Dovina11 Oct 2004

Hywel, -=Dark_Angel=-, P.I. and anyone interested in thoughts on multi-interpretations,

I read a very short poem once that seemed to come from the same kind of thinking that had gone into some of my writing. I liked it because I felt a kinship with a man known for his heavy drinking and living part of his life as a bum. I was touched that two of us humans so different could come together on this poem of his.

ART by Charles Bukowski
“At the spirit wanes, the form appears.”

I thought how my own spirit wanes after work, relaxing with a glass of wine and the appearance of forms that find expression in written words. It seemed he had caught the notion that the cares of life and business inhibit the creation of art, the very notion I was feeling. The poem inspired me because it expressed something I had thought, but had never been able to say as succinctly as his brief poem.

A year or so later I learned what the poet was thinking. He said that he wrote the poem because as the spirit wanes and becomes like a dead thing, a poet turns to forms such as sonnets, villanelles and the like to cover his lack and give the impression of having something to say. It was a slur on poets becoming erudite.

What Bukowski meant and what I interpreted were entirely different. I do not say that this is how all poems should come across, only that it’s a way they can. He had his meaning and I interpreted mine. I still think it’s a good poem.

I appreciate all your comments and agree that my poem is lacking in the expression of something that to me was a very significant.