slices May 25th, 2007

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“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; Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection

to the starry dynamo in the machinery of the night.”

I just learned about this poetic masterpiece which is a true paragon of the so-called “beat generation”. I´m not that familiar with the whole peace & love shebang those people had going back there; nonetheless from what I understand, there truly was some substance to these knackered, weary folks, who threaded life´s intricate networks and railroads like no other. I think these opening verses from Alan Ginsberg’s “Howl” clearly demonstrates why that is so; there is just an amazing, ethereal quality to these words, a lingering pervading sense of restlessness and despair, that just speaks volumes. It´s little to do with the words themselves, and all about the way they´re put together, these worlds of meaning. More and more, I´m getting convinced that´s what being a good writer is all about… that, and the ability to excite people’s imaginations, of course.

There is a second aspect regarding this particular passage which is equally noteworthy. Point of case being, they are truly intemporal verses. Several decades past, I can relate to the feelings expressed upon this poem, as I become progressively certain that so many human potential is laid to waste, every day around, and even within me. Sometimes I swear, I feel like our ultra-modern society is so ostentatiously numb that we´ve become heartless drones, daily grind sleepwalkers. I think the main reason people turn to drugs is because they are depressed with society; the main reason is the feeling of opression and hopelessness, which particularly afflicts the most creative people. As far as I’m concerned, a drug is pretty much anything that generates the feeling of “need”. I think people turn to drugs because they need something they can barely understand…. such as comprehension, comfort, and the sense of belonging somewhere. Think about it… as much as you try to, there doesn’t really seem to be a way around that!

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