do you?
Submitted by Zach:
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pur whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?
- Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
Follow Contrariwise
Popular Posts
Recent Comments
- Suzanne on heaventree of stars
- xam sua on Allen Ginsberg
- xam sua on Allen Ginsberg
- xam sua on Allen Ginsberg
- gizem on Rockland
- gizem on Rockland
- Wykdd on Aime comme tu l’endends
- Melissa on Aime comme tu l’endends
- Sarah on Harry Potter Week, Day 2
- Pier on burn, burn, burn
May 2nd, 2009 - 13:38
i love this tattoo, i adore bukowski and all of his work. i just recently got his signature tattooed on my shoulder. im glad to see others passionate about him.
May 3rd, 2009 - 08:47
Umm, the bird in the tattoo is a swallow, not a bluebird. So it means "Do you swallow?"
May 3rd, 2009 - 14:13
bluebirds have the yellow tips on their wings and breast. maybe it's just not a detailed shot but i know enough about ornithology to know that's a bluebird.
May 4th, 2009 - 04:22
@curious – as wrong as your comment may be, it did make me laugh.
May 10th, 2009 - 22:00
when i saw this-my heart skipped! i have the same tattoo-well i have a large bluebird with the line "there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out". the first time i read that poem-almost 5 years now-it really resonated within me-my interpetation anyway.i was in such a shitty place in my life-and that poem meant so much :) love this
May 18th, 2009 - 16:16
I bought my first Bukowski book about five years ago and have been fairly obsessed since. This may be the absolute coolest tattoo I've seen in my life.
July 9th, 2009 - 13:02
do you swallow?
that's some funny shit.
I like the tattoo, though.
July 9th, 2009 - 13:39
I read it as "do you swallow" too. Might have wanted to clarify a bit…hilarious anyway.
July 9th, 2009 - 18:19
swallow do you?
August 3rd, 2009 - 10:25
@Selig- i am confused as well with the comments by people who read right to left.
Amazing tattoo. the Bukowski inspired ones always seem to work so well.
December 6th, 2009 - 20:45
do you swallow.. hahaha. i like that. i hope thats the real meaning, and not some gay emo poem bullshit
December 16th, 2009 - 23:05
Hmm well, it appears to be the traditional nautical design of a swallow (good luck to sailors because they return home every year) and differentiated from a bluebird by the yellow/white leading edge of the wing. It seems better interpreted "I swallow, Do you?" unless he has something complimentary on the other side. That said, the poem is beautiful and awesome.
January 23rd, 2010 - 03:39
I feel sorry for this guy…people will be asking him if he swallows for the rest of his life! lol
February 17th, 2010 - 17:18
i guess the whole poem is about his homosexuality and how he has to hide it. and the tattoo serves to ask the question to another gay person.
March 15th, 2010 - 18:18
Love the poem, love the Buk, have my own fair share of Buk art on my skin. the intent is great but love the fact this guy has to walk around answering the question "do you swallow"
such irony