Bukowski kept all the lines in the poem very short, and he kept this rhythm throughout the entire poem. Furthermore, with the exception of the word “Henry”, all other words are written in lower case, even the ones that come after a period, and he kept this form throughout the poem as well. This form and rhythm of the poem might have been a symbol of the drop in the stock market, the loss of jobs, people losing their homes, and most importantly, hoping that ‘Henry’ will have the opportunity to finish high school despite the very slim chances caused by the economic challenges. Additionally, according to the poetry foundation, “Charles Bukowski was a prolific underground writer who used his poetry and prose to depict the depravity of urban life
