Charles Bukowski reads "The Shoelace"

Must admit: I didn't really appreciate Charles Bukowski until I saw Barfly. But that was enough to make read more of his work -- and to realize that "The Shoelace" is my favorite poem of all time.

It’s not the large things that send a man to the madhouse. Death he’s ready for, or murder, incest, robbery, fire, flood… No, it’s the continuing series of small tragedies that send a man to the madhouse… Not the death of his love but a shoelace that snaps with no time left.

How true, dear God, how true.