Let Us Have Madness

By: Kenneth Patchen

Let us have madness openly.
O men Of my generation.
Let us follow
The footsteps of this slaughtered age:
See it trail across Time's dim land
Into the closed house of eternity
With the noise that dying has,
With the face that dead things wear--
nor ever say
We wanted more; we looked to find
An open door, an utter deed of love,
Transforming day's evil darkness;
but We found extended hell and fog Upon the earth,
and within the head
A rotting bog of lean huge graves.

Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) was an American poet and writer known for his innovative and experimental approach to poetry.

Patchen is best known for his unique style of poetry, which blended elements of surrealism, political activism, and jazz. His early poetry was influenced by the Great Depression and the social and political turmoil of the 1930s. He often used collage techniques, visual poetry, and multimedia elements in his work, pushing the boundaries of what poetry could be.

Henry Miller once wrote of Patchen: “THE first thing one would remark on meeting Kenneth Patchen is that he is the living symbol of protest. I remember distinctly my first impression of him when we met in New York: it was that of a powerful, sensitive being who moved on velvet pads. A sort of sincere assassin, I thought to myself, as we shook hands. This impression has never left me.”