Charles Bukowski

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Anger at Cultural Acclaim

Bukowski rails against cultural acclaim and the hollowness of fame. The speaker watches famous people and critics celebrate mediocre talent and asks where genuine artists are. The poem alternates disgust and bleak humor, portraying this barren public culture as grinding, hope-shackling, and making ordinary acts feel almost impossible. It ends in a raw, personal outburst that conflates artistic failure with a sick, decaying humanity.

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self-congratulatory nonsense as the famous gather to applaud their seeming greatness you wonder where the real ones are what giant cave hides them as the deathly talentless bow to accolades as the fools are fooled again you wonder where the real ones are if there are real ones. this self-congratulatory nonsense has lasted decades and with some exceptions centuries. this is so dreary is so absolutely pitiless it churns the gut to powder shackles hope it makes little things like pulling up a shade or putting on your shoes or walking out on the street more difficult, near damnable as the famous gather to applaud their seeming greatness as the fools are fooled again humanity, you sick motherfucker.

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