Charles Bukowski -- Poem written in 1964 whilst he was employed at the post office doing 12 hour shifts, 6:pm - 6:am, 5 days a week. That's not to say he wrote it at the post office -- no chance of that -- the place was like a slave factory. But he was living proof that you gotta write NOW and not wait until you're on vacation or retired.
Located in Books:
Crucifix in a Deathhand - pg. 49 - 1965
Penguin Modern Poets - pg. 59 - 1968
A Bukowski Sampler - pg. 70 - 1969
Burning in Water Drowning in Flame - pg. 67 - 1974
The Pleasures of the Damned - pg. 56 - 2007
Essential Bukowski: Poetry - pg. 38 - 2016
Audio Recordings featuring Bukowski reading it aloud:
A Cold Turkey Press Special LP - Cold Turkey - 1972 Audio
90 Minutes in Hell LP - Earth Books - 1977 Audio
Bukowski at Bellevue VHS - Black Sparrow - 1988 Audio
70 Minutes in Hell CD - Chinaski Records (bootleg) - 1997 Audio
Poems and Insults CD - Grey Matter - 2004 Audio
Bukowski at Bellevue DVD - Screen Edge - 2004 Audio
12 Great Americans CD - Cold Turkey - 2006 Audio
This poem took my breath away when I first read it in 1988 in my first book of poems by Bukowski: Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame.
Do you like Bukowski’s work?
I don’t like anyone else’s poetry. Full stop.
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