angelheaded hipsters burning

Any attempt to label an entire generation is unrewarding, and yet the generation which went through the last war, or at least could get a drink easily once it was over, seems to possess a uniform, general quality which demands an adjective ... The origins of the word 'beat' are obscure, but the meaning is only too clear to most Americans. More than mere weariness, it implies the feeling of having been used, of being raw. It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and, ultimately, of soul; a feeling of being reduced to the bedrock of consciousness. In short, it means being undramatically pushed up against the wall of oneself.
Its members have an instinctive individuality, needing no bohemianism or imposed eccentricity to express it.
- John Clellon Holmes

I love poetry because it makes me love
and presents me life.
And of all the fires that die in me,
there’s one that burns like the sun;
it might not make day my personal life,
my association with people,
or my behavior toward society,
but it does tell me my soul has a shadow.

—Gregory Corso (via goo)

(via fuckyeahbeatniks)

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