In this Bukowski poem entitled, "The Shoelace Poem," Bukowski invites the listener/reader to feel less alone in the insanity created by the simple, mundane string of ordinary life events. Sometimes it isn’t massive life tragedies that push someone over the edge. Sometimes it's just one too many broken shoelaces. And we should give everyone the benefit of the doubt, assuming we have likely all broken that last shoelace.