Presumably named the “Beat generation” by Jack Kerouac, one of the Beat Poets, who wrote the novel On the Road. He was describing the “down-and-out status” of himself and his fellow poets. It was quickly becoming a slang term in America after World War II, meaning “exhausted” or “beat down” and provided this generation with a definitive label for their personal and social positions and perspectives.
- Common Domain, AP photograph 1965
- The movement was launched by Allen Ginsberg’s Howl:
-
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 heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night. –Allen Ginsberg
It was so shocking that it became a cause célèbre because of its topics and profane language. By itself it had a profound effect on American arts and letters. It was the subject of a court case, received vast amounts of publicity, making the Beats household names. The reverberations of this type of poetry continue to this day. Rather than disappearing as a fad, it morphed and matured. The ideas were picked up by the hippies in the 60s although without the same intellectual force that was prevalent in the Beats. Interesting to note it was incorporated into The Beatles – who claimed they used that name as an homage to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, but clearly John, primarily, and Paul later, were influenced greatly by the Beat manifesto. There are many who say that the “beat goes on” today in performance poetry, poetry slams, and rap music.
*”The Beat fraternity, forged a decade before the world began to glamourize it, provided their entry into the world of writing. The intimate circle was both subject matter and audience – and, because autobiography was transformed into art, the fictional characters have lived on long after their prototypes died. This collective of characters, both fictional and real, exemplifies a pivotal paradigm in twentieth-century American literature: finding the highest spirituality among the marginal and the dispossessed, establishing the links between art and pathology, and seeking truth in visions, dreams, and other non-rational states.
“The Beats were not the first Americans to revolt against literary tradition, nor were they the first to entwine their lives and their art. Like their avant-garde forebears, who experimented in every arena from dress to drugs to politics to sex, the Beats conducted their lives in a state of countercultural experiment.” (*From “The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters, 1944-1960” by Steven Watson © 1995
- Found on: http://madamepickwickartblog.com
-
Outside City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco around 1970. Levi Asher: “The core group consisted of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs, who met in the neighborhood surrounding Columbia University in uptown Manhattan in the mid-40’s. They picked up Gregory Corso in Greenwich Village and found Herbert Huncke hanging around Times Square. They then migrated to San Francisco where they expanded their group consciousness by meeting Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Philip Whalen and Lew Welch. Most of them struggled for years to get published, and it is inspiring to learn how they managed to keep each other from giving up hope when it seemed their writings would never be understood. Their moment of fame began with a legendary poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco.
In the post-war generation in both the U.K. and United States, poets and artists reacted to the formalism of art and poetry. The Beats seem to have evolved in New York City and on the west coast in San Francisco. They included Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso who were protesting current politics and mainstream culture, they were interested in changing artistic consciousness and conventional writing. They were closely related to the Jazz Poets and the San Francisco Renaissance movement which included poets Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan. The poets Charles Bukowski and William Carlos Williams seem to have influenced their choices. They looked at T.S. Eliot as being too nihilist and too formal. They turned away from that academic precision, creating from immediacy with their instincts and their passions.
In Modern American Poetry by Louis Untermeyer, 1958. he states, “The Holy Barbarians or Beats scorning the shibboleths of the day, erupted in poems which combined amorality, surrealism, hedonism, jazz, fragments of Zen philosophy, marijuana sessions, and casual obscenities, and a program of general irresponsibility. Their technique was derived from the blunt statements of William Carlos Williams and the kaleidoscopic effects of Ezra Pound, whose influence on contemporary American poetry had become as varied as it was pervasive. Their reaction against the apathy of the average citizen in a world bent upon self-destruction, their contempt for the compromises of respectability, and their rejection of organized society expressed in outcries.
“Such exacerbated poetry was only incidentally a revulsion from the romantic attitude. Primarily it was a revolt in which words were used as an act of revenge, a resentment directed against a conformist culture which the Beats felt had been arbitrarily imposed upon them. The Angry Young Men* who congregated in coffee houses and nightclubs declaiming their poetry to the beat of jazz instruments were sounding what Ginsberg called “mad mouthfuls of language” to register their exasperation.
“If their expostulations had a plethora of verbal violence and no reformist intent, if they wrote in a welter of fragments, it was because they were trying to reflect the welter itself, the shattering effect of a shaken society upon its people. Their subjects, and seemingly they themselves, were propelled by forces of which they were fearfully aware, forces that affected them with dread as much as loathing. …They gave themselves up to consuming hates and the distortions of a nightmare world.
