Book review: "The Scripture of the Golden Eternity" by Jack Kerouac

The Golden Eternity: Religious Dogma for the Practical Agnostic
“When you’ve understood this scripture, throw it/ away. If you can’t understand this scripture,/ throw it away. I insist on your freedom.” -Scripture 45


In reading “The Scripture of the Golden Eternity” by Jack Kerouac, this is the first time I have been exposed to any of Kerouac’s poetry. Until now I have only read his prose, so I did not know what to expect. As his book “On the Road” was highly influential to so many readers, I half expected “The Scripture” to be a disappointing flop. However, his poetry, at least in reference to this book, is completely different from his prose. “On the Road” is an autobiographical work describing his trip across America, whereas “The Scripture” is a deep look at a certain philosophy of thought: that of Nihilism.

This book consists of one long poem broken up into numbered stanzas, or “Scriptures.” Kerouac’s tone throughout the piece is a play on seriousness, an ironic sort of mocking of religious dogma by creating his own dogma through “The Scripture of the Golden Eternity.” The first two Scriptures sets the stage for the voice of the poem as a personal message to the reader: “There are not two of us here,/ reader and writer, but one, one golden eternity” (Scripture [Scr.] 1). A tone of irony is also present: “I am Mortal Golden Eternity” (Scr. 2), though being mortal does not equal being eternal-or does it?

It is as if the speaker is the “chosen Messiah to die in the degradation of sentience,” chosen to release the word of the Golden Eternity in an attempt to thwart conventional religious dogma. The Golden Eternity is portrayed as the embodiment of everything religious, supernatural, and dogmatic. Therefore, I find it interesting that the speaker, which is actually the Golden Eternity, states that “there is no me, because all is/ emptiness. I am empty, I am non-existent” (Scr. 6).

The Scripture’s main purpose is to allow the reader to question reality and perception, especially the ‘reality’ of religious belief. An attempt at changing how the reader views religion is made by switching from calling “the Golden Eternity” to other names such as “God” (Scr. 12) and “universal Thisness” (Scr. 20), among others. It is also stated that everything, even the self and your own perception of reality and the universe, are empty and nonexistent. The Golden Eternity suggests that we must “Discard such definite imaginations of phenomena” (Scr. 27).

The Golden Eternity speaks of religion as a human conception that is subjective: “I call it the golden eternity-what do you/ call it, brother?” (Scr. 29). This piece’s focus on religion is also subjective, as such religious innuendo can be interpreted as a metaphor for anything and everything.

This poem lead me to question many philosophies on an existential level, especially in the development of religion and religious scriptures. Who is to say that one day in the far-off future that someone may not find this book and deem it worthy of an actual religious movement? Such would be the final irony, as the narrator states that the scripture “is easily false” (Scr. 42) and that “your mind caused the world” (Scr. 62)- not a God, a Golden Eternity, or an Eternal Thisness.

The ZenAlarm

Written 2/2/2010. Writing this poem thoroughly creeped me out more than expected. I don't get creeped out by much. Enjoy.
I opened to a random page in my book "The Writer's Block" by Jason Rekulak and this is what I came to:

Alarm Clock Openings

"It's a common starting point for many of the stories in a creative writing workshop: An alarm clock sounds. The narrator drags himself to the bathroom and scrutinizes his weary face in the mirror. Then he showers, dresses, grabs the newspaper, and sits down to breakfast. Perhaps he watches television, or has an anxious thought about an important meeting in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the reader of the story is halfway through page four or five, wondering when something interesting is going to happen.

""Alarm Clock Openings" are appealing because they convey a wealth of information about a character's home, lifestyle, and social standing. Richard Wright's Native Son begins with an alarm clock ringing, and we discover that Bigger Thomas lives in a cramped one-room apartment with his mother, brother, and sister. But no less than a minute later, Bigger is bludgeoning a giant rat with a skillet, demonstrating the pent-up aggression that will surface again later in the novel. This scene works because it defies the conventions of a typical morning routine; write your own Alarm Clock Opening that does the same."

