Post by johnyamrus on Sept 19, 2006 5:35:53 GMT -6
did i ever tell you
about the time
Linda said i was good,
but that i’d never be
Bukowski?
Linda was a poet.
one of Bukowski’s
girlfriends
in the ‘70s.
for a while
she edited and published
a pretty decent little magazine.
she wrote to me saying
that she loved my poems…
actually, it’s been so long now
i really don’t remember
if she loved them
or liked them,
but it doesn’t matter…
she said that i was good,
but i would never be great…
because i wasn’t
mad.
Bukowski (she said) was mad…
and he was
great.
i wrote back
saying that she was right…
Bukowski IS mad
and Bukowski IS great,
but if one of the qualifications
for being mad
and being great
was having to put up with the likes of her,
then i’d be more than happy
to settle for what i am
and what i’m
going to be.
that was 30 years ago,
and do you know what?
i’m still not mad
and i’m still not
great…
but, every now and then,
when the moon’s just right
i’m not
half bad.
about the time
Linda said i was good,
but that i’d never be
Bukowski?
Linda was a poet.
one of Bukowski’s
girlfriends
in the ‘70s.
for a while
she edited and published
a pretty decent little magazine.
she wrote to me saying
that she loved my poems…
actually, it’s been so long now
i really don’t remember
if she loved them
or liked them,
but it doesn’t matter…
she said that i was good,
but i would never be great…
because i wasn’t
mad.
Bukowski (she said) was mad…
and he was
great.
i wrote back
saying that she was right…
Bukowski IS mad
and Bukowski IS great,
but if one of the qualifications
for being mad
and being great
was having to put up with the likes of her,
then i’d be more than happy
to settle for what i am
and what i’m
going to be.
that was 30 years ago,
and do you know what?
i’m still not mad
and i’m still not
great…
but, every now and then,
when the moon’s just right
i’m not
half bad.
