darlings

a world full of successful people’s
sons
on bicycles
on the Hollywood Riviera
at 3:11 p.m.
on a Tuesday afternoon.

this is what some of the armies
died to save
this is what many of the ladies
desire:
these stuffed fractions
non-beings
pedaling along
or stopping to chat while
still seated upon their bikes
gentle breezes touching
undisturbed faces.

I understand very little of this
except maybe the armies killed the
wrong people
but they usually do:
they think the enemy are
those they are directed against
instead of those who
direct them:
the fathers of the
darlings.

-Charles Bukowski