my father always said, "early to bed, early to rise 

makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"

it was lights out at 8 p.m. in our house

and we were up at dawn to the smell of

coffee, frying bacon, and scrambled eggs

my father followed this general routine

for a lifetime and died young, broke,

and, i think, not too wise

taking not, i rejected his advice and it 

became, for me, late to bed late to rise

now i'm not saying that i've conquered the world, but i've avoided

numberless early traffic jams, bypassed some common pitfalls

and have met some strange, wonderful people

one of whom

was myself

someone my father

never knew.

- Charles Bukowski-