The Joke Charles Bukowski

it often happens when the party is
going well,
somebody will say, "wait a minute, that
reminds me, I heard this
joke, it will only take a minute and I
promise not to tell
more than one."

he leans forward and begins to tell
it, and this is the worst part because
you know it will not be funny, and even worse
than that, not even plausible, but he goes
on as your stomach feels as if you had
eaten a rotten egg, your reach the punch
line long before he gets to it, then he
finishes,
looks about.

there is silence, no laughter, not even
a smile.

"wait," he says, "don't you get it?"

"I understand," I tell him.

then he leans back, thinks that I
have no sense of humor, have had a
bad day, or that he has overestimated my
intelligence.