First Party At Ken Kesey's With Hell's Angels Poem by Allen Ginsberg

First Party At Ken Kesey's With Hell's Angels

Rating: 3.1


Cool black night thru redwoods
cars parked outside in shade
behind the gate, stars dim above
the ravine, a fire burning by the side
porch and a few tired souls hunched over
in black leather jackets. In the huge
wooden house, a yellow chandelier
at 3 A.M. the blast of loudspeakers
hi-fi Rolling Stones Ray Charles Beatles
Jumping Joe Jackson and twenty youths
dancing to the vibration thru the floor,
a little weed in the bathroom, girls in scarlet
tights, one muscular smooth skinned man
sweating dancing for hours, beer cans
bent littering the yard, a hanged man
sculpture dangling from a high creek branch,
children sleeping softly in their bedroom bunks.
And 4 police cars parked outside the painted
gate, red lights revolving in the leaves.

December 1965

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Richard Wlodarski 25 March 2018

In total agreement with Gregory Collins. I'm starting to appreciate Ginsberg more than ever.

0 0 Reply
Gregory Collins 03 April 2009

i honestly believe, under those conditions, with his mindset, he probally could have written anything, and it would have been beautiful

14 2 Reply
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Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Newark, New Jersey
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