Charles Bukowski

When I was a teenager, Bukowski affirmed my idea that poetry can be real.

By real, I mean rooted in real things - in what is earthy, ordinary, momentary, and pathetic.

He appealed to my sense of values: swagger, confident, totally himself.

He admitted publicly many of our private fears, "where is the specialness of war and peace...i read the great poets...all i get is goddam headache and boredom...there is some trick going on here."

He wanted poetry to be more than what it was/what it is.

He said there is still room for people to come into this world and do something great.

And for me - that was and is very affirming and very hopeful.

These sentiments gave me the freedom to write poems about pissing outside, or rants about freshman girls, or driving down the highway, or the small stories that make up my life.

He made it okay to get that dirty, that plebeian, that indulgent.

In 2009, I have several opportunities to lead some creative writing workshops for young people, and I hope to be able to inspire in them what Bukowski inspired in me.

A great love and faith in the poetry of bars, bonfires, and frat houses.

Enjoy this clip and remember to keep striving upward.