For Bukowski

Leaving so soon? It's
okay - we've come to expect it.
Visit every so often. Send a letter signed with a heart.
Every one will be placed unopened in the top drawer.

I
swear.

Answers are only excuses.

Disguises are
only wishes...
Genuine expressions of what we want to be.

Faded, tired, we finally
rest -
only to find that every day is another performance.
Marvelous! (the crowd cheers.)

Here is what they've come for.
Every single
last one of them. They don't want your
love, they want your pain. No one ever leaves disappointed.