Some will run and some will stand
Everything is bullshit but the open hand
- Bruce Cockburn, from “Strange Waters”
The world of research has gone berserk
Too much paperwork
Albert's in the graveyard, Frankie's raising hell
I'm beginning to believe what the scriptures tell
- Bob Dylan, from “Nettie Moore”
I've been used, abused and so confused
And I didn't have nowhere to run
But I stood and looked
And my eyes got hooked
On that beautiful morning sun
- Van Morrison, from “Brand New Day”
Maybe you’ve noticed a similar trend amongst your friends, family, and the regulars you see along your errands routes. The trend I notice is: Since a certain time into the, take your pick of label, pandemic/covid-19/coronavirus/paradigm-shift/cosmic-reshuffling . . . some people have reached out more while some have pulled back including going off a bit, not acting like the person he-she seemed he-she was, acting irritable, short-tempered. Understandably many people's jobs and lives are in major flux yet the adage du jour requires, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” rather than, “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping” . . . though of course many want the latter so as to stimulate business as usual and some so as to survive.
Meanwhile, during these challenging times I get wary of both those who constantly e-mail or text “Hope you're well” but never actually ask, and those who never bother to inquire.
Then, while washing dishes, what came to mind was Allen Ginsberg’s classic, famous poem “Howl” (written in 1954–1955 and published in 1956 by City Lights) which begins:
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...[1]
Who also came to mind are an array of writers, some of whose work I’ve followed online for some time and appreciated, proclaiming that the face-masks are a tool to program the people into subordination; maybe so, yet reports of bars and crowded gatherings escalating virus tallies has me fine with wearing a mask and glad those around me are as well. Some of those writers also proclaiming that the pandemic is a hoax of a psy-ops of a totalitarian 2.0 clamp down on the global population. There is some “shock doctrine” truth to that yet the wide range of symptoms and numbers of deaths – including infants[2], any-year-olds, so-called marginalized or minority Peoples including Indigenous Peoples (Latin America particularly hard hit, also the Navajo aka Dineh) with virtually no access to basic medical supplies – cry in the face of such conspiracy theories . . . (no pun intended because the roots of the word “conspiracy” are “breathing together” so life IS one BIG conspiracy and by that I don't mean some trick played by a God who's jerking us around because He-She got bored and suddenly created us after millions of years of enjoying walks on the beach watching sunsets and having no one respond to His-Her personal ad for a loving committed relationship, rather that we all (including tree leaves) breathe the same air, though actually different, in part because of environmental racism, plus they say the Earth's surface is around 70% water yet the atmosphere, ya know like from the tip of my nose to the moon, seems like 95% of EVERYTHING so yeah am convinced there's One Big Conspiracy.)
And there’s certainly enough to howl about nowadays, for examples headlines like the following which either get me to casually say things like “same-o same-o” or rant around the room while gesticulating wildly, all depends on my mood du jour:
As Poor and Working Class in US Face Financial Cliff, Bezos Grew Record-Setting $13 Billion Richer on Monday – In ONE DAY Jeff Bezos made well over 4,000 times what the average American earns in their ENTIRE LIFETIME.[3]
&
103 Democrats Join GOP in Voting Down Omar Amendment to Accelerate US Withdrawal From Afghanistan – 'There are people saying that we shouldn't be too hasty in leaving. Too hasty? It's been two decades.'[4]
&
Day After Voting Down 10% Pentagon Cut, 37 Senate Dems Join GOP to Approve $740 Billion War Budget 'I don't want to hear anyone tell me that we can't afford to expand enhanced unemployment benefits when we spend more on endless wars than the next ten countries combined,' said Rep. Ro Khanna.[5]
Cut back on bombing the shit out of 10% of the people that have been having the shit bombed out of them? Hell no, these are hard times! or something like that probably runs through the minds of the heartless – don't they have ANY memories of being a kid riding bicycles or a barely teen discovering that little thing between their legs that suddenly got bigger along with the ensuing aha moment that life ain't so bad – scoundrels?
Well, Allen, it's a wonder they didn't attempt to re-ban your epic poem because of the word “negro” but then again a few years ago I saw an excellent documentary about James Baldwin, “I Am Not Your Negro,” of which a highlight is Baldwin saying:
The question you gotta ask yourself, the White population of this country has gotta ask itself is, why was it necessary to have a nigger in the first place? 'Cause I'm not a nigger, I'm a man. And If you think I'm a nigger, it means you need it. And you gotta find out why.
John Trudell said similarly with regard to the Native Peoples:
We're too busy trying to protect the idea of a Native American or an Indian - but we're not Indians and we're not Native Americans. We're older than both concepts. We're the people. We're the human beings.
And Ma Joad said a similar thing to her son Tom, in John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath:
'Easy,' she said. 'You got to have patience. Why, Tom—us people will go on livin’ when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we’re the people that live. They ain’t gonna wipe us out. Why, we’re the people—we go on. …we keep a-comin’. Don’t you fret none, Tom. A different time’s comin'.'
Then suddenly, like the aforementioned barely teen, I had an adult aha moment: As similarly the Nature World is showing many signs of catching a breather and rebounding, I was reminded of Ginsberg’s “Footnote to Howl” which begins:
“Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and hand and asshole holy!
Everything is holy! everybody’s holy! everywhere is holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman’s an angel!
The bum’s as holy as the seraphim! the madman is holy as you my soul are holy!
The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy is holy!...”
In 1957 “Howl” was considered obscene and on the banned chopping block of the puritan societal court, but “Ultimately free speech won out, as the judge concluded “Howl” had “redeeming social value”, a key test for any work deemed to be obscene.”[7]
If you're a budding or whatever kind of poet you owe it to yourself, if you haven't already, to listen to Ginsberg recite “Howl” with holy footnote.[8] Or listen anyone as there is a parallel feel to the current emotional wounds, raw energies, and vibes of the Peoples in the streets who are paying the government (taxes) to teargas, abduct and otherwise harass them . . . give a listen, while remembering that behind all the facades of color and coded language, behind the militarized riot gear and mayhem, and deep within the cries for justice, peace and equality rings the holy! holy! holy! holy! holy! holy! trying to break through!
NOTES:
1. “Howl, Parts I and II”
2. “Eighty-five infants infected with COVID-19 in Corpus Christi”
3. See here.
4. See here.
5. See here.
6. “Footnote to Howl”
7. “Alan Ginbserg’s “Howl” confiscated over obscenity charges”
8. “Howl” read by Allen Ginsberg”
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet at Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer and small press publisher, he travels a holistic mystic pathway staying in touch with Turtle Island. See his new book of nonfiction with a poetic touch, “photo albums of the heart-mind”.
© Copyright 2020 by AxisofLogic.com
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