cold plums
eating cold plums in bed
she told me about the German
who owned everything on the block
except the custom drapery shop
and he tried to buy
the custom drapery shop
but the girls said, no.
the German had the best grocery store in
Pasadena, his meats were high
but worth the price
and his vegetables and produce were
very cheap and
he also sold flowers. people came
from all over Pasadena to go to his
store
but he wanted to buy the custom drapery shop
and the girls kept saying, no.
one night somebody was seen running
out the back door of the drapery shop
and there was a fire
and almost everything was destroyed—
they’d had a tremendous inventory,
they tried to save what was left
had a fire sale
but it didn’t work
they had to sell, finally,
and then the German owned the drapery shop
but it just sits there, vacant,
the German’s wife tried to make a go of it
she tried to sell little baskets and things
but it didn’t work.
we finished the plums.
“that was a sad story,” I told her.
then she bent down and began sucking me off.
the windows were open and you could hear me
hollering all over the neighborhood
at 5:30 in the evening.
Other works by Charles Bukowski...