The ZenAlarm


incessant blaring from a small [rectangular box]
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
glowing red with lament
a covering of ears, a startled shriek
high-pitched turned low drawn out moan
of desperationEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
she has been awake for a spell
awoken for days-awoken four days
with each new bombardment
(of how many dB does an alarm clock make?)
comes a revived panic
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
it tempts her with its Siren
songEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
petrified to draw near, its face holds a menacing glow
its mouth emanating with the crimson of blood
emanating with the cry of the banshee
"But do you attempt stabbing out your eardrums because you fear getting near the box to turn it off?"
two days prior she searched for the box's manual
rummaged in drawers, in backs of closets
for any semblance of how to stop it from continuing
her search was futile
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
and now she sits in a far corner
eyes wide open, mouth agape, hands over ears
unable to stop the sou-
unable to stop the
unable to stop
unable to
unaBEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
she seizes her face
scratches with nails, flaked black fingernails,
drawing blood with red light blEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..........
--

She was found in a disheveled room;
mattress, clothes, and furniture thrown asunder.
Dried blood and DNA caked under nails, flake black,
some remnants remaining in open wounds
framing her frozen expression.
Her eyes open tight, hands as claws,
muscles rigid. Rigor mortis had yet to set in.
Alone in a room of white.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
a corpse's only company.
It cut through the stillness,
leaving a bizarre ringing in the ears...
BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEP.

Writing Inspiration: Tom Leonard

Tom Leonard was a creative writing professor at University of Glasgow until September 2009. I found this out through e-mailing him some of my work and saying I'd love to work with him. The response? The poet that has revolutionalized poetry in the last 40 years said he would have loved to work with me.

the case for lower case

by Tom Leonard

lower case posits in-the-presence-of
lower case is presence
lower case is company

lower case can jump from one proposition to another
across the page

lower case does not spurn its friends in the typesetting office
lower case may yet lean on a semi-colon for breath; on its way up the stairs

lower case listens to the voice of the people
lower case is not Edict
lower case is the kinesis of democracy

CAPITAL is stasis
Capital is closure of the business in hand
CAPITAL is the cumulation of reified density
CAPITAL has no being at its centre
CAPITAL is without breath

the CAPITALIST SENTENCE begins by setting out its Stall
the CAPITALIST SENTENCE has the subject as line-manager of the verb
the CAPITALIST SENTENCE has no room in which to move
at the end of a CAPITALIST SENTENCE the world comes to a full stop.

THE CAPITALIST SENTENCE IS A DEATH SENTENCE.

lower case gives you space to live
lower case makes peace with the living
lower case does not hide behind the toga of the Roman Empire
lower case is the swish of the skirt

hmm
always here
as natural as breathing

lower space…..lower space,…. lower space……lower space



FIN

----------------------------

Being a Human Being

by Tom Leonard

(for Mordechai Vanunu)

not to be complicit
not to accept everyone else is silent it must be alright

not to keep one's mouth shut to hold onto one's job
not to accept public language as cover and decoy

not to put friends and family before the rest of the world
not to say I am wrong when you know the government is wrong

not to be just a bought behaviour pattern
to accept the moment and fact of choice

I am a human being
and I exist

a human being
and a citizen of the world

responsible to that world
—and responsible for that world

s p a c e

Written on 1/22/2010. I don't know why but this blog never formats anything like I want it to be formatted. The title is supposed to have way more space between each letter. This poem was inspired by Tom Leonard's "the case for lower case" and an AIM conversation with a drunk friend.

s p a c e

spaceisoverrated
itwastestimeandplace
thereismuchwastedtimeinspace
spaceisthatstrangeronthebusnotinyourface
spaceisthenegativeinyourpictureframe
spaceisbetweenAandB
spaceisthetimeittakesthesecondbeforethecrash
thetimebeforeyoustealthatstash
spaceintheairbagthatstingsyourface
ashockingreminderthatspaceisgrace
spacecouldbeyouorevenme
spaceisapoetscreedamanifestoagiven
spaceisanautomaticsavinggrace
forwecanneverseemtosaveourselveswithoutspace