“I wish to be forgotten.”                    
                                                                        --Bob Kaufman

In memoriam angel headed hipster
the legions that followed unwashed unsung
riding freight on the gravy train
to remain authentic to the days of yore
the past always so much more fascinating
the future just another unpredicted event
wide-eyed in bricked jazz cellar periphery
while the elders revel in their joyous wisdom
narrow tie baby face suit but head on fire
lessons played out a safety line for all to grasp
back seat arm leg tangle down some lone highway
those moments of existentialism as just a thumb
shrill hysteria’s promise and deception abound
dizzying euphoria in campfire’s flickering shadows
led into the wilderness by curiosity and confusion
“get any closer to the earth and you’ll be under it”
some prized beliefs disappear or get thrown out
a rats nest of neurons mottled flaky gray matter
mental dandruff once so assiduously avoided
eventually the only clue to my actual existence
in search of a source I am led back to myself
what spiral steps of repetition and variation fabricate
and certain wisdom soothe the shatter of ambition