The Man with the Beautiful Eyes

The Man With The Beautiful Eyes

                         by Charles Bukowski

When we were kids 

there was a strange house 

all the shades were 

always 

drawn 

and we never heard voices 

in there 

and the yard was full of 

bamboo 

and we liked to play in 

the bamboo 

pretend we were 

Tarzan 

(although there was no 

Jane) 

and there was a 

fish pond 

a large one 

full of the 

fattest goldfish 

you ever saw 

and they were 

tame. 

They came to the 

surface of the water 

and took pieces of 

bread 

from our hands. 

Our parents had 

told us: 

" never go near that 

house" 

so, of course, 

we went. 

We wondered if anybody 

lived there. 

Weeks went by and we 

never saw 

anybody. 

Then one day 

we heard 

a voice 

from the house 

" YOU GOD DAMNED 

WHORE!" 

It was a mans 

voice. 

Then the screen 

door 

of the house was 

flung open 

and the man 

walked out. 

He was holding a 

fifth of whiskey 

in his right 

hand. 

He was about 

30. 

He had a cigar 

in his 

mouth, 

needed a 

shave. 

His hair was 

wild and 

uncombed 

and he was 

barefoot. 

In undershirt 

and pants 

but his eyes 

were 

bright 

they BLAZED 

with brightness 

and he said, 

"hey, little 

gentleman, 

having a good 

time, I 

hope?" 

Then he gave a 

little laugh 

and walked 

back into the 

house. 

We left, 

went back to my 

parents yard 

and thought 

about it. 

Our parents, 

we decided 

had wanted us 

to stay away 

from there 

because they 

never wanted us 

to see a man 

like 

that, 

a strong natural 

man 

with 

beautiful 

eyes. 

Our parents 

were ashamed 

that they were 

not 

like that 

man, 

thats why they 

wanted us to stay 

away. 

But 

we went back 

to that house 

and the bamboo 

and the tame 

goldfish. 

We went back 

many times 

for many 

weeks 

but we never 

saw 

or heard 

the man 

again. 

The shades were 

down 

as always 

and it was 

quiet. 

Then one day 

as we came back from 

school 

we saw the 

house. 

It had burned 

down, 

there was nothing 

left, 

just a smoldering 

twisted black 

foundation 

and we went to 

the fish pond 

and there was 

no water 

in it 

and the fat 

orange goldfish 

were dead 

there, 

drying out. 

We went back to 

my parents yard 

and talked about 

it 

and decided that 

our parents had 

burned their 

house down, 

had killed 

them 

had killed the 

goldfish 

because it was 

all too 

beautiful, 

even the bamboo 

forest had 

burned. 

They had been 

afraid of 

the man with the 

beautiful 

eyes. 

And 

we were afraid 

than 

that 

all throughout our lives 

things like that 

would happen, 

that nobody 

wanted 

anybody 

to be 

strong and 

beautiful 

like that, 

that 

others would never 

allow it, 

and that 

many people 

would have to 

die.

I came across this poem by chance and loved its narrative quality.

It's almost like a short novel, and somehow reminds me of Catcher in the Rye..

There's a beautiful animation rendition to this poem by Sherbet, which captures the child-like tone of the poem perfectly.

Directed by Jonathan Hodgson, 1998.