Working Habits

By George Starbuck 1931–1996 George Starbuck

Federico Garcia Lorca

used to uncork a

bottle or two of wine

whenever the duende dwindled for a line.

James Joyce

would have preferred a choice

of brandies in decanters made by Tiffany’s,

but rotgut was the shortcut to epiphanies.

The Later Henry James

bet shots of rum against himself in games

of how much can we pyramid upon a

given donné.

Little Dylan Thomas

didn’t keep his promise

to stay out of Milk Wood.

He tried to drown the fact as best he could.

Anna Akhmatova

Eyed the last shot of a

Pre-war cognac de champagne.

“So much for you, little brandy. Do svidanya.”

T. S. Eliot

used to belly it

up to the nearest bar,

then make for a correlative objective in his car.

Proust

used

too.

George Starbuck, “Working Habits” from The Works: Poems Selected from Five Decades. Copyright © 2003 by University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa). Reprinted with the permission of The University of Alabama Press.

Source: The Works: Poems Selected from Five Decades (2003)

Biography

George Starbuck's songs of protest are usually concerned with love, war, and the spiritual temper of the times. John Holmes believes that "there hasn't been as much word excitement . . . for years," as one finds in Bone Thoughts. Harvey Shapiro points out that Starbuck's work is attractive because of its "witty, improvisational surface, slangy and familiar address, brilliant aural quality . . .," and adds that Starbuck may . . .

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