Can you help me understand this poem?

To me, he is talking about mob psychology . He’s talking about people who are suspect of anyone who does not think as they do. He’s talking about the minister who wants to publicly destroy a Koran; about people who hate and feel strength and righteousness in their hate because the mob feels that way too. It’s a very strong poem and uncomfortable to me because I think he’s right. They are scary and threatening.

Sounds like he felt extremely depressed/dark as well as misunderstood and had given up hope for humanity.
Wow that was extremely depressing. He never said anything positive in the entire poem.
We need to be balanced and this guy clearly wasn’t.

Summing it up in a kind of “excuse me while I kiss the sky”
A moment where you can sum up your experience and can say that you have paid your dues.

Deeper, its about trying to live a unencumbered, unconventional lifestyle in a very encumbered, conventional society. Bukowski’s fate is sealed at the hands of the “norms” who enjoy nothing more than destroying the outsider.

or something like that.

Read his biography. It goes a long way towards understanding his poetry.

And this poem seems to include everyone. Beware being alive? This will also work as prose. What makes it poetry then? Is it, or simply a passionate declaration?

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Charles-Bukowski/4442

@blueiiznh Ahh! That makes sense. Thanks!

@gailcalled Thanks for the link!

It warns us about fanaticism, proselytization, hypocrisy and anyone who is so certain they will not listen to anyone else. It says that we should always question. Always be skeptical. Never take anything on faith. Always question the motives of everyone.

Those who believe in an “average” person are quite dangerous because they do not allow for individuality. If you can’t allow individuality, you can’t create art. Only people who are uniquely themselves can be really creative. They are unwilling to be stopped by conventions.