I hate myself enough for the both of us, Bukowski

I met Annabelle Bonebrake at the Los Angeles Lit Crawl. She read a poem that she’d written to Charles Bukowski, one of my favorite Los Angeles writers. I love her poem, so she’s allowing me to use it in this post. If you want to read Bukowski, start with Post Office.

Here’s a quote: “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”

I hate myself enough

For the both of us,

Bukowski

 

So I guess it’s good

you’re dead

 

And my boyfriend hates

me, too

because I finish my laundry

and wake up to an alarm

 

As you know, we

Women become emblems

of sobriety

and wine drunkenness

 

I’ve played myself before,

And also play the tired

dress hung up to dry

then hung up for later

 

Bukowski, we can’t find

a book by you

downtown

for less than $16.95

 

We’ve won, or we’ve lost,

I can’t tell.

 

Poem my Annabelle Bonebrake,

Poetry Editor for Kind Writers,

KindWriters.com,

Annabellebonebrake.com.