Zack's poetry assignment and thesis statement

In the poems “Quiet clean girls in Gingham Dresses” and “The Ice cream people” the inner conflict of what a man wants and what he ends up with becomes evident, especially in the case of Charles Bukowski. He seems to have something inside him that wants the “normal” life, to settle down. To achieve things in life like a quiet clean girl, or to be like the ice cream people, but he ends up with a prostitute and a bottle of wine; “I know that she exists, but where upon this earth as the whores keep finding me?” In the ice cream people he does go to the shop, but he does not feel apart, even though he enjoys them, he separates him from them with his writing; “the ice cream people make me feel good, inside and out.” Although Bukowski wants more out of life than clean girls and sundaes, it sums up his need for stability in life, a sense of normalcy.