keep my skull (on your mantelpiece)

to the man who reviewed "Howl" by allen ginsberg

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked..."

where's the fault in sensationalism, my dear man?
aren't we all rooting around in the muck for a reaction
of the incredulous variety
to get hearts racing and legs crossing
sure we can always create depths with layers upon layers of hidden prowess
but sometimes a person writes to make eyes bulge in their wrinkled sockets
for pearls and children to be clutched in righteous shock
and especially for men in loose cargo shorts and ugly tops to
set alight their torches and moan
there is true art to be seen in what pushes envelopes under noses
and what ages poorly due to progress
yes.
ginsberg wrote "cock" tenfold in the 50's
so that we may dance naked and shameless in the margins
of a pride party
sexton celebrated her uterus so that i may sing songs about pain and blood and
celebrate mine even if it's useless to me

fuck it. we're all sensationalists until we're not
and relevant and poignant because of it
so watch me watch the greatest minds of my generation describe this hell you've helped write and survive each and every damned circle

a/n: idk what this is but I'm just tired of people thinking some art is better because it does something different. Not every poem has the same goal or message or even has one or the other. Sometimes things don't have to be that deep. Sometimes things can be surface level or pointless or too far "out there" and still be good and impactful.  Not everything has to be a Shakespeare sonnet. Also,,,some things aren't going to age well. Sylvia Plath was a pioneer of feminist literature but she also had racist themes throughout her work. We acknowledge . We critique. We progress.