Moe/Joe

BROKEN MOE

Dweams weally do come twue

A dwop in the ocean, happy tear for you

I get to stay in a fowever home

I’ll never have to wowwy about being alone

KATANA JOE

This place is a prison for the cowardly

They just don’t acknowledge it outwardly

If I had my hands around their throats

They could tell me what I already know

BROKEN MOE

How can you say that about my home?

I love my new mommy, I love her so

You’re just a big meanie to evewyone

When anyone can smile, I mean anyone

KATANA JOE

Smiles are just masks to keep us in check

When all I want to do is sever their necks

Violence and death are what we live for

Not to be somebody’s emotional whore

BROKEN MOE

Mommy will wash your mouth out with soap

She’ll use the worst tasting kind, I hope

Be nice to evewyone and you’ll be fine

Don’t wuin my home, it’s mine all mine

KATANA JOE

I’ll kill everyone inside of this hovel

Like a scene from a serial killer novel

You’re next, Broken Moe, so get ready

For a kick in the head so fucking deadly

BROKEN MOE

Get out of my bwain, you big fat jerk

I’ll hate you fowever if you go berserk

Don’t wuin my life, you doo-doo head

I hate these nightmares in my bed

KATANA JOE

Your worst nightmare will come to life

Every one of these throats deserves a knife

I’m the only one here who makes any sense

I’m the fucking landlord, now pay the rent!

HOST BODY

No! No! No! Stop it! I beg you!

KATANA JOE

Hahahahahahaha! Let’s murder this world together!

"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg

BOOK TITLE: Howl

AUTHOR: Allen Ginsberg

YEAR: 1956

GENRE: Poetry

SUBGENRE: Beat

GRADE: Mixed

It could be that I’m missing something here. It could be that my English degree wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. It could be that Allen Ginsberg is making me feel stupid. But whatever the case, when I tried to piece together the imagery in Howl, all I could say to myself was…”What?!” Sometimes the imagery made sense to me and I could carry on with my reading. Sometimes I had to read it twice or three times and even then my ability to comprehend it was sketchy. The first poem in the book starts off with, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.” Ordinarily that would be an awesome way to start a poem. It certainly got me going. But then reading the rest of it, I began to wonder if Allen Ginsberg himself was being destroyed by madness. He does have a creative mind, I’ll give him that. He’s so creative that only he understands what the heck he’s talking about.

But for all of the times that he made sense to me, his poetry truly spoke from the heart. It’s depressing watching great minds descend into madness. It’s depressing to watch the almighty “Moloch” take over everything you love. It’s depressing to know that your best friend is wasting away in a mental hospital while the orderlies employ draconian techniques. I know how depressing these things are because I myself am a schizophrenic. There once was a time when I thought I was going to be institutionalized against my will. I even welcomed it at one point. But if I didn’t get the help I needed when I did, I could just as easily become another statistic a la Carl Solomon (Ginsberg’s insane friend). This book was published in the 1950’s, during a time when ignorance towards mental health was rampant. I’m not so sure I could have survived that era. Thank you, Allen Ginsberg, for bringing me back to reality.

It should be noted how important this book of poetry was to the free speech movement. The sexual imagery, the violence, and the constant swearing had conservative censorship groups up in arms. Despite me not understanding most of the content, I can appreciate the battles Allen Ginsberg went through to get Howl published. Freedom of speech was always a guaranteed right in the American constitution, but it still comes under fire to this day. Luckily, we’re a lot more open-minded as a society, but if not for people like Ginsberg putting their lives on the line for free speech, we would have stayed in the dark ages for a long time. When balancing the confusing imagery with the impact the words had on mental health and the free speech movement, I’ll give this book a respectable mixed grade. It wasn’t a perfect read, but maybe I’m not high enough on the educational food chain to appreciate it to the fullest extent. This is just my opinion. You’re always allowed to have your own, because that comes with the freedom of speech deal.