On "Roll the Dice" by Charles Bukowski

As Bukowski advises us in this fabulous poem, there is an undertone of pride and vigor, a vibration of the meaning of life, that wobbles into one's soul as both eyes and mind scan the lines in wonder. Below is the full poem:

if you’re going to try, go all the

way.

otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the

way. this could mean losing girlfriends,

wives, relatives, jobs and

maybe your mind.

go all the way.

it could mean not eating for 3 or

4 days.

it could mean freezing on a

park bench.

it could mean jail,

it could mean derision,

mockery,

isolation.

isolation is the gift,

all the others are a test of your

endurance, of

how much you really want to

do it.

and you’ll do it

despite rejection and the

worst odds

and it will be better than

anything else

you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,

go all the way.

there is no other feeling like

that.

you will be alone with the

gods

and the nights will flame with

fire.

do it, do it, do it.

do it.

all the way

all the way.

you will ride life straight to

perfect laughter,

it’s the only good fight

there is.

The spirit of unabashed, rugged individualism rings powerfully, like from a one-ton brass bell forgotten in the skeleton of a long-abandoned forest church. Despite no parishioners to hear its audacious cry, it cries on nevertheless. Its spirit lives on sans observer. In fact, it prefers that the gawking onlookers have left, for their favorable opinions were vapid reasons to live. No, they were worse than that. They were tragic. The bell, now mature, knows this, as does Mr. Bukowski.

Of course, going all the way means something different to everyone. That is the beauty of this poem. I recommend looking at it like a form of confirmation. Write down your path, your goals, your visions for yourself in the future. Then, from time to time, come back to this poem. Pin it on your wall. Better yet. Commit it to memory. When you read it in that uncertain future of yours, ask yourself: Am I going all the way? Is this what going all the way means to me?

If not, then just maybe, like the bell, your parishioners are still gawking. Just maybe, you have yet to know truly what a moment alone with the gods is like.

Support:
AJ Snook's Amazon Author Page
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks