I opened up my soft-covered book of poetry…746 pages, titled Allen Ginsberg: Collected Poems 1947-1980. The cover is red…a strong radial design creating a crisp focus to the center where a triangle sits…the most stable of shapes. I suppose now I wonder how anyone in their right mind could read Ginsberg…but as I open to the first pages, I see my many notations and responses. A few summers ago, I decided it would be another of my many ‘things to do before I die’ to respond to each and every poem in his collection, with a poem. Where the heck do I come up with these ideas?
Few of my friends and none of my family know that this is a passtime of mine…it is a struggle sometimes even to attend to Ginsberg’s writing for any length of time, let alone develop a poetic thought around his form or content. Regardless…it’s an idea…and I’m going with it.
Oh yes…and here’s a surprise! Pressed in between the pages…somewhere near the middle I’ve discovered one of my ‘first rites of spring Crocuses’. I love hiding them in books because sometimes I forget them for years and then they surface.
Back to poetry…
Poem in response to Ginsberg’s A Meaningless Institution, Dream, Paterson, Fall 1948
Her Dream
I was a small flicker
Of silt, floating on
the surface of a navy-
blue river.
The sun was a
glimmer on my back.
A quick flash and
then again, disappearing into a lap of water.
Current took me
under to be surprised by
clarity.
All became transparent
And I was aware of the
multitudes of
sparkling bits spinning
their way through
translucent
turquoise.
Souls connected by the
expereince of the
drifting, swirling
ups and downs of
being.
Experiences,
while different,
still the same.
hello,i\’m from china.welcome to my space.thankyou
Good morning, Just wanted to say Hello 🙂 Have a great day! Jenn
Hi Painter Lady. I just wanted to thank you for your kind words. I absolutely love your paintings and seeing them this morning has created an itch to set up my studio.
Jade