Eden

I wondered the other day
if the world were ever
a nice place -
without the fruit
of an apple's labor
before the killing
by false prophets
like hornless mountain goats
sun bleached and salty cheeks
shackled vessels leading to
stolen promised lands
with voiceless corsets
bearing hopeless youth

But then I remembered
that even
resilient yellow dandelions
compete with
the perfect blades
of staunch grass
for a piece
of the endless sky
and was sure
this was
something
Bukowski
knew well
and questioned, too -
where is God?

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

And the dandelions often win...Bukowski knew the bottle well...I am wondering if God just abandoned us after Adam and Eve got thrown out of the Garden....
He was not happy with man or woman at that time.
I wonder what he is thinking now?
This poem is really good--splendid insight presented in short, sharp lines.
j.

[AMMD]

Good morning and thank you, Jacob.

I personally ascribe to much of transcendental views on it, in which case Bukowski's would now be a collective thought. I was myself thinking of it seeming unjust to punish the dandelion because of an apple. I'd often pair a reading of Genesis with Lilith and both Gilgamesh and Pandora. Woman is most often culturally blamed for the woes of man, yet men are most often the source. Perhaps thus the "false prophets", "voiceless corsets", and "hopeless youth" are a result.

I was surprised to learn that Bukowski actually viewed cynicism as a weakness, but I don't disagree. The struggle is real in a world that would steal joy. It is, however, the same world in which the dandelion struggles "for a piece / of endless sky".