When the most capable
believe they have risen above
the mucus, the shit, the afterbirth
of their origin
when in their reflection
they see perverse transcendence
towards entitlement
in which no allegiance
or kinship of nature
binds them to their center
nor founds them in the
fevered fumbling fury
of the frightened flesh parade
in which they lock step
flailing for survival
when their insanity of arrogance
so distorts their vision of time
of the ancient
of the sweating
bone-broken reality
of human swill and wallow
through which they likewise trudge
shiny shoes or no
when they blatantly begin
to eat their own
while copulating with false gods
on forsaken gilded altars
of perjured horrors
then the hour of the beasts
is certainly at hand
and the power of wild nature
will rise up to dominate
and we’ll all become
the hulking mass
of the apocalypse
deserving to be struck down
and our black hearts
torn out and severed
by the self-inflicted rapier
of raw wild justice
and our husks immolated
on the pyre of banished
abandoned truth
His muse was born in Brooklyn, a daughter of the red way. A political activist when she emerged in the Greenwich Village folk scene. Fate revealed Suze Rotolo to Bob at a folk concert in July 1961. “Cupid’s arrow… hit me in the heart”, he said.
Suze became his mindful muse. Yesteryear’s yarns now paled for Dylan, focusing instead on current social inequities. They moved in together in early 1962. As Bob’s social consciousness grew, so did his fame, and outside pressure on the relationship. It failed to survive an abortion, and Dylan’s affair with Joan Baez. Suze and Dylan ultimately separated in 1964.
Dylan credits Suze with his social consciousness, and his interest in French poet Arthur Rimbaud, and German playwright Bertolt Brecht, both nihilists — who impacted the darkness of his future songwriting. “To her, death is quite romantic. I understand her fascination.”
This is a “stream of recall” edition of a core poem, I have written in many iterations, many perspectives, since first I wrote the seeds of it as lyrics to a song in 1969.
~ at Columbus & Broadway, SF – the beat cathedral ~
W hen night fell on bohemia
the streets were set ablaze
an acid-infused haze
city lights
turned to black lights
and strobe lights
tie-dyed in psychedelia
when night fell on bohemia
jack and neal were on the road
ridin’ with the fire-whores
of angst and indignation
mental fornication
emotional elation
combustin’ carnal fireballs
goin’ flowin’ with it all
when night fell on bohemia
allen was howl’n
pal’n with corso
still long’n for peter
groin deep
in the brain-drug carnival
fantasy flesh festival
hunter was fearful
loathing the big strip
ridin’ the snow trip
bemused by it all
best he could recall
when night fell on bohemia
bill stood stark naked
lunchin’ with the devil
stinkin’ and disheveled
jelly-rollin’ in a demon’s fire
vein poppin’ on a live wire
when night fell on bohemia
gary headed for cold mountain
to watch it all
to the 11th hour
from his lofty perch
on sourdough tower
rip rappin’ and zen tappin’
hot jazz was hap’nin
while electric bob
went subterranean
when night fell on bohemia
ken gathered up the faithful
made merry on the magic bus
party trippin’ for all of us
day-glow’n infamy
rocket fueled by owsley
and ran off to the future
like mad-capped pranksters
This below is the original song I wrote in ‘69, loosely about Ken Kesey and the Merry Panksters. I used them as a milepost to represent the transition from the beat poets of the 50’s to the rock poets of the 60’s. My lyrics for this song became the seed inspiration for a number of iterations of related poems I wrote, including the one above.
BOHEMIAN MIDNIGHT lyrics: Rob Kistner
music: Jay Wormus
night’s fallen on bohemia
the white rabbit’s on the loose
our minds are fine’ly set ablaze
at last our voice is raised
acid’s opened up new ways
it’s a san-fran song of love
larry’s big beat city lights
now day-glow’n new black lights
and mind blow’n strobe’n lights
dreams tie-dyed in psychedelia
night has fallen on bohemia
the white rabbit’s on the loose
make’n merry on the magic bus
mind trippin’ party plus
we’re rock’n further into infamy
rocket fueled by oz-el-ly
it’s midnight in bohemia
the white rabbit’s on the loose
man it’s midnight in bohemia
the white rabbit’s on the loose
GUITAR SOLO
make’n merry on the magic bus
expandin’ minds — truth’s stimulus
to look beyond just what we see
feeling love and being free
clock’s struck midnight in bohemia
the white rabbit’s on the loose
(repeat to end over guitar improv) it’s midnight in bohemia
the white rabbit’s on the loose
