Appears (in an edited form) in The Night Torn Mad With Footsteps

Charles Bukowski
Carson McCullers

she died of alcoholism
wrapped in the blanket
of a deck chair
on an overseas
steamer

all her books of
terrified loneliness

all her books about
the cruelty
of the loveless lover

were all that was left
of her

as the strolling vacationer
discovered her body

notified the captain

and she was dispatched
somewhere else
upon the ship

as everything else
continued
as
she had written it.

©Linda Lee Bukowski - used with permission