going over poems during lunch w/ ginsberg
sitting there at the table
poems sprawled out on surface
he’s eating a cup of plain green peas
& sipping orange juice out
of a washed out peanut jar w/ the blue cover next to it
“why a peanut butter jar?” i ask
“is there some story behind it?“
“oh no,” he laughs
“it’s free & has a cover”
“that’s it,” he replies
—————————————————-
ghosts in the lungs
red wine spilled down
the front of my white t-shirt
like a ruby blood stain
drunk in allen ginsberg’s party in his
lower east side apartment in may 1995
i keep reciting baudelaire’s prose poem
“get drunk!” over & over
ginsberg laughs
“that’s pretty good”
& adds, “baudelaire’s breath is in yr pulmonary system”
i smile & begin again
“one must always be drunk!”
———————————————————-
in allen ginsberg’s office, brooklyn
“what will you do for money?” he asks
“you know you can’t survive on poems,” he warns
“i’ll become a thief!” i shout
“ha! that’s good ! i like that!” he laughs
————————————————————
in allen ginsberg’s kitchen at 1 am
he’s standing in front of the window
when i reluctantly ask,
“do you believe in god?”
he gazes back in silence
“it’s all bulllllllllllshit!” he laughs
his pointer finger slicing up thru the air
to accentuate his statement
the moon outside the dark blue window looking like it’s balanced
on the tip of his digit
———————————————————
literary chat w/ ginsberg
what does “with yr eyes of rotten mandolins”
mean in “kaddish?” i ask
“i’m curious about the meaning behind it” i add
“i don’t know,” he replies, laughing
“it’s actually a line i should’ve cut out of the poem” he says
& shrugs
BIO: Rob Plath is a writer from New York. He was once tutored by Allen GInsberg for two years from 1995-1997. He has published 22 books and a ton of poems in the small presses over the last 26 years. He lives with his cat and tries his best to stay out of trouble.
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