Charles Bukowski - The word lyrics

The word has no legs or eyes
Has no mouth, has no arms
Has no intestines and
Often no heart, or very little

You can't ask the words to
Light a cigarette although it will help you
Enjoy your wine
And you can't force the word
To do anything it doesn't want to do
You can't overwork it
And you can't awaken it when it decides to
Sleep

The word will treat you well at times
Depending upon what you ask it to
Do other times, it will treat
You badly no matter what you ask
It to do

The word comes and goes
Sometimes you must wait a very long time
For it sometimes it never
Comes back sometimes writers
Kill themselves when the word
Leaves other writers will
Pretend that it is still there
Even though the word is dead and
Buried

Many famous writers do this
And many less-famous who
Call themselves writers

The word is not for everybody
And for most, It's there
Just for a very short time

The word is one of the most
Powerful miracles in
Existence, It can enlighten or
Destroy minds
Nations, Cultures
The word is dangerous and beautiful

If it arrives for you, You will know
It and you will be the
Luckiest of humans
Nothing else will matter and
Everything else will matter

You will be the center of the
Sun, You will be laughing
Through the centuries
You will have it
Your fingers your guts
Will have it
You will be, For as long as it
Lasts, A god damn
Writer doing the possible
Impossible, Getting it down
Getting it down, Getting it
Down