Friday, September 4, 2009

Poetry Slam Friday with Drinking References



















washed-up, on shore, the old yellow notebook
out again
I write from the bed
as I did last
year.
will see the doctor,
Monday.
"yes, doctor, weak legs, vertigo, head-
aches and my back
hurts."
"are you drinking?" he will ask.
"are you getting your
exercise, your
vitamins?"
I think that I am just ill
with life, the same stale yet
fluctuating
factors.
even at the track
I watch the horses run by
and it seems
meaningless.
I leave early after buying tickets on the
remaining races.
"taking off?" asks the motel
clerk.
"yes, it's boring,"
I tell him.
"If you think it's boring
out there," he tells me, "you oughta be
back here."
so here I am
propped up against my pillows
again
just an old guy
just an old writer
with a yellow
notebook.
something is
walking across the
floor
toward
me.
oh, it's just
my cat
this
time.

29 comments:

Melba said...

Well, I want to say Hemingway but I don't think he wrote poetry. It's sparse and un-flowery enough to be him.

Not Ramon either. I know he likes the bigger, Tolstoyesque words.

Thanks Bob.

Perseus said...

Ah, a nice choice Bob. I remember fondly drinking cheap red wine and reciting his poetry in gutters when I was 19. I was such a knob... but they were great days when I aspired to be a drunken literary figure.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

How cute is the blonde on the end.

Oh, wait.

We're supposed to be discussing the poetry, aren't we?

Perseus said...

Oh, she's blonde is she?

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

Well - yes.

The one nearest the camera.

Lewd Bob said...

I figured there was something for everyone in this post.

Perseus said...

I didn't notice her hair.

squib said...

I don't know, I find this poem a bit kind of prosaic

wari lasi said...

I didn't get past the picture.

She's a cutie.

Oh God. I hope I haven't been creepy again.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

I liked the bit about the cat, Squib.

Perseus said...

It's certainly not one of his best poems - not even close - but even a crap Bukowski is better than anything William Blake did.

Lewd Bob said...

Yes squib, his structure is odd. Almost a parody of earnest, undergraduate poetry.

Perseus said...

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could wake me when it's over?

Perseus said...

Youth of delight! come hither
And see the opening morn,
Image of Truth new-born.
Doubt is fled, fuck me dead
This is fucking shithouse already.

*

Just had a bad haircut. I'm taking it out on William Blake.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

but even a crap Bukowski is better than anything William Blake did

Now you've done it.

Perseus said...

William Blake is rubbish. And so is Chatterton.

And Percy Shelley. The poor man's Byron.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.'


How could you not like that?

Melba said...

Blake's not crap. I liked some of his short poems, and yes, some of the heavy-handed religious stuff is odious, but anyone who can write "Jerusalem" I will defend. It is the most beautiful hymn in the universe, according to this atheist. If you disagree, I will have to smite thee with my bows of burning gold and my sword if you say a word against that hymn. (I admit the music is probably the more stirring but the words are good too.)

Bukowski I find tiresome after about one or two stories. Make it one.

squib said...

even a crap Bukowski is better than anything William Blake did

Persey, you are dead to me (until after I take the dog for a walk)

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

I thought I heard a scream of rage from Fremantle.

Kettle said...

I'm with Perseus on Blake. I'm always wary of people who try their hand at multiple art forms: take Kylie Minogue, Delta Goodrem, Jason Donovan, Natalie Bassingthwaite, etc. An artist and a poet, Blake? Come on.

squib said...

Wot about Bob Dylan then, eh?

Kettle said...

Good point well made, Squib. How about this then: I'll reconsider Blake as soon as he's approached by a GPS provider to do a voice-over.

squib said...

I expect that will happen sooner than we think

Kettle said...

Jurassic Park-style, Squib?

squib said...

Kettle, I think this could be a hit film. Shhhh, we don't want anyone to steal our ideas

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

as soon as he's approached by a GPS provider to do a voice-over

"Tyger, tyger
Now turn right".

Kettle said...

Squib I can see it now: our reconstituted Blake will chase Jeff Goldblum around some godforsaken island lobbing small pocket watches and hurling delightful tea cups patterned with dog roses. Next year's Oscars are ours, for sure.

And Ramon, in the immortal words of Ms Fits, I laughed so hard I think I might have peed a little.

Unknown said...

our reconstituted Blake will chase Jeff Goldblum around some godforsaken island

I'm imagining that godforsaken island is Tasmania.

Which would mean that *now* this post really does have something for everyone.