Soup, Cosmos and Tears (Bukowski & Morphine straight ahead mash up)
Channel: ReverbFever
Date: 2011-08-23

Charles Bukowski reading his poem "Soup, Cosmos and Tears" over the mood of Morphine's "Souvenir".

Soup, Cosmos and Tears by Charles Bukowski
This poem previously appeared in Evergreen Review No. 79
and also on the King Of Poets cd and the Bukowski @ Bellevue reading.

I've known some crazy women
but the craziest was
Annette
and it seems the crazier they are
the better they lay,
and what bodies they
have. Annette always lived with
Chinese men
but you never saw them
that's what scared you,
even the Mafia is scared of the Chinese-
"where's the dragon, kid?"
"that's alright. he know's youre all right."
"you sure? when they put the X on you,
you might as well
forget it."
"I told them you were all right. that's all
they need."
Annette had incense burning,
all sorts of charts and weirdo books,
she always talked about the gods
she had a direct line to the gods.
"you've been selected by the gods," she told
me.
"o.k., babe, let's make it
then."
"not right now. I want you to try this special soup
I've made."
"special soup?"
"yea, eat it and you will inherit the forces of
earth and sun, the entire
cosmos."

I went and ate the soup. frankly, it tasted all right,
though a bit rusty. no telling what the hell she had
put in there. I finished
it.
"I feel like a man of steel
now."
"you have inherited the force,"she said,"the gods are
proud of you."
on the couch I finally got hold of
her. under that loose orange gown
was enough woman to kill an
ox.
"I live in that hotel in Paris,"she said."I slept with all of
them. Burroughs, the whole
gang. I knew Pound at St. Liz."
"you slept with Ezra?"
"more than any!"
"oh fuck!"
"go," she laughed, "ahead."

it had been a good
soup. those Paris boys and
Ezra had known a good
mare.
I rolled
off.

when she came out of the bathroom she
had a bottle in her hand and began sprinkling me
with the
contents.
"hey, whats that shit?"
"the tears of the
gods."
"the tears of the gods?"
"yes. the tears of the
gods."
I laid there until she was
finished.
the I got up and
dressed.

"when can I see you
again?"

"in 2 hours or
tomorrow."

I walked to the door.

"you walk like a
poem," she said.
"see you in 2
hours," I told
her.

the door closed. what a man had to go through for a
piece of ass
in this modern age was
highly
ridiculous