ALLEN GINSBERG 1926-1997
Father Death Blues
Hey Father Death, I'm flying home
Hey poor man, you're all alone
Hey old daddy, I know where I'm going
Father Death, Don't cry any more
Mama's there, underneath the floor
Brother Death, please mind the store
Old Aunty Death Don't hide your bones
Old Uncle Death I hear your groans
O Sister Death how sweet your moans
O Children Deaths go breathe your breaths
Sobbing breasts'll ease your Deaths
Pain is gone, tears take the rest
Genius Death your art is done
Lover Death your body's gone
Father Death I'm coming home
Guru Death your words are true
Teacher Death I do thank you
For inspiring me to sing this Blues
Buddha Death, I wake with you
Dharma Death, your mind is new
Sangha Death, we'll work it through
Suffering is what was born
Ignorance made me forlorn
Tearful truths I cannot scorn
Father Breath once more farewell
Birth you gave was no thing ill
My heart is still, as time will tell.
These days I am reminded that Allen spent three months in China in 1984, some years before Tiananmen Square. He taught some of the greatest writers of that time at several universities.The transcripts of his lectures in China on American Poetics prepared by Randy Roark are incredible. Wherever he went he made a difference.
For further comments about Ginsberg's Mind Writing Slogans go to my dharma blog,Advice from Abushri.