[*”The “angry young men” were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. The group’s leading members included John Osborne and Kingsley Amis. The phrase was originally coined by the Royal Court Theatre’s press officer to promote John Osborne’s 1956 play Look Back in Anger. The term, always imprecise, began to have less meaning over the years as the writers to whom it was originally applied became more divergent, and many of them dismissed the label as useless.] Wikipedia John Osborne and his play Look Back in Anger”
A lot of these poets and their poems are familiar to you and are included in text books and literary anthologies. Here are a few of the poets from the movement to give you an example of their poems:
Gregory Corso, only the second of the Beats to be published was a friend of Ferlinghetti and Kerouac. He was born in 1930 and lived until 2001. He had a long time to investigate poetry in his voice. “Corso’s vocabulary has been described as eclectic. He is said to be a poet who has a well refined knowledge of the classics, classical diction and form, as well as a poet who possesses a street wise sense. One critic called him “an urchin Shelly” (from The Beat Page)
I Held A Shelley Manuscript
My hands did numb to beauty
as they reached into Death and tightened!
O sovereign was my touch
upon the tan-inks’s fragile page!
Quickly, my eyes moved quickly,
sought for smell for dust for lace
for dry hair!
I would have taken the page
breathing in the crime!
For no evidence have I wrung from dreams–
yet what triumph is there in private credence?
Often, in some steep ancestral book,
when I find myself entangled with leopard-apples
and torched-skin mushrooms,
my cypressean skein outreaches the recorded age
and I, as though tipping a pitcher of milk,
pour secrecy upon the dying page. –Gregory Corso
In 1952, Lawrence Ferlinghetti became acquainted with Kenneth Rexroth who had already established himself as a notable West Coast writer, artist and political activist. After meeting Peter Martin, the publisher of City Lights magazine, the two planned to open a bookshop by the same name.
Still in business, the City Lights bookstore of San Francisco soon became a mecca for writers and artists, many of them well established in the field of contemporary literature.
A Vast Confusion
Long long I lay in the sands
Sounds of trains in the surf
in subways of the sea
And an even greater undersound
of a vast confusion in the universe
a rumbling and a roaring
as of some enormous creature turning
under sea and earth
a billion sotto voices murmuring
a vast muttering
a swelling stuttering
in ocean’s speakers
world’s voice-box heard with ear to sand
a shocked echoing
a shocking shouting
of all life’s voices lost in night
And the tape of it
someow running backwards now
through the Moog Synthesizer of time
Chaos unscrambled
back to the first
harmonies
And the first light __Lawrence Ferlinghetti
And one of the few women in the movement, Diane di Prima:
Chronology
I loved you in October
when you hid behind your hair
and rode your shadow
in the corners of the house
and in November you invaded
filling the air
above my bed with dreams
cries for some kind of help
on my inner ear
in December I held your hands
one afternoon; the light failed
it came back on
in a dawn on the Scottish coast
you singing us ashore
now it is January, you are fading
into your double
jewels on his cape, your shadow on the snow,
you slide away on wind, the crystal air
carries your new songs in snatches thru the windows
of our sad, high, pretty rooms __Diane di Prima
The works of the Beat Poets are freely available on the web. I used this site http://www.rooknet.net/beatpage/index.html for the above poems. It gives you a profile of many others plus a few of their poems. I would also like to recommend an excellent article by Josh Rahn called The Beat Generation which can be found here: http://www.rooknet.net/beatpage/index.html.
Beat poems have no set form. They are free verse influenced by blues, jazz, post-war angst, the feeling of being beat down by society (therefore a little rebellious) inspired by hallucinogenics (surreal) also influenced by meditation, Zen Buddhism, Native American and other ethnic tribal lore and folk stories. The challenge for this article is to take some of these elements and create your own beat poem, link with Mr. Linky, read and share your poems with others.
Gay said:
Welcome to the pub today y’all. It’s finally, finally turned autumn here. I am feeling fine and perky today. We’ve got whatever your heart desires at the pub and serving up some cool beat poems today. Pumpkins by the door and pumpkin lattes today – a pile of ginger cookies to munch on while we share the poems today. We’re celebrating a new set of voices with a wide range of interests. See you out there. Thanks for coming and linking!
welshstream said:
Thanks so much for this Gay ~ when I had a heads-up earlier today I got out my Beat poetry books and enjoyed a journey back in time. And that’s a wonderful piece you’ve written tonight ~ it’s good to remind ourselves of one of poetry’s major foundation stones … the liberalisation of creative writing. Cheers 🙂
Gay said:
So glad you came today. Yes…creative, free verse, and somewhat rad – certainly for the times!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Loved this.. When I started to do my own research of beat poetry I got so excited so I wrote two… one still remaining in archive. So challenging, but also fun.. Thank you for the great article.
