keeping an eye on you

I had my bar dream

the other night,

only this time

it was a little different;

it started out the same,

same old rundown,

dimly lit,

hole-in-the-wall dive,

with the same lowdown,

rundown,

shady characters,

sitting around drinking

god knows what;

I have this dream

quite often,

and it always seems

as if I am finally

at home,

sitting on the barstool

with all the other

losers,

but like I said,

last night

was a little different;

this guy walked by

who seemed familiar,

“Bukowski?” I asked,

he stopped and nodded,

we started talking,

I told him he was the greatest,

which he took in stride,

I’m sure he had heard it

all before,

he wasn’t anything

like I expected him to be,

very polite

and well mannered;

when I commented on it,

he just smiled and said;

“don’t believe everything you read kid”;

“especially if I wrote it”;

then he said;

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you”;

Later,

when I had been awake

for several hours,

I thought;

keeping an eye on me?

what the hell did he mean

by that?

.

.