Richard Brautigan
[ 18 August 2008 ]
Today is a Richard Brautigan sort of day.
From Wikipedia:
In 1984, at age 49, Richard Brautigan died of a self-inflicted .44 Magnum gunshot-wound to the head in his house in Bolinas, California, looking out the ocean through his window. The exact date of his death is unknown, but it is speculated that Brautigan ended his life on September 14, 1984 after talking to Marcia Clay, a former girlfriend, on the telephone. ... It is said he left a suicide note which read “Messy, isn’t it?”
Despite his troubled life, he was an incredible poet. Here are some of my favourite poems. You can read more here.
30 Cents, Two Transfers, Love
Thinking hard about you
I got on the bus
and paid 30 cents car fare
and asked the driver for two transfers
before discovering
that I was
alone.
Donner Party
Forsaken, fucking in the cold,
eating each other, lost
runny noses,
complaining all the time
like so many
people
that we know
I Feel Horrible. She Doesn’t
I feel horrible. She doesn’t
love me and I wander around
like a sewing machine
that’s just finished sewing
a turd to a garbage can lid.
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.
Karma Repair Kit: Items 1-4
1. Get enough food to eat, and eat it.
2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet, and sleep there.
3. Reduce intellectual and emotional noise until you reach the silence of yourself, and listen to it.
4.
Please
Do you think of me
as often
as I think
of you?
The Shenevertakesherwatchoff Poem
Because you always have a clock
strapped to your body, it’s natural
that I should think of you as the
correct time:
with your long blonde hair at 8:03,
and your pulse-lightning breasts at
11:17, and your rose-meow smile at 5:30,
I know I’m right.
The Beautiful Poem
I go to bed in Los Angeles thinking
about you.
Pissing a few moments ago
I looked down at my penis
affectionately.
Knowing it has been inside
you twice today makes me
feel beautiful.
3 A.M.
January 15, 1967
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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Shenevertakesherwatchoff :)
oh! usually i’m not one for poetry, but this is lovely and tugged at my heartstrings perfectly.
* richard. oh to be one of the subjects of his poems.
The last two ones are my favorite.
I’ve never heard of this man before, but those poems were surprisingly poignant.
I think I’ll look up more.
Danke schoen, Gala Darling!
Love,
Katie Bird
wow, bolinas! I love bolinas, my bf’s family has a house there and it’s weird to see it mentioned. but there are a few amazing people that have homes there (fran mcdorment & one of the cohen brothers) i shouldn’t be too surprised.
That’s so depressing.
Beautiful in a way, I guess.
But really really depressing.
These remind me of Bukowski in many ways. I love Bukowski :)
Kerri — It’s sad, but at least he left plenty of beautiful things behind…
Joanne Morgan — Me too! When I went through my books & got rid of 90% of them, I kept all my Bukowski ones. Ditto HST ;>
The library was selling a load of Bukowski books and I bought them all :) I remember being 15 and hiding ‘War All The Time’ from my mother because I knew she’d think it was ‘inappropriate’!
Also, I’m not sure how my full name got up there!!
Ahh, Brautigan. I particularly loved “Revenge of the Lawn” (especially “Complicated Banking Problems”) and “Dreaming of Babylon”. I should read them again.
my favorite is:
You’ve got
Some “Star-Spangled” Nails
In your coffin, kid.
That’s what
They’ve done for you,
Son.
I did a paper on Brautigan last year and chose the poems It’s Raining in Love and All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. There’s actually more to It’s Raining in Love that that stanza ( you can read it at
www.cs.rice.edu/ )
It’s one of my favorite un-love poems.
What simply lovely poetry. I like this sort of verse, that gets straight to the point without forsaking any beauty.
Also, the anniversary of his death is my birthday. I don’t know whether or not to be excited by that!
Thank you so much for sharing with us. I always enjoy discovering new poets.
i love his poems about baudelaire. all of his poems are so sweet, so deceptively simple. and sad. i always take the pill versus the springhill mine disaster with me wherever i go :)
Also, why is it a Brautigan kind of a day? Are you okay, cutie?
