the words have come and gone,
I sit ill.
the phone rings, the cats sleep.
Linda vacuums.
I am waiting to live,
waiting to die.
I wish I could ring in some bravery.
it’s a lousy fix
but the tree outside doesn’t know:
I watch it moving with the wind
in the late afternoon sun.
there’s nothing to declare here,
just a waiting.
each faces it alone.
Oh, I was once young,
Oh, I was once unbelievably
young!
from Transit magazine, 1994
(Charles Bukowski)
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Based on Topics: Nature Poems, Youth Poems, Sleep Poems, Courage Poems, Cats Poems, Telephones PoemsBased on Keywords: waiting, sit, gone, doesn, rings, faces, outside, ring, there, declare, ill