The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Fri 1/13/06)

[RetroLounge]

Have You Ever Kissed A Panther

this woman thinks she's a panther
and sometimes when we are making love
she'll snarl and spit
and her hair comes down
and she looks out from the strands
and shows me her fangs
but I kiss her anyhow and continue to love.
have you ever kissed a panther?
have you ever seen a female panther enjoying
the act of love?
you haven't loved, friend.
you with your squirrels and chipmunks
and elephants and sheep.
you ought to sleep with a panther
you'll never again want
squirrels, chipmunks, elephants, sheep, fox,
wolverines,
never anything but the female panther
the female panther walking across the room
the female panther walking across your soul
all other love songs are lies
when that black smooth fur moves against you
and the sky falls down against your back,
the female panther is the dream arrived real
and there's no going back
or wanting to—
the fur up against you,
the search over
and you are locked against the eyes of a panther.

Charles Bukowski

***********************************

Here's hoping everyone finds their own panther this weekend...

RL

[wildhorses]

1. wow....

just wow

[RetroLounge]

6. Yeah...

That was my reaction too...

RL

[Heidi]

2. *swoon*

Thank you, RL. I lovelovelove Bukowski, and I'm PMing this link to fellow Bukowski admirer enigmatic. :thumbsup:

[Callalily]

3. Pant, pant !

Whoooeeeeee, what a way to start the morning!
Thanks RL.

[RetroLounge]

31. I made the mistake of googling Black Panther images

a few pages in I found a picture that absolutely cannot be put on DU.

But for the curious, Wow!

RL

[Matt Jordan]

4. Mine's a rewrite...

...with doodles:



The Real Gorilla

Matt

[cassandra uprising]

5. Proud. n/t

[Heidi]

7. Kick. (nt)

[miss_american_pie]

8. Warm in the lounge again

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

9. I figured this might turn up the lounge heat

along with that photo of you in the picture thread, it got real warm...

:hi:

RL

[miss_american_pie]

10. Flatterer

:blush:

[RetroLounge]

13. I merely speak truth...

:hi:

RL

[RevCheesehead]

11. When you're ready for Klingon,

give me a call. ;)

[RetroLounge]

15. Are we talking about role playing here?

Can I be Khan again?

:rofl:

RL

[RevCheesehead]

16. Why not?

In the end, we both meet a violent death - albeit, with honor.

:evilgrin:

Call me Valkris:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. Wow, my dear RetroLounge......

You'd better feel sorry for my poor husband!

He WILL encounter a panther this weekend......

Thanks for unleashing me.........

*whew*......this is one hot, sexy poem.....I LIKE it!

:loveya: :evilgrin:

[RetroLounge]

14. I would never feel sorry for your husband

he's a lucky man!

:hug:

RL

[jane_pippin]

17. Ah. Just last night I was talking with someone about how I need to read

some Bukowski. For some reason I've been putting it off. I think I'll take this as a sign that one of his books should be next on my reading list.

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

20. So many good ones to choose from...

Barnes had a large selection. Schwartz' on Downer had quite a few too.

RL

[jane_pippin]

22. Can you recommend a good place to start with him?

I go to the new Schwartz store all the time and they usually have a lot of his titles in. (I used to work at a Barnes so I try not to set foot in that place if I can help it. Plus, Schwartz is my favorite bookstore around here anyway so it works out.)

[RetroLounge]

24. Off the top of my head...

Love is a Dog From Hell
Mockingbird Wish Me Luck
Play the piano drunk like a percussion instrument until the fingers begin to bleed a bit
You get so alone at times it just makes sense
Burning in water, Drowning in flame
War all the time

RL

[jane_pippin]

27. Thanks, I'll check them out. n/t

[enigmatic]

26. Here's a few

"The Roominghouse Madrigals", which is a collection of his early poems; much more lyrical than his later stuff...

"Post Office", whiis his first (and most well known) novel..

"Burning In Water/Drowning In Flame", which is a collection of his poems from 56-76, and has some of his best work...

"The Last Night Of The Earth Poems", which is my favorite of his later books..

and "Run With The Hunted", which is a reader that mixes Bukowski's poems, short stories, and excerpts from novels to tell his life...

The man has been a God to me for over 25 years; I can't say enough about how much he's had an effect on my life..

[jane_pippin]

28. Thank you. I don't know why I've never read his work before.

I mean, I've read a poem here and there and a lot of people I know have read him and loved him but for some reason I've never gotten around to it. I think it's about time I catch up. Thanks for the suggestions.

[swimboy]

18. Grrr.

Lookin' to get mauled! :evilgrin:

[RetroLounge]

21. I leave marks...

:evilgrin:

RL

[SeattleGirl]

19. Oh. My.

RL, this is one of the best you've posted. Hmmmm, I must go turn down the heat! :blush:

[RetroLounge]

30. Glad you like it

:hi:

RL

[lizziegrace]

23. Wow

I'd like to say my inner child's playing with matches again, but that isn't it. :evilgrin:

Wow.

[enigmatic]

25. Bukowski

His words have kept me alive for a long, long time; great call..

[RetroLounge]

29. I used to have so many of his books

and I sold them years ago.

Yesterday I re-bought Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, and I remembered this poem for the first time in 15 years...

Discovering Buk was like finding a long lost friend.

RL

[SocalismforAmerica]

32. That was fantastic!

[SocalismforAmerica]

33. How many replies do I need to post?

[SocalismforAmerica]

34. 1

[SocalismforAmerica]

35. 2

[SocalismforAmerica]

36. 3

[SocalismforAmerica]

37. 4

[SocalismforAmerica]

38. 5

[SocalismforAmerica]

40. 6

[SocalismforAmerica]

41. 7

[supernova]

39. What's up with you?

:shrug:

[SocalismforAmerica]

42. I want to post. So I am trying to get that privilege.

[supernova]

43. Well, you're better off

just responding to other threads that you're interested in.

I forget what the magic number is for thread posting privileges, but you'd have to do this a HELL OF A LOT, which could be annoying.

Still, Welcome to the Lounge, SocalismforAmerica. :hi:

[tigereye]

44. just be careful

don't set off the spam filter....

be patient, since they don't tell you how many posts you need. And welcome. It's spelled socialism, BTW. ;)

[RetroLounge]

46. Well do it elsewhere

and quit spamming my thread...

RL

[Paladin]

45. God Love Him, Bukowski Was Such A Badass

Terrific poem, thankws so much for posting it.....

[threehensandacow]

47. so,

should i wear my black dress tomorrow night?

[RetroLounge]

48. of course you should...

We can consider it a DU Meetup...

:hi:

RL