Charles Bukowski
Shot of Red-Eye
I used to hold my social security card
Up in the air
He told me
But I was so small
They couldn't see it
All those big
Guys around

You mean the place with the
Big green screen?
I asked

Yeah. well, anyhow, I finally got on
The other day
Picking tomatoes, and Jesus Christ
I couldn't get anywhere
It was too hot, too hot
And I couldn't get anything in my sack
So I layed under the truck
In the shade and drank
Wine. I didn't make a
Dime

Have a drink, I said

Sure, he said
2 big women came in and
I mean BIG
And they sat next to
Us

Shot of red-eye, one of them
Said to the bartender

Likewise, said the other

They pulled their dresses up
Around their hips and
Swung their legs

Um, umm. I think I'm going mad, I told
My friend from the tomato fields

Jesus, he said, Jesus and Mary, I can't
Believe what I see

It's all
There, I said

You a fighter? the one next to me
Asked
No, I said

What happened to your
Face?

Automobile accident on the San Berdo
Freeway. some drunk jumped the divider. I was
The drunk

How old are you, daddy?

Old enough to slice the melon, I said
Tapping my cigar ashes into my beer to give me
Strength

Can you buy a melon? she asked

Have you ever been chased across the Mojave and
Raped?

No, she said

I pulled out my last 20 and with an old man's
Virile abandon ordered
4 drinks
Both girls smiled and pulled their dresses
Higher, if possible

Who's your friend? they asked

This is Lord Chesterfield, I told
Them

Pleased to meetcha, they
Said

Hello, bitches, he answered

We walked through the 3rd. street tunnel
To a green hotel, the girls had a
Key

There was one bed and we all got
In. I don't know who got
Who

The next morning my friend and I
Were down at the Farm Labor Market
On San Pedro Street
Holding up and waving our social
Security cards

They couldn't see
His

I was the last one on the truck out. a big woman stood
Up against me. she smelled like
Port wine

Honey, she asked, whatever happened to your
Face?

Fair grounds. a dancing bear who
Didn't

Bullshit, she said

Maybe so, I said, but get your hand out
From around my
Balls, everybody's looking

When we got to the
Fields the sun was
Really up
And the world
Looked
Terrible