Tobbs Haffke

STRONGEST OF THE STRANGE
you wont see them often
for wherever the crowds are
they are not. these odd ones, not many but from them come the few good paintings the few good symphonies the few good books and other works.
and from the best of the strange ones perhaps nothing.
they are their own paintings their own books their own
music their own work.
sometimes i think
i see them- say
a certain old man sitting on a certain bench in a certain
way or a quick face going the other
way in a passing automobile
or there’s a certain motion
of the hands of a bag-boy or a bag-
girl while packing supermarket groceries.
sometimes it is even somebody you have been living with for some time- you will notice a lightning quick
glance never seen from them before.
sometimes you will only note their existence suddenly
in vivid recall some months some years after they are
gone.
i remember such a one- he was about 20 years old
drunk at 10 a.m staring into a cracked new orleans
mirror face dreaming against the walls of the world
where did i go? ----charles bukowski----