The Genius of the Crowd by Charles Bukowski

[barbtries]

there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average
human being to supply any given army on any given day

and the best at murder are those who preach against it
and the best at hate are those who preach love
and the best at war finally are those who preach peace

those who preach god, need god
those who preach peace do not have peace
those who preach peace do not have love

beware the preachers
beware the knowers
beware those who are always reading books
beware those who either detest poverty
or are proud of it
beware those quick to praise
for they need praise in return
beware those who are quick to censor
they are afraid of what they do not know
beware those who seek constant crowds for
they are nothing alone
beware the average man the average woman
beware their love, their love is average
seeks average

but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their own
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect

like a shining diamond
like a knife
like a mountain
like a tiger
like hemlock

their finest art


********

i watched a biography of him over the weekend and heard this poem. it made me think of the people protesting these days, the teabaggers and "anti-socialists" who don't apparently recognize that they are advocating against their very own best interests. never mind that they'll never give a rat's ass about anybody else - they don't even want what would be good for themselves. just wanted to share this. genius in their hatred.

[Wickerman]

1. beautiful

Tree's Lounge is another nice take on Charles' life. He read so much of his work for recording and its great to hear his inflection and voice tinged with sarcasm as he reads.

thanks for posting.

[barbtries]

4. you're welcome

i haven't been able to forget this poem all week. and every day in the news (i don't even watch the news, i catch it on DU) i read about more and more people being entranced by hatred. i don't get it.

[patrice]

2. Thanks for this! Uncomfortable and Darkly Beautiful, just as much of theTruth is.

You can feel the Life in it.

[ixion]

3. Buk was one of the Great American Poets

of which there have been so few. Thanks for posting.

[Tutankhamun]

5. I love Bukowski's work! Barbtries, I agree. That poem is regrettably very relevant now.

I love his novels, too. Barbtries, do you know what channel the bio was on? I'm hoping I can catch it too.

[barbtries]

6. do you have netflix?

it's a play now movie. but i'll get you the title and wouldn't be surprised if you could find it online elsewhere...http://www.netflix.com/Search?v1=Bukowski:%20Born%20into%20This&search_submit.x=0&search_submit.y=0&lnkce=acsEnhCk

Born Into This

a good movie. at the end they filmed his widow sitting at his grave and i recognized the cemetery where my daughter is buried. will look him up the next time i get to visit her bones...

speaking of his novels, i haven't read one. plan to pick up a couple on my next amazon binge, which may be today actually. :)

[Tutankhamun]

10. Thank you barbtries!

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter.

It should be interesting to see Bukowski's resting place. I wonder if people (fans) still leave flowers, wreaths, etc.

Thanks so much for the title and the infr about Netflix. I don't have Netflix right now, but my Mom does have it on demand (I love to browse and watch movies when I visit her), and I'm going to her house in a few days. I'm definitely going to watch that bio.

If you haven't read any of his novels, you're in for a treat. He's one of the most honest writers on the shelves of any bookstore. His prose is more than a little bit autobiographical. You'll quickly realize this. ;-)

[Heidi]

7. Recommeded.

:kick:

[WhiteTara]

8. Charles Bukowski was a genius

and so died in the streets. Killed by the average man and average woman whose hatred was perfect. Thanks for posting this poem.

[asdjrocky]

9. One of my favorites.

Thanks for posting.