Charles Bukowski: újra együtt

a macska belespriccelt
számítógépembe
s ezzel tönkre is
tette.

így elővettem az öreg
író-
gépem.

ez
edzettebb.
túléli a macska
spriccet, a ráöntött sört
és bort,
a cigarettát és
a szivarhamut,
a fenébe is, szinte
bármit.

pont mint én
magam.

isten hozott újra
öregfiú,
mondja az
öregfiú.

-- Fordította: N. Ullrich Katalin

Charles Bukowski: Megszabadulni a vekkertől

apám mindig azt mondta: „ki korán kel, s
korán is lefekszik, aranyat lel, bölcs lesz,
nem betegszik.”

lámpaoltás volt este nyolckor nálunk
és már hajnalban felébredtünk a
kávé, a frissen sült szalonna és a rántotta
illatára.

apámnak ez volt a rutinja
egész életében, mégis fiatalon halt meg, csórón,
és szerintem nem is valami
bölcsen.

épp ezért a tanácsát se fogadtam meg, ezért
lett az én utam a későn fekvés és a későn
kelés.

nos, nem állítom, hogy meghódítottam
a világot, de megúsztam
számtalan reggeli dugót, elkerültem néhány
átlagos hibát,
és találkoztam néhány különös, varázslatos
emberrel,

egyikük
én magam
voltam – akit az apám
soha
nem ismert.

--Fordította: Csősz Gergő

Charles Bukowski: wearing the collar

I live with a lady and four cats
and some days we all get
along.

some days I have trouble with
one of the
cats.

other days I have trouble with
two of the
cats.

other days,
three.

some days I have trouble with
all four of the
cats

and the
lady:
ten eyes looking at me
as if I was a dog.

Charles Bukowski: Sitting in a Sandwich Joint

my daughter is most

glorious.

we are eating a take-

out snack in my car

in Santa Monica.

I say, "hey, kid,

my life has been 

good, so good."

she looks at me.

I put my head down

on the steering wheel,

shudder, then I

kick the door open,

put on a 

mock-puke.

I straighten up.

she laughs

biting into her

sandwich.

I pick up four

french fries

put them into my mouth,

chew them.

it's 5:30 p.m.

and the cars run up

and down past us.

I sneak a look:

we've got all the

luck we need:

her eyes are brilliant with the

remainder of the

day, and she's

grinning.

Charles Bukowski: Hm?

 németországban

franciaországban

olaszországban

ha végigsétálok az

utcán

vihogó suhancok

kuncogó csitrik követnek

az öreglányok meg fel-

húzzák

az orrukat…

amerikában bezzeg

csak egy vagyok

a sok fáradt

vénember közül

és ugyanazt csinálom

mint a többi

fáradt

vénember.

persze van ennek

előnye is:

minden különösebb föltűnés nélkül

elvihetem a gatyáimat

a tisztítóba

vagy sorbanállhatok

az áruházban -

kegyes névtelenséggel

ajándékoztak meg az

istenek.

néha mégis

eszembe jut

a tengerentúli hírnév

de

jobb magyarázatot

nem találok

mint hogy

biztosan

baszott jó

fordítóim vannak.

legalább

a tököm

szőrével

tartozom

nekik,

ha nem

az egész

tökömmel.

-- Török Attila fordítása

Charles Bukowski: The Secret

don’t worry, nobody has the
beautiful lady, not really, and
nobody has the strange and
hidden power, nobody is
exceptional or wonderful or
magic, they only seem to be
it’s all a trick, an in, a con,
don’t buy it, don’t believe it.
the world is packed with
billions of people whose lives
and deaths are useless and
when one of these jumps up
and the light of history shines
upon them, forget it, it’s not
what it seems, it’s just
another act to fool the fools
again.

there are no strong men, there
are no beautiful women.
at least, you can die knowing
this
and you will have
the only possible
victory.

Charles Bukowski: Az Idegenek

talán nem hiszed el,
de vannak, akik
úgy élik le az életet, hogy
nagyon keveset
feszengenek vagy
szoronganak.
jól öltöznek, jól
esznek, jól alszanak.
elégedettek a
családi
életükkel.
néha átélnek pillanatokat a
bánatból,
de összességében
zavartalanok
és gyakran érzik
jól magukat.
és amikor meghalnak,
az egy egyszerű
halál, rendszerint
álmukban.
talán nem hiszed
el,
de tényleg sok ilyen
létezik.
de én nem vagyok olyan, mint
ők.
oh nem, én nem vagyok olyan
mint ők,
én a közelében sem vagyok
hogy olyan
legyek, mint
ők,
de ők vannak
ott
és én vagyok
itt.

