I wish to weep but sorrow is stupid. I wish to believe but belief is a graveyard.

The speaker registers a double frustration: the impulse toward emotional release (“I wish to weep”) is blocked by contempt for the very posture of sorrow, while the impulse toward meaning (“I wish to believe”) is blocked by a view of belief as deadening rather than enlivening. Calling sorrow “stupid” suggests not that pain is unreal, but that conventional displays of grief feel futile, performative, or intellectually insulting. “Belief is a graveyard” extends the rejection to ideologies, religions, or comforting narratives that promise purpose yet seem to entomb curiosity and lived experience. The couplet’s force lies in its stark antithesis—desire versus disgust—capturing a Bukowskian mood of alienation where even the usual remedies (tears, faith) are distrusted.