Natalie — I’m fine! It’s just a day for grey clouds & beautiful words :>
Ah, Brautigan. He’s one of my faves. I even picked up his book, Revenge of the Lawn. It’s Raining in Love is actually much longer, though, as Elena pointed out. Here is one of my favorite poems by him!
Mouths that Kissed in the Hot Ashes of Pompeii, Richard Brautigan
Mouths that kissed
in the hot ashes of Pompeii
are returning
and eyes that could adore their beloved only
in the fires of Pompeii
are returning
and locked bodies that squirmed in ecstasy
in the lava of Pompeii
are returning
and lovers who found their perfect passion
in the death of Pompeii
are returning,
and they’re letting themselves in
again with the names of your sons
and your daughters.
I usually hate poetry, but these were beautiful. And so different. Thanks for sharing!
yeah today really is a richard brautigan sort of day.loved the poems. thank you gala
Gala, whenever I have a crap day or moment, I check out iCiNG. It’s lovely, it’s relentlessly cheerful even when life is not, and even with Richard Brautigan (Brautigan! Come on! For the record I find him beautiful but depressing), it makes me happy. Please do more poetry posts!
I had forgotten just how wonderful Richard Brautigan was. Thanks.
Short poems are so irresistible. These were sad and lovely, also remind me of Bukowski—although, I’m respectfully not a Bukowski fan. But I love poetry. And I enjoyed these. A /different/ kind of iCiNG post. :)
Well, think now’s the time to mention the fact the missus’ first band was called The Brautigans.
Very enjoyable and poignant!
Hey, I found these just for you:
www.flickr.com/photos/rkbcupca…
:D
muhahahaha.
my new favourite poet.
I quite like him. I wouldn’t describe him as incredable but definately likable. In a depressing, sometimes beautiful often blunt way.
I wasn’t into poetry much until this week really! I’ve been going a bit mentle with it though, I’ve had a lot of spare time and thought I’d just chill out before college starts and I’m busy constantly again!
You know who I’ve come to absolutely adore this week? ee cummings. I LOVE. His stuff is incredable, it’s so clever, and just utterly beautiful. Often the words don’t even make sense at first but when you read them they sound amazing, reading out loud is just stunning! I can’t rave enough about how much I love his poems. I thought I didn’t even like poetry much until this week.
Storme xx
Those are so incredible and honest; it’s like reading somebody’s thoughts; except they are absolutely perfect.
Wow, thanks so much for writing about him! There’s this chilling sense of calmness in these poems, like taking pictures of the big open sky, and everything is swirling but still all at once. So beautiful, I have to read more of his work, now!
Elena, thank you for linking the rest of the poem. I really really love it.
Going against the oodles of praise posted here.. I can see the beauty in this style of poetry and appreciate the darkness.. but I just can’t stand the bluntness or the self-pitying. Maybe it’s a mood today or maybe it’s just not my type of poetry.
Nevertheless it was interesting!
Gala, I love Brautigan too.
My dad was living in Berkeley in the 60’s, in a big house with lots of other people, girls and boys both. One day this guy walks into the foyer, where my pops is reading and lying around like a big cat. The guy has little round spectacles and a mustache and seems pretty shy, and says he’s there to meet some girl. Well, the girl comes down the stairs and they exit together. Just then one of Dad’s roomies runs in and says “Do you know who that was?? That was RICHARD BRAUTIGAN.”
My dad gave me his copy of “A Confederate General from Big Sur”. It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books ever.
Thanks for posting these, it reminds me why I like him so much.
Some days are just Richard Brautigan kinda days.
wow, i love these.
His poems are beautiful. Short but contain so much feeling. I shall read more.
I’m not a huge poems fan and don’t know much about that sunject at all but took the time to read,they are beautiful but sad….....troubled i guess.
Sad that he shot himself….but the note he left made me smile in a way…...probobly shouldn’t.
