It wasn't yet 1997 when
we passed each other in the supermarket
and my shoulder brushed your hip.
I looked up and saw the neon light
filtering through your beard.
For a syllable of a song we touched
before my mother tugged me shuffling;
I looked back over my shoulder
and you were watching me hobble away.
I could have met you were I older
I thought as my mother
tight-lipped, conservative,
turned on you and covered my ears.
I could have heard you, known you
were I older. Wishing for even five more years.
Now I read your poems as though
they were your letters, your personal letters
and penning this, I am relieved
that at least I know you this well.
Author notes
This is a poem for Allen Ginsberg, as the title states. I wrote this thinking of "A Supermarket in California", and this poem approaches the same theme.
I reference Ginsberg alot in my poetry. This is because I absolutely idolize him.
Written April 16th, 2006
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Comments
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don't feel like a jackass, I'm just happy to hear you really met him. I could only wish for the priviledge.
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i met Ginsberg as a little kid too....At the extravaganja fest in New York. The 21 of April...maybe ten fifteen years ago...He had finger cymbals and was chanting the hari krishna mantra....Glad to know other are just as mystified by this strange twilight zone event after many years too.......
Joel
Oh I just saw your comment about it being a metaphore...Now I feel like a jackass....Oh well, I usually do, when I make comments without thinking.... -
I'm afraid I never really passed him in a store, although I wish I could have. The passing in the store was a metaphor for passing him in the years we were both alive, when I was too young to appreciate or even be exposed to him.
Although I do wish I could have met him! -
You really passed Ginsberg in the store? And now you write poems? That's top notch! I got hooked on Ginsberg, Whitman and Kerouac as well as the Bhagavad Gita, this writing is something that emulates true freedom, something being lost in American culture.
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"A Supermarket in California" is an amazing poem and you use the theme but make it your own and distinct, which is really cool.
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I've read the poem you were referring to and i must say that i see the similarities. I liked this alot its cool to see something from someone elses eyes
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