Inspiration From Poetry

Today I stumbled across the website of a German-American poet named Charles Bukowski. After reading a few of his poems, I decided that the truth and meaning behind his words is one of the most realistic and fulfilling things my brain has ever witnessed. Here is one that stood out to me in particular because I immediately thought of the modern saying "some people live, others just exist." I have been relating that saying so much to my life nowadays. With the transition to college coming up in just a few short months, I can't help but wonder if I have truly found my life yet. In your childhood years, we were all so closely tied down and sheltered from the reality that awaits just outside the bubble put up around us by society. This upcoming transition is our first glimpse into an unsheltered life, where we are free to make our own choices; our first test to find out who we really are and what we dream of doing, deep inside us. I suppose I'm just an extremely impatient human, but I worry that I still haven't had that spark of life ignited within me. I want to experience the world and see far off, forgotten corners that house forgotten people. While I know my dreams in life, there never seems to be anything I can do about them. So here I will wait, doing my everyday, typical summer routine, all the while waiting for the light to go off within me, and in the meantime I will enjoy myself some Bukowski.

Thy Fere, 

Your Friend,

Cahner

what can we do?

at their best, there is gentleness in Humanity.
some understanding and, at times, acts of
courage
but all in all it is a mass, a glob that doesn't
have too much.
it is like a large animal deep in sleep and
almost nothing can awaken it.
when activated it's best at brutality,
selfishness, unjust judgments, murder.

what can we do with it, this Humanity?

nothing.

avoid the thing as much as possible.
treat it as you would anything poisonous, vicious
and mindless.
but be careful. it has enacted laws to protect
itself from you.
it can kill you without cause.
and to escape it you must be subtle.
few escape.

it's up to you to figure a plan.

I have met nobody who has escaped.

I have met some of the great and
famous but they have not escaped
for they are only great and famous within
Humanity.

I have not escaped
but I have not failed in trying again and
again.

before my death I hope to obtain my
life.

- Charles Bukowski