"I thought of love with its head ripped off still trying to sing..."

the hookers, the madmen and the doomed


by Charles Bukowski



today at the track

2 or 3 days after

the death of the

jock

came this voice

over the speaker

asking us all to stand

and observe

a few moments

of silence. well,

that's a tired

formula and

I don't like it

but I do like

silence. so we

all stood: the

hookers and the

madmen and the

doomed. I was

set to be dis-

pleased but then

I looked up at the

TV screen

and there

standing silently

in the paddock

waiting to mount

up

stood the other jocks

along with

the officials and

the trainers:

quiet and thinking

of death and the

one gone,

they stood

in a semi-circle

the brave little

men in boots and

silks,

the legions of death

appeared and

vanished, the sun

blinked once

I thought of love

with its head ripped

off

still trying to

sing and

then the announcer

said, thank you

and we all went on about

our business.



"the hookers, the madmen and the doomed" by Charles Bukowski, from What Matters Most is How Well You Work Through the Fire.
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I know I've mentioned The Writer's Almanac before it must be linked again because
Since the 1st, when this was the poem of the day, the phrase I used as a title has been dancing around in my head. Sometimes a poem or song phrase will stick in my head... for YEARS!
Like this line in Lovers in a Dangerous Time,
"...gotta kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight."

It just speaks to me.