You Are Marvelous
The Laughing Heart
by Charles Bukowski
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
Charles Bukowski died in 1994. I would like to have known him. This poem surely was written at some time near the end. The words are a look-back at the arc of life, at all of it, the delight and the terror. On balance these words come as good news to me. Death comes in many forms prior to the expiration of your body. Beating death in life — most of the time is good enough for me. And yes, every time fortune smiles the light grows brighter.
How often have you heard it said: you are marvelous? Well, hear it and believe it!
To be alive is indeed marvelous. You need not do anything.
Simply be marvelous…
