Ultimate Microbehood

Today, in Katherine's absence, Ben was the lab's stand-in Poet Laureate, and he came with a recording of a Jack Kerouac stream-of-consciousness poem.  Ben was particularly proud that he found one that mentioned microorganisms.  It was an interesting one, and one that I hadn't heard before.  Here was his selection:

"Friday afternoon in the universe, in all directions in & out you got your men women dogs children horses pones tics perts parts pans pools palls pails parturiences and petty Thieveries that turn into heavenly Buddha— I know boy what's I talkin about cause I made the world & when I made it I no lie & had Old Angel Midnight for my name and concocted up a world so nothing you had forever thereafter make believe it's real— but that's alright because now everything'll be alright & we'll soothe the forever boys & girls & before we're thru we'll find a name for this Goddam Golden Eternity & tell a story too— and but d y aver read a story as vast as this that begins Friday Afternoon with workinmen on scaffolds painting white paint & ants merlying in lil black dens & microbes warring in yr kidney & mesaroolies microbing in the innards of mercery & microbe microbes dreaming of the ultimate microbehood which then ultimates outward to the endless vast empty atom which is this imaginary universe, ending nowhere & ne'er e'en born as Bankei well poled when he ferried his mother over the rocks to Tat You Tee and people visit his hut to enquire "What other planet features this?" & he answers "What other planet?" tho the sounds of the entire world are now swimming thru this window from Mrs McCartiola's twandow & Ole Poke's home dronk again & acourse you hear the cats wailing in the wailbar wildbar wartfence moonlight midnight Angel Dolophine immensity Visions of the Tathagata's Seat of Purity & Womb so that here is all this infinite immaterial meadowlike golden ash swimswarming in our enlighten brains & the silence Shh shefallying in our endless ear & still we refuse naked & blank to hear What the Who? the Who? Too What You?"

—Jack Kerouac, Old Angel Midnight

Here's a quote from Jack Kerouac about Old Angel Midnight:

"Old Angel Midnight is only the beginning of a lifelong work in multilingual sound, representing the haddalada-babra of babbling world tongues coming in thru my window at midnight no matter where I live or what I'm doing, in Mexico, Morocco, New York, India or Pakistan, in Spanish, French, Aztec, Gaelic, Keltic, Kurd or Dravidian, the sounds of people yakking and of myself yakking among, ending finally in great intuitions of the sounds of tongues throughout the entire universe in all directions in and out forever. And it is the only book I've ever written in which I allow myself the right to say anything I want, absolutely and positively anything, since that's what you hear coming in that window... God in his Infinity wouldnt have had a world otherwise–Amen."

–Jack Kerouac

Too bad he's no longer around.  I'm guessing he'd be interesting to have over for dinner.

Comments

[TJ]

Do you think he would've eaten "beets?"

That was bad.....

[Pam]

Of course, since he was the original beet.

[angel talamantes]

I have looked for weeks since I heard the audio file and come across this excerpt from friday afternoon in the universe. What book or work is this from? Can anyone help?

[Pam]

Angel, I'll see if I can find out for you.

[Aidan Logins]

I have this book!!! Most wonderful piece... you can open it at any page and start reading and it's brilliant. And you can read it 500 times and the story changes every time...
<3