Defend the Poet/Dinosauria, We

Dinosauria, We is a poem depicting the world before, during, and after the apocalypse by German- American poet and novelist Charles Bukowski.  The poem opens with many references to many controversial American subjects to depict how the world is now. Then as the poem progresses the poem talks about mass chaos and violence to depict the world during the apocalypse. Finally the poem ends with the end of all life and a curiosity for what’s next.

I enjoyed how the poem cleverly addressed a variety of problems and subjects like finding work, war conspiracies, medical expenses, large jail populations and the national debt of America.  Also I enjoyed Bukowski’s vivid description of a sci-fi and chaotic apocalypse.  Bukowski’s apocalypse depicts robot men fighting, radiated men cannibalizing each other and mass murder and chaos while the rich and powerful are able to avoid this apocalypse and watch as the world burns safely in space.  

But what I found most interesting is that the current problems that we have combined with the ending seem to make the apocalypse seem like a good thing. It’s almost like the apocalypse isn’t a dreadful end but a new beginning or an end to all these problems we have now.  Despite all the dread and pessimism found early in the poem, there is still optimism.  I enjoy endings like that where the situation progresses to something entirely different instead of where the situation starts good or bad and ends good or bad.