The Last Night of the Earth Poems

In The Last Night of the Earth Poems, Charles Bukowski reckons with writing, death and immortality, literature, city life, illness, war, and the past.

“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.”—Joyce Carol Oates, bestselling author

“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.”—Leonard Cohen, songwriter The poems in the first three sections of this book were published in three volumes: It Catches My Heart in its Hands, Crucifix in a Deathhand and At Terror Street, and Agony Way. Bukowski wrote in his introduction “Looking at these poems written between 1955 and 1973 I like (for one reason or another) the last poems best. I am pleased with this. I have, of course, no idea what shape my future poems will take, or even if I will write any, because I have no idea how long I will go on living, but since I began writing poetry quite late in life, at the age of 35, I like to think they’ll give me a few extra years now, at this end. Meanwhile, the poems that follow will have to do.”

• Gritty Realism: Find beauty and despair in the mundane—from racetracks and flophouses to the quiet desperation of a 9-to-5 job.
• Unflinching Voice: Experience the raw, direct, and darkly humorous style that made Bukowski a counter-culture legend.
• Poems of Survival: A collection that stares into the abyss of mortality, illness, and failure, and somehow finds a reason to keep going.
• A Writer’s Life: Go behind the curtain as Bukowski confronts the agony of the blank page, the absurdity of the literary world, and the salvation of the word.