close relationship with humanity - when he wrote of ants and bums and...well the subject matter requires a bit of a 'leap of faith' until the digestive process is completed - the 'faith' of those who subscribe to this site is evident as is the intellect - you know and believe in what bukowski was espousing...

peace
rrat

 

[jose leitao]

Is this racetrack lingo? Can anyone explain it to me?

Is he talking about odds?

 

[Bukfan]

Exactly...the horses are named Clich?, Law, Copulation etc. and he?s talking about the odds. A very funny poem...

 

[Bruce E Kinesis]

The Creation Of The Morning Line was the first time I came in contact with Hank. So thanks alot for posting this.

*goes to re-spin Poems & Insults*

 

[Ponder]

Thx, cirerita!

 

[HenryChinaski]

the reading of this from the Poems And Insults disc is amazing.

 

[the only good poet]

Is this racetrack lingo? Can anyone explain it to me?

Is he talking about odds?

yes, i don't understand this poem.

 

[marina del rey]

It was probably written in '70 or '71, though an earlier date is possible as well.

Here's another version of the manuscript that places it in March '72.

 

[number6horse]

Funny poem - thanks for digging it up.

The morning line refers to the odds that are given to each horse in a particular race BEFORE the betting public gets a chance to plunk down their cash - thereby changing the odds up and down according to who the public favors. As more people bet on a given horse, his odds will drop and his payout (should he win) will be less. The higher the odds, the bigger the payout since he "wasn't supposed to win".

Here are the payouts based on a $2.00 wager (the standard in the U.S.)

1-5$2.40 8-5 $5.20 6-1 $14.00
2-5$2.80 9-5 $5.60 7-1 $16.00
1-2 $3.00 2-1 $6.00 8-1 $18.00
3-5 $3.20 5-2 $7.00 9-1 $20.00
4-5 $3.60 3-1 $8.00 10-1 $22.00
1-1 $4.00 7-2 $9.00 15-1 $32.00
6-5 $4.40 4-1 $10.00 20-1 $42.00
7-5 $4.80 9-2 $11.00 30-1 $62.00
3-2 $5.00 5-1 $12.00 50-1 $102.00

I'm sorry the columns are so squeezed together - the hazards of copy/paste...

 

[mjp]

I would guess that the other version, the one I pegged as 1971, was probably done after this one, as this one has more mistakes, and a copy or re-typing may be likely to have fewer mistakes - theoretically. I think I'll change the circa on that undated version to 1972.

 

[Erik]

The morning line refers to the odds that are given to each horse in a particular race BEFORE the betting public gets a chance to plunk down their cash - thereby changing the odds up and down according to who the public favors.

Interesting point. Didn't know that before.
I wonder where "Love" usually ends up after the plunkers make their bets... :wb:

 

[number6horse]

I wonder where "Love" usually ends up after the plunkers make their bets... :wb:

If my own past is any indication, a lot lower than 50-1. And I have the losing tickets to prove it...

< cue lonesome harmonica here >