The poems featured in this study guide come from two of Bukowski’s major poetry collections – The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems 1946 – 1966 and Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame: Selected Poems, 1955 – 1973. Making him an international cult hero for many, Bukowski’s poems focus on his own personal life along with the corruption of urban life in America through the use of violence, language and imagery.
The first poem discussed here is ‘a 340 dollar horse and a hundred dollar whore’. Drawing from Bukowski’s own personal experience of horse racing, this poem presents the story of a man at the horse races, presumably himself, who wins and goes home with a woman described as a ‘onehundreddollar’ whore. The poem represents the power of money and the importance of values over material things. Despite the narrator’s poor living standards, he doesn’t mind being poor as he is passionate about being a poet. The poem also focuses on the impact of luck on a person’s life and whether luck or hard work pays off the most.
The second poem, ‘8 count’, is one of Bukowski’s most famous pieces. Representing his signature prose style, the poem simply expresses a writer’s thought process when experiencing writers block. The use of irony and explicit language represents the writer’s frustration.
‘About My Very Tortured Friend, Peter’ presents a dialogue between two people who are suggested to include Bukowski, giving his friend advice on how to get his book published. The poem represents the struggles of the creative industry and how perseverance and patience is the key to success. The characters of the poem display two opposite views regarding their occupation as Bukowski keeps his literary talents secret despite his companion urging him to tell his co-workers. This is, once again, another expression of the importance of hard work as opposed to luck.
‘the difference between a bad pot and a good one is luck’ possibly draws on Bukowski’s own personal experience. The poem tells the tale of a writer who is barely getting by and is in desperate need for work. He puts an advertisement in a local newspaper and is approached by another writer wanting to write a history book. However, the narrator misses him and he does not come back, and is therefore forced into manual labour. Working on a railroad track, he ends up in Texas and gets arrested. Eventually he is let go and returns home but is then driven out of town. The poem suggests the life of a struggling writer can be very deprived, especially during the 20th century.
The final poem of this study guide is ‘Hello, Willie Shoemaker’. This poem can be interpreted as representing the comfort of simple things. Initially criticising many small aspects of life, the narrator gives money to a homeless man and admires the girls in his town. He then appears to be up on his luck, possibly gaining some money and therefore splashes out on drinks and music in the bar. The poem ends with the narrator realising his love for his life at this moment in time and how he would not like to leave New York.
