I have been reading Allen Ginsberg recently. I forget how good his good work can be. verymuch like Whitman in tht way, and in a few other ways as well. it's pretty amazing to think that Ginsberg was on the Merv Griffin show in the late 60s talking about the greenhouse effect. he states that he wants to illuminate humanity, and made a pretty good effort. in his best work, like Kaddish, Sumflower Sutra, Howl, America, his release is awesome. and it occurs to me he was about the same age as Whitman when the Good Grey wrote his best work. Ginsberg strips himself in a, well, generous way. it's not confessional, because he isn't trying to validate. it's his buddha side. in his lesser work, his insecurity takes over, and he's wishing to write a poem. he didn't really skill up in his technique. his poetry doesn't grow much after the 50s, or does anyone think so? I think his politics are the prime engine of his work, his politics and his buddha nature. it all gets messy because he was such a celebrity. one gets distracted by that stuff. back when he trimmed the beard and started wearing suits, a reporter asked what it was all about and Ginsberg answered, I'm in drag. that quote got twisted into, life's a drag. but it wasn't for him. he was an instigator, a Trickster. aside from those poems where he's firing on all cylinders, I find his journals to be his best work. most natural for him, I mean. because he not only instigates, he receives. I must've given away my City Lights editions when I got Collected but those pocket-sized books, less drossy, are the way to read him.