Ronnie Burk IMPROVISATION
after a revolutionary letter by Diane di Primafree Gregory Corso from rebirth in the six realms of conditioned existence
free Gregory Corso from misery & pain
free Gregory Corso
free 3.2 million starving in the Sudan
free 10 million U.S. citizens looped on prozac
free Rock Hudson, Rudolph Nureyev, Robert Mapplethorpe all dead from AZT
free every alcoholic sulking in a bottle every junkie a political prisoner
free Miguel Pinero from late night re-runs of Miami Vice
free Greta Garbo from the paparazzi
free John Lennon from the grave
free President Thabo Mbeki from WHO lies, Glaxco Wellcome greed
free Mexico, Brazil & Indonesia from globalization keep Arctic and Amazon forests
free from the clutches of Exxon & Shell
free universal health care, education and housing
free every animal in zoo and slaughterhouse
free Marilyn Buck from Dublin Federal Penitentiary
free Frances Farmer from lobotomy Edie Sedgwick from the loony bin
free Joan Benet every child a political prisoner
free rent, free electricity, free the air free from pollution free the redwoods
free from encroachment free the red wolf, the lynx & the spotted owl
free from extermination free every gay man from viral load brainwashing
free the homeless every prison a potential hospital every jail house a free hotel
free Tibet & while you're at it free Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Oglala Lakota,
Mohawk Nations, Mojave, New Zealand, Australia, Chiapas & Hopi Land, too!
free the earth & sky from nuclear terror
"OPEN THE PRISONS, DISBAND THE ARMY!"
"ACT UP, FIGHT BACK!"-Conference of Dragons
February 6, 2001
"SURVIVE YOURSELF": A MEMORY
It was in front of The Sacred Heart Auditorium in Boulder, Colorado in the summer of 1979. Mikey Pinero was standing outside doing his usual tough guy routine. Mikey was still young enough to have his cute looks. He was also quite the celebrity with the success of his play Short Eyes. Punk girls hovered around him as he did his bit about the Lower East Side. "We've survived the punks and the hippies, the junkies and the rockers, the beatniks and the rabbis." Mikey said enchanting his audience with his pre-hip-hop Puerto Rican rhythms. "Yea," Gregory Corso piped in, "wait until you start surviving yourself." Gregory's face rolled into a mischievous grin as he pointed his finger at Mikey. I felt a chill run through my heart. I looked at Tasha Robbins who stood next to Gregory. Her eyes were covered with so much kohl she looked like a raccoon. Suddenly everyone burst into laughter. It was the kind of profound comment Gregory tossed around like a stand up comic practicing Zen. I have always remembered that moment. Gregory's words have proven with time to have been both prophetic and wise. I attribute, in no small part, my continued ability to overcome all manner of adversity by heeding the words of the great poet. Thank you, Gregory Corso!
San Francisco, January 2001
METROPOLIS
ghost dance in a bank vault apparitions of lone buffalo on Wall Street
pierced cheeks of Amazonia rattling train rides to Brooklyn
turning the corner of 13th & B always I see
Montana, Melinda, a little later Mikey Pinero
crossing the street
Metropolis sparks a wire conductor medusa of subway stations
outbreaks of witch hysteria plague the courtroom
Tibitha above the rafters scaffolding the Pope's nose
A cheap & tawdry Marquis de Sade is playing at the corner movie house
NY a column of smog-December 2000
© by Ronnie Burk
