Personals Ad by Allen Ginsberg

One of my goals for 2008 is to read more poetry. So far, I'm not doing so well....I've got a new volume of rock 'n roll-themed poetry--foreword by Bono!--sitting on my shelf, and it's not exactly burning its way to the top of my queue. But I was watching the awesome Ovation channel the other day, and caught a half-hour profile of Allen Ginsberg. Talking about his final years, it featured a poem I'd never seen before, but which charmed me thoroughly:

Personals Ad (1990)

Poet professor in autumn years
seeks helpmate companion protector friend
young lover w/empty compassionate soul
exuberant spirit, straightforward handsome
athletic physique & boundless mind, courageous
warrior who may also like women&girls, no problem,
to share bed meditation apartment Lower East Side,
help inspire mankind conquer world anger & guilt,
empowered by Whitman Blake Rimbaud Ma Rainey & Vivaldi,
familiar respecting Art's primordial majesty, priapic carefree
playful harmless slave or master, mortally tender passing swift time,
photographer, musician, painter, poet, yuppie or scholar
Find me here in New York alone with the Alone
going to lady psychiatrist who says Make time in your life
for someone you can call darling, honey, who holds you dear
can get excited & lay his head on your heart in peace.

The whole thing, like most of Ginsberg's poetry, sounds even better when you read it aloud. And the moral of the story is this: don't discount those weird little ads in the back of the New York Review of Books. Lovah memoirs still score big advances. Or it could just be Philip Roth, looking for a last sexually dysfunctional relationship to feature in his next book. Either way, it may be worth the risk.