drunk again at 3 a.m. at the end of my 2nd bottle
of wine, I have typed from a dozen to 15 pages of
poesy
an old man
maddened for the flesh of young girls in this
dwindling twilight
liver gone
kidneys going
pancrea pooped
top-floor blood pressure
while all the fear of the wasted years
laughs between my toes
no woman will live with me
no Florence Nightingale to watch the
Johnny Carson show with
if I have a stroke I will lay here for six
days, my three cats hungrily ripping the flesh
from my elbows, wrists, head
the radio playing classical music …
I promised myself never to write old man poems
but this one’s funny, you see, excusable, be-
cause I’ve long gone past using myself and there’s
still more left
here at 3 a.m. I am going to take this sheet from
the typer
pour another glass and
insert
make love to the fresh new whiteness
maybe get lucky
again
first for
me
later
for you.
from “All’s Normal Here” – 1985

Analysis, meaning and summary of Charles Bukowski's poem Here I Am …

2 Comments

  1. matt says:

    THIS IS THE GREATEST POEM I HAVE HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE AND I AM 74 YEARS OLD ROCK ON!!!!!!!

  2. Robyn says:

    Why did this poem suck? But I guess Bukowski is a hit or miss kind of writer, you either love him or hate him (Just fyi, I love him)
    I was listen to this song by Good Riddance called “More DePalma Less Fellini” and some of the lyrics were taken directly from this poem. I found it really intersting. So if you like this poem and like rock (with a harder edge) you should check it out.

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