I should think that many of our poets, the honest ones, will confess to having no manifesto. It is a painful confession but the art of poetry carries its own powers without having to break them down into critical listings. I do not mean that poetry should be raffish and irresponsible clown tossing off words into the void. But the very feeling of a good poem carries its own reason for being... Art is its own excuse, and itโs either Art or itโs something else. Itโs either a poem or a piece of cheese.
Charles BukowskiYou know the typical crowd, Wow, itโs Friday night, what are you going to do? Just sit there? Well, yeah. Because thereโs nothing out there. Itโs stupidity. Stupid people mingling with stupid people. Let them stupidify themselves. Iโve never been bothered with the need to rush out into the night. Thatโs all. Sorry for all the millions, but Iโve never been lonely. I like myself. Iโm the best form of entertainment I have.
Charles Bukowskiwhen I was a boy I used to dream of becoming the village idiot. I used to lie in bed and imagine myself the happy idiot able to get food easily ...and easy sympathy, a planned confusion of not too much love or effort. some would claim that I have succeeded.
Charles Bukowskithey thought I had guts they were wrong I was only frightened of more important things
Charles BukowskiI've never been lonely. I've been in a room... I've felt suicidal, I've been depressed. I've felt awful ... awful beyond all , but I never felt that one other person could enter that room and cure what was bothering me...or that any number of people could enter that room. In other words, loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude.
Charles Bukowski