BALLAD OF THE ROOFTOP ANGEL, after Allen Ginsberg, “Alene Lee, immortalized as Mardou Fox in Kerouac’s Subterraneans, rooftop near Tompkins Park & Paradise Alley, 1953”

One of six unique works in “A PICTURE OF MY MIND: Poems Written by Allen Ginsberg’s Photographs,” theVERSEverse’s inaugural collection of ekphrastic poetry using natural language processing technology and text-to-image/image-to-text techniques to respond to the iconic words and images of the legendary Beat poet. Developed in conjunction with The Fahey/Klein Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition “Muses & Self: Photographs by Allen Ginsberg,” in partnership with the Allen Ginsberg Estate, theVERSEverse member Ross Goodwin, and the support of the Tezos Foundation.

BALLAD OF THE ROOFTOP ANGEL

Amid the din and drone of the city, muse and mystery,
seated like a knowing fox on her paradise perch,
gaze lost in the wilderness,
spirit echoing the tempest in Big Sur.
Her serenity speaks volumes,
sonnet of silence in the ceaseless symphony.
Solitary figure against the backdrop of a world in flux,
the beat of a new generation pulsating beneath her feet.
– theVERSEverse after Allen Ginsberg, “Alene Lee, immortalized as Mardou Fox in Kerouac’s Subterraneans, rooftop near Tompkins Park & Paradise Alley, 1953”