Fordította: Farkas Kristóf Liliom

Charles Bukowski: Wasted

too often the people complain that they have
done nothing with their
lives.
and then they wait for somebody to tell them
that this isn’t so.
look, you’ve done this and that and you’ve
done that and that’s
something.
you really think so?
of course.
but they had it right.
they’ve done nothing.
shown no courage.

no inventiveness.
they did what they were taught to
do.
they did what they were told to
do.
they had no resistance, no thoughts
of their own.
they were pushed and shoved
and went obediently.

they had no heart.
they were cowardly.
they stank in life.
they stank up life.

and now they want to be told that
they didn’t fail.
you’ve met them.
they’re everywhere.
the spiritless.
the dead-before-death gang.

be kind?
lie to them?
tell them what they want to hear?
tell them anything they want to hear?

people with courage made them what they
aren’t

and if they ask me, I’ll tell them what they
don’t want to hear.

it’s better you
keep them away from me, or
they’ll tell you I’m a cruel man.

it’s better that they confer
with you.

I want to be free of
that.

Charles Bukowski: in this cage some songs are born

I write poetry, worry, smile,
laugh
sleep
continue for a while
just like most of us
just like all of us;
sometimes I want to hug all
Mankind on earth
and say,
god damn all this that they’ve brought down
upon us,
we are brave and good
even though we are selfish
and kill each other and
kill ourselves,
we are the people
born to kill and die and weep in dark rooms
and love in dark rooms,
and wait, and
wait and wait and wait.
we are the people.
we are nothing
more.

Charles Bukowski: All that

the only things I remember about
New York City
in the summer
are the fire escapes
and how the people go
out on the fire escapes
in the evening
when the sun is setting
on the other side
of the buildings
and some stretch out
and sleep there
while others sit quietly
where it’s cool.

and on many
of the window sills
sit pots of geraniums or
planters filled with red
geraniums
and the half-dressed people
rest there
on the fire escapes
and there are
red geraniums
everywhere.

this is really
something to see rather
than to talk about.

it’s like a great colorful
and surprising painting
not hanging anywhere
else.

Charles Bukowski: no leaders, please

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
don’t swim in the same slough.
invent yourself and then reinvent yourself
and
stay out of the clutches of mediocrity.

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
change your tone and shape so often that they can
never
categorize you.

reinvigorate yourself and
accept what is
but only on the terms that you have invented
and reinvented.

be self-taught.

and reinvent your life because you must;
it is your life and
its history
and the present
belong only to
you.

Charles Bukowski: True

one of Lorca's best lines
is,
"agony, always
agony ..."
think of this when you
kill a
cockroach or
pick up a razor to
shave
or awaken in the morning
to
face the
sun.

Charles Bukowski: The Aliens

you may not believe it
but there are people
who go through life with
very little
friction or
distress.
they dress well, eat
well, sleep well.
they are contented with
their family
life.
they have moments of
grief
but all in all
they are undisturbed
and often feel
very good.
and when they die
it is an easy
death, usually in their
sleep.
you may not believe
it
but such people do
exist.
but I am not one of
them.
oh no, I am not one
of them,
I am not even near
to being
one of
them
but they are
there
and I am
here.

Charles Bukowski: this kind of fire

sometimes I think the gods
deliberately keep pushing me
into the fire
just to hear me
yelp
a few good
lines.

they just aren’t going to
let me retire
silk scarf about neck
giving lectures at
Yale.

the gods need me to
entertain them.

they must be terribly
bored with all
the others

and I am too.

and now my cigarette lighter
has gone dry.
I sit here
hopelessly
flicking it.

this kind of fire
they can’t give
me.

Charles Bukowski: The History of One Tough MF

he came to the door one night wet thin beaten and
terrorized
a white cross-eyed tailless cat
I took him in and fed him and he stayed
grew to trust me until a friend drove up the driveway
and ran him over
I took what was left to a vet who said,”not much
chance…give him these pills…his backbone
is crushed, but is was crushed before and somehow
mended, if he lives he’ll never walk, look at
these x-rays, he’s been shot, look here, the pellets
are still there…also, he once had a tail, somebody
cut it off…”
I took the cat back, it was a hot summer, one of the
hottest in decades, I put him on the bathroom
floor, gave him water and pills, he wouldn’t eat, he
wouldn’t touch the water, I dipped my finger into it
and wet his mouth and I talked to him, I didn’t go any-
where, I put in a lot of bathroom time and talked to
him and gently touched him and he looked back at
me with those pale blue crossed eyes and as the days went
by he made his first move
dragging himself forward by his front legs
(the rear ones wouldn’t work)
he made it to the litter box
crawled over and in,
it was like the trumpet of possible victory
blowing in that bathroom and into the city, I
related to that cat-I’d had it bad, not that
bad but bad enough
one morning he got up, stood up, fell back down and
just looked at me.
“you can make it,” I said to him.
he kept trying, getting up falling down, finally
he walked a few steps, he was like a drunk, the
rear legs just didn’t want to do it and he fell again, rested,
then got up.
you know the rest: now he’s better than ever, cross-eyed
almost toothless, but the grace is back, and that look in
his eyes never left…
and now sometimes I’m interviewed, they want to hear about
life and literature and I get drunk and hold up my cross-eyed,
shot, runover de-tailed cat and I say,”look, look
at this!”
but they don’t understand, they say something like,”you
say you’ve been influenced by Celine?”
“no,” I hold the cat up,”by what happens, by
things like this, by this, by this!”
I shake the cat, hold him up in
the smoky and drunken light, he’s relaxed he knows…
it’s then that the interviews end
although I am proud sometimes when I see the pictures
later and there I am and there is the cat and we are photo-
graphed together.
he too knows it’s bullshit but that somehow it all helps.

