songs of samsara

I AM WAITING

I am waiting for my case to come up   

and I am waiting

for a rebirth of wonder

and I am waiting for someone

to really discover America

and wail

and I am waiting   

for the discovery

of a new symbolic western frontier   

and I am waiting   

for the American Eagle

to really spread its wings

and straighten up and fly right

and I am waiting

for the Age of Anxiety

to drop dead

and I am waiting

for the war to be fought

which will make the world safe

for anarchy

and I am waiting

for the final withering away

of all governments

and I am perpetually awaiting

a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the Second Coming   

and I am waiting

for a religious revival

to sweep thru the state of Arizona   

and I am waiting

for the Grapes of Wrath to be stored   

and I am waiting

for them to prove

that God is really American

and I am waiting

to see God on television

piped onto church altars

if only they can find   

the right channel   

to tune in on

and I am waiting

for the Last Supper to be served again

with a strange new appetizer

and I am perpetually awaiting

a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for my number to be called

and I am waiting

for the Salvation Army to take over

and I am waiting

for the meek to be blessed

and inherit the earth   

without taxes

and I am waiting

for forests and animals

to reclaim the earth as theirs

and I am waiting

for a way to be devised

to destroy all nationalisms

without killing anybody

and I am waiting

for linnets and planets to fall like rain

and I am waiting for lovers and weepers

to lie down together again

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the Great Divide to be crossed   

and I am anxiously waiting

for the secret of eternal life to be discovered   

by an obscure general practitioner

and I am waiting

for the storms of life

to be over

and I am waiting

to set sail for happiness

and I am waiting

for a reconstructed Mayflower

to reach America

with its picture story and tv rights

sold in advance to the natives

and I am waiting

for the lost music to sound again

in the Lost Continent

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the day

that maketh all things clear

and I am awaiting retribution

for what America did   

to Tom Sawyer   

and I am waiting

for Alice in Wonderland

to retransmit to me

her total dream of innocence

and I am waiting

for Childe Roland to come

to the final darkest tower

and I am waiting   

for Aphrodite

to grow live arms

at a final disarmament conference

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting

to get some intimations

of immortality

by recollecting my early childhood

and I am waiting

for the green mornings to come again   

youth’s dumb green fields come back again

and I am waiting

for some strains of unpremeditated art

to shake my typewriter

and I am waiting to write

the great indelible poem

and I am waiting

for the last long careless rapture

and I am perpetually waiting

for the fleeing lovers on the Grecian Urn   

to catch each other up at last

and embrace

and I am awaiting   

perpetually and forever

a renaissance of wonder

( Written by : Lawrence Ferlinghetti/ 1958)

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3 responses to “I AM WAITING”

  1. ZONGS OF ZAMZARA Avatar
    ZONGS OF ZAMZARA

    ….”have a wonderful day…. send my way”….your a poet & you know it, haha…
    i just got back from Culver’s & Pet Smart
    Had a double cheeseburger & onion rings & coke …. Bought cat food… now I’m gonna watch YouTube videos… then I’ll watch a movie tonight…. That’s all I EVER do !!! 💙

    Like

  2. schmooley Avatar
    schmooley

    I studied this poet in college but mostly forgot about him, though a few works stuck with me.   I do not remember this poem, nor do I particularly care for it.  I am pleased you sent it to me, however.  I thought it was written by YOU as I was reading it and I didn’t know how I was gonna tell you I didn’t much care for it…! Anyway, thanks for thinking of me.  I love that. Nothing going on here for New Years.  I plan to go to the rec center and exercise because for some reason it’s open today.  I’d rather the workers there had the day off, but since it’s open I will take advantage. I hope you have a wonderful day, and as always I look forward to whatever you send my way. Peter

    Liked by 1 person

    1. ZONGS OF ZAMZARA Avatar
      ZONGS OF ZAMZARA

      Yeah… in college I picked this poem for a poetry reading… then the class critiqued you …. Anyways… I was very impressed with it…haha…

      I was very much a non-conformist/ rebel my whole life….maybe it was my environment I grew up in… very unconventional childhood, etc.

      Again…. Holidays are of the Matrix… it’s hard for me to get into them anymore… I’m becoming more & more UNCONDITIONED

      💙

      Like

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