Ghosts-

The sidewalk’s familiar
Just passing through
Echo Park
Los Angeles
I’ve been living here
For the better part
Of 30 years or so
The air is warm
And balmy
But not too hot
Never too cold
The streets aren’t as busy
As I remember them
Sunset’s always been famous
For it’s Halloween Parade
That’s WEST Hollywood
This is something… different
Everyone wearing masks
Not trying to scare each other
But… Just as spooky
I felt someone brush by me
My flesh stood at attention
Something whispered in my ear
Hank drank here…
I look up from the concrete floor
Just where was I again
Lost in my thoughts?
Awakened by a foreign sensation
Bringing me back to the Now!
There was something familiar
Caught in a loop, a rerun in time
Again… Louder this time…
Hank DRANK Here…
I wiped the sweat from my brow
I was in the present
Echos from the past
Memories that never last
A leather covered bar stool
Another game of pocket pool
Another round
Another round
A shot of tequila to wash it down
In my head
I heard these things
Experienced these things
I felt “mad”!
Hallucinating
HANK DRANK HERE…
More than a whisper this time
I felt cold in California July
What was happening and why?
The door burst open
There was a flood of stale A.C
The air tasted off
Like decades old beer
Memories of cigarettes
1558 W Sunset Blvd
Home of long nights
Great writes
Ghosts of women and drunks
A thousand stories never sung
If you lived down the street
You never Knew
Who you would meet
Or
Who, you just may run into
Hank Drank here……
I heard a final time
Understanding now
What came upon my mind
Hank, Chuck, Charles…
This was a Bukowski haunt
So many nights
So many escapes
So many women
So many drinks
So many drinks…..
I met a ghost today
And That memory won’t go away
A hero, a poet, a writer, The Boxer
The American Classic himself
In his own way
Shared “spirits” with me…
With Me???
More than a haunting
More than a true ghost story
More than what I can explain
Charles Bukowski was mythical
Legions of fans around the world
A Superhero, Self Loathing Soul
That shared stories of life
Stories of love
Stories of Pain
Stories of laughter
Hank drank here….
I nodded my head, in respect
Took these photos…
Of The Gold Room
1558 W Sunset Blvd
Hank drank here….



Thank you for the poster Art!
Designed by Jack Varnell
#Poet, #Artist, #friend