These poems are among the finest writing in all of literature, and it is a little sad that they were already written, because you know, I actually did think I was the only one. Brautigan killed himself after talking to his girlfriend. It’s sad because we would have been BFF and you’d never kill yourself if I was the one telling you you were the greatest. Ferlinghetti thought Richard was naive, but Ferlinghetti was a trendy hack and Brauty was a genius.
Get three of his books for $10.
POEMS BY RICHARD BRAUTIGAN:
IT’S RAINING IN LOVE
I don't know what it is,
But I distrust myself
When I start to like a girl
A lot.
It makes me nervous.
I don't say the right things
Or perhaps I start
To examine,
Evaluate,
Compute
What I am saying.
If I say, "Do you think it's going to rain?"
and she says, "I don't know,"
I start thinking: Does she really like me?
In other words
I get a little creepy.
A friend of mine once said,
"It's twenty times better to be friends
with someone
than it is to be in love with them."
I think he's right and besides,
it's raining somewhere, programming flowers
and keeping snails happy.
That's all taken care of.
BUT
if a girl likes me a lot
and starts getting real nervous
and suddenly begins asking me funny questions
and looks sad if I give the wrong answers
and she says things like,
"Do you think it's going to rain?"
and I say, "It beats me,"
and she says, "Oh,"
and looks a little sad
at the clear blue California sky,
I think: Thank God, it's you, baby, this time
Instead of me.
ALL GIRLS SHOULD HAVE A POEM
For Valerie
All girls should have a poem
written for them even if
we have to turn this God-damn world
upside down to do it.
New Mexico March 16, 1969
15%
She tries to get things out of men
that she can’t get because she’s not
15% prettier.
Where to find audio of Brautigan.
THE SISTER CITIES OF LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO,
AND HIROSHIMA, JAPAN
It was snowing hard when we drove
into Los Alamos. There was a clinical feeling
to the town as if every man, woman and child
were a doctor. We shopped at the Safeway
and got a bag of groceries. A toddler
looked like a brain surgeon. He carefully
watched us shop at the exact place where he would
make his first incision.
“Song for Sunshine” — Belle and Sebastian
LOVE’S NOT THE WAY TO TREAT A FRIEND
Love's not the way to treat a friend.
I wouldn't wish that on you. I don't
want to see your eyes forgotten
on a rainy day, lost in the endless purse
of those who can remember nothing.
Love's not the way to treat a friend.
I don't want to see you end up that way
with your body being poured like wounded
marble into the architecture of those who make
bridges out of crippled birds.
Love's not the way to treat a friend.
There are so many better things for you
than to see your feelings sold
as magic lanterns to somebody whose body
casts no light.
LOVE POEM
It's so nice
to wake up in the morning
all alone
and not have to tell somebody
you love them
when you don't love them
anymore
"Himmelbjerget" -- Efterklang
"Re Up Anthem" -- Eminem feat. Clipse
"These Arms of Mine (live)" -- Otis Redding
"Old Simon Stimson" -- Peter Mulvey
YouTube crime.
Good call. RB is one of my favs, also.
The Great American Poetry Show http://www.tgaps.net is a serial poetry anthology open year-round to submissions of poems in English on any subject and in any style,
length and number. Email poems only by one attachment in just one email to info@tgaps.net or mail your poems to The Great American Poetry Show, P.O. Box 69506, West Hollywood, California 90069. We prefer submission by email attachment but you can just email your poems. Do not send us more than one attachment per email and do not send us simultaneous emails. We have three editors and we can handle a lot of submissions. So please flood us with poems. If we do not accept your poems, please send us another group to go through. We will look at every poem you’ve written whether you are well-known or unknown. Simultaneous submissions and previously published poems are welcome. Response time is usually 1-3 months but can take much longer if we get sidetracked doing other things in our busy lives. If you submit poems to us and don’t hear back from us in three months, please contact us to find out what’s happening with your submission. Each contributor receives one free copy of the volume in which his/her work appears. Volume 2 is scheduled to appear towards the end of 2008 if we have enough good poems (about 120); if not, we will wait until we do. Please take a look at our website where you can preview Volume 1 of TGAPS and also purchase a hardcover copy for $35 or an ebook copy for $7.50. The ebook is priced especially low for use in poetry and creative-writing classes. Also take a look at our links page with hundreds of interesting sites to visit. We trade links. And please use our message boards where we will post your poetry news, reviews, essays, articles, and recommended books. Larry Ziman