Kerouac in real life

Photos of Kerouac make me weep
and even laugh a little
at the thought of the way
I'd probably react
to being near him
right up close
on the New York streets
with gallant swagger
and hearty laugh
bouncing off the sky scrapers
passing by twin towers or
downtown dirty fish bars or
jazz clubs where he sat
clapping sweating bellowing
YES, MAN! THAT IS IT!
BLOW, MAN, BLOW!
My heart would swell
and I'd be silent
watching that man
and I'd fall in love with him
just like every one else did--
the ones that were not
disgusted by his beauty.
Beauty is a cheap word
and he's so much bigger than
L-I-F-E.

And I'm afraid
to put his audio
into my 2007 stereo
because the genius
in that voice might
take the world back to 1957
and then I'd be forced to
go to New York
and look at beauty
in real life.