This month marks the 55th anniversary of Charles Bukowski’s breakthrough book, THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS as well as A Bibliography of Charles Bukowski.
Released on December 30, 1969, THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS would be the first to follow what would become Black Sparrow’s standard treatment of Bukowski books with separate versions consisting of paperback, signed, and illustrated editions. It quickly sold out, marking a turning point for both Bukowski and Black Sparrow Press owner John Martin.
THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS comes from a poem by the same name and, like most of the poems in the volume, has a
history that pre-dates the book by several years. By the time the book came out in December 1969, Bukowski had over 700 poems published in various small poetry magazines in the United States and abroad. To say he was prolific is an understatement considering he was working full time for United States Postal Service and spending a large part of his free time at the horse track.
One of the first early small presses to publish Bukowski was HEARSE Press, run by E.V. Griffith out of Eureka, California. Griffith put out HEARSE 1 in 1957 and Bukowski appeared in HEARSE 2 a short time later, becoming a regular contributor in future issues.
It was Griffith who published Bukowski’s first standalone work, a broadside of the poem “His Wife, The Painter” in June 1960. Four months later, Griffith published Bukowski’s first chapbook, Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail. In 1964, Griffith would go on to print three additional Bukowski broadsides that would be included in COFFIN 1, a portfolio of broadsides by Bukowski and other writers, including Judson Crews, Henry Miller and Gil Orlovitz.
While Bukowski would always be grateful to Griffith for his early support, their working relationship was strained at times. Bukowski had two pet peeves when working with small press editors and Griffith was guilty of both:
- Not responding to his letters
- Not returning his work
The second was especially important since Bukowski did not keep carbon copies of his poems in the early days.
“Anyone can be an editor, but not everyone should be. The least these fly-by-
nighters… could do is return submissions,” Bukowski wrote in a letter that appeared in the March 1960 issue of TRACE magazine. “You list them in TRACE, and we send – many of us not egotistical enough to keep carbons. How cold can a man or woman be, simply to wastebasket poetry sent in good faith, with return postage and envelope? And it is not an ordinary occurrence, it is a continuous one.”
Because Bukowski was such a prolific writer, it’s not an exaggeration to suggest that hundreds of poems may have been lost forever during those early years. In fact, “THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS” was one of those lost poems, but fate had other plans.
As Griffith would later recall:
"I let HEARSE lapse in 1961, because of other obligations. In 1969, two things happened which brought me back to publishing again. In culling some old files, I found a hefty envelope of unpublished Charles Bukowski poems, which Bukowski had apparently sent me some time previously (the postmark-date was not readable), but which I had filed away and forgotten. Among these manuscripts was the long poem 'The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills'. I wrote Bukowski, asking if this poem was still available, and saying that reading the poem made me itch to start publishing again. He replied that the poem was still unpublished, and that if I wanted it for HEARSE, I could have it."
In the poem itself, Bukowski mentions that he is 42 years of age, so the manuscript had gone missing for about 6 years before Griffith came across it. It was most likely a submission intended for a future issue of HEARSE before Griffith ceased publication. In his response to Griffith’s query, dated Feb. 12, 1969, Bukowski appears both enthusiastic and sentimental to hear from the publisher of his first chapbook.
“so we’ve dug up the HEARSE again. Sure, use the poems mentioned in any issues you wish, but send contributor or contributor’s copies when they hit. the poems have not appeared elsewhere as I do not keep carbons or copies, or at least, at that time, I didn’t. so it’s like money in the bank, what?...”
By the time Bukowski received his contributor copies of HEARSE 10 he was in the midst of compiling previously published poems for a new, still untitled Black Sparrow book. This was not an easy task since he didn’t keep carbon copies of his early work, often didn’t receive contributor copies, and rarely had his manuscripts returned. Sanford Dorbin, a fellow poet and professional librarian, assisted Bukowski in the effort at the behest of John Martin and Black Sparrow Press.
So it was probably a welcome surprise to find out Griffith had more poems for consideration in the new book. In a letter dated “late August 1969” Bukowski sought Griffith’s help in obtaining copies of the poems.
“thank you for the 2 copies of HEARSE 10, a good issue, babe, but here I am on your back again. any chance of Xeroxing the remaining copies of my poems to come up in future issues, so I’ll know what they are and that I’ll have copies on hand?”
Defying his previous reputation for slothfulness, Griffith quickly responded with retyped copies of the poems, earning Bukowski’s gratitude in a letter dated Sept. 5, 1969.
“Thanks for all your cooperation, E.V. Because I know how it goes. Never enough time to do anything. And things keep working against a man – from woman to cancer to ingrown toenail.”
Without viewing Griffith’s correspondence, it’s impossible to know for certain which poems were returned. However, two poems included in the book also appeared in HEARSE 11, which was also published in 1969: “Self-Destruction” and “On Getting Famous And Being Asked: Can You Recite? Can You Be There At Nine?”
After reading “THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS,” John Martin thought it would make a good title and convinced Bukowski to use it for the book. Martin’s wife Barbara did an exquisite job designing the cover of the book, despite the challenges of the lengthy title. The signed hardcover version featured a green cloth backstrip, a tan paper label on the spine printed in blue, and a red and gold false headband. A separate “Illustrated” version featured tipped-in original paintings signed by Bukowski.
Meanwhile, Sanford Dorbin’s efforts to track down Bukowski’s poems gave birth to a second book. Through small press guides such as TRACE and Bukowski’s better-than-expected memory, Dorbin succeeded in documenting close to 700 appearances in little poetry magazines. The result was Dorbin’s A Bibliography of Charles Bukowski, also published by Black Sparrow Press in December 1969.
In his introduction, Dorbin explains the purpose of the book and Bukowski’s bewilderment as to why such an effort was undertaken.
“I believe Charles Bukowski still isn’t sure why this has been done. I can only repeat here what I first told him: The reason is the usual one, simply to make known to whomever may be interested for whatever reasons all the known writings by & about a given author. Further, such a task implies some regard for those writings & a desire that they become better known to the general reading public (which I am told does not exist) as well as that rare avis the collector.”
While Bukowski may have been perplexed, he made it a point to thank Dorbin in the introductory pages for THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS.
“My thanks to Sanford Dorbin who helped me select these through the beer-raved frontier.”
Later, in a letter dated Feb. 6, 1970, to Dorbin, Bukowski seemed to have becomemore conscious of the purpose behind the bibliography and showed his gratitude for the herculean effort:
“I look at the biblio and wonder how you ever did it without going triple apeshit. People thumb through that baby with wonder.”
Dorbin had a great number of people to thank when the bibliography was finally complete, but he made it a special point to call out E.V. Griffith:
“E.V. Griffith of Eureka, California, Charles Bukowski’s first publisher, & editor of again-revived HEARSE, especially deserves my thanks for sending invaluable bibliographical, literary, & personal information about Bukowski’s early career in an encyclopedic letter – 'the longest I’ve written to anyone in a decade'.”
In addition to his praise in the introduction, Dorbin took it one step further: Each of the 400 copies of the bibliography contained a tipped-in facsimile of "His wife, the painter," HEARSE BROADSIDE NO. 1.
