Tonight in Dortmund, Germany, Allen Ginsberg’s Centennial continues
“An evening presented as part of “Experiment Democracy” – a series of events organized by the City of Dortmund and TU Dortmund to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States – and curated by students from the Faculty of Cultural Studies. The Literaturhaus Dortmund marks Allen Ginsberg’s centenary with a special evening that does more than just look back; it makes palpable why his voice still resonates today.
Through a blend of texts, audio, music, and film, the evening evokes the atmosphere of the lat 1950s and early 1960s – the era of protest movements in the USA that gave rise to the new “Beat literature”. Ginsberg’s “Howl” stands as one of the most prominent poems of that period. His writings have lost neither their intensity nor their defiant spirit over the years; today, Ginsberg is more relevant than ever.”
They go on: “Allen Ginsberg is one of the great American poets to have written about our region. As part of the Ginsberg anniversary celebrations, we(‘ll) also present his 1979 poem, “Ruhr-Gebiet”
Ruhr-Gebiet
Too much industry
too much eats
too much beer
too much cigarettes.
Too much philosophy
too many thought forms
not enough rooms –
not enough trees.
Too much Police
too much computers
too much hi fi
too much Pork.
Too much coffee
too much smoking
under gray slate roofs.
Too much obedience.
Too many bellies.
Too many business suits.
Too many paperwork
too many magazines.
Too much industry.
No fish in the Rhine.
Loreley poisoned.
Too much embarrassment.
Too many fatigued
workers on the train.
Ghost Jews scream
on the streetcorner.
Too much old murder
too much white torture.
Too much one stammheim
too many happy Nazis.
Too many crazy students.
Not enough farms
not enough Appletrees.
Not enough nut trees.
Too much money.
Too many poor.
Turks without vote
“guests” do the work.
Too much metal.
Too much fat.
Too many jokes
not enough meditation.
Too much anger.
Too much sugar.
Too many smokestacks.
Not enough snow.
Too many radioactive
plutonium wastebarrels.
Take the Rhine gold.
Build a big tomb.
A gold walled grave
to bury this deadly nuclear slag
all the Banks’ gold
shining impenetrable.
All the German gold
will save the Nation.
Build a gold house
to bury the Devil
December 15, 1979