The Great Escape
listen, he said, you ever seen a bunch of crabs in a
bucket?
no, I told him.
well, what happens is that now and then one crab
will climb up on top of the others
and begin to climb toward the top of the bucket,
then, just as he's about to escape
another crab grabs him and pulls him back
down.
really? I asked.
really, he said, and this job is just like that, none
of the others want anybody to get out of
here. that's just the way it is
in the postal service!
I believe you, I said.
just then the supervisor walked up and said,
you fellows were talking.
there is no talking allowed on this
job.
I had been there for eleven and one-half
years.
I got up off my stool and climbed right up the
supervisor
and then I reached up and pulled myself right
out of there.
it was so easy it was unbelievable.
but none of the others followed me.
and after that, whenever I had crab legs
I thought about that place.
I must have thought about that place
maybe 5 or 6 times
before I switched to lobster.
Well, with you in the mix, my discovery of authors seems endless!
Personally I prefer more formal poetry, alexandrine verse or the sonnet form, but this is a very clever poem and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. This daily injection of poetry is certainly what the doctor ordered!
P.S. I hope that you too managed to get out of the bucket! At the very least your mind seems to not be in one :)
Dont say you have not heard about Bukowski. :) I must write then more about the american literature in the postmodern world :) I also prefer other forms of poetry because many young contemporary poets use the free verse and in my view they conceal their superficiality behind their pangs and pseudo-exaltation. But sometimes you can find some treasure there too :)
Busted! I suffer from a bad case of arrested development when it comes to American literature. I'm good up until Fitzgerald. Not too keen on Hemingway, Faulkner or Steinbeck, and after that zilch.
So your posts are all the more valuable inasmuch as I'm sure I'll discover new authors like Bukowski.
Just wanted to say hello to you.. long time no "see " !
I hope you having a wonderful day ! :-)
Hello :)
Yes, just a day ago, I looked at your drawings and wondered to write to you... and it is nice that you did it. :D I'm glad you keep publish your diversified and crazy things. :)
This was in my feed today:
https://steemit.com/books/@rarebooksleuth/literary-video-of-the-day-bukowski-born-into-this-2004
Great timing after your post a couple of days ago!
Needless to say, now I know much more about him :)
Yes, he had a very interesting life.
Thanks for the link, I had not seen this video before :)
I like your sharing
thanks
I love Bukowski - thanks for sharing my friend!
You are welcome :)
It's a nice poem but I think that your formatting makes it a little off, maybe you should just let the text flow naturally instead of chopping it of?
No, this is the original form of the text. :)
What? Really? Oh kay haha.. I guess I should read it again
Nice one @godflesh I am resteeming this!
Thank you :)
I can really relate to this poem right now... =)
Great poem!