i stir my coffee slowly
clockwise and then anti-clockwise.
a newspaper sits on the table like stale crackers
moist from the humid air,

a drop of sweat
hanging precariously
from the tip of my nose
collapses;
suddenly giving up
………..its will

descending below -
to rest upon
an empty page of a diary
dated September 29.

I love this song…

Where has that old friend gone
Lost in a February song
Tell him it won’t be long
Til he opens his eyes, opens his eyes
Where is that simple day
Before colors broke into shades
And how did I ever fade
Into this life, into this life

And I never want to let you down
Forgive me if I slip away
When all that I’ve known is lost and found
I promise you I, I’ll come back to you one day

Morning is waking up
And sometimes it’s more than just enough
When all that you need to love
Is in front of your eyes
It’s in front of your eyes

And I never want to let you down
Forgive me if I slip away
Sometimes it’s hard to find the ground
Cause I keep on falling as I try to get away
From this crazy world

And I never want to let you down
Forgive me if I slip away
When all that I’ve known is lost and found
I promise you I, I’ll come back to you one day

Where has that old friend gone
Lost in a February song
Tell him it won’t be long
Til he opens his eyes
Opens his eyes..

they try to break the mold.

I read Charles Bukowski’s Factotum today. It’s a short little book (which works for me) since I am always running low on time or my attention span is limited to the level of interest which a particular prose style can sustain.

If you haven’t yet picked out your copy, here’s your chance. He’s easy to read.

Merriam-Webster

Pronunciation: \fak-ˈtō-təm\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, literally, do everything, from Latin fac (imperative of facere do) + totum everything
Date: 1566
1 : a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities
2 : a general servant

the monster collects his debt
he wears a different costume
and a mask to conceal his ugliness,

the monster visits unannounced
he has a limp when he walks,
and a vague stench of inconsiderate
resentment rises from the ground,

but his royal ugliness must accompany
every house,
dawn to daybreak
from the little penniless orphan
to the rich man’s quarters
he knows his way around.

the monster must have his pay
to settle the accounts.

–

mother thou art perfidious and unwise
and father doth a husband play
his role in a doll-house
this is my plastic life.

“mother” i ask her every time,
“have i done this right,”
she nods, and nods,
but never replies,
i must be like a wall
on the fly,
white smokescreen jammed
between a hornet’s nest.

i turn back to watch the clouds
form funny shapes, a dolphin,
a man with a big nose
or a long necked woman
with a turban on her head
fading or at times becoming intense
while the wind sketches it’s lies.

i do not know
but i often think
how people talk of big things,
but you can see they do not know
where they are going with it,

they have learned to love the music
of their own speech;
harsh, soft, familiar,
misty, remorseful,
different keys of the same
miserable piano,

the subtle indent in the pause,
or the long interminable stretch where
the audience loses patience
sweat clouds the brow
suddenly beaten together by the falsetto
and the dubious expression,

somewhere in the midst of this dramatic
presentation,
there is a slight faltering
of their inane programmed system

that joyfully validates my point;
the silly silly mistake
of earning a living,
pretending to imitate the second
man on the street,
the whorish depletion
of individuality –

the inferno
revived.

nay, the bird is not a prey
if your eyes can concentrate
along the raspy willowy
unformed branches
of an unbent tree
too tired with age,

or if her feet unbuckle
from the twitch of reason
underneath the curvature of
a sheer black skirt encircling
the motion of earth,

she would turn around and laugh
the sudden sway of her hip
disturbing the momentum
of an ever so still mid-afternoon sojourn,

nay, the bird is a falcon
as it perches on an elevation
and hunts for its prey
in the seven steps and sudden leaps
on seven stones for seven leaves.