Dinosauria, We
Born like this
Into this
As the chalk faces smile
As Mrs. Death laughs
As the elevators break
As political landscapes dissolve
As the supermarket bag boy holds a college degree
As the oily fish spit out their oily prey
As the sun is masked
We are
Born like this
Into this
Into these carefully mad wars
Into the sight of broken factory windows of emptiness
Into bars where people no longer speak to each other
Into fist fights that end as shootings and knifings
Born into this
Into hospitals which are so expensive that its cheaper to die
Into lawyers who charge so much its cheaper to plead guilty
Into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses closed
Into a place where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes
Born into this
Walking and living through this
Dying because of this
Muted because of this
Castrated
Debauched
Disinherited
Because of this
Fooled by this
Used by this
Pissed on by this
Made crazy and sick by this
Made violent
Made inhuman
By this
The heart is blackened
The fingers reach for the throat
The gun
The knife
The bomb
The fingers reach toward an unresponsive god
The fingers reach for the bottle
The pill
The powder
We are born into this sorrowful deadliness
We are born into a government 60 years in debt
That soon will be unable to even pay the interest on that debt
And the banks will burn
Money will be useless
There will be open and unpunished murder in the streets
It will be guns and roving mobs
Land will be useless
Food will become a diminishing return
Nuclear power will be taken over by the many
Explosions will continually shake the earth
Radiated robot men will stalk each other
The rich and the chosen will watch from space platforms
Dantes Inferno will be made to look like a childrens playground
The sun will not be seen and it will always be night
Trees will die
All vegetation will die
Radiated men will eat the flesh of radiated men
The sea will be poisoned
The lakes and rivers will vanish
Rain will be the new gold
The rotting bodies of men and animals will stink in the dark wind
The last few survivors will be overtaken by new and hideous diseases
And the space platforms will be destroyed by attrition
The petering out of supplies
The natural effect of general decay
And there will be the most beautiful silence never heard
Born out of that.
The sun still hidden there
Awaiting the next chapter.
-Charles Bukowski
I got the idea to use this poem because my friend told me it was his favorite poem when I asked for a suggestion of what poem to use. I had no idea that it would have such an intense meaning and be so strangely true. I began reading it and right off the bat it takes a somewhat disturbingly true outlook on life. There are so many things we have no control over, no matter how hard we try and no matter how much we do in life to make this world a better place. It’s a harsh world out there and the second we’re born, we’re born into everything that happened prior to our existence and all the descrepencies are placed on our shoulders; we have no say in the matter. The poem gets more and more gruesome and more and more intense as it goes on, but it still holds a very true aspect to it. One part in particular that I found extremely true and maybe somewhat humorously true (in a depressing way) is:
“Born into this
Into hospitals which are so expensive that its cheaper to die
Into lawyers who charge so much its cheaper to plead guilty
Into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses closed
Into a place where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes”
It’s so very true that hospitals are ridiculously expensive, lawyers charge far more than is needed, and the jails are full and some of those people don’t even deserve to be there. It’s almost sickening how true to life Bukowski is and yet this poem is written so expertly with class and elegance and is so easy to relate to. The style that it is written in starts off introducing the reader into Bukowski’s view of life then slowly builds up by saying “Born into this…” followed by 2-4 worded lines, then building up to longer lines, then shutting down to “Born into this..” and having only single-worded lines follow. I think it’s ingenious how he wrote this poem. It’s inspiring as well as depressing, but most of all it really makes me think how maybe as a whole, we can improve this world so that the next baby won’t be born
“into a government 60 years in debt
That soon will be unable to even pay the interest on that debt”
I think that change is possible, but strength in numbers means more than ever when it comes to such big changes. I can’t say I have one favorite line(s) of this poem, because each one touches me in a different way and makes me think so much. I truly love this poem and every part about it. I love how he ends with “The sun still hidden there/Awaiting the next chapter. There will always be another chapter and I love that he ended such an intense and strangely true poem with a few lines of inspiration. Bukowski is an amazing writer and thanks to my friend, I am intrigued to read more of his work.