Charles Bukowski: Balloons

I saw too many faces today
faces like balloons.

at times I felt like
lifting the skin
and asking,
“anybody under there?”

there are medical terms for
fear of height
for
fear of
enclosed spaces.

there are medical terms for
any number of
maladies

so
there must be a medical term
for:
“too many people.”

I’ve been stricken with
this malady
all my life:
there has always been
“too many people.”

I saw too many faces
today, hundreds of
them

with eyes, ears, lips,
mouths, chins and so
forth

and
I’ve been alone
for several hours
now

and
I feel that I am
recovering.

which is the good part
but the problem
remains
that I know I’m going to
have to go out there
among them
again.

Charles Bukowski: The Genius of the Crowd

there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average
human being to supply any given army on any given day

and the best at murder are those who preach against it
and the best at hate are those who preach love
and the best at war finally are those who preach peace

those who preach god, need god
those who preach peace do not have peace
those who preach love do not have love

beware the preachers
beware the knowers
beware those who are always reading books
beware those who either detest poverty
or are proud of it
beware those quick to praise
for they need praise in return
beware those who are quick to censor
they are afraid of what they do not know
beware those who seek constant crowds for
they are nothing alone
beware the average man the average woman
beware their love, their love is average
seeks average

but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their concepts
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect

like a shining diamond
like a knife
like a mountain
like a tiger
like hemlock

their finest art

Charles Bukowski: Lost

they say that hell is crowded, yet,
when you’re in hell,
you always seem to be alone.
& you can’t tell anyone when you’re in hell
or they’ll think you’re crazy
& being crazy is being in hell
& being sane is hellish too.

those who escape hell, however,
never talk about it
& nothing much bothers them after that.
I mean, things like missing a meal,
going to jail, wrecking your car,
or even the idea of death itself.

when you ask them,
“how are things?”
they’ll always answer, “fine, just fine…”

once you’ve been to hell and back,
that’s enough
it’s the greatest satisfaction known to man.

once you’ve been to hell and back,
you don’t look behind you when the floor creaks
and the sun is always up at midnight
and things like the eyes of mice
or an abandoned tire in a vacant lot
can make you smile
once you’ve been to hell and back.

Charles Bukowski: Raw with Love

little dark girl with
kind eyes
when it comes time to
use the knife
I won’t flinch and
i won’t blame
you,
as I drive along the shore alone
as the palms wave,
the ugly heavy palms,
as the living does not arrive
as the dead do not leave,
i won’t blame you,
instead
i will remember the kisses
our lips raw with love
and how you gave me
everything you had
and how I
offered you what was left of
me,
and I will remember your small room
the feel of you
the light in the window
your records
your books
our morning coffee
our noons our nights
our bodies spilled together
sleeping
the tiny flowing currents
immediate and forever
your leg my leg
your arm my arm
your smile and the warmth
of you
who made me laugh
again.
little dark girl with kind eyes
you have no
knife. the knife is
mine and i won’t use it
yet.

Charles Bukowski: Nehéz nekik

néhány egyetemi tanár
úgy véli, nyers, durva, nyilvánvaló,
ismétlésekbe bocsátkozó és trágár vagyok
és ez gyakran igaz,
néha szándékosan
de nem kellene evvel
törődniük,
vannak barátaik,
társaik, hasonmásaik
akik nekik tetsző
verseket írnak.
de miért tőrnek
ellenem
kritikus esszéikkel
ez az amit furcsának
találok.
bár én sem szeretem az ő
írásaikat,
színtelenek,
erőltetettek, elcsépeltek
egy századdal lemaradtak a
kortól
de
én nem kritizálom
őket
csak abbahagytam olvasásukat
nem gyűlölöm őket,
nem érdekel hány könyvük
jelenik meg és, hogy ki olvassa
vagy nem olvassa
őket.
ők mégis nagyon aggódnak
létezésem és
hatalmas olvasótáborom miatt,
és majdnem hisztérikusan
elkeseredettek
hogy néhány helyen
komoly befolyással rendelkező,
egyéni írónak
tartanak.
Próbálok erről nem tudomást venni, ők
miért nem?
Ha helyet akarnak maguknak az
irodalom történetben,
rendben van, az övéké lehet.
én beleszarok.
én csak a saját munkámat
akarom
elvégezni.
ezt választom
a következő sorra öszpontosítok és az
utána következőre.
amit ők csinálnak és hogy kik ők
és mit akarnak
mit mondanak, mit
írnak
engem nem érdekel
és, szerencsétlenségükre
más
élőt, haldoklót vagy most
születőt is alig, ha
ha.

-- ismeretlen fordító (sehogyse találom, ki volt)