The Girlfriends of the Ghosts of San Francisco

[the mingo]

(for the Beats, who broke up the last Ice Age before succumbing
to the fate of all mankind) - October 10th, 2014

the air, now full of beast language
is breathed in
breathed out minus the beasts
now trapped in the lungs
which they roam over like a kill site
on the Serengeti -
wild dogs - hyenas - lions
at night you can hear the hyenas barking out there
growling and laughing
as they tear into what the lions left behind
the girlfriends of the ghosts of san francisco
who have no resistance to offer
to the razor teeth
or the power of the jaws
whose vaginas long ago shrunk to one twelfth
their living size
and hardened to the consistency of sun baked earth
if it was me I'd feel cheated
but the hyenas only laugh
their nostrils full of dust
& the night full of the sound
of the rifle-shot crack & glass-like shatter
of those old dry waterless bones
_____________________________________

{ explanations are not my usual thing but I feel some words should be offered to place this piece in context - I spent a couple of hours last night visiting Beat sites and "Beat generation" topics - it all left the distinct taste of roadkill in my mouth - the talk on these sites revolves mostly around the personalities of those involved - the whole cast of historical characters so well known & plowed over again & again - and these sites also offer what they call "histories" of individuals and the different scenes that are said to have taken place - what there is never enough of or any vision of is the living legacy of all the things that happened because of these people - what these men & women touched they changed - and changed it forever in ways that have yet to reach their destiny -
and yes, this is a judgement on my part - it seems we are content only to view them as developmentally challenged spoiled & selfish children (&ain't we all?) or as some sort of heroes - I can't truck either of those attitudes - I can only agree that what they touched, either by intent, design, or accident, - they changed forever. Thanks. }

[judih]

and in these crazy juxtaposed phrases, you touch a kind of sad heartstring. gone? but not.
not while those who read them continue to read and rearrange and recycle into new beats of the mind

[the mingo]

juxtapostion is always a case of muscle over love in the service of vision - like when the nights are cooling - even in the dark there is always a way & a something to find

thx judih

[WIREMAN]

this poem is killer...no pun intended mingo

theres a video on youtube where Burroughs talks about exactly what you say " the Beat generation was a cultural phenomenon, unprecedented in history..." its worthy of watching and easy to find by searching burroughs on kerouac.....i remember the feel of those Beat times and the late advent of Beatnik, which to Jack and the gang was a kinda insult by writer Rlaph Gleason of the SF Chronicle after the Sputnik launch and had a communist tinge in the "nik" added to the Beat, which in those cold war times was big time bad....Mighta been a reason for Jack turning more to the Right and the more acceptable and legal use of alcohol, which in the end was his downfall....i dunno but???....he was by all accounts one beautiful cat up until beat popularity in the media and neal's incarceration at san quentin made him fear his fate at the hands of big brother might just land him in the pokey if he continued that wide open, at the time, lifestyle......it was such a powerful anti communist, anti gay, anti marijuana, anti anything against the status quo time that its really impossible for the later generations to comprehend the power it had over people.....To be honest im still highly suspect of communists and people from china and russia no matter how hard i try, i was raised to be that way from an early age, its hard to shake all that shit off from when u were in school hiding under your desk in civil defense drills with that horn on a pole blaring its anti commie cry across the open plains of america.....the thought of nuclear annilation was real then!

[mtmynd]

Like wired, I think this is a bitchin' piece! The title is brilliant!

I found your prologue interesting, too, el mingo... got me to thinking -

"Beats" stepped in when the Bohemians slipped out the back door, bringing with them jazz and abstract expressionism and those wonderful things that branched off from the Beats which was followed by the dreadful name "Hippies" in the same city where those other two led a good life. The psychedelics and massive acceptance of pot contributed to that era which seems to have gone off into some netherland that loses me as to where, what, and why? They shall remain nameless, these unknowns who picked up the remains of those who came before in various incarnations generally becoming cyber-ghosts traipsing across that web intertwined with all other users into some definition as yet defined in any phrase-catchy way as to be remembered. But behind the shadows these remnants of Bohemia, the dreams of the Beats and the blooms of the Hippies, are still amongst us as they will always be, the creative types, the musicians, the artists of tomorrow pursuing their inspirations as they always have... keeping the precious light alive for the generations that follow.

All the blanks those words leave is to be filled in by some future thinking souls and their own journey, pilgrims of the alleyways, trusting in the unknown that forever whispers it's promises...

[WIREMAN]

man cecil that last paragraph blows me away...

[saw]

cool poem mingo, and the subsequent discussion was inspirational....it was a great time to come of age, the poetry, the politics, the music....from beat to freak

[the mingo]

Thx Wireman, Cec, & saw - and Cec, I agree with Wireman - that last paragraph left me with a rockin' echo or two that's still bouncing around in the neurons - we jam on -