Poetry by Hamilton & Hodder...

POEM FOR HOWL FIFTY
by Bruce Hodder

Where is your radical spirit, Allen Ginsberg?

I know you died in 1997

but since when would you let that obstruct you?

Allen, lawyers have stolen your words

and store them in safehouses

waiting for the next Harper-Collins contract

instead of letting the little mags have them.

That's not in the spirit of Beat.

Who gets the money, Allen, now that you're dead?

Allen, your fancy website makes you look

like some kind of millionaire dentist

who won the Nobel Prize for his charity work.

I know you wore silk ties in your dotage,

but the sex smell has gone out

of the Ginsberg Industry.

Allen, how come your secretary birds

don't answer our emails, like arrogant kings

too busy dealing with national affairs

to give time to the commoners?

They rode up the hill on the coat tails

of a scared queen writing in amphetamine sweats.

Allen, it's time you sorted this out.

Stop resting on your literal laurels

in Heaven, and come down and lash these bastards.

Give them the old fiery tongue.

Remind everyone that you were for danger,

and that Beat was once more than

just another way to sell books

to old men given to lying

about big lives they were too small to live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce Hodder lives in the UK where he runs Blue Fred Press and this blog: http://journals.aol.co.uk/bkerouac/SUFFOLKPUNCH

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The Joke Is On Me
by Damion Hamilton

I have refused to accept my life,
So the joke is on me
The boys in the warehouse know it
They drink beer after work and watch
The football games; they are
Not expecting much, nor aiming high
And the boys know this
The joke is upon me
I want too much out of life
And I am not happy
The boys don’t expect too much
And they are wise
The boys accept what is in front of them
From prison to prison
They accept and accept
And I am just a fool who has read
Too many books
Oh, that is not the way
The boys say while shaking
Their heads incredulously
At me and my foolish ambition
What does he want?
Why can’t he accept this?
Is he mad?
Yes, the joke is upon me
Firemen know this
A stock boy knows this
The UPS guy knows this
So do nurses and trucks drivers
The joke is upon me,
Reading these books and writing
This madness
This badness
The joke is upon me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damion Hamilton lives and works in St. Louis.
His poems appear across the internet and here:
http://laurahird.com/showcase/damionhamilton.html

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