Charles Bukowski — Life

Experience There's a lady down the hall who paints butterflies and insects There are little statues in the room, she works with clay And I went in there and I sat on the couch and had something to drink Then I noticed one of the statues had his back turned to us He stood there brooding poor bastard And I asked the lady, "What's wrong with him?" And she said, "No, I messed him up in front, sort of." "I see," I said and finish my drink, "You haven't had too much experience with men." She laughed and brought me another drink We talked about clay, death of Cummings, art, survival and so forth "You oughta know more about men." I told her "I know," she said, "Do you like me?" "Of course." I told her She brought me another drink We talked about Ezra Pound, Van Gogh, all those things She sat down next to me I remember she had a small, white mustache She told me I had a good life flow and was manly I told her she has nice legs We talked about Müller I don't remember leaving I saw her a week later and she asked me in "I fixed him," she said "Who?" I asked "My man in the corner." she told me "Good," I said "Want to see?" she asked "Sure!" I said She walked to the corner and turned him around He was fixed alright My god, It was me Then I began to laugh and she laughed And the work of art stood there A very beautiful thing