Monday, November 10, 2008

Burroughs in Kansas



Burroughs in Kansas

“He entered a Midwestern state
of grace when he moved to
Lawrence, settled in, and made
many friends.”

—Denise Low


Wichita Vortex Sutra—hit & run

Sweeping down thru—midwestern zones

Kansas plains—prairie towns

American gothic—nothingness

Ginsberg drives fast—that’s not


Kansas—stoic Kansas

Kansas isn’t—New York City

Kansas isn’t fast—it ain’t…



Kansas is—grim Midwest gothic

Kansas is—tall white grain elevators

Kansas is—William Holden’s sadness

Kansas is—Kim Novak’s boredom

Kansas is—William Inge’s Picnic

Kansas is—Splendor in the Grass

Kansas is—handsome Warren Beatty

Kansas is—Natalie Wood on her knees

Kansas is—Dust Bowl Depression Time

Kansas is—endless wheatfields in August

Kansas is—the Dodge City end of the line

Kansas is—Burroughs not budging…



Living and dying—in Lawrence, Kansas

Is the only way—to know resignation

To know death—to know High Noon

To shoot guns—to love cats

To live there—to die there

That’s the only way—to know Kansas

Six feet under—all the time

Stoic grim—gallows humor…

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