between the shadow and the soul
I am a New England native. The hills, trees, and the red brick soiled by time and memory have called me back home from my time among the the desert mountains and neon.
ignore all possible concepts and possibilities—-
ignore Beethoven, the spider, the damnation of Faust—-
just make it, babe, make it:
a house a car a belly full of beans
pay your taxes
fuck
and if you can’t fuck
copulate.
make money but don’t work too
hard—-make somebody else pay to
make it—-and
don’t smoke too much but drink enough to
relax, and
stay off the streets
wipe your ass real good
use a lot of toilet paper
it’s bad manners to let people know you shit or
could smell like it
if you weren’t
careful.
by Charles Bukowski, from Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (1972)
