the area of pause
By: Charles Bukowski
you have to have it or the walls will close in. you have to give everything up, throw it away, everything away. you have to look at what you look at or think what you think or do what you do or don't do without considering personal advantage without accepting guidance people are worn away with striving, they hide in common habits. their concerns are herd concerns. few have the ability to stare at an old shoe for ten minutes or to think of odd things like who invented the doorknob? they become unalive because they are unable to pause undo themselves unkink unsee unlearn roll clear. listen to their untrue laughter, then walk away.
You can find this poem in Bukowski’s — The Pleasures of the Damned: Poems, 1951-1993.
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This is so true. I will be reading something, and a phrase will cause me to stop and think. My wife says it reminds her of a movie that had dogs that would be chasing people until someone yells "Squirrel" in which case their attention is altered. Yea she knows me really well.
Here’s to having the freedom to pause in your life to contemplate an old 👞
It sounds weird but it’s actually a luxury not many can afford, especially these days.