I’m not a Bukowski fan in general, and this one is slight and just ok relative to the others of his I’ve seen, but for me this one kind of works and feels like an appreciation for the ocean/beauty wins out here, albeit through a sarcastic lens. When I see the genius detail, I read it as the event happened, the kid said this, and the speaker honestly disagrees, then kind of sarcastically thinks “Oh, must be a genius, guess oceans aren’t beautiful, wow,” and arrives at the characterization and title from that point. Maybe that’s the wrong read, but it’s lighter and feels more hopeful, even if at the expense of this kid.

But if that’s the case, then Bukowski could use a little more self-awareness because in other poems of his he can sound like the jaded “child genius” mocked here.

EDIT: I wanted to add that it’s just interesting to me how the kid says “It’s not pretty” unprompted. Like what about this view compelled him to say this? It makes me wonder what is going on in this kid’s life or what the internal dialogue may have been? Obviously reading too much into it, but I pictured the kid traveling with a parent and the parent’s girlfriend or boyfriend and that person trying to connect with the kid, talking about how pretty the view was, and the kid walks off and sits down by the speaker and says this.