Howl (a somewhat reluctant tribute)

I read Howl at least once a day before I found out Ginsberg had paedophilic tendencies

And the ambrosia of that first poem that touched this soul took on a sourness like milk on the turn

But how can I turn away from a poem like that

When I am currently watching the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness and it

Is

Not

Their

Own

I am the one passing through university with radiant cool eyes hallucinating a future in which I can afford to live in my own fucking home

Not ghettoised into the shared black mould of Cathays with the stench of warm bins and cool indifference

I spend my hangovers mopping blood from my student kitchen floor and I know some of it is leftover from Halloween but most of it

...

Isn't

A&E knows our address too well these days

And I thought that by the time I had 20 year old sons I'd be older than 20 myself but sometimes bonds are formed from birth and sometimes they are stuck together with the first aid kit I keep (always) fully stocked in my bookcase

If it was really our hands holding the knives against our skin don't you think we would have stopped by now

And if it was really our decision to be here don't you think we'd try harder to go to lectures and maybe even stay alive

This is the story that was written for us by Professor Whatever and sold back to us at £9k a pop

As Strongly Recommended Reading

Pay Attention

This Will Be In The Exam

Why don't you listen to the fucking authors rather than your teachers sometimes

Blake's been telling you to drop out all along