Allen Ginsberg, Beat Poet

Allen Ginsberg is synonymous with Beat Poets, the generation that revolutionized Poetry in the 1940s and 1950s. Almost all poetry readers know Ginsberg because of his most famous poem “Howl.”

According to poets.org,
“Beat poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the west coast, although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and culture. These poets would become known as the Beat generation, a group of writers interested in changing consciousness and defying conventional writing.”

I have picked up Allen Ginsberg’s book Death and Fame Last Poems 1993-1997. His poem “Nostalgia” was written six days before he passed away. The poems reflect his life’s journey, political views, perspective on fame (as he was very famous and dealt with the celebrity world) and his final thoughts.

Here is an excerpt from Ginsberg’s poem:

Don’t Get Angry with Me

Don’t get angry with me
You might die tomorrow
I’m an empty hungry ghost
Any spare change I can borrow?
….

Don’t get angry with me
Hell’s hot tomorrow
If we’re burned up now inflamed
Could pass eons in horror

Don’t get angry with me
We’ll be worms tomorrow
Both wriggling in the mud
cut in two by the ploughman’s harrow
…..

(again, “…..”means the poem is excerpted. Since I am acquiring more readers and realizing I need permission to reprint I excerpt for educational purposes so people viewing the blog get an idea of the poet and I also don’t have to spend ample time hunting down who to get permission from.)
Thanks for dropping in, please stop in tomorrow for more rough drafts by Poet Hound.