H e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s b e r g

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i v e s E d i t i o n

JEFF PONIEWAZ

Pegasus Gasoline

Pegasus was rustled by Mobil.

Texas oilmen put their branding iron

on the ancient symbol of Poetry

and turned it into their corporate logo--

just like Shell took as their trademark

an innocent seashell, to prettify

their ugly supertanker/gasguzzler strategy,

to camouflage their gas-price shellgame,

to whitewash a grimey industry

whose oilspills befoul the Muse's fountain

as well as the splendor of Neptune's realm,

and whose incessant infernal combustion

pollutes the Nature that is Poetry's source.

Now that Exxon bought Mobil for many billions,

the immortal symbol of immortal poetry

is usurped by the corporation that spilled ten million

gallons of oil on pristine Alaskan shores.

Hundreds of volunteers worked to clean oil

off many thousands of otters and birds.

But who will clean Mobil-Exxon's filthy oil

off the wing'd steed of Poetry?