Poetry Sunday: For the Foxes 

While searching for a poem to be featured this week, something on the theme of September, I came across a poem called For the Foxes by Charles Bukowski. I'm not really familiar with the poetry of Bukowski. In fact, I knew little about him beyond his name. He was a bit of a maverick among poets who wrote, as one critic said, "from the frayed edge of society."
The experiences that he drew on for inspiration for his poetry are very different from my own and I can't claim to fully understand what he has written, and yet I really like For the Foxes. The image of people who fidget and complain and constantly rearrange their lives like furniture; the warning to beware of those who only take instructions from their God; those who juggle mates and attitudes in constant confusion - I know these people.
But why the heck did he call the poem For the Foxes? I have no idea, but I find my lack of understanding is no barrier to my enjoyment.


For the Foxes
by Charles Bukowski 
don't feel sorry for me.

I am a competent,
satisfied human being.

be sorry for the others
who
fidget
complain

who 
constantly
rearrange their
lives 
like 
furniture.

juggling mates
and
attitudes

their
confusion is
constant

and it will
touch
whoever they 
deal with.

beware of them:
one of their
key words is
"love."

and beware those who
only take
instructions from their
God

for they have 
failed completely to live their own
lives.

don't feel sorry for me
because I am alone

for even 
at the most terrible
moments
humor
is my 
companion.

I am a dog walking
backwards

I am a broken
banjo

I am a telephone wire
strung up in
Toledo, Ohio

I am a man
eating a meal
this night
in the month of
September.

put your sympathy
aside.

they say
water held up
Christ:
to come
through
you better be
nearly as
lucky.

Comments

  1. CarmenSeptember 9, 2015 at 1:24 PM

    I like it. Regarding the title probably he associated those people he is talking about with a quality foxes possess. Maybe taking advantage of others?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de...
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...
Read more