As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is no mistake that Bukowski takes on Zukofsky as theoretician in his review of A Test of Poetry in The Godzilla Issue as well as standing toe to toe with Allen Ginsberg, the most famous poet in the world.īukowski was the genius of the Ole crowd.įrm reading these 3 bks (mags? what?) i am convinced that they originated the word “turn on” - the electric mattress that played ‘toot’ to the cockroache’s red laugh!! if these are not available anymore i hope to hell that somebody reprints them because they are invaluable, esp for the collages - all of the fantastic - galactic embraces with Creative Mammoths – a Batman’s “POW is an aborted double bubble bubble compared to these mag! they are TURN-ON – they possess secret wires that connect in electrical hard-on ecstasy to yr skull the instant you slip a copy in yr hands. The drunken prophet preaching his crazy wisdom to the initiated. The six-pack of talls was a mandatory part of the stance.
With "A Rambling Essay," he stands tall as Ole's leading theoretician. His poems speak for themselves (and for Ole) but reading through Ole, particularly Issue Two and the Godzilla Issue, what struck me was Bukowski's critical voice. Blazek holds his own and holds down the fort alongside Bukowski.īut throughout the eight issues of Ole, there is the voice and formidable presence of Bukowski. For example, Issue Two, which ends with "A Rambling Essay" also has an incredible introduction by Blazek, Blazek's "A Proposal" and several book reviews, which lay out loud and clear the Ole ethos. This is Ole's defining manifesto, of which there were many. That line comes from his "A Rambling Essay on Poetics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall)," which, for my money, is the most important piece in all of Ole. To enter you must "first of all cancel all your subscription to the Kenyon Review and come here to Ole where you have to squint at what you read and laugh because we can't spell or punctuate." Along with Blazek he was the Ole's critical doorman. He could smell the stench of artifice the minute it wafted into the bar. Buk is the Cerebrus that guards the pages of Ole. The voice is unmistakably his from the first line. The poem could be by nobody but Bukowski. In any case, the annotations were totally unnecessary. My copy has "Buk" and "that" written in in pencil. The poem is unattributed and missing the last line. Ole opens with a quote by Charles Bukowski: "Poetry is dying on the vine like a whore on the end stool on a Monday night." His poem "Watchdog" is the mag's first poetic statement.
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