SpokenVerse | Melancholia by Charles Bukowski (read by Tom O'Bedlam) @SpokenVerse | Uploaded February 2013 | Updated October 2024, 21 minutes ago.
There are some people who are perpetually gloomy and get pleasure out of it. Bukowski was more influenced by Thanatos than Eros. Thanatos is personified love of death - a winged boy like Cupid. Euthanasia comes from the same root. He called himself The Suicide Kid and tried to kill himself a few times, but it seems that this was his way of fiercely embracing life, of being "half in love with easeful death" (John Keats said that)
You would think the best way to play the mating game is to find somebody who brings out your best qualities, somebody that will enter into a mutually rewarding partnership. We do judge people ultimately by how much use they are to us - that might seem cynical but when the crush wears off it's what is left. It's foolish to stay with a partner who makes you angry, despondent or jealous. You don't need proof - the problem isn't their infidelity, it's your jealousy. If they can't put your mind at ease then leave . Don't stay and do something crazy.
People are often advised "be yourself" - but do we have only one self? Don't the circumstances and the company change who we are? People can drive you nuts or make you a hero. If you stay with a toxic partner then you're depriving yourself of a supportive one. You're also learning bad habits.And it's easier to get out sooner rather than later, before you have too much invested and feelings you can't control.
Bukowski seemed to deliberately choose women who would give him a hard time. When you hear him talk about it, don't you get the impression he's getting a kick out of it?
Excursion Into Philosophy by Edward Hopper, 1959
Bukowski Portrait by Richard Tito
fineartamerica.com/featured/charles-bukowski-richard-tito.html
The Redhead comes from a partfolio called melancholia by Rouble Rust
roublerust.tumblr.com
Cartoon by Robert Crumb.
the history of melancholia
includes all of us.
me, I writhe in dirty sheets
while staring at blue walls
and nothing.
I have gotten so used to melancholia
that
I greet it like an old
friend.
I will now do 15 minutes of grieving
for the lost redhead,
I tell the gods.
I do it and feel quite bad
quite sad,
then I rise
CLEANSED
even though nothing
is solved.
that's what I get for kicking
religion in the ass.
I should have kicked the redhead
in the ass
where her brains and her bread and
butter are
at ...
but, no, I've felt sad
about everything:
the lost redhead was just another
smash in a lifelong
loss ...
I listen to drums on the radio now
and grin.
there is something wrong with me
besides
melancholia.
There are some people who are perpetually gloomy and get pleasure out of it. Bukowski was more influenced by Thanatos than Eros. Thanatos is personified love of death - a winged boy like Cupid. Euthanasia comes from the same root. He called himself The Suicide Kid and tried to kill himself a few times, but it seems that this was his way of fiercely embracing life, of being "half in love with easeful death" (John Keats said that)
You would think the best way to play the mating game is to find somebody who brings out your best qualities, somebody that will enter into a mutually rewarding partnership. We do judge people ultimately by how much use they are to us - that might seem cynical but when the crush wears off it's what is left. It's foolish to stay with a partner who makes you angry, despondent or jealous. You don't need proof - the problem isn't their infidelity, it's your jealousy. If they can't put your mind at ease then leave . Don't stay and do something crazy.
People are often advised "be yourself" - but do we have only one self? Don't the circumstances and the company change who we are? People can drive you nuts or make you a hero. If you stay with a toxic partner then you're depriving yourself of a supportive one. You're also learning bad habits.And it's easier to get out sooner rather than later, before you have too much invested and feelings you can't control.
Bukowski seemed to deliberately choose women who would give him a hard time. When you hear him talk about it, don't you get the impression he's getting a kick out of it?
Excursion Into Philosophy by Edward Hopper, 1959
Bukowski Portrait by Richard Tito
fineartamerica.com/featured/charles-bukowski-richard-tito.html
The Redhead comes from a partfolio called melancholia by Rouble Rust
roublerust.tumblr.com
Cartoon by Robert Crumb.
the history of melancholia
includes all of us.
me, I writhe in dirty sheets
while staring at blue walls
and nothing.
I have gotten so used to melancholia
that
I greet it like an old
friend.
I will now do 15 minutes of grieving
for the lost redhead,
I tell the gods.
I do it and feel quite bad
quite sad,
then I rise
CLEANSED
even though nothing
is solved.
that's what I get for kicking
religion in the ass.
I should have kicked the redhead
in the ass
where her brains and her bread and
butter are
at ...
but, no, I've felt sad
about everything:
the lost redhead was just another
smash in a lifelong
loss ...
I listen to drums on the radio now
and grin.
there is something wrong with me
besides
melancholia.
