Women
One of the reasons that Bukowski isn't the most popular poet among feminists is his treatment of women. Often in his poems, he describes women using demeaning language and treats them as though they are nothing but sex objects. For example, the second line of the poem hot reads "I didn't want anybody else to have her," this idea that a woman is an object that can be owned runs ramped throughout may poems. He uses words like"bitch" or "whore" in place of "lady" or "woman" in order to dehumanize the women he is sexualizing.
However, in some poems he writes about women in a tender way, that is absent of his sexual desires. Many of these poems that are kind to women are about his daughter or written during a time when he and his current wife were getting along. The poem for the 18 months of Marina Louise is a good example of this. In this poem, he compares his daughter, and in a broader sense, women, to the sun and talks about the "magic" of femininity. Another example of a lust free poem in which he openly and honestly talks about his feelings towards women is mine.
Sex
When talking about what he wants to do to women Bukowski is beyond blunt. Take, for example, the line from the 6 foot goddess (for S.D), "I yank her head back by the hair, I'm real macho, I suck on her upper lip, her cunt, her soul."
Using sex as a way to show power over women is a tool that Bukowski uses a lot when writing. In many of his poems, he over-sexualizes himself, so it seems as though he is a great lover who has "fucked [all the women in] the country." (the trashing of the dildo)
Depression
Bukowski was born in 1920 and therefore grew up during The Great Depression.Bukowski's book "You get so alone at times that it just makes sense" is an anthology dictated to his poems about depression and loneliness. The poem no luck for that is one that stands out. It opens with the line "there is a place in the heart that will never be filled" and goes on to discuss the loneliness that he feels because he is unable to go and participate in society due to a metal illness he didn't even know he had.
Bukowski not only writes about his pain but of the pain of the world. In that same poem, love, Bukowski satirically mentions the "exotic" magazine covers that showcase headlines like "Man Rapes Girl, Then Throws Her Body from 400 Foot Cliff" in order to highlight how messed up the world is.
His Abusive Childhood
As was common with a lot of lower class kids during The Great Depression, Bukowski was the target of domestic abuse. No doubt his father was simply taking his frustrations about his poverty out on his son, but the abuse left a mark on Bukwoski's psyche.
Some poems give the reader a peek into his childhood, like the first love, which talks about how his "only feeling of chance" came from reading. In poems like this, there are underlying tones of childhood abuse, a theme that is more present in some poems like an acceptance slip.
Alcoholism
Due to his rough upbringing, Bukowski turned to the bottle. Many of his poems talk about drinking being the root of his problems, yet he is unwilling to make any steps towards giving it up.
The poem love talks about how his alcoholism attached other alcoholics, and how together they spiraled out of control until he would "get up and go to the bathroom and vomit and then she'd have her turn."
