the laughing heart by Charles Bukowski

The autumn of 1993 was Lincoln’s second-coldest on record, after keeping track for 125 years. With an average temperature of 48.4 degrees Fahrenheit and nearly a foot of rain per month, the residents of Lincoln were missing summer quite a bit. Charles Bukowski was featured in Prairie Schooner that fall with some words of encouragement for the downtrodden, mere months prior to his death in March of 1994.

the laughing heart
Charles Bukowski

your life is your life.
don’t let it be clubbed into dank
submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the
darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you
changes.
know them, take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death
in life,
sometimes.
and the more often you
learn to do it,
the more light there will
be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have
it.
you are marvelous.
the gods wait to delight
in
you.