she came out of the bathroom with her flaming red hair and said—
the cops want me to come down and identify
some guy who tried to rape me.
I’ve lost the key to my car again; I’ve got
the key to open the door but not the one
to start it.
those people are trying to take my child
away from me but I won’t let them.
Rochelle almost o.d.’d, then she went at
Harry with something, and he punched her.
she’s had those cracked ribs, you know,
and one of them punctured her lung. she’s
down at the county under a machine.
where’s my comb?
your comb has all that guck in it.
I told her,
I haven’t seen your
comb.
Other works by Charles Bukowski...
