the poems of what matters most is how well you walk through the fire were written between 1970 and 1990 and are part of an archive that Charles Bukowski left to be published after his death.

click here if you want to read the spanish translation of the poem

the professionals

constipated writers

squatting over their machines

on hot nights

while their wives talk on the

telephone.

while the TV plays

in the background

they squat over their machines

they light cigarettes

and hope for fame

and

beautiful young girls

or at least

something to write

about.

"Yeah, Barney, he´s still at the typer.

I can’t disturb him.

he’s working on a series of short novels for

Pinnacle magazine. his central character is some

guy he calls ‘Bugblast.’ I got a sunburn

today. I was reading a magazine in the yard

and I forgot how long I was out there..."

endless hot summer nights.

the blades of the fan tap and rattle

against the wire cage.

the air don’t move.

it’s hard to breathe.

the people out there expect miracles

continual miracles with

words.

the world is full of

constipated writers.

and eager readers who need plenty of new

shit.

it´s depressing.

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