Thoughts on Bukowski

Poet Charles Bukowski's take on the human race. Stark, bleak, and dismissive. Is it a realistic view? A look at humanity as it is, with the veneer stripped away and the sugar-coating most people put on day-to-day life melted?

I've always thought that Bukowski himself is just that. A human being without that veneer or sugar-coating. Raw. Like an unprocessed food item without the additives or preservatives that most of us acquire as we go through life. A closer look at Bukowski as a person allows you to see both the basic, miserable condition of human life, as well as the honest, inherent beauty of being unprocessed. Always a reminder to me that I should strive for a balance of the basic and honest but that, at the same time, a bit of processing and a few additives are needed to make me whole.

I've always found Bukowski fascinating and this particular video brings to mind a little of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Bukowski seemed to be of the people and by the people, but not for the people.