First Fax Poem
by Charles Bukowski
���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� oh,
forgive me For Whom the Bell Tolls, ABOUT THE POEM (from booktryst.com): �On February 18,
1994, Hank had a fax machine installed at his home. He sent me his first fax
message in the form of that poem. I�m sure he visualized sending me his future
letters and poems via fax, but sadly 18 days later he was gone. I ran off
nine photocopies of the fax, for a total of ten, and numbered and initialed
them. Over the next few months and years I gave copies to individuals who were
Bukowski collectors and regular customers of Black Sparrow. I think I gave away
the last one more than 10 years ago. That poem has never been published
(except as described here) and the poem has never been collected in a book.� JOHN
MARTIN, Black Sparrow Press
oh, forgive me Man who walked on water,
oh, forgive me little old woman who lived in a shoe,
oh, forgive me the mountain that roared at midnight,
oh, forgive me the dumb sounds of night and day and death,
oh, forgive me the death of the last beautiful panther,
oh, forgive me all the sunken ships and defeated armies,
this is my first FAX POEM.
It�s too late:
I have been
smitten.
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