ode to bukowski
i look at myself and want to hear
bukowski’s voice. i hear myself
and want to see bukowski’s face.
how can it be so clear an eye
that savages so thoroughly.
yet be so true to self and … sad.
a sky-blue dome over l.a. …
it can be beautiful anywhere.
that’s the point.
an arena you live in…
emerson knew it. you
have it, too. or you don’t.
i see myself and want to hear
bukowski, gravelly, loaded
but not drunk, knowing
what he spits is valued junk.
i’m a poet, he says, making
conversation, braving
what comments come his way.
tortuous amusements.
acid clouds and acid rain.
truth burning shit.
crowds applaud.
they come to hear the master
tell it like it is. he in his corner
cratering between rounds
with a cold beer and lifted hand
to quiet those who think
they know the survivor
because they both got high.
© Michael Foldes
Michael Foldes (b 1946) is an American poet, publisher, author and businessman.
His publications and projects include the book, Sleeping Dogs: A true story of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping… (Split Oak Press, Ithaca, NY, 2012), which revealed the existence of a .32-caliber pistol allegedly used in the kidnap-murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.; Sandy: Chronicles of a Superstorm, a volume of poetry and images in collaboration with artist Christie Devereaux; Fashions & Passions, a series of ekphrastic poems in collaboration with artist Christopher Panzner; a short series of poems and images in collaboration with photographer Valerie Brown; and most recently ENDGAME, a collaboration of 75 poems and images, again with Panzner.
His articles, editorials, poems and stories have appeared in numerous publications worldwide, some in translation into Romanian, Hungarian, French and Spanish. He and his wife Margot have three children. He lives in Greater Binghamton, New York.
The Loch Raven Review 