April 23, 1923

On April 23, 1923, the Bukowskis sailed from Bremerhaven for the United States. The family remained poor; the father was brutal, and his son never made a lot of money. There is no calculating the triumph of art. Charles Bukowski (August 16, 1920 to March 9, 1994), the son, became a major poet, the poet of the L.A. slums. He loved cats, almost as much as he loved booze and women. Here is an excerpt from "cats and you and me".

the Egyptians loved the cat

were often entombed with it

instead of with the child

and never with the dog.

and now

here

good people with

the souls of cats

are very few

yet here and now many

fine cats

with great style

lounge about

in the alleys of

the universe.

about

our argument tonight

whatever it was

about

and

no matter

how unhappy

it made us

feel

remember that

there is a

cat

somewhere

adjusting to the

space of itself

with a calm

and delightful

ease.

in other words

magic persists with

or without us

no matter how

we may try to

destroy it

and I would

destroy the last chance for

myself

that this might always

continue.

This is from his book: The Night Torn Mad with Footsteps.(2001). I couldn't cut it.