2010 "poem in your pocket" day :D

today, april 29, is "poem in your pocket day" - bringing to a close april's poetry celebration for "national poetry month." in prior years, i carried around poems from gary synder ("john muir on mt. ritter") and allen ginsberg ("velocity of money"). this year the poem in my pocket is jack kerouac's "brooklyn bridge blues" - and i've posted the 10th (and last chorus) of the poem below.

interestingly, the entire poem can be heard on the "kerouac kicks joy darkness" cd. the first nine chorus' are read by allen ginsberg (from a 1995 appearance at town hall). the final chorus, below, was read on the brooklyn bridge itself, by eric anderson, to conclude the cd!

enjoy!

Chorus # 10

And that's all I can
recall of Brooklyn Bridge,
tonight, John A Roebling
and Washington Roebling
built it, and it hath cables
and it does one good
to cross it everyday----
See my eerie wiseness?
Good night, innocent children
of this mortal Sangsara
world, you have to keep
your mind empty & tranquil
and pure or the whole
Eternal Light escapes you
-----Without the Eternal Light
you're only a yakking fool
of rooms, beds, graves
and monuments----with it,
you are like the Silent
Mountains of Snow
and more than
I know------

JAN 28 1956