Allen Ginsberg, 1979. Image Wikipedia.

January 1956, Allen Ginsberg wrote: “America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing.”

It is January 2026. I’m not sure if we’ve given it all as citizens or as a society. Some votes, some taxes, some rants, some protests, but surely not enough.

“Two dollars and twentyseven cents”? Don’t mention to Ginsberg the price of living in this economy.

Sometimes I, too, can’t stand my own mind.

“America when will we end the human war?” he asked. Not yet, Ginsberg, not yet. Nuclear weapons, missiles, drones, assault rifles, wrongful arrests, deportations without due process, homicides, the violence goes on and on.

“I don’t feel good don’t bother me.
I won’t write my poem till I’m in my right mind.”
Ginsberg, it’s simply not possible to be in our right minds anymore.

“America when will you be angelic?” Not angelic yet.
“When will you take off your clothes?” Fully armored still.
“When will you look at yourself through the grave?” That moment feels near, as we seem set on a suicide mission: democracy, foreign affairs, ecology. America First, burning itself down from the inside.

Ginsberg implored, “America why are your libraries full of tears?” But those volumes........

© CounterPunch