r/bukowski

Got really lucky in a charity shop this week, all first editions.

Burning in Hell:

This piece of me fits in nowhere

as other people find things

to do

with their time

places to go

with one another

things to say

to each other.

I am

burning in hell

some place north of Mexico.

flowers don't grow here.

I am not like

other people

other people are like

other people.

they are all alike:

joining

grouping

huddling

they are both

gleeful and content

and i am

burning in hell.

my heart is a thousand years old

I am not like

other people.

I'd die on their picnic grounds

smothered by their flags

slugged by their songs

unloved by their soldiers

gored by their humor

murdered by their concern.

I am not like

other people.

I am

burning in hell.

the hell of

myself.

—Charles Bukowski

It’s amazing how fast and fully “Find what you love and let it kill you” spread as a quote/mantra misattributed to Charles Bukowski. The lie is still embraced by celebrities to the everyman.

After a long, winding investigation, I’ve found the true origin of both the quote and the origin of the l love letter supposedly penned by Bukowski.

I’ll lay it all out at the 30th Annual Charles Bukowski Festival in Berlin in August. I can tell you this now: neither answer is Bukowski or Kinky Friedman.

@kevpatrickallen