i wonder what kerouac would write of me by Lauren Singeri am a deranged thing.
fantasies and embellishments,
hallucinogen-frenzied wanderer.
up all night counting threads on the blanket
naming each one after a lover long-gone.
i, too, live for madness.
i studied the silouhette
of a man who took himself too seriously
and i weighed his humility
with how wide he smiled back.
it was rare and beautiful.
cheap whiskey shots
and hitched rides from sullen strangers
on new england back roads in the hot of summer,
i think that i am also a hungered bum
in search of something stellar and miraculous
underneath the dirt of this
whim-weary world.
i find myself lost in the lust
of the unplanned,
clinging to the
rawness of the insecure nude,
the angered, stifled fists,
and the straying eyes
of the adulterous.
i fear i will never be tame.
i want to know the blood inside
of every man,
read the words of every philosopher,
in the books or on the streets,
to guide back home every lost child
with accompanying directions
for losing his way again,
and perhaps most importantly,
i want to never lose the drive
to be wild
and unashamed.
because when i find myself apologizing
for ravenous, committed sins
i fear that i most certaintly
will have lived too long. 06/16/2006 Posted on 06/17/2006 Copyright © 2024 Lauren Singer
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 06/17/06 at 04:10 AM Stunning... |
Posted by Timothy Somers on 06/17/06 at 01:13 PM He'd write about the smell of pine, road, and sea in your hair, and the freckle. |
Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 06/27/06 at 12:00 PM Stimulating read Lauren. Felt the wind blowing through my hair has I crusied down the highway of this poem. Congrats on POTD! |
Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 06/27/06 at 01:52 PM I'm so glad this made it to POTD! |
Posted by Mara Meade on 06/27/06 at 04:14 PM What an incredible read, Lauren. It's on my favourites now... and Congrats on POTD. Well deserved. |
Posted by Leslie Ann Eisenberg on 06/28/06 at 12:40 AM i've been reading your poem for days, and i simply love it! such a kapow story, such fresh original language. too many favorite phrases and lines to quote here. a masterpiece! congrats on POTD. PK |
Posted by Michael Smith on 01/28/10 at 01:13 AM This was on someone's favorites list and apparently, also POTD. All of this is befitting because I think this is publishable. A great tale of youth and stubbornness -- an ode to stereotypically living life to the fullest. I think the most intriguing and endearing lines of this poem are the 4th and 5th stanzas. Congrats, Lauren.
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Posted by George Hoerner on 02/11/17 at 03:47 AM I first read Kerouac back in the mid fifty's. I was there from 1956 thru 1958. I loved what I read. It is exactly what got me back into writing poetry again. Also, I love the way you write. |
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