Poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti - anthology.

Poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti - anthology. A member of the 1950s Beat Generation, American poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti instilled irreverence and a floating joy into his poems. Although Ferlinghetti was a politically engaged writer and often composed biting satires, the following work is more playful than satirical. The free quality of this poem, which is literally about an institution coming unglued under the ministrations of a poet, is typical of Ferlinghetti. What Happened the Day a Poet Was Appointed Postmaster By Lawrence Ferlinghetti With violet pencils he wrote upon the back side of returned love letters and lost light years readdressing them to eternity Their cancelled postage stamps wheeled away on round postmarks and flew off like flying saucers marked Moscow Los Angeles and New York The moon turned to tenements for lack of lovers And a cancelled George Washington flew over America Source: Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. "What Happened the Day a Poet Was Appointed Postmaster." The Nation, April 19, 1958.