That rings so true at the moment. Shortly after Allen Ginsberg's death, there was a vernissage of an exhibition of photographs by Ginsberg in Düsseldorf. An exhibition that was planned with Ginsberg himself, so his last secretary, whose name escapes me, spoke at this vernissage. There were several stories he told. For example when a woman came to Ginsberg saying that she liked his poetry, but he sounded so much like a sissy, and he retorted: "That's because I am."
Yet one in particular stayed in my mind: It was shortly after the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and Allen Ginsberg noticing that the cab driver was Muslim wanted to discuss this with him asking the driver for his opinion. Apparently the driver's English was not good enough. Nevertheless Ginsberg came up with this marvellous answer, an image that at least triggered my imagination: "If there was a god like this, I would climb on his head and shit on it." The secretary, who apparently was present at the time, ended by saying that he was relieved that the driver had not understood this reply.
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