Gay said:
Enjoyed yours Bjõrn!
Glenn Buttkus said:
I got my wires crossed today; thought this session would be a FFA, but happily settled into a MTB prompt as well. Since this is on the heels of the Jazz Poetry prompt at dVerse a few weeks ago, I dove into it as pure Beat Poetry, albeit there can’t be one without the other, right? I was like five years old when the Beats really cranked things up, but by the mid-50’s, I was beginning to understand the scene, started ready the poetry, and it has been a steady influence on me for 50 years.
I have to run off for a doctor’s appointment in a few minutes, so will make the blog reading rounds later tonight. Thanks for hitting me right in the relevance cheek; really dig this style of poetics!
Gay said:
Well we changed the order a couple of times lately and understand you might have thought it was FFA because that’s usually my “beat”. However, when I rotated in after Sam a couple of times ago, I was on the MTB rotation and even though this would normally be FFA, it changed because of the memorial to Dave. I think both the Jazz and this article fit under either title really. They were meant to be one article, but there seemed to be too much to write in one so I broke it in two.
Tony Maude said:
I was orginally slated for this week, Glenn, but events overtook us and everyone’s slot has moved back a week. So …
If you really want a FFA prompt, I’ll be here with it next Thursday. I have written it already, but I’ll say no more about it just now … smiles.
Loredana Donovan said:
Hi, Gay, great topic. Loredana here, a newbie at dVerse. Smiles 🙂 Wow, 10 people have linked already. Just a suggestion, but would it be possible to give a heads up on prompts the week before so we can prepare? I don’t know how some of you post so fast. Smiles. 🙂 I work full time in NYC with a long commute back to the country. By the time I get home and have dinner, it’s already 8:00 PM. I’m too beat to compose poetry after that … this prompt is perfect for me. Smiles 🙂 But don’t think I can make the deadline. Or can the links stay open longer? Thanks. Posting from phone. Back to work now. 🙂
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
A tip is to visit Claudia and Brian in the a few hours before… That’s what I realized when I was a newbie.. (I also post before,,, for a little tip). Also I saw that Gay said this on OLN this Tuesday…
Tony Maude said:
Mr Linky stays open until midnight EST the day after the prompt goes up – so that gives 33 hours for you to respond. After that, there is rarely any activity on a prompt, and people who link late don’t get too many visitors.
If you write to a prompt and miss Mr Linky, then bring the work to Open Link and flag up which prompt it was for in the comments. The team here are pretty good at reading the comments on OLN, which means that the person who set the prompt is pretty likely to make an effrot to come read your poem.
As Bjorn has said, it’s also worth keeping an eye on Claudia and Brian’s blogs; they have access to every article before it is posted; the privilege of being the pub’s ‘owners’ I guess … smiles
Gay said:
Yes and if I’m disciplined, I will often put a post on Twitter a few days and sometimes a week in advance. You can follow me @beachanny. All of us I’m sure have twitter accounts. This one had a little more advance notice as it was scheduled to post last week, but we had the unexpected death of David King and chose to memorialize his life in poetry then. But all the mods are very good at giving you time to get a poem up even after deadlines close. You can use the article to pen one for the next Open Link Night and link it there and send a note to the author of the article that you’d like feedback by writing in the comments of the article. We usually get an email notice. So thanks for coming by today and WELCOME.
brian miller said:
good answers you all…there are def leaks that you can find if you are looking…smiles….it was in the comments for last week as well when we did dave’s special…at OLN…and staff usually posts a bit early to send out a heads up….thanks all…
Loredana Donovan said:
Thank you, Bjorn, Tony, Gay, and Brian! Great tips! Good to know. Will keep all that in mind. There are some good prompts I missed since I joined … some come to mind … spine poetry, ballad, pumpkin, and the Italian one … right up my alley. I could have written the poem in Italian! See, I’ve been reading along, just not in time to post. Smiles. Thanks for the welcome! 🙂
Susan said:
Some of us just link later than others with no problem … I’ve not checked the tweets and I don’t have member access but I’ve only been too late twice. Then, I put up the poem on the open mic Tuesday…
brian miller said:
another great tip susan…OLN is our catch all…so if inspiration hits late…link it then….
