A Ferlingetti Of The Mind

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman 

Recently in reviewing a documentary which was part biopic and part cultural artifact about the life, times and work of self –described San Francisco anarchist poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the anarchist part self-described the poet part speaks for itself as one of America best last half of the 20^th century poets, Josh Breslin who knew some of Ferlinghetti’s younger circle when he lived on in California at various times in his life noted that Ferlinghetti brought a certain sense of wonder to his circle and all who have come in touch with him:   

“Yeah, you know at some very young age, well before puberty, most of us get our natural stock of wonder beaten out of us, wonder at the world, wonder about why this is this way and that is that way, and the funny makeup of the nature of the universe, hell, just plain ordinary vanilla wonder. That is why poets, good and bad, are precious commodities in restoring the human balance, in letting us once more check in on the wonder game which their words, their particular scheme of words since they have not had their sense of wonder beaten out of them  convey to us (no matter how hard in individual cases someone might have tried). Every self-respecting radical or progressive in some other field like, for example, Karl Marx in political theory has treasured their friendships with the poets, and rightly so no matter how quirky they get. That quirkiness and the precious commodity of wonder get a full workout by one self-described anarchist poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti as his life’s story unfolds in the documentary under review, Lawrence Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth Of Wonder.”      

Today perhaps not as many people outside of the San Francisco Bay area may be as familiar with the work of Ferlinghetti, although A Coney Island of the Mind is one of the best-selling poetry collection ever, and this film makes some amends for that short-coming. Of course the Ferlinghetti name might become more familiar in some circles if you put the name with the City Lights bookstore that he helped found and which is still going strong today as a central haven for creative spirits in the area. Or for legal buffs and aficionados his connection with the “pornography” freedom of expression suit brought in the 1950s around publication of Allen Ginsburg’s Howl. That connection between poet and bookstore owner get plenty of exposure here as it should since it is hard to think of say Allen Ginsberg or Gregory Corso two mad man poets active in that same period combining those two skills to win legal battles or run a store.

This film, since it doubles up as a short biopic as well as cultural artifact gives plenty of information about the long bumpy ride for Ferlinghetti to first begin unleashing his poetic visions and then tie those words into a new left-wing (as mentioned above, anarchist if anybody is asking) way of looking at society. Not so strangely a lot of his emergence as a poet and central cultural figure was connected together when he hit San Francisco in the early 1950s. If  he had found himself in let’s say Cleveland at that time things might have turned out very differently for Frisco along with the Village in New York were oases against the prevailing cookie-cutter, keep your head down, Cold War red scare night where the misfits and renegades found shelter and kindred.        

Of course beside the poetic vision and the bookstore as cultural expression Ferlinghetti, as the film also makes clear, was one of those behind the scenes players who make new cultural explosions happen. He was, although not a “beat” poet himself (his take on the question) and although he was not a “hippie” poet either he was a central figure in both movements as be-bop beat gave way to acid-etched hippie-dom. Something I did not know was how many places like May 1968 in Paris and 1959 in Cuba he had been involved with which surely affected the weight of his more political poems. And in the end his prolific run of poetry in all sizes and shapes, especially the now classic A Coney Island of the Mind will be the legacy, will be that little slice of wonder future generations will cling to.