title of poem? (1 Viewer)

Digney in Burnaby

donkeys live a long time
In 3/1 issue of Event (Douglas College, New Westminster, BC, circa 1973) there is a poem that isn't titled. This is rare for Bukowski from what I remember, he could usually come up with some sort of title. Either there was a typo and the title omitted or there wasn't one.

While the database has five poems listed here there actually are six poems listed as such, "'Six Poems', page 14," in the table of contents for that issue.

Opening line is:

I get all the latest hit tunes...

and ends:

it's the only way we can
teach that
son of a bitch what
suffering is


(urgh, all the staggering of the line breaks aren't coming through.)

I've read it from the journal a few times but it seems familiar like I've read it as well from another source. Does it have a title? And has it been collected? A few of the six poems from that issue were collected in books from that time period (and in What Matters Most). But after a quick look (never a good way to go about research) I couldn't find the opening line in Mockingbird, Burning in Water, or Play the Piano
 
Well that was easy. This is how it appeared in Event back in 1973. Some wording differences and the appearance on the page is quite different to What Matters Most.

i get all the latest tunes.JPG
 
Thanks for the scan, Digney!

The biggest difference between the two versions is this:

If I murdered him no court in America would justify my decency

Compared to the version in What Matters Most:

If I murdered him no court in America would forgive my courage
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top