A July 4th poem by John Berryman

This is a poem by John Berryman, from his groundbreaking collection Dream Songs, first published in 1965:

Of 1826

I am the little man who smokes & smokes.
I am the girl who does know better but.
I am the king of the pool.
I am so wise I had my mouth sewn shut.
I am a government official & a goddamned fool.
I am a lady who takes jokes.

I am the enemy of the mind.
I am the auto salesman and love you.
I am a teenager cancer, with a plan.
I am the blackt-out man.
I am the woman powerful as a zoo.
I am two eyes screwed to my set, whose blind--

It is the Fourth of July.
Collect: while the dying man,
forgone by you creator, who forgives,
is gasping 'Thomas Jefferson still lives'
in vain, in vain, in vain.
I am Henry Pussy-cat! My whiskers fly.


Just one quick note: "Henry" and "Henry Puzzy-cat" are variations on the poetic persona in the Dream Songs -- a cynical, lechy, middle aged white man, similar (one gathers) to Berryman himself.

Here I like the first two stanzas. They're mostly the poetic equivalent of one-liner jokes, but as well done as it gets in that vein. The third stanza is more puzzling to me.

Incidentally, notice the rhyme scheme. Many (but apparently not all) of the Dream Songs have one or another scheme. The emphasis on form is what separates Berryman from many of his less-disciplined contemporaries. Thematically he has much in common with people like Ferlinghetti or Ginsberg.