Then we had a beatitude
& Now we have a wanna-be-attitude
Then we had jazz with our rock & roll
& Now we have talk radio with our road rage
Then we had intellectual discoveries
& Now we have video poker machines
Then we had free speech revelations
& Now we have inarticulate cellular drones
Then we had insights and dreams
& Now we have initiatives and schemes
Then we had the A and H Bombs
& Now we have the Alphabet of Bombs
Then we had spiritual courage and trust
& Now we have faith-baseism and Bush
Then we had energy and compassion
& Now we have ennui and revenge
Then we had “Be Here Now…”
& Now we have “Whatever…”
HAMMOND GUTHRIE is the author of AsEverWas: Memoirs of a Beat Survivor. He is the editor of the great online journal The 3rd Page. He can be reached at: writenow@spiritone.com
© 2003– HAMMOND GUTHRIE