It's a tossup to me between Bukowski and Neruda. Neruda is the better poet, and Bukowski has more rough edges, but Bukowski has that accessibility yet frankness that is so appealing. For better or worse, there are a lot of people out there who would never read or write poetry if it had not been for Bukowski. (I'm also predjudiced because I published his stuff ...) But Neruda ... ah, "Drunk with Pines." Sublime poems.
It's a tossup to me between Bukowski and Neruda. Neruda is the better poet, and Bukowski has more rough edges, but Bukowski has that accessibility yet frankness that is so appealing. For better or worse, there are a lot of people out there who would never read or write poetry if it had not been for Bukowski. (I'm also predjudiced because I published his stuff ...) But Neruda ... ah, "Drunk with Pines." Sublime poems.