Loredana Donovan said:
Thanks again, Brian and Susan. I’ll look out for your poems in the AM Brian to get a heads up on the prompts, and also try to link to OLN. So far I managed to link a couple of poems, so getting my feet wet. Smiles. 🙂
aprille said:
Thank you Gay, for this post and bringing this era of poetry back to my attention. It’s been a while and needed refreshing.
Gay said:
Hi Aprille – great to see you today. I’ll be by shortly.
freyathewriter said:
Ooh, so much juicy content to read and savour! I now wish I had been born a few decades earlier to dive into this scene real-time! 🙂
brian miller said:
ha you and me both….smiles.
aprille said:
Gay, just read yours and it is shocking, in that it shocks me to read of those conditions that you present in such masterly form.
Tony Maude said:
Thanks for the article, Gay; as usual you’ve put a lot of work into it. This is a period of poetry that is unfamiliar to me – I’ll have to look some of these guys up and see what I make of them.
Gay said:
It’s funny Tony – we study different poets at school in the US and the UK. I didn’t read Blake until I was in my 30s and I read these guys in my teens. I love we can share our favorites across borders here. I never heard of Rumi until dVerse. Wow..there’s a lot of good poetry to get to know (and some not so good stuff too that we all know anyway – ha!)
brian miller said:
gay! my fav time period of poetry….smiles…outside of modern poetry….
i had fun and played with beat and word pairings like some of my favs from then…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
This is your poetry Brian.. your natural beat so to speak..
brian miller said:
ha. yes it is…i think i would have run with jack and greg and ginsberg….they would have been crazy fun crew….
def a lot of my bookshelf is taken up by their works as well….just picked up a book called Beat Poets on saturday
and been enjoying the trip….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I really liked what i read when researching on my own here. I actually saw some similarities between Ginsburg and Blake.. maybe I’m wrong from my limited sampling but still a novice on old poetry this was a fun and challenging prompt.
brian miller said:
kauffman is another…and ferlinghetti…oh yeah…ha…i could go on and on…smiles.
Gay said:
Brian – that is because you are an AWESOME poet and I think you’ve digested intuitively what this is all about – (yes, I’m a little green with envy at your talent; I admit it 🙂 ) BTW loved your poem!
aprille said:
Couldn’t stop writing. Can we link a second one again, like some of us did last week?
claudia said:
sure… it’s only limited at OpenLinkNights…
Gay said:
Why not. I will try to get back to the #2s after I’ve read the first. Love that you’re inspired!!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I have a second one prepared… maybe I’ll have a look at it.. Much more Kerouac —
aprille said:
Bjorn, show us your Kerouac,,,
brian miller said:
oh yeah, bring on the seconds….Poetics and FFA/MTB is totally open to second shots….we only limit OLN because of the crowd….
claudia said:
can you believe…i was in san francisco and didn’t visit the city lights bookstore…what a shame…ha… thanks for a wonderful article gay… just coming in the door from my watercolor course and will be out on the trail in a minute…
Gay said:
Yeah, me too Claudia. Ron, my friend, went when he visited his sister and didn’t know it was Ferlinghetti’s. LF would have been there then (in the late 60s) – he has some major regrets.
brian miller said:
i would def love to visit there some day….
brian miller said:
alright, caught up for now and driving home from work…check back in shortly!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Second entry linked up…. loved this challenge.
nico said:
I’m working something up for tonight, in between helping the kids with homework. (This distraction should give my poem the fragmentation needed for a good beat poem!) Just finished reading a Gary Snyder book, but I decided to take Ginsburg as my inspiration. And the Jewish/Christian prophets. Hopefully I can get by soon to post, read, and comment. Great post, great prompt!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Soon bedtime here.. but I look forward to your write nico
claudia said:
yeah – bedtime for me as well… my eyes are on halfmast already…smiles
Gay said:
Sweet dreams y’all. See you on the flip side!
brian miller said:
sleep well you two….
Gabriella said:
Thank you Gay for the very detailed article!
Maggie Grace said:
It’s definitely easy for me to tap into rage to write beat poetry. I was bit more raw than usual this time, I think. Using the f word. But that first line is on a collage I did very early in my healing before I even knew what it meant.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Maggie, this was one of the best pieces I read from you..
