Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919 - present)

Born in New York, Lawrence Ferlinghetti earned a doctoral

degree in poetry at the Sorbonne in Paris with a dissertation entitled 'The City as Symbol in odern Poetry! "n
Search o# a etropolitan Tradition'$ "n #act he was abo%t to become part o# a metropolitan tradition himsel#,
beca%se a#ter lea&ing Paris he mo&ed to San Francisco, which was abo%t to disco&er the Beat 'eneration$
Ferlinghetti and Peter artin started a maga(ine there called 'City Lights,' named a#ter the Charlie Chaplin
mo&ie$ )e and artin established their o##ices on the second #loor o# a b%ilding on Broadway and Col%mb%s in
North Beach$ They decided to open a bookstore on the #loor below as a side &ent%re, naming it a#ter the
maga(ine$ The City Lights Bookstore became one o# the most #amo%s bookstores in the world, and still stands
pro%dly in its original location$
*oing do%ble+time as a b%sinessman and a poet, he began p%blishing original books by himsel# and others
%nder the City Lights name, most notably the 'Pocket Poets Series$' The idea o# Pocket Poets was to make
poetry books easily a##ordable, and the small attracti&e paperback &ol%mes are still a common sight today$
Ferlinghetti p%blished ,llen 'insberg's ')owl' as Pocket Poets N%mber Fo%r, and was tried on obscenity
charges #or this$ )e was declared innocent, a landmark &ictory #or #ree speech$
Ferlinghetti's own poems are simple and speak plainly, and they remain tremendo%sly pop%lar with a wide
range o# readers$ "n -./0 he p%blished a &ol%me with one o# my all+time #a&orite titles, ', Coney "sland o# the
ind' 1and in -..2 p%blished a #ollow+%p &ol%me named a#ter a 3%eens beach not #ar #rom Brooklyn's Coney
"sland, ', Far 4ockaway o# the )eart$'5
"n the early 67's Ferlinghetti owned a r%stic cabin in Big S%r that became the #ocal point o# 8ack 9ero%ac's
-.6: no&el 'Big S%r$' Ferlinghetti appears in the book as the sensible Loren(o onsanto, who %rges the
dr%nken celebrity a%thor based on 9ero%ac to go on a nat%re retreat to stop drinking, with terrible res%lts$
Ferlinghetti was one o# the more politically+minded o# the Beats, and has been contin%ally acti&e on behal# o#
liberal ca%ses$ )e attrib%tes his paci#ist conscio%sness partly to his wartime e;periences! he had been sent to
Nagasaki, 8apan si; weeks a#ter the city was destroyed by the world's second atomic bomb$
Ferlinghetti is still acti&e today as a poet and as the proprietor o# City Lights$ " hope " won't seem politically
incorrect #or saying this, b%t a#ter immersing mysel# in the writings o# the g%ilt+obsessed ase;%al 8ack 9ero%ac,
the ridic%lo%sly horny ,llen 'insberg and the <%st plain sordid =illiam S$ B%rro%ghs $$$ it's nice to read a #ew
poems by a g%y who can get e;cited abo%t a little penny candy store %nder the >l or a pretty woman letting a
stocking drop to the #loor$
A Vast Confusion by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Long long " lay in the sands
So%nds o# trains in the s%r#
in s%bways o# the sea
,nd an e&en greater %nderso%nd
o# a &ast con#%sion in the %ni&erse
a r%mbling and a roaring
as o# some enormo%s creat%re t%rning
%nder sea and earth
a billion sotto &oices m%rm%ring
a &ast m%ttering
a swelling st%ttering
in ocean's speakers
world's &oice+bo; heard with ear to sand
a shocked echoing
a shocking sho%ting
o# all li#e's &oices lost in night
,nd the tape o# it
someow r%nning backwards now
thro%gh the oog Synthesi(er o# time
Chaos %nscrambled
back to the #irst
harmonies
,nd the #irst light
Bird ith !wo "ight ings by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
,nd now o%r go&ernment
a bird with two right wings
#lies on #rom (one to (one
while we go on ha&ing o%r little #%n ? games
at each election
as i# it really mattered who the pilot is
o# ,ir Force @ne
1They're interchangeable, st%pidA5
=hile this bird with two right wings
#lies right on with its corporate #light crew
,nd this year its the 'reat o&ie Cowboy in the cockpit
,nd ne;t year its the great B%sh pilot
,nd now its the Chameleon 9id
and he keeps changing the logo on his captains cap
and now its a donkey and now an elephant
and now some kind o# donkephant
,nd now we recogni(e two o# the crew
who took o%t a contract on ,merica
and one is a certain gringo wretch
who's b%sy monkeywrenching
cr%cial parts o# the engine
and its li#e+s%pport systems
and they got a big #at hose
to siphon o## the #%el to pri&ati(ed tanks
,nd all the while we <%st sit there
in the passenger seats
witho%t parach%tes
listening to all the news that's #it to air
o&er the one+way P, system
abo%t how the contract on ,merica
is really good #or %s etcetera
,s all the while the plane l%mbers on
into its postmodern
mani#est destiny
#u$ber % by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
"t was a #ace which darkness co%ld kill
in an instant
a #ace as easily h%rt
by la%ghter or light
'=e think di##erently at night'
she told me once
lying back lang%idly
,nd she wo%ld B%ote Coctea%
'" #eel there is an angel in me' she'd say
'whom " am constantly shocking'
Then she wo%ld smile and look away
light a cigarette #or me
sigh and rise
and stretch
her sweet anatomy
let #all a stocking
#u$ber &' by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The pennycandystore beyond the >l
is where " #irst
#ell in lo&e
with %nreality
8ellybeans glowed in the semi+gloom
o# that september a#ternoon
, cat %pon the co%nter mo&ed among
the licorice sticks
and tootsie rolls
and @h Boy '%m
@%tside the lea&es were #alling as they died
, wind had blown away the s%n
, girl ran in
)er hair was rainy
)er breasts were breathless in the little room
@%tside the lea&es were #alling
and they cried
Too soonA too soonA
(eascape ith (un And )agle by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Freer
than most birds
an eagle #lies %p
o&er San Francisco
#reer than most places
soars high %p
#loats and glides high %p
in the still
open spaces
#lown #rom the mo%ntains
#loated down
#ar o&er ocean
where the s%nset has beg%n
a mirror o# itsel#
)e sails high o&er
t%rning and t%rning
where seaplanes might t%rn
where warplanes might b%rn
)e wheels abo%t b%rning
in the red s%n
climbs and glides
and do%bles back %pon himsel#
now o&er ocean
now o&er land
high o&er pinwheels s%ck in sand
where a rollercoaster %sed to stand
soaring eagle setting s%n
,ll that is le#t o# o%r wilderness
*lough +f !i$e by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Night closed my windows and
The sky became a crystal ho%se
The crystal windows glowed
The moon
shown thro%gh them
thro%gh the whole ho%se o# crystal
, single star beamed down
its crystal cable
and drew a plo%gh thro%gh the earth
%nearthing bodies clasped together
co%ples embracing
aro%nd the earth
They cl%ng together e&erywhere
emitting small cries
that did not reach the stars
The crystal earth t%rned
and the bodies with it
,nd the sky did not t%rn
nor the stars with it
The stars remained #i;ed
each with its crystal cable
beamed to earth
each attached to the immense plo%gh
#%rrowing o%r li&es