Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame: Selected Poems 1955-1973 Kindle Edition

A very good collection of Bukowski's works.

Some poems don't make sense to me but then again I'm also not an experienced poetry reader. A few poems and lines really move someone though.

This book, while definitely some of the earlier, less polished material of Bukowski's, was a game changer for me! My perception of what poetry is and can be has forever been altered. For the first time in my life, I'm reading and writing poetry without boundaries. This collection is a must-read!

Charles Bukowski knew how to throw a poem together. He is simple, direct and honest. He was a physical man and a brazen soul. To know Bukowski is to love him.

Guess it's Bukowski's poetry at its best, the more Bukowski of all that I've read. It's soaked sin beer, and whisky, but there's a glimpse of genius an tenderness all over. It's easy to get to L.A and the blue Volkswagen. Simply Bukowski at his best.

Fantastic, amazing, evocative, sad, beautiful and a thousand other powerful, positive adjectives that it would take a poet of Bukowski's caliber to think up

What can I can say? I really powerful collection Poetry. Written while Charles Bukowski was very poor and hard manual labor jobs that didn't pay hardly anything. If your struggling to make it through this life. This book is for you. Very lyrical. Features some of Bukowski's best work. Powerful and incredibly thought provoking. His words will stay with youIf you like this book, please check out my poetry collection here:http://www.amazon.com/Internet-Poetry-Leaves-Damion-Hamilton-ebook/dp/B00C8O8QSOsample poem:Some people burn slowWhile others burn fastAnd betweenAll kind of things happens:There's happiness sadnessJoy and angerSicknessThings happenAnd when you are in theWorldThe worlds molds youWith all it elixirs and tempationsThe good timesThen come the wounds and scarsAnd the doctoringAll the agoniesAnd the kicks ofThe drugsThen dopeAnd sexThe s*** you love more thanLife itself.When you enjoy lifeToo muchThere is always some kinda ofPrice to payThe world won't be inheritedto the meekOr strongBut to the MISERABLEAll those closed and boxed in livesThey died long before their actual deathBut some of cool people lived it to fullestFinding every sorrow and viceNothing but pain and ectasyYou left a young beautiful corpseAs you rot in your casket.But at least you had LIVEDDamion Hamilton Internet Poetry: Leaves of Grass

There are definitely some words and imagery that would get this book flagged if it were new on the market today. Still, as it is, I think it is a fine collection, that speaks to a very specific time period and demographic. That being said, it isn't totally unrelatable in general; just very much a product of its time.

Pithy, gutsy street poetry from Bukowski