A GOLDEN AGE
It was the early Sixties when music changed
Rock Around The Clock had paved the way
But many previous styles had seen their day
As modern songs were differently arranged
The Mersey Sound burst out upon the scene
The Beatles in particular, led that revolution
Then almost very year adding a new solution
Along with many others, all young and keen
Of course there was always the U.S influence
And Motown lasted longer than was expected
Loyalty to the favourite radio station selected
But soon, instrumental tracks made less sense
Electric guitars earned their permanent place
But distortion spawned so many a new effect
And much studio tech that helped to correct
But the Pop TV shows filled a popular space
Much music of that era did sound simplistic
But with classic songs and arrangements too
Yet committed to embracing what was new
Despite some Hippy overtones of the mystic
But that memorable decade drew to a close
Whilst colour replaced old black and white
A beat generation was mostly treated right
It shall return and be welcomed, as it goes
Categories:
beat generation, music,
Form: Rhyme
PSYCHEDELIC
There was a decade, it was the 60’s I’m sure
When everyday things were just a little bit off
As if there were rumblings in the earth’s core
And when scripted lines gave way to improv
There were plans afoot, some quite nefarious
A Hippy time, with weedy substances to share
And was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Minds set free and wearing flowers in the hair
Rainbow colours swirled to the sound of sitars
Free love, at least it may have been for some
And a coming of age of good electric guitars
Whilst others just sat crosslegged acting dumb
Psychedelia was a mind state and the fashion
Radical changes working through the system
And all things anti-establishment, the passion
Rules got lost and older people missed them
The time when all free expression took a lift
We may look back at it with little veneration
Not only tectonic plates that began to shift
We still hear echoes of that Beat generation
Categories:
beat generation, butterfly, crazy, hair,
Form: Rhyme
Long arm gendarme
My mistake namaste
Backpack bivouac
On the Road with Kerouac
Brilliant stars, silent nights
Fireflies, Northern Lights
Mountain streams, fresh air
Fall asleep anywhere
Small town, take a chance
Pig roast, barn dance
Allemande left! Do-si-do!
Spontaneity here we go!
Long arm gendarme
My mistake namaste
Backpack bivouac
On the Road with Kerouac
Beat Zen's hey-day
Doing things our own way
Nonconformity, anything goes
Kerouac-Ginsburg-Burroughs
Shot to pieces, picking skin
Benzedrine, adrenaline
Don't forget the Phenergan
Notify our next of kin
Long arm gendarme
My mistake namaste
Backpack bivouac
On the Road with Kerouac
Categories:
beat generation, addiction, america, freedom, literature,
Form: Rhyme
When I was
Oh so very young
Played the drums
And thought that I
Was of the beat generation
And my friends
We all dreamed
The day would come
We would play
Clubs and coffee houses
People would come
Hear us play
At the end
Snap their fingers
It would be so good
Years have pasted
Still I hope
Someday someone
Will hear me and
Snap their fingers
It’ll be
Good
Categories:
beat generation, poetry,
Form: Free verse
It's the beat era
It's beat of the heat
It's beat deep to keep
It's beat start of the heart
It's beat frown and beaten down
It's the beat generation fascination
It's beat truth of the youth
It's beat faces of the places
It's beat displaying to zen praying
It's beat politic of the beatnik
It's the oldtown bohemian lowdown
It's beat in the street to meet
It's beat swaying to the playing
It's beat with a hanger-on' doppelganger
It's beat Lords of the beat adored
It's the beat of Kerouac yak
It's beat of Ginsberg dirge
It's beat of Burroughs prose
It's beat attitude of generation beatitude
It's beat of The Beat Generation feat
Categories:
beat generation, beauty, poetry,
Form: Free verse
It was good to be young and free
Those years passed in a golden haze
It was the time of free love and life
Oh, the Haight Ashbury in those days..
They had blossoms in their flowing hair
And wore clothing weird and wild
Sitting on the street corner blowing bubbles
So proud to be know as "A Flower Child"
Affectionately we called them Hippies
Often wishing we could give it a try
And join them in their carefree days
Living in San Francisco and getting high
The Beat Generation had its day in the sun
Bubbles and blossoms just part of the fun…
For those who do not know, the Hippie movement was in the 1960's, mainly in San Francisco..the hippies were really embracing a counter culture life style...
Categories:
beat generation, culture, remember,
Form: Sonnet
It was her, when she took my heart
and the boy was lost and she went on,
God knows where
Tell me, why she had gone
left that boy in a runt
going on a hunt
put forth the dying call
to see her somewhere in the mall,
buying dresses and summer clothes,
seeing people taking blows.
feeling lost, cancer eating away,
dealing with the pain trying to give way,
can't go on and pay the bill,
for free-will is gone,
and me and her are done.
God, you put some people in my life,
you make them lie,
you make them cheat,
you have me beat.
The fags,
the whores,
the poets,
everyone you put has a toll,
and they all take a toll on my life,
fly a kite
in the park
on a sunny day,
when thunder and lighting strike,
what an image to see a little boy get struck down,
and have everyone record him, instead of helping him.
The ghost, I am,
the boy I am,
the poet I am,
the beat generation I am,
the dirty realist I am
and even the hopeless romantic I am,
I once was a believer,
a wish maker,
but now I just go with the flow,
unrecognized by eyes,
like a ghost,
a spirit of poetry.
Categories:
beat generation, how i feel,
Form: Free verse