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A Poem for the beats of now.

R

reading

New Member
What I f You Knew?

What if one night,
as you lie naked in bed,
a little white light appeared in your head
and whispered,
the answer!

What if you knew..
the Answer!?
To the ancient question,
why?
.....

Oh the poets, philosophers, theologians.
The scientists, artists, activists and tele-evangelists
All who have pondered this question since the dawn of time.
What if....
You
Only you..
Knew
Why?.
.....

Would it change things?
Would it fillin the blanks?
Would it dot all the I's
and cross all the T's?
Would you rewrite all the books?
Quit your church, synagogue, or
temple of worship?
Would you fire all the teachers or
instructors of literature and philosophy?
Would you tear down the so-called
"Institutions of higher education"?
Flip off the foundations?

Would you delete all the news channels
(even C-Span?)on your digital cable?
Cancel your subscriptions to TIME,
NEWSWEEK, and NATIONAL REVIEW?
Sell all your stocks?
Find your lost sock?
Would you understand the U.S. tax code?
Make final payments?
Would you solve all the crimes?

Free all the prisoners?
Fire all the judges?
Kill all the lawyers?
Would you taste success?
Get a piece of the pie?

Would you know the Colonels secret recipe?
Would you stick in your thumb and pull out a plumb?
Would you discuss conspiracy theories with John Wilks Booth?
Would you know who-who wrote the book of love?
Take a sad song and make it better?
Would you know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall?
Would you find a cure for the summertime blues?

Find out if Elvis really has left the building?
Know if O.J. really did it?
Would you get milk?
Would you know for sure how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie
roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
Would you change the world or change the channel?

Would you find Waldo?
Mister Goodbar?
Mister Right?

And would you know
exactly what the president knew, and when he knew it?

Would you?
Could you?
What if YOU, and only YOU

KNEW..

And if you knew, what would you do?

Would you be contented, calm and serene?
A whole lot kinder and a lot less mean?

OR

Would you awake from sleep,
go outside and cry,
look up at the stars in a cloudless sky,
then shake your fist,
DEMAND! INSIST!

that after all this,
DAMN IT!
still you really don't know,

Why?

.....
 
Maybe she would understand better without the typo in the title. I think it was meant to say, 'The breasts of now.' That way it makes perfect sense.
 
Freya said:
Maybe she would understand better without the typo in the title. I think it was meant to say, 'The breasts of now.' That way it makes perfect sense.
Click to expand...
BEATS. As in BEATNIK. As in a member of the BEAT GENERATION> It is defined as; A member of the Beat Generation; A nonconformist in dress and behaviour.
The phrase was first uttered by Jack Kerovac in the early 1950's. It's inspiration was the book Kerrovac wrote called On The Road
Loook it up or if you like, I can post some excellent websites.
 
I think I should understand, but it's just the randomness. To me, the poem seems to jump from one topic to another with no implication of why. I was asking for some explanation, not a smart ass remark on how dense I am.

And not to be impolite, Freya, but I am male.
 
I enjoyed it and I think it could be a good poem after a bit more work. First of all, you don't need to be so heavy handed about the subject of the poem. I'd cut out everything between "and whispered/the answer!" and "oh the poets", for example.

The sections of questions are fun but they don't flow well and a lot of the lines are clumsy. Things like "Would you find Waldo?/Mister Goodbar?/Mister Right?" are perfect, but "Would you know for sure how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" just doesn't work (although I'm sure it's a profound question). Also, quoting Beatles lyrics wholesale is likely to get you into trouble with their lawyers. But overall it's got real potential.
 
Ves., I am so sorry. I did not wish to imply any thing insulting. If anything I made an asumption that perhaps I shouldn't have. I was refering to age. I am 47 years old and remember the Beats well. I assumed you to be much younger than I. In which case, "You wern't ment to understand" is simply a statment of fact.
Have a wonderful day.
 
Surely they televangelists already know why. After all, to them it's because it was God's will?
 
Thanks for the constructive critisim wintergreen. But the Beatles lawyers don't frighten me as much as having to tangle with Yoko Ono. But I'm sure she'll give this amature a break. After all, I don't intend to sell this poem to anyone. It was just for fun.
 
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