Carl Halling Poet Free verse

For All the Beatniks of San Francisco

Shirley Brown was a very beautiful girl, 
And her brunette hair 
Hung down her back 
And as the wind blew thru the window, 
It waved around. It waved around.
She was making sandwiches,
And was packing them with fruit, 
And two massive bars of fruit 
And nut chocolate.
She lit a cigarette, picked up the basket, 
And with a nod of her head, 
Waved her hair backwards 
And walked out the back door 
Into the alley where, 
Propped up against a fence 
Was a blue mini-moped. 
She mounted the bike, 
And with a little trouble, started it.  
And the rider made a sudden jump 
As a horn blew behind her, 
And a leather jacketed youth 
Sped by on a butterfly motor-cycle.
                                                                    
People turned away
And the music blared on
And the youths talked on. 
Then, a park keeper came
But the youths took no notice. 
"What are you kids doing?"
The keeper shouted, 
"I've had complaints from all over, 
Clear off, wilya, 
This is a park, 
Not a meeting place 
For all the Beatniks in San Francisco."
                                                                    
John Hemmings started dancing: 
"Cool it, grandpa, get on, 
Get going, don't bug me!" 
The kids had gone too far 
And they knew it.
Some of them turned away, 
As the radio blared even louder, 
Litter was scattered everywhere.
"I ain't chicken of dying,"
John Hemmings then said,
"We've got to go on, 
ALL RIGHT! Who are the crumbs 
Who want to chicken out at this point? 
Just take your bikes and go.  
We're free people now. 
Nothing can stop us, 
We'll rule the streets, 
The young people will triumph."
He was perspiring wildly 
And his black hair
Hung down his back.
It waved around. It waved around. 

("For all the Beatniks of San Francisco" is based on extracts from one of my earliest
existent pieces of fictional writing, dating from when I was about 15 years old.)

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