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Chasing Buk
by JD Clay
Opening day at Santa Anita Park
isnÂ’t the same anymore
without Bukowski standing at the rail
waving his tickets
in the tail wind of a long shot
I lost the first race
to a nag at the quarter pole
then promptly folded my Pick Six
into an origami aeroplane
and sailed it into a sea of hats
The Turf Club was packed
so I grabbed a dog and a beer
then placed another wager
thinking Poetic Justice in the third
was a shoe in
WhatÂ’s another twenty bucks
I went with my gut in the eighth
on a three year old filly Trifecta
stood at the gate clutching a copy
of BukÂ’s Betting on the Muse
yelling COME TO DADDY
in a drunken accent
all the way to the wire
Two furlongs short of an autograph
~ jadi ~
01/23/2005 Posted on 01/30/2005
Copyright © 2026 JD Clay
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Max Bouillet on 01/30/05 at 05:13 PM Beer, dogs, horses, loosing money, and airplanes. Wow. An eclectic gathering of words that sing images that smell of wet animals and the chance of money. Great word strings... thanks for sharing. |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 01/31/05 at 12:29 AM You've just written a clear vivid poetic descriptive why I do not gamble! Can't stand losing! LOL! Touch of ironic humor. I smiled without sympathy. LOL! |
| Posted by Michelle Angelini on 01/31/05 at 01:38 AM WOO HOO! jadi - I like this - yeah, both Bukowski and Santa Anita. It's on my favorites.
~Chelle~ |
| Posted by Michele Schottelkorb on 01/31/05 at 01:25 PM yes, my ancient ten year old mind remembered this... cept i was watching my dada and uncles... great reverie... blessings... |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 01/31/05 at 03:04 PM Amusing, light reflection of one's own poetic shorcomings, on and off the race track. |
| Posted by Mary Ellen Smith on 01/31/05 at 05:39 PM wonderful sights and sounds in this one! |
| Posted by Graeme Fielden on 02/01/05 at 02:54 PM How come we have so much fun chasing a ta/il/le? Fun & insightful as ever Mr Clay...:) |
| Posted by David R Spellman on 02/01/05 at 04:33 PM As a long-time horse race lover I had to smile at the vivid pictures you've presented in this one JD. From wire to wire this one's a winner! |
| Posted by Sarah Graves on 02/02/05 at 12:40 AM This has it all.. it really kept me at the edge of my seat. Great work, as always. |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 02/02/05 at 02:34 PM nice sort of trippin into a day at the races with the much irreverent and thus much beloved Chinaski, and honest as the day is long shot perhaps, but who loves favorites anyway, they're for losers. yeah, Chinaski is one, i would not have minded sitting next to at a bar, guzzling our barrelful, and burning our stogey lives down to their cinders although i get this notion that if i said two words to him, in praise or just shooting the breeze, he'd tell me to put a sock in it. |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 02/04/05 at 05:28 AM Photo finish Jadi. Fun read!...Charlie |
| Posted by Ulyss Rubey on 02/06/05 at 05:15 AM We need more button past "vivid" for this one.
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| Posted by Bruce W Niedt on 02/08/05 at 02:40 PM I love this! Colorful, colloquial, humorous, a little allergorical - just a great piece! "Buk" would've been proud.... d:-) |
| Posted by Michele Schottelkorb on 02/11/05 at 02:34 PM it is such a joy to see you spotlighted, JD... blessings... |
| Posted by Rusty C Arquette on 02/11/05 at 03:45 PM Bukowski lives with me. I've been trying to get him out of the house. Maybe a bus ticket to San Diego would do it? It's not that I don't like him around, it's just the haunting Hank projection at all hours of the day and night, well, that kind'a gets weird. Plus, whenever we are drinking he always ends up picking a fight. Where is Camus when you need him?! - Love the images, love the theme, Write on dude! - RCat |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 02/11/05 at 07:58 PM Congratulations on poem of the day Jadi...Charlie |
| Posted by Glenn Currier on 02/12/05 at 06:23 AM Oh now, I can see I won't be able to wait for the Dallas racing season... it's off to Oak Lawn Park for the lenten run... You warm the cockles of my ponyloving heart and capture the way the track makes a fool of many a man... Fun run, jadi. |
| Posted by Lori I Wolfe on 02/20/05 at 06:44 PM This brings back images of the Ex piecing out our hard work for the chance of his easy street that never came. Great poem! |
| Posted by Michael Faraday on 08/02/05 at 01:09 AM nice tribute to 'Barfly'... :) |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 08/09/05 at 11:23 AM A fun reread! Ironic humor as someone noted I think best fits this "racey" poem! :) Still hate gambling! |
| Posted by Elizabeth Jill on 04/28/06 at 03:42 PM Gold! —you are thrilling to read! Every turn I make, you're on a friends favorite, and it's clear why! Smººth PeN - writer! |
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