Beat poets were writers associated with the Beat Generation, a loose group of mid-20th-century American poets who rejected polite conformity and wrote about freedom, spiritual searching, jazz, travel, sex, drugs, and urban life. Their work often uses energetic, conversational language and a spontaneous, open style rather than strict traditional form.
Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Kenneth Rexroth are among the poets most closely linked with the movement.
Beat poetry had a big impact upon the lyrics of singers such as Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Tom Waits.
Example
I rode the night bus past the neon diner,
my pockets full of change and unfinished songs,
searching the city for a door that would open
into a wider life.