Charles Bukowski

"in the cupboard sits my bottle like a dwarf waiting to scratch out my prayers. I drink and cough like some idiot at a symphony, sunlight and maddened birds are everywhere, the phone rings gamboling its sound against the odds of the crooked sea; I drink deeply and evenly now, I drink to paradise and death and the lie of love."

3 likes

Source: Charles Bukowski (2001). “Ham On Rye”, p.288, Canongate Books

About the author

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski

Poet, Novelist

Charles Bukowski was an American poet and novelist known for his raw, unfiltered portrayal of life, particularly in works like 'Ham on Rye' and 'Post Office.'

All quotes by Charles Bukowski →

Same author

More quotes by Charles Bukowski

See all →
Charles Bukowski Poet, Novelist

"People are strange: They are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice."

Read quote
Charles Bukowski Poet, Novelist

"The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, they sliced a little more off you, until there was nothing left. At the age of 25 most people were finished. A whole goddamned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for the presidential candidate who reminded them most of themselves."

Read quote