Are people good to each other? Comments on a Bukowski piece?

Question

the crunch

too much too little

too fat
too thin
or nobody.

laughter or
tears

haters
lovers

strangers with faces like
the backs of
thumb tacks

armies running through
streets of blood
waving winebottles
bayoneting and f*cking
virgins.

an old guy in a cheap room
with a photograph of M. Monroe.

there is a loneliness in this world so great
that you can see it in the slow movement of
the hands of a clock

people so tired
mutilated
either by love or no love.

people just are not good to each other
one on one.

the rich are not good to the rich
the poor are not good to the poor.

we are afraid.

our educational system tells us
that we can all be
big-*** winners

it hasn't told us
about the gutters
or the suicides.

or the terror of one person
aching in one place
alone

untouched
unspoken to

watering a plant.

people are not good to each other.
people are not good to each other.
people are not good to each other.

I suppose they never will be.
I don't ask them to be.

but sometimes I think about
it.

the beads will swing
the clouds will cloud
and the killer will behead the child
like taking a bite out of an ice cream cone.

too much
too little

too fat
too thin
or nobody

more haters than lovers.

people are not good to each other.
perhaps if they were
our deaths would not be so sad.

meanwhile I look at young girls
stems
flowers of chance.

there must be a way.

surely there must be a way that we have not yet
thought of.

who put this brain inside of me?

it cries
it demands
it says that there is a chance.

it will not say
"no."

Charles Bukowski

Answer 1

I don't want to talk about Bukowski, but "too much too little" would be a good title for this. I'd like to direct you to a better example if I may -

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20090214040925AAL1ON4

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

Are people good to each other? Comments on a Bukowski piece?

the crunch



too much too little



too fat

too thin

or nobody.



laughter or

tears



haters

lovers



strangers with faces like

the backs of

thumb tacks



armies running through

streets of blood

waving winebottles

bayoneting and f*cking

virgins.



an old guy in a cheap...

Answer 3

Well written Sue about how you would anticipate a meeting with Bukowski to go. You also took me on a journey. It must have been the park bench that did it. My Great Grandfather would feed the birds from the park bench, in all weathers. He had been a chimney sweep but lost his business and his family because he was a drunk.He also died on the same bench where he'd fed the birds for years. I never new him, but I do wonder if he ever had an ounce of poetry in him.

Answer 4

When I see a poem written by other people on this site of this length, I don't bother to read it (sorry guys, I'm lazy) but as soon as your name comes up, I read with utter pleasure in my eyes. I assume that you're a father and are wondering whether there will be a place for your children where they can be safe?



Either way, I loved this piece. Thank you, Buk.

Answer 5

The Crunch Bukowski

Answer 6

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - People Ain't No Good Lyrics





People just ain't no good

I think that's well understood

You can see it everywhere you look

People just ain't no good



We were married under cherry trees

Under blossom we made pour vows

All the blossoms come sailing down

Through the streets and through the playgrounds



The sun would stream on the sheets

Awoken by the morning bird

We'd buy the Sunday newspapers

And never read a single word



People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good



Seasons came, Seasons went

The winter stripped the blossoms bare

A different tree now lines the streets

Shaking its fists in the air

The winter slammed us like a fist

The windows rattling in the gales

To which she drew the curtains

Made out of her wedding veils



People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good at all



To our love send a dozen white lilies

To our love send a coffin of wood

To our love let all the pink-eyed pigeons coo

That people they just ain't no good

To our love send back all the letters

To our love a valentine of blood

To our love let all the jilted lovers cry

That people they just ain't no good



It ain't that in their hearts they're bad

They can comfort you, some even try

They nurse you when you're ill of health

They bury you when you go and die

It ain't that in their hearts they're bad

They'd stick by you if they could

But that's just bullshit

People just ain't no good

Answer 7

Not being a particularly big fan of Bukowski, I have never read this one, but he is right on target with his analogy, and his final conclusion.

Answer 8

Ma nailed it. The only memorable lines for me are:



"there is a loneliness in this world so great

that you can see it in the slow movement of

the hands of a clock "



When I think of Buk, I always think of his negative take on things, the constant arguments of the for and against camps, who will never agree on his merit or worth to poetry. Ignore his popularity at your peril, but analyse his shifting scales of quality.

This one misses for me, as it is too laborious, and short of a good edit.

Answer 9

To one degree or another, the scale does not balance,

Depends on, who, why, where, when.

Thin threads exist, between good evil,

I was glad, to read the last three lines,

with out "hope" there is no meaning to existence

Answer 10

I agree with IWAD, not one of his best, he had something to say but took too long to say it and not in his usually gripping way...this is the only line that stuck with me:



there is a loneliness in this world so great

that you can see it in the slow movement of

the hands of a clock



However, I did like his concluding nine lines, very much.

ma

Answer 11

I get what he's saying, but this poem makes me feel very isolated and misanthropic. I'm sure it wasn't meant to give one that feeling, the opposite actually, but that's what I got.

Answer 12

Charles Schultz wrote "there is no heavier burden than a great potential"

We, the human race, have not come close. Hope remains.

Answer 13

this one put me in a frame of mind to run out and kick some b6tt. there is still hope. this one i will keep to read when i need some guidance

Answer 14

interesting view. Something to chew on a bit as my brain refuses to function without my first cup of coffee....

Answer 15

I believe in the inherent good of people. Yes the deviants remain. They are outnumbered.

Answer 16

yeah

you have to know

that behind those eyes

because of the hunched shoulders

hiding in the tinkling laughter

we are all

just cracked pots

Answer 17

My comment is

you write better stuff

than this.

Answer 18

I'm amazed......There was enough room on the stall door??!!



Long ...I like it ..... Not one of your best ...Still like it all the same

Answer 19

no man is an island but we build forts to fight all and help none

Answer 20

After reading this, I know why he died of what he died. LOL !