BigShinyThing

A friend of ours has died and we are very sad. He introduced us to the work of Charles Bukowski (amongst other counter-cultural dons) and it is for this reason that we are posting this poem today. For Steven.

Are You Drinking?

washed-up, on shore, the old yellow notebook
out again
I write from the bed
as I did last
year.
will see the doctor,
Monday.
yes, doctor, weak legs, vertigo, head-
aches and my back
hurts.”
“are you drinking?” he will ask.
“are you getting your
exercise, your
vitamins?”
I think that I am just ill
with life, the same stale yet
fluctuating
factors.
even at the track
I watch the horses run by
and it seems
meaningless.
I leave early after buying tickets on the
remaining races.
“taking off?” asks the motel
clerk.
“yes, it’s boring,”
I tell him.
“If you think it’s boring
out there,” he tells me, “you oughta be
back here.”
so here I am
propped up against my pillows
again
just an old guy
just an old writer
with a yellow
notebook.
something is
walking across the
floor
toward
me.
oh, it’s just
my cat
this
time.

Ivor Cutler wrote surreal songs and poetry and continued to perform live until 2004. He also wrote books, did illustrations and made radio series. He appeared regularly on John Peel’s radio shows and The Beatles gave him a role in the film Magical Mystery Tour. Cutler’s 1967 album Ludo, produced by George Martin, was re-released in 1997 by Alan McGee’s label, Creation.

According to the BBC obituary, Cutler attributed much of his weirdness to the displacement he felt when his younger brother was born.

“Without that I would not have been so screwed up as I am, and therefore not as creative,” he said.

“Without a kid brother I would have been quite dull.”

Much of Cutlet’s work, including audio files, are available online at his tribute page.