Question And Answer

Charles Bukowski

 Next Poem          

he sat naked and drunk in a room of summer
night, running the blade of the knife
under his fingernails, smiling, thinking
of all the letters he had received
telling him that
the way he lived and wrote about
that--
it had kept them going when
all seemed
truly
hopeless.



putting the blade on the table, he
flicked it with a finger
and it whirled
in a flashing circle
under the light.



who the hell is going to save
me? he
thought.



as the knife stopped spinning
the answer came:
you're going to have to
save yourself.



still smiling,
a: he lit a
cigarette
b: he poured
another
drink
c: gave the blade
another
spin.


--from The Last Night of the Earth Poems
URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/?wid=178 | Printed on 26 April 2003.Copyright ©2003 Plagiarist.com - All rights reserved. | http://www.plagiarist.com
Plagiarist.com Poetry Archive: Talkback!

» For Students

Need help with an assignment? See how the Plagiarist.com PoetryNotes™ can make
poetry analysis a snap!

» For Critics and Scholars

Have something to say about this poem? Use our comment form to add a comment!
«top»

Next Poem 

 Back to Charles Bukowski
Get a free collection of Classic Poetry ↓

Receive the ebook in seconds 50 poems from 50 different authors


To be able to leave a comment here you must be registered. Log in or Sign up.

Comments1
  • RobertFal

    WOW, THIS ONE HIT ME HARD. IT'S LIKE A SLAP IN THE FACE WITH REALITY. NO ONE'S COMING TO RESCUE US, WE HAVE TO SAVE OURSELVES. 😯 REALLY MAKES YOU THINK... 🧐 STRUCK A DEEP CHORD WITH ME. 💔