Cate’s Musings

A few days ago a friend of mine sent me a clip of Tom Waits reading this poem. I liked it so much that I found the text online and have had it on my desktop as a virtual post-it ever since. Now I share it with you:

The Laughing Heart
Charles Bukowski

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

The YouTube clip is below and also includes some guy named Bono reading another of Bukowski’s poems.