by Ed Higgins
Remembering Ginsberg
who howled through just about everybody's idea of the real weirdo poet
given enough time and eventually under his dynamo words
who kept growing on us scolding about us all the illuminated while or
sometimes even when he didn't we still thought you cool ol' queer
.Jew anyway contemplating prophecy and apocalyptic celebration
who bared his comparably Walt-wide soul in incautious combustible
mixtures across the tops of our jazz-jived brains inducing Cool and
his tempo of Madman Blake dooming the whole beautiful universe
who had more odd jobs than the American dream still has nightmares to ride
herd on or we'd then ever heard four fucking letter words for
as repeatedly whenever he'd get into our pubic beards with his fire
who made fine old fun as if he could not be responsible for the effects of our
psychiatric misbehaviors he was beating up on or poking holes into
to reach roots to better check on what best amounts of husbandry
.he could pour down to muck up or stimulate oracular irritation
who yacketayaked screaming warnings like a jugged jeremiah anarchist
smiling jesus almighty antichrist and zen master debater balled
and bald too talking self-conscious all about bold rhythm and meter
who to remove our contaminated sex, soup, poetry, Eisenhower and all later
latter lonelinesses, or commitments to the horror of sodding sad war
chanting himself into harsh melancholy reminderings
who for all transient suffering sang kaddish and praise of hazards to humans
and all sexy life here including gnarled trees and the torsos of boys
or other fruited delicacies such as life itself
who died obeying all the laws about death and the poet's still ownership
of the universe he loved with all the litany of praise he's now on his
way to that countdown to eternity, howling.
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This piece came about after teaching "Howl," over the years--only this time several years after his death. I wanted to "remember" Ginsberg both in imitation of "Howl" but also as a paean to his life/ideals. A friend remembered my poem recently while teaching Ginsberg & asked for a copy--so I thot I'd share it here as well. The poem was published in Blue Print Review in 2007:
I like this in all its crazy, tilting at windmills, tumbling, stumbling, grumbling allusion. *
Thanx, JP, it was a fun piece to write & try to riff off of Howl. And super nice to have had Dorothee Lang have published it.
I dig this one!