Brain Soup Goes Gilmore discussion

So . . . what did everyone think of the actual poem "Howl"? Had you read it before? First time? Impressions?

This was my first time reading it. I took a few poetry classes in college and I feel like I have a decent grasp on how to read poetry, but I must admit, I don't think I know enough about Ginsberg's time/political stance to fully understand or appreciate this poem.

About the best I can say is that he has a beautiful way with words. I didn't understand most of the references, but he does a fantastic job forming imagery and playing with language. But I'd need to sit down with a professor to go through the context of this poem before I could fully appreciate it. It's certainly overflowing with symbolism, I just don't know what the symbols means!

I will admit that I do not usually read poetry, But reading Howl it found it very interesting how it was set up and its way of telling the story. I will aim to try reading more poetry in the future.