I Met A Genius Poem by Charles Bukowski

I Met A Genius

Rating: 3.6


I met a genius on the train
today
about 6 years old,
he sat beside me
and as the train
ran down along the coast
we came to the ocean
and then he looked at me
and said,
it's not pretty.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Naida Nepascua Supnet 25 September 2019

For there are unspoken thoughts that went along with it. And it is in the unspoken that we hear more.

0 0 Reply
Walter Durk 27 September 2007

Here is the full text of the poem: I met a genius on the train today about 6 years old, as he sat beside me and as the train ran down along the coast we came to the ocean and then he looked at me and said, it's not pretty it was the first time I'd realized that. A brief analysis: He was concerned with self-autonomy with regard to life and art, and the influence greater society plays in stripping the self of autonomy. Athough people are conditioned to 'see' in a certain way, that is not necessarily the way to 'see'. As an example, we usually think of a pastoral scene as being beautiful, or nature as being good or beautiful. But we need to question this approach to thinking, question assumptions. Do we experience the world the way we are conditioned to, or do we view it with control over our own ideas, our own individual vision.

22 0 Reply
Walter Durk 27 September 2007

The ending is: it was the first time I'd realized that.

11 0 Reply
Derek R. Audette 16 September 2007

Incredible! There is a universe of hidden, simple wisdom and truth in this poem of only ten lines - if you can see it. Bukowski was such a master.

5 1 Reply
Anna Davies 26 January 2005

i dont know what it is. but i cant stop reading it. and sometimes it makes me sad. but i like it. it makes a lot of since.

9 1 Reply
Close
Error Success