Gregory Corso: Two Short Poems

Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, 1973, photo by Elsa Dorfman

Last Night I Drove a Car
(a dream)

Last night I drove a car
not knowing how to drive
not owning a car

I drove and knocked down
people I loved
. . . went 120 through one town.

I stopped at Hedgeville
and slept in the back seat
. . . excited about my new life.


I Gave Away . . .

I gave away the sky
along with the stars planets moons
and as well the clouds and winds of weather
the formations of planes, the migration of birds . . .
"No way!" screamed the trees,
"Birds are ours when not in transit; you can't give it!"
So I gave away the trees
and the ground they inhabit
and all such things as grow & crawl upon it
"Hold on there!" tidaled the seas,
"Shores are ours, trees for ships for ship yards,
ours! you can't give it!"
So I gave away the seas
and all things that swim them sail them . . .
"No way!" thundered the gods,
"All you gave is ours! We made it all, even the likes of you!"
And so I gave the gods away


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