We know!

that as the yellow shade rips

as the cat leaps wild-eyed
as the old bartender leans on the wood
as the hummingbird sleeps

you know and I know and thee know

as the tanks practice on false battlefields
as your tires work the freeway
as the midget drunk on cheap bourbon cries alone at night
as the bulls are carefully bred for the matadors
as the grass watches you and trees watch you
as the sea holds creatures vast and true

you know and I know and thee know

the sadness and the glory of two slippers under a bed
the ballet of your heart dancing with your blood
young girls of love who will someday hate their mirrors
overtime in hell
lunch with sick salad

you know and I know and thee know

the end as we know it now
it seems such a lousy trick after the lousy agony but

you know and I know and thee know

the joy that sometimes comes along out of nowhere
rising like a falcon move across the impossibility

you know and I know and thee know

the cross-eyed craziness of total elation
we know that we finally have not been cheated

you know and I know and thee know

as we look at our hands our feet our lives our way
the sleeping hummingbird
the murdered dead of armies
the sun that eats you as you face it

you know and I know and thee know

we will defeat death. Charles Bukowski

Chop Dreams 2012 from Show Class Magazine on Vimeo.