The Reply
I was feeling like a demon again
I whack it with a hammer & all it says is
Be nice
He said, getting real mad
I am distressed. Thinking
What ever happened to that Bavarian pear
Of course I tried to tell him
When the fairies come back to Santa Fe
What’s sacred when the Thing is all the universe?
He said: “Mad street with no name.”
Title – Allen Ginsberg
Lines 1,4,7&10 – Gregory Corso: Poets Hitchhiking on the Highway
Line 2 – Philip Whalen: Fond Farewell to the Chicago Review
Line 3 – Philip Whalen: “Plus Ca Change”
Line 5 – Le Roi Jones: Way out West
Line 6 – Paul Carroll: Still Life: Tankard, Sun and Avocado Plant
Line 8 – Edward Dorn: When the Fairies
Line 9 – Allen Ginsberg: The Reply
Great, but drop the last line!
What Martin said!
Sadly, you’re right! But it’s such a terrific line…