The People Look Like Flowers at Last : New Poems

Charles Bukowski
The People Look Like Flowers at Last : New Poems

The People Look Like Flowers at Last : New Poems
ISBN: 9780060577087
Publication Date: 8 January 2008

the gas line is leaking, the bird is gone from the
cage, the skyline is dotted with vultures;
Benny finally got off the stuff and Betty now has a job
as a waitress; and
the chimney sweep was quite delicate as he
giggled up through the
soot.
I walked miles through the city and recognized
nothing as a giant claw ate at my
stomach while the inside of my head felt
airy as if I was about to go
mad.
it's not so much that nothing means
anything but more that it keeps meaning
nothing,
there's no release, just gurus and self-
appointed gods and hucksters.
the more people say, the less there is to say.
even the best books are dry sawdust.

--from "fingernails; nostrils; shoelaces"