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Shakespeare's Monkeys

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May 17, 2025  

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Poem for My 41st Birthday (After Bukowski)

Waking...
Cloistered
in atheist seclusion
with coffee
and books -
a dim bulb in your head
and stretch marks
veined
and knowing what it's like
not to have a room.

...of course, they're out there
making money:
teachers, doctors,
lawyers, politicians,
all those who
mistake knowledge for wisdom
who think they know
better than you
when all you know is
that you know nothing
or
the nearest approximation.

And you turn over
to your left side
so that the sun blinds you
and you can't see
vacancy
on your right.

Anstey - on Aug. 24 2007

Shockingly clean for a buckowski tribute.

A lot to digest in this one. I do like the idea of 'atheist seclusion' - the idea of a loneliness due to a lack of God, appeals to my personal aesthetic of the universe.

I would consider a stanza break after "What it's like"

 The last stanza is pretty good. I like the use of vacancy which alludes to a seedy hotel setting as well


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  • stephan

Anstey - on Feb. 20 2008
The idea of that picture... bukowski with flowers.. that is just a weird contrast.
Anstey - on Apr. 10 2008
all those who
mistake knowledge for wisdom
This line resonates today. I suppose because i have had to actually deal with people.
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