Though I didn't like it as much as other Charles Bukowski poetry collections I have read, The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills is still rather enjoyable. His first published collection from back in 1969, it lacks the refinement (not a word that fits easily with Bukowski) of his later poetry; it lacks the clarity that comes with experience. In some of the poems here, key influences - particularly popular Beat poets of the time like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs - are rather obvious and consequently it feels less like Bukowski's authentic voice.

But a fair number of the poems are to be recommended; the ratio of 'dud' to 'good' is just about even, and even in average poems one can usually find one or two good lines. Amongst the best in this collection are 'Poem for Personnel Managers' and 'Footnote Upon the Construction of the Masses', both interesting perspectives on humankind, and 'The Miracle', which is an eloquent thank-you note to good poetry. His poems about the struggle to come to terms with the death of a lover and muse (Jane Cooney Baker, who died in 1962) are rather powerful, particularly 'Remains' and 'For Jane: With All the Love I Had, Which Was Not Enough'. 'Even the Sun Was Afraid', whilst on the surface a poem-cum-short-story about a bullfight, is in my opinion about how the world mercilessly beats you down from your place of pride right down into the dirt. As with the bull with the matador's sword embedded in his back, every time they make you move the blade cuts a little deeper. ( )

The poorest Bukowski I've read. He hadn't found his own voice yet, he got into politics, tried to use surreal imagery and imitated the style of other poets (mostly part of the intellectual/academic ruling class) that he would later disown. This was published in 1969, only 8 years later he would publish Love is a Dog from Hell. In that collection he had found his own voice and developed cadences and rhythms that were distinct to him and also pleasing to read. The difference is amazing and this book is probably worth reading to understand how much Bukowski developed over the years. If you haven't read any Bukowski, or very little, I would not recommend it but if you have read several poetry collections past Love is a Dog from Hell then this is worth reading to see how he developed. ( )

This is the best of Bukowski's work...if you ask me, which, of course, you did not. The grit that permeates all of Bukowski's best work is balanced here with the deep emotion of his Jane poems. The book is dedicated to her. ( )

Bukowski is special, expresses things in his own light that I fully love and understand though my life bears no resemblance in the slightest.

More than a dozen years have passed since I first opened this collection, which was published the year I was born. After only a few readings, the following poem settled into my brain and never left. I return to it again and again, each time expecting -- and receiving -- a visceral jolt.

these things

these things that we support most well
have nothing to do with us,
and we do with them
out of boredom or fear or money
or cracked intelligence;
our circle and our candle of light
being small,
so small we cannot bear it,
we heave out with Idea
and lose the Center:
all wax without the wick,
and we see names that once meant wisdom,
like signs into ghost towns,
and only the graves are real. ( )