George Gordon Byron – Love and Death

1.

I watched thee when the foe was at our side,

Ready to strike at him—or thee and me,

Were safety hopeless—rather than divide

Aught with one loved save love and liberty.

2.

I watched thee on the breakers, when the rock,

Received our prow, and all was storm and fear,

And bade thee cling to me through every shock;

This arm would be thy bark, or breast thy bier.

3.

I watched thee when the fever glazed thine eyes,

Yielding my couch and stretched me on the ground

When overworn with watching, ne’er to rise

From thence if thou an early grave hadst found.

4.

The earthquake came, and rocked the quivering wall,

And men and nature reeled as if with wine.

Whom did I seek around the tottering hall?

For thee. Whose safety first provide for? Thine.

5.

And when convulsive throes denied my breath

The faintest utterance to my fading thought,

To thee—to thee—e’en in the gasp of death

My spirit turned, oh! oftener than it ought.

6.

Thus much and more; and yet thou lov’st me not,

And never wilt! Love dwells not in our will.

Nor can I blame thee, though it be my lot

To strongly, wrongly, vainly love thee still.

Edgar Allan Poe – Serenade

So sweet the hour, so calm the time,

I feel it more than half a crime,

When Nature sleeps and stars are mute,

To mar the silence ev'n with lute.

At rest on ocean's brilliant dyes

An image of Elysium lies:

Seven Pleiades entranced in Heaven,

Form in the deep another seven:

Endymion nodding from above

Sees in the sea a second love.

Within the valleys dim and brown,

And on the spectral mountain's crown,

The wearied light is dying down,

And earth, and stars, and sea, and sky

Are redolent of sleep, as I

Am redolent of thee and thine

Enthralling love, my Adeline.

But list, O list,- so soft and low

Thy lover's voice tonight shall flow,

That, scarce awake, thy soul shall deem

My words the music of a dream.

Thus, while no single sound too rude

Upon thy slumber shall intrude,

Our thoughts, our souls- O God above!

In every deed shall mingle, love.

Charles Bukowski – A Radio With Guts

it was on the 2nd floor on Coronado Street
I used to get drunk
and throw the radio through the window
while it was playing, and, of course,
it would break the glass in the window
and the radio would sit there on the roof
still playing
and I'd tell my woman,
"Ah, what a marvelous radio!"
the next morning I'd take the window
off the hinges
and carry it down the street
to the glass man
who would put in another pane.
I kept throwing that radio through the window
each time I got drunk
and it would sit there on the roof
still playing-
a magic radio
a radio with guts,
and each morning I'd take the window
back to the glass man.
I don't remember how it ended exactly
though I do remember
we finally moved out.
there was a woman downstairs who worked in
the garden in her bathing suit,
she really dug with that trowel
and she put her behind up in the air
and I used to sit in the window
and watch the sun shine all over that thing
while the music played.

Anne Spencer – White Things

Most things are colorful things-

-the sky, earth, and sea.

Black men are most men;

but the white are free!

White things are rare things;

so rare, so rare

They stole from out a silvered

world--somewhere.

Finding earth-plains fair plains,

save greenly grassed,

They strewed white feathers of

cowardice, as they passed;

The golden stars with lances fine,

The hills all red and darkened pine,

They blanched with their want of power;

And turned the blood in a ruby rose

To a poor white poppy-flower.

Charles Bukowski – Marina

majestic, magic
infinite
my little girl is
sun
on the carpet-
out the door
picking a flower, ha!
an old man,
battle-wrecked,
emerges from his
chair
and she looks at me
but only sees
love,
ha!, and I become
quick with the world
and love right back
just like I was meant
to do