Trying to be Beat in the 21st Century, A Poem by Grant Keller

Where the MilitaryIndustrialComplex has given birth to the web
that unites us all with liberty and freedom of expression that makes China cringe

Where we look at Modern Art with Nostalgia
and Kerouac On the Road gathers dusk on the shelves of the thrift store

Where the hepcats and hepkittens have gray hair
and grandchildren who wonder at jazz trapped in vinyl
and how they ever lived without games in the phones in their pockets

Where I tap my rant on my own phone with an apple on the back
and the whole world that I can put on my own pocket

Where the Venice West is a Starbucks wherein a Rasta Barista makes decaf Frapachinos
with white chocolate raspberry hempmilk for tattooed code monkeys
who dream digital dreams of android sheep

Where Bird still blows his horse fueled chops in the valley nights,
whispering notes of rebellion in the young ears of sleeping suburban children

Where the seeds of the Beat still move in the hearts of those chosen few
who see beyond the hype on the tube
and fly above the interwoven lies of the net to seek the truth

The truth hepcats and hepkittens that the only response,
the only defense to the crushing power of media-ocrity
is the single boldest act of defiance - the pure sweet act of creation

Blow my Babies - Blow Truth into being