Three poems inspired by lines from Charles Bukowski’s poem, “The Laughing Heart.” Click on the link to watch the entire poem read by Tom Waits.
“The Laughing Heart” read by Tom Waits
I. Marvelous
“…you are marvelous. the gods wait to delight in you…”
—Charles Bukowski
you really are, you know.
marvelous in the most marvelous
sense of the word, provoking
marvel with every breath, every
scripted and unscripted display
of charm. the gods wait
for the delight you will bring
to their stuffy boardroom,
the lilac perfume that will overwhelm
their mothball-scented sweaters
and remind them of youth and spring,
while you just go on being
nothing less than marvelous.
II. Chances
“…be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances. know them. take them…”
—Charles Bukowski
chances live everywhere.
everywhere. climb trees
to see them. look under
rocks. lie on your back,
wait for clouds to spell
them out for you. turn on
the radio, write down
every 11th word, then string
them all together to
know your chances.
and then when you have
watched, listened, found,
touched, known your chances,
take them. stuff your pockets,
fill the trunk of your car, cram
box after box, and take them
everywhere you go. everywhere.
III. Your Life
“…your life is your life. Know it while you have it…”
— Charles Bukowski
Em…I read these a few days ago and, in my true ADHD form thought you were simply quoting Charles for us. I loved the poems so much, decided I needed to read all his stuff…listen to Tom read them. Maybe read these poems at my End of the (Unconscious) World party….and today…as I started getting ready for the party I decided to read these again…and I find that you wrote them? Oh my, these are so amazing. They are my manifesto for consciousness. I love them soooo much.