Every day brings a new story. And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books.
Today is the story of June 3rd
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the 154th day of the year, leaving 211 days remaining in 2022.
He told his stories -- often raucous and entertaining, bold and angry, graphic and powerful -- with the free verse of his poetry. Regarded as one of the greatest poets in mid-20th Century America, Ginsberg was the iconic member of the Beat Generation.
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavily connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of the night,
Thus starts his poem Howl, his first published, his signature work, now considered a classic of American poetry. But at the time it was published, some considered it obscene, degenerate, and written by a madman. It discussed sexual activities, including same-sex love, which soon resulted in an obscenity trial. The judge determined it was not obscene.
Ginsberg wrote it while living and working in San Francisco, inspired in part by a peyote-induced vision. When a friend criticized it as being academic and stilted, Ginsberg re-wrote large parts of its, setting the length of a verse based on the length of his breaths.
A Buddhist and sometimes anarchist, Ginsberg was at home in the 1960s, participating in anti-war demonstrations, for civil rights, and generally in favor of peace and love. He helped organize the 1967 San Francisco Be In.
His poetry also focused on the spiritual and visionary.
He died in 1997 in New York.
No comments:
Post a Comment