28 Comments
User's avatar
Barry Fleming's avatar

My love and appreciation for Bukowski is rivaled (equaled) only by my love for Nietzsche, Whitman, Rumi, Hafiz, and maybe a couple others. Sad that many think of Him as some sort of nihilist. Someone made a comment on a post of mine (re: Bukowski) "Sometimes misanthropy is an invitation, with deep frustration, for the opposite to manifest." I thought that appropriate.

Expand full comment
Maha's avatar

No words…only a knowing.

Expand full comment
Alix's avatar

Well, I have to succumb to the fact that this is my new treasure of Bukowski’s. I get Bukowski. Who could ever deny his extraordinary vulnerable, sensitive soul?

His edginess is a bonus.

Expand full comment
Zuu - Radio Free Amerika's avatar

It's funny how a cat can reveal our soul like no other... This one story gives you endless insight into the man..

Expand full comment
Kathryn Lagus's avatar

I love this so much… and as a hospice and palliative care professional, it confuses the hell out of me because I love it as much as I do. Torturing myself with, “should he have just put the cat down? Was the cat glad his life was saved or did he wish he was dead?” But I have to believe that the cat was glad- that if the cat wanted to die, it would have died, regardless of the effort to keep him alive. The will to live is a very real will- human or otherwise.

Expand full comment
Dwight Lee Wolter's avatar

Meet the cat where it’s at.

Peace Whenever Possible, Dwight Lee Wolter.

Expand full comment
patrick wey's avatar

but i hear you're influenced by..........yea - bullshit, endless bullshit, yea that.

Expand full comment
Alex Valentine's avatar

Buk was the best, a beautiful soul in a jalopy body.

Expand full comment
Allison Schnackenberg's avatar

Magnificent.

Expand full comment
Joe S. Thomas's avatar

Often imitated, never duplicated…✌🏻

Expand full comment
Tommy Mo's avatar

Coincidentally, I just read this poem a couple of nights ago. I’m working my way through The Pleasures Of The Damned, a collection of his poems from 1951-1993. Stunningly beautiful work.

Expand full comment
Jordan Michael's avatar

One in a billion.

Expand full comment
Jody Frost's avatar

Ah Bukowski... ! The first poet I ever 'got' at 13. He got me. I got him. Maybe it's time I revisit his work! Thnx for sharing this one! ☺️

Expand full comment
Sandra Murzin's avatar

I've always loved this poem and the beautiful picture...I love cats,and Buk sure loved his kitties.Thank You for sharing this...

Expand full comment
Susan Chitwood Barton's avatar

sanctificetur Nomen tuum 😔

Expand full comment
Mani Jha's avatar

This is more like flash fiction masquerading as poetry, but a pretty good one nevertheless!

Expand full comment
jo blo's avatar

Ol' Henry Chinaski has saved my ass numerous times, esp. as regards women and drinking.

Cats? Everything from a Bluepoint to a possible relation to Celine: Beat to shit, dirty--a neighborhood fighter--a regular Mickey O'Rourke type. They've all given me way more...

Expand full comment