Bukowski

it was Mark who introduced me

to Bukowski's poetry

a few pieces from

The Last Night of the Earth Poems

I was hooked



I had only just started writing poetry

wore a black beret

drank coffee in the middle of the night

and listened to Peter, Paul, and Mary



the was ten years ago

Mark was in love with me

but I broke his heart because

he seemed so old to me then



it was Justin who introduced me

to Bukowski's prose

perhaps I had read

a short story or two before

but it didn't matter



Justin and I wrote disturbing poetry

that was trite and full of angst<

we got drunk too often

and annoyed our professors because

we asked too many questions



we were in love with each other

but neither of us knew it—

who knows anything at 23?

after college, we never saw each other

again



it was Greg who introduced me

to Matt, a poet who had never heard of

Bukowski

Greg was disturbed by the fact that

someone Matt's age, who loved poetry,

didn't know Bukowski and

didn't read Sylvia Plath



but I was just a year older than Matt

and I read Bukowski

and, except for The Bell Jar

didn't care much for Plath

I knew what I liked by then:



I liked Greg's smile

and his tattooed body

I liked Matt's New England accent and

I liked that he laughed when I told him

what I really thought of his poems

four years ago



now it all seems

like an eternity ago:

I feel like I've known

Bukowski

all

my

life.

Sweet Love

I know this guy who's diabetic

Whenever he's at my apartment

he has to go home every couple of hours

  to check his blood sugar levels

I miss him during those few minutes

and I'm always overjoyed when he comes back

  sipping his Capri Sun



Once a long time ago at his apartment

he checked his blood sugar

right there in his room

and when the results were in

  he shot insulin into his hip

I asked him if he needed a Capri Sun

  "No sugar this time. Just insulin."



He called me one night while I was

trying to write an essay

for some silly class

  that I didn't really care about.

My priorities don't involve textbooks

"I need you to come over," he said

  "I had a seizure today at 4am."



I was over an hour later

with a pint of Ben & Jerry's

Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie

  "Cause this time you where low, right?"

He grabbed my hand and said,

"Do ya ever have days when you

  only wanna see specific people?"



Curled up on his bed

with the ice-cream close at hand

we watched the first half of a movie

  and then we kissed for nearly two hours

Then I went home at 2am and stared at my

blank computer screen and told myself,

  "I could love this guy."