“My Old Man” a Poem by Charles Bukowski

In the poem, My Old Man, by Charles Bukowski, the speaker is a disturbed man. At only sixteen years old, he is already into drinking alcohol as a means of coping with depression and abusive father. Apparently, the narrator and his father have a severed relationship and are constantly in conflict over issues such as alcohol abuse, physical abuse, and irresponsibility. However, in a twist, the difficult relationship becomes lighter when the father reads one of the many stories written by the depressed narrator. The son is struggling to understand the sudden change of heart and cannot immediately know the significance of that story to his father. Therefore, this paper will attempt to explain that the story of the rich man and a horse meant being overcome by a source of happiness that turns into frustration that is threatening to completely destroy his relationship with a son he should love. The reading the story prompted the father and son to become momentarily closer than they have ever been because he could relate his severed relationship with the son to the rich man and the horse.