create_destiny | After Howl

Assignment:

Read Allen Ginsberg's poem, "Howl."

Write a rant, (your own version of "Howl"). Be as rhetorical as you like, get up on your soapbox and scream. Use repetition and striking imagery.

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After Howl

Our days of terror are over now
you and I,
our apocalypse has ended,
the signs of war have faded
from our faces
now shining with holy oil
mingling with tears of gladness,
tumbling from tender sore eyes

Our days of torture ended
And we went rejoicing into that water,
you and I,
our hair hung in our faces,
washed with hyssop and made clean
we were kissed by simplicity
again and again
we tasted grace on our lips

These were the days of our mystical resurrection
when we knelt in holy places
smelling of beeswax, earth and incense
the chinking of the censor like bells breaking
the bonds of our psychic death
our minds restored from madness

we walked softly in those days
gathering sweetness,
thumbing woolen prayer ropes
tied in intricate knots by black-robed women
bathed in beauty and light

again and again
we heard holy words
chanted by musky, bearded angels,
sacred words and ancient melodies flooding
our hearts
the way made smooth
by suffering
again and again

the traces of war and apocalypse
once etched deeply into
our souls, are gone now
our minds ravished
by the heavenly mystery
only images
of our mystical Resurrection
remain

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bonnie and I were just talking about it, and maybe both terms are somewhat misleading and inaccurate. I tend to think in terms of "earning", probably because that's how I was wired from a very early age. But you know what, I'm glad and thankful for my upbringing, even if it was harsh and oppressive in a lot of ways. When all was said and done, I ended up with what I believe to be a pretty balanced sense of justice and fairness, right and wrong, and a work ethic - in other words, even when I know what I'm doing to earn a living is bullshit, I'll still do my best at the bullshit, on principle (until I decide for whatever reason to throw wrenches into the bullshit, and even then I do my best at it!) But if "earn" isn't very descriptive of how we see our relationship, neither is "gift" any better. I'm sorry, but fuck that pathetic Calvinist self-loathing poison that sees everything people do as worthless and everything good that happens as an undeserved gift from God, the Great Begrudger. Bullshit - we both have immolated ourselves on the altar of this life, and do we deserve some positive recompense, and do we see each other as a mutually amazing karmic payoff for some of what we've went through? You bet your ass we do!

She just said, with a twinkle in her eye, "I'm not a gift, I'm your penance!" :)

As for "having a sense of entitlement"... what the fuck? No, get this straight - I have a sense of justice and fairness that what ANYONE has done deserves fair and proper payment. Most of what Christianity deals with in terms of morality, is taken care of in due course by natural process - people get their just desserts for what they have put into life, one way or another. And as for the mundane things of this world, well yeah, you're damn right I believe people are ENTITLED to a living wage, for example, as long as they are doing the corresponding work for it. America as a nation, of course, has earned several wars on our own soil, and I see that coming at some point. Will I get all patriotic and incensed about it when it happens? No. Will I be surprised? No. Will I get all bleeding-heart and join candle-circles for peace? No. I'll buck it up and deal with whatever reality is right in front of me, first and foremost the survival and well-being of my family, then the well-being of my friends and neighbors and community. As would any honest person.

So, no. The person who has 3 cars and a plush house in Suburbia and an 800G mortgage and 2.5 teenage kids sporting the latest Gapwear and iPods, that's where you find your "sense of entitlement", as well as the blindness that fuels all these stupid wars for oil and land. I'm EARNing every last bit of my $7.50 per hour at that factory, and believe me, almost none of it goes to frivolities. What, *I* should feel guilty that I'm richer than 3rd world people, or that bullshit American schemes of charity and welfare combined with rampant multinational colonization are only sinking them further in debt? What the hell, I'm being more a part of the solution than probably 99% of this country's population. If you want to worry about someone's sense of entitlement, worry about the rich boomer fucks from the Bay Area who are buying up all the land on the ridge in upper Bidwell and building their mansions and gated communities and driving around in goddamn Hummers. Dude, I rent, work a factory, scrape from paycheck to paycheck, and ride my fucking bike; I'm not the enemy in this world, and if I am, I'd like to know what I've done wrong!

?!

PS - I apologize for the inflamatory nature of this reply, I'm not trying to start any hostility, I'm just trying to (hopefully) represent myself more accurately and make myself better understood. No worries, I hope. :)

(deleted comment)

Maybe I confused the concept of earning something with the concept of entitlement.

We are not separate from everything else (including rich baby boomers) it's only our ego that makes us think we are....

more later, I have to go to work.

Holy Shnikes! I guess I really touched a nerve there, sorry about that.

You're always going off on baby boomers and of course I can see why to a certain extent, but sometimes I wonder if you feel the need to revile a segment of society in order to be okay with yourself. And if so, then why "the babyboomers?" Surely there are other segments of the world's population more worthy of such derision. I personally like to blame Bush and Texans. ;P

I can't think in these boxes that are getting smaller and smaller with each response. How the hell do I put these under a thread?

After Howl

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