not Bukowski

for Owen Robertsowski

not unlike others in this game,
i wanted to be Bukowski;
i wanted to live like
him, fuck whores like him
and drink beer (then later wine)
like him.

so, i changed my name
to Jeremiah Chariowski, quit
my job, bought a
whore and sprang for
a 12-pack.

yet, in the morning i still
wasn't Bukowski:
i still wrote shitty poetry and
still couldn't keep down
my drink

and, to top it all off,
i now had no job, a raging hangover
and a searing case of the clap
from the whore.

-published in James River Poetry Review