Anyway, I discovered that there was a writer called Charles
Bukowski, who published a book in 1969 called “The Days Run Away Like Horses
Over the Hill.” Now that, I thought, is a beautiful line. But I knew that I’d
never heard of Bukowski and so that’s not where I would have come across the
words. I was intrigued, though that Bukowski was born in Germany, as was I,
though he was an American citizen. His grandmother was born in Danzig (now
Gdansk) as was my mother. Paths diverge, however. Bukowski’s father was German
American and fought in WWI as an American soldier. He met his wife, Katharina
in Germany and they lived there for a few years until the difficulties of post
war inflation convinced them to move to the United States. Bukowski didn’t have
a great life, at least from my point of view, but he did publish many short
stories and poems, novels, non-fiction. There are many recordings of his work,
and films that use some of his work. I read the poem “Wild Horses …” on line.
Not sure if I’ll read more of his work, though I very much like some of the
titles of other poems: A Poem is a City, and When you Wait for the Dawn to
Crawl Through the Screen Like a Burglar To Take Your Life Away.
Further research found me at a U2 site with the lyrics for
“Dirty Day.” And there I found the words in the last line. When I looked at my
copy of the CD (yes, I still have CD’s and play them), I found a dedication
“For Charles Bukowski.” U2, an Irish band, has German connections – their album
“Achtung Baby” was recorded in Berlin. In 1982 German filmmaker Wim Wenders
approached the band looking for music for his film “Until the End of the
World.” “Stay (Faraway, So Close)” was another song for a Wenders film.
Recently, I found a book in the library called, “Hidden Folk:
Icelandic Fantasies” by Eleanor Arnason. Since I’m planning a trip to Iceland
next year, I picked it up and read it. I’d never heard of this writer and
enjoyed the book very much. Arnason
lives in Minneapolis, but her family background is Icelandic. I also discovered
that she has written science fiction, and been compared to Ursula Le Guin (one
of my favourite writers). So another connection and new discovery. I will read more of her books.
I was pretty sure that Arnason is a name of Icelandic origins,
and it is (internet research again). I do know Canadian author David Arnason,
who I met many years ago when he was teaching at the University of Manitoba in
Winnipeg. I even wrote a review of his collection of short stories “Fifty
Stories and a Piece of Advice.” He was born in Gimli, Manitoba, on Lake
Winnipeg. The land was granted to Icelandic settlers by the Canadian Government
in 1875. The community became known as New Iceland. After reading Eleanor
Arnason’s book, I decided it was time to read more of David’s work and I
recently finished reading “Baldur’s Song: A Saga.” David Arnason has written
many other books including, “The Dragon and the Dry Goods Princess,” “The New
Icelanders: A North American Community” and “The Demon Lover.” Another
connection – my fantasy (second in The Leather Book Tales series, coming out
later this year) “Child of Dragons” has Icelandic characters.
Like wild horses running across the prairie, the mind at
times wanders and forages where it wills.
