"the riots" from 1992 changed to "riots" 2003 (1 Viewer)

A book of poems, essays and stories about the riots following the Rodney King verdict entitled The Verdict Is In has a Bukowski poem "the riots" (p. 74) which follows:

I've watched this city burn twice
in my lifetime
and the most notable thing
was the arrival of the politicians in the
aftermath
proclaiming the wrongs of
the system
and demanding new
policies toward and for the
poor.

nothing was corrected last
time.
nothing will be corrected this time.

the poor will remain poor.
the unemployed will remain
so.
the homeless will remain
homeless

and the politicians,
fat upon the land, will live
very well.

Changed in Sifting Through the Madness (2003), p. 165:

I've watched this city burn twice
in my lifetime
and the most notable event
was the reaction of the
politicians in the
aftermath
as they
proclaimed the injustice of
the system
and demanded a new
deal for the hapless and the poor.

nothing was corrected last
time.
nothing will be changed this
time.

the poor will remain poor.
the unemployed will remain
so.
the homeless will remain
homeless.

and the politicans,
fat upon the land, will thrive
forever.

The chances seem to me to be exactly zero that Bukowski would have revised this poem after submitting it in 1991/1992 for the anthology about the riots.
 
Hapless?!?
Jezuz This definitely DID NOT make my day.
 

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