I like Karma repair kit.
my favourite is deer tracks : )
i really like these poems. the way they’re written makes me think of william carlos williams.
alsoooo, i have a dilemma, a query you may be able to help with, should you have the time or need a topic for an advice post:
i know you’re totally clued up on vegan stuff and raw stuff and healthy food, so here is my problem (well, it’s hardly a problem but i’m frustrating myself silly thinking of it). i have startd seeing a super hot guy, and he is a vegan. he’s perfectly respectful of the fact i’m a meat eater and so on, so it isn’t really a worry (plus, not gonna lie, vegan boy = super hot body, know what i mean? haha) on that count, but, i’ve offered to cook him dinner on saturday. i’m a fairly accomplished cook so i’m not afraid of challenges in the kitchen, but i could use a few pointers: what do you cook to win the heart of a vegan via the stomach? know any websites with recipes or anything?
i’m usually not a fan of poetry, but these are so beautiful. thanks so much for sharing them, i will definitely be looking for more of his work!
have you read “in watermelon sugar”? if not, you – everyone – please read this book – it’s fantastic, a poetry novel, sort of like lia block’s best ones. they come cheap on ebay or thrift stores.
Ah, Brautigan! I remember being introduced to his work for the first time… sitting in a friend’s yard, drinking wine, he reading In Watermelon Sugar to everyone… I was thinking about The Abortion An Historical Romance just yesterday, too.
That was lovely, Gala. Thank you.
What a romantic. Thanks for sharing these pomes, lady. A degree in creative writing, and I’ve never read his gorgeous work …
I love poetry like this! Thanks for sharing some of his work. When I write poetry (ahh it’s almost embarrassing to admit), I often tend to write short, non-rhyming poems like Richard Brautigan’s. Definitely going to look into reading more.
that’s really nice….i’d like to read more poetry from him, is there a book you could recommend particularly?
(((((Hugs for Gala)))))
This reminds me of Elliott Smith, and how I felt when I lived in Chicago.
Absolutely love Brautigan, thanks for the post! He also wrote novels, screenplays, stories, etc. Most of his work can be read here: www.brautigan.net/
And he’s not always gloomy, he can also be quite funny!
“The Potato House of Julius Caesar”
O Potatoes!
The Roman Empire of Potatoes!
All peelings lead to Rome
and Julius Caesar eats French fries
while the ides of March
have potato eyes . . .
(Then Brutus to the Idaho of Death Then Marc Antony to Idaho.)
i just finished reading The Tokyo-Montana Express & i loved these too.
Brilliant! I have never heard of Richard Brautigan before, thanks for sharing! I think he might be a new favourite, right up alongside Bukowski.
beautiful but written simply. love the first one! =)
please check out my blog! la =)
His writing reminds me of Andre Jordan.
I second the request for continued poetry. Le paradis n’est pas artificiel.
Still. I think I would have him leave ONLY beautiful things behind.
But I understand that sometimes that might not feel like an option.
His style of poetry is very similar to that of Charles Bukowski.
I love that last one :]
yes yes yes. my favorite:
(it’s time to train yourself)
It’s time to train yourself
to sleep alone again
and it’s so fucking hard.
He loved so deeply — it’s heartbreaking how it all ended. Really loved: 30 Cents, Two Transfers, Love.
xo
I love Richard Brautigan! I did a poetry analysis essay on two of his poems in APLit my senior year of high school!
gala, you are such a love. thank you for the constant positivity and inspiration. you just reminded me to get back into brautigan (i just read “the abortion” a few months ago) and to write more poetry, myself.
big hugs.
love, d
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Great post! This one always gets me:
Deer Tracks
Beautiful, sobbing
high-geared fucking
and then to lie silently
like deer tracks in the
freshly-fallen snow beside
the one you love.
That’s all.
‘Karma Repair Kit: Items 1-4’ is genious.
Gala! I’m ashamed to admit I was never much for poetry before. I kind of thought it was all Shakespearean love sonnets & whatnot – can’t imagine why. But after reading this, I did some research, & discovered that not only do I LOVE Brautigan’s poetry, but I also adore the work of Bukowski & e.e. cummings. Positively lovely, all of it. I’ve filled several pages of my Moleskine with their utterly charming words. Thank you darling!!