The Trackappears in a magician, gone..., the player

The Track in Bukowski's poems is one of his favorite places. He regularly states that he would rather be known for playing the horses than for writing. The track is often a metaphor for the trials of life, and jockeys metaphors for people struggling for success. Three examples are Joe O'Brien, Harry the jockey rep, and the new jockey from Arizona; all are talented men defeated by the horse-race racket. The Track is an ambiguous location, filled with revelry and devastation.

The Freewayappears in the freeway life, drive through hell, what am I doing?

Chinaski loves to drive fast and wild on the freeway in L.A. In "the freeway life" he passes a man going eighty-five and destroys his fuel tank, leaving his car a wreck. In "driving through hell," he sets up the Freeway as a metaphor, a...