Love is a Dog from Hell

me

women don't know how to love,
she told me.
you know how to love
but women just want to
leech.
I know this because I'm a
woman.

hahaha, I laughed.

so don't worry about your breakup
with Susan
because she'll just leech onto
somebody else.

we talked awhile longer
then I said goodbye
hungup
went into the crapper and
took a good beershit
mainly thinking, well,
I'm still alive
and have the ability to expel
wastes from my body.
and poems.
and as long as that's happening
I have the ability to handle
betrayal
loneliness
hangnail
clap
and the economic reports in the
financial section.

with that
I stood up
wiped
flushed
then thought:
it's true:
I know how to love.

I pulled up my pants and walked
into the other room.

Love is a Dog from Hell
Poems, 1974-1977
Charles Bukowski