Bukowski And Anna Sitting In A Tree...

Bukowski's "the best and the worst"


in the hospitals and jails
it's the worst
in madhouses
it's the worst
in penthouses
it's the worst
in skid row flophouses
it's the worst
at poetry readings
at rock concerts
at benefits for the disabled
it's the worst
at funerals
at weddings
at parades
at skating rinks
at sexual orgies
it's the worst
at midnight
at 3 a.m
a 3:45 a.m.
at 5:45 p.m.
it's the worst

falling through the sky
firing squads
that's the best

thinking of India
looking at popcorn stands
watching the bull get the matador
that's the best

boxed lightbulbs
and old dog scratching
peanuts in a celluloid bag
that's the best

spraying roaches
a clean pair of stockings
natural guts defeating natural talent
that's the best

in front of firing squads
throwing crusts to seagulls
slicing tomatoes
that's the best

rugs with cigarette burns
cracks in sidewalks
waitresses still sane
that's the best

my hands dead
my heart dead
silence
adagio of rocks
the world ablaze
that's the best for me.


Anna's the best and the worst


in the torture rooms
where electric shocks
break brilliant white
capped teeth, bleed
the eyes,
and "waterboarding" is the new
"surf's up"
in Americana
no longer denied
and Presidential
lies
doom the common man
it's the worst

in a waiting room
after 12 hours of
surgery it's the best
when the surgeon says "everything
went well"
it's the worst when
a staph infection
leaves your children
fatherless

in the school yard the bully
taunts and teases with words
and fists
until
one day some kid decides
to get even with the
whole wide world and walks in
playing
"Dirty Harry" to the hilt and hit of mind
kills
as many as he can
before he turns the
weapon on himself
that's the worst

in a school room there
stands a teacher the only
one who believes in you
and takes you under her wing and says: "kid,
you're gonna make it just fine."
and you give your
whole life to prove
her right
that's the best

acid rain and global warming
usher in
human folly
still bulldozing
through all these years
through pristine land and air,
making way
for gated community
bereft of
Christ's olive groves
30 foot walls surround
Jewish settlements
that's the worst

Gaia
shouts "no more" and
lets loose her chain-of-command
devastation clears
all paths
rich and poor young and old
Catholic Protestant and
Buddhist
and humanity once again
remembers to lend
a hand
cross all
barriers to form
a bridge
that's the best

and then one day you are old
and you forget the best and
worst and you sit
in front of an open window
a warm breeze
of sunshine
touching you
a cardinal flies
by with the scent of
lilacs
and you fall asleep
for the last time

that's the best.