When Chuck Met Bob

two in the afternoon

Bukowski sitting in a chair

drinking scotch and beer

in the dim-lit bar

there since it opened at eleven

Dylan beside him, smoking a cigarette

occasionally tilting his head 

looking sideways at Bukowski

through Ray Bans, his long

fingernails scratching his cheek

“what is that shit you sing?”

Bukowski snarls, suddenly

Dylan appears both amused

and taken aback – grinning, says

“what? what particular shit are you

referring to now, Chuck?”

“christ, you know, that shit

I keep hearing on the radio,

magic swirling ships and

dancing spells, jingle jangling

smoke rings of your mind. God!

such horse shit! I could puke”

“well, that seems about right, Chuck,

they call you Buk the puke, you know”

Bukowski turns his head slowly

toward Dylan, like a lizard in the sun

“fuck those idiots

 the only good line in the song is

‘let me forget about today until tomorrow’ ”

“hmm,” Dylan says “well, you know

I stole that line, Chuck, off ‘a

some old poet nobody remembers

no more – twisted it around a little”

“fuck me – how does it feel to be a fake?”

Dylan smiles tightly “you know, Chuck my friend,

we all got our masks on, even you, you got

your old beat up drunken sage mask on”

Bukowski narrows his eyes, looks directly at Dylan

“you got balls, I’ll say that –and you got the sense,

my young poet friend, to steal good shit”

“well you know I’m gonna steal from you next, Chuck

I liked that book of yours

‘Love is a Dog from Hell’

read the whole thing”

Bukowski takes a long drink of beer

“Congratulations”

“you know, I wrote a lot of other songs

besides that one, Chuck.

A lot – you should listen to some of them,

you’d be surprised.”

Dylan lights another cigarette

“and you know I read a lot, Chuck,

and not just you… and stealing,

Woody Guthrie taught me that”

Bukowski looks down into his scotch

“I prefer classical music – but Guthrie,

there was one hell of a songwriter”

Dylan nods “can’t disagree with that”

Bukowski raises his glass of scotch

Dylan raises his beer

they clink glasses and drink