Allen Ginsberg
A Supermarket in
California

Jack Kerouac
239th Chorus

Gregory Corso
The Whole Mess, Almost...

Anne Sexton
Riding the Elevator

Lee Ranaldo
Me & Jill

Andre Breton
Untitled

Lee Ranaldo

Me & Jill
[Listen to Lee Ranaldo]

We had just left shore when
everything began to happen at once. The water came in and we
started to go down. I looked to Jill and she looked back,
thinking it would be alright to go down. Then the railings broke
and the motors went. The hall emptied out, no one left for the
band. The amps all wet, speakers burst. Everything soaked. We, up
three flights, tried to meet up with the galley crew but it
seemed everyone had gone. We had a smoke to pass some time. Jill
said 'I'd love to, right now.' What could I say? We did while the
waters rose, licking our feet: It was fun and funny so we
laughed. I loved the way she could laugh. So full bodied. When we
hit the sky we were high over the roofs, a field of gnarled
antennae coiling upwards at our feet. Waves and waveforms joining
in a nice hot blast. So different from the boat. The cold silver
sky opened, and we passed through. Last I saw Jill she was
heading backwards into the coils of the antennae, laughing, so
beautiful. Saying she hadn't yet: had her fill of the boys there
and the electricity. Saying she wanted to plug in again and fry a
bit. I said 'Watch the water love...' She kept laughing and shook
her hair. She said 'I'd love to, right now, you know?' So we did
and had a smoke too and her lips parted. There in amongst the
coiling snakes of the antennae she looked right at home. The
waves came up and a blind ing flash caught me dreaming of her as
she looked all crossed with wires and spikes watching the blast.
Everything went orange and my thoughts dissolved in the cloud. I
thought one last: how different from the sea is the boat.....