Maggie Grace said:
Wow, thanks, Bjorn. Wish I didn’t know about it to write about it though…
claudia said:
there are def. times when the f word is needed…
Maggie Grace said:
Yep…I say it too much at home. lol. I clean it up when I’m in public…cept when I sometimes slip. Shocks everyone. ha
Gay said:
The period was peppered with “rude” language as the Brits say. Lenny Bruce knocked down the doors and the comedians took it way past funny, but the Beats used it for emphasis just as it was written on the subway walls. I wrote a concrete poem once as the F word. Here’s the link if you’re interested: http://beachanny.blogspot.com/2011/10/word-up.html
brian miller said:
ha. i remember that one…smiles…
Susan said:
Hi, Gay, love the way you introduced this with all the context and poetry. Course, I wrote my poem earlier so it’s about the beats, but not a beat poem. I’m trying one and if I am successful, I will put it at the same link.
claudia said:
nice… looking forward to read… some are doing 2nd ones already… way cool…
Susan said:
Such as it is, the beat poem is there at the bottom of the page. The original–the one about the Beat–is still on top.
Gay said:
I’ll be by after supper, Susan and btw thanks for the comment on Destiny – my first try at this genre. I know I didn’t comment yet on your #OLN but life’s been somewhat busy. Hang on I’ll get there.
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Thanks Susan – very much enjoyed your poem. So masterful.
hypercryptical said:
Excellent this Gay – thank you. Not quite certain as to whether my effort constitutes a beat poem…
Anna :o]
Gay said:
Not entirely sure mine did either…I’m no Brian, but I think I got the gritty gist into it anyway. Will be ’round in a bit.
Brian Carlin said:
Your post sent a little frisson running through me, given that my wife , son, and myself had paid a visit to the Protestant cemetery in Rome , last month , to pay modest tribute to gregory corso whose ashes are scattered at the foot of Shelley’s tomb, (photo and poem about that morning here… http://theprimate.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/looking-for-gregory/) …the piece I’ve put up is a year or two old but fits snugbuglike into what you’ve asked for …hope you like.
Gay said:
Wow – that is a co-incidence. I’m looking forward to your poem.
And everyone I’m reading so slowowowow today. Poems are so good, so much to think about, I read them two or three times. I’m not fast at poetry. I look at so much, and stop to feel it. So grant some grace. I promise I’ll get there eventually but I’m savoring these reads today!!
ManicDdaily said:
Hey Gay, thanks for your informative article. When I first moved to New York City, Ginsberg and Corso still did readings and I once also saw Ferlinghetti read at a special St mark’s reading at St Marks church. I like a lot of the poetry but have sometimes felt a certain near-misogyny or lack of interest in women that I found very dispiriting when I was younger. your article is wonderful though. K.
brian miller said:
would have been cool to see ferlinghetti live…
several of the beats were homosexual and you see that in their writing
ginsberg in particular—i would agree that there was a rather
idealized view of women portray….many of the most raucous
were so over the top they were almost parody
Gay said:
I like a lot of the poetry and the loosely stated manifesto behind it. It was the 50s but once The Feminine Mystique topped the Times Best Books list (63) and we finally raised our own consciousness, their attitudes became dated. Even in their poems, their ideas still define the revolution as being for men, and chicks can help us out if they want –they’re so good at spelling and stuff. But we learned it was ok to break loose and took up the challenge – the glass ceiling is cracked – but we’re waiting for a total break through. Still I think women are now finding it in their own unique ways. And a call to think, change, and challenge the status quo is good wherever we find it.
Thanks K.
Susan said:
Totally agree! There were a couple of female Beats, but on the whole–and maybe especially in Kerouac–did anyone remember the women’s names?
shanyns said:
My attempt might not be as strong as I liked but today’s events and the following discussions with friends kinda got me down. So it fits with a tribute to beat poets no? Maybe I should have sung Fada instead.
brian miller said:
yeah? everything ok?
brian miller said:
just read the news…ugh….
shanyns said:
It WILL be okay. 🙂 Thanks for asking my friend. Wish you were close enough for a coffee though.
brian miller said:
ah it would def be my treat….
brian miller said:
gay, diane di prima has several really good pieces ‘revolutionary letter #1′ has a dog eared page in my book….’the quarrel’ is pretty funny as well…
barbara guest, joanne kyger, marie ponsot, anne waldman are a few other women of the beats…
Gay said:
Thanks Brian – I’ll follow up on those.
Anna Chamberlain said:
Absolutely fantastic article Gay! A stunner and I am sorry to be so late to the party. The day completely ran away with me but I hope to join in the fun shortly. I’m looking forward to reading some fascinating and mad poetry.
brian miller said:
woot….looking forward to yours anna!
Anna Chamberlain said:
Very tongue in cheek and hastily written but hopefully a bit of fun :).
brian miller said:
nice…last one before bed.
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
I’m up for a while tonight reading and will be hanging out all day tomorrow! Great to see you Anna..come in for a nightcap. Remember guys you can get to the Blenza to read even after Mr. Linky is closed. So cruise on in when you get a chance.
claudia said:
good morning… had a shower…coffee in hand and out on the trail to catch up..
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Good morning our Claudia – It’s 10:30 pm in Texas. So weird about time, isn’t it? Have a great new day.
claudia said:
thanks gay… and wishing you a good night…smiles
rosross said:
It was an interesting time although as with any other there was some good poetry and a lot of bad poetry.
ninotaziz said:
Hi Gay! I do not think I will be able to contribute – however, I will do some rounds to get the beat. Thank you for the great intro that really tweaks the interest!
Loredana! How good to see you here – I jump in and out of the bar when I can, and yes, visiting Claudia’s and Brian’s does help. But the whole rigmarole actually helps you write faster as time goes by which is a good thing for me, and I edit furiously before posting (and while posting) All in all, it is great fun…
Loredana Donovan said:
Hi Ninot! Good to see you here, too! You’re right–sometimes writing faster makes it all more fluid. I read that Kerouac wrote pieces nonstop … kind of stream of consciousness … without editing … that was his technique. Happy Friday all :):
Akila said:
Thank you for the wonderful article Gay! I have linked a revised version of an old piece. Only hope that it stands to the spirit of the “BEAT”” here.
ramblingsfromamum said:
Thanks Gay for the informative article on Beat Poetry – will try and give it a go 🙂 Happy writing everyone.
ramblingsfromamum said:
eeek no I tried for 3 hours – tore my hair out – I got nuttin’ – never mind onward & upward and perhaps the draft will be pulled out for another day.
brian miller said:
relax….put your mind off it and it might come to you…ha…that often happens to me…..you know we still love you….
connellykevin said:
Reblogged this on Kevin Connelly and commented:
Rarely have I re-blogged but I feel this article is quite special and will also introduce you to a wonderful poetic venue, the dVerse Pub, hope you enjoy, Kevin
brian miller said:
thanks kevin….
quillfyre said:
We’re studying the Beats this week over on ModPo as part of the Modern & Contemporary American Poetry course offered by UPenn with Professor Al Filreis. Something about Ginsberg’s rants resonate with me and I find myself riffing from his words. I really enjoy the prompts from dVerse, and save almost all of them to take on at another time. But once in awhile I get an immediate response forming in a poem. This time, I had actually written one just a couple of days ago. Thanks for dVerse, a universe of poetry in microcosm! Carol
brian miller said:
hey glad you joined in…that is awesome correlations happening in your life…
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Hey Carol – Glad to have you here and thank you for your kind words. I think that dVerse has certainly been an inspiration to me both in the articles offered, and the encouragement given. I love when something serendipitous and coincidental brings something good my way. And certainly we’re glad that we could merge with another source on the same subject for you. Looking forward to reading your poem.
claudia said:
nice to meet you carol and really cool that you joined us… and wow..what a piece…enjoyed a lot
quillfyre said:
Thanks, Claudia! I was trying to figure out how to find the other poems too, but I guess I check here for the comments?
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
No Carol. When you hit Mr. Linky again you will see all the names of poets who linked. Click on one and it will take you to their poem. We generally say choose the ones you want, but try to comment on those who commented on yours. Happy reading. Really enjoyed your poem today. Excellent.
kkkkaty1 said:
Thanks, Gay; this was something I kind of was working on but you gave me the push to finish and post it. Believe it or not I am still reeling from the big move I made…content but still finding homes for odds and ends and getting those address changes done….I look forward to catching up with reading all the other entries later in the day! I’ve also changed the blog a bit for those curious….
brian miller said:
hey you…busy day here so just playing catch up…the last 4 are really nice…including yours…
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
I personally want to thank each poet who “liked” my article and who linked to it! I have never read an entire set of poems linked to an article as overall good as these. Each one of you “brought it” – full out and fabulous. I am blown stone away with these creations. They deserve to be published. Each should be considered a major work in your opus. Kudos to you all!!!
Tom Murphy said:
Reblogged this on Tom Murphy.