The Terms in Which I Think of Reality
The Terms in Which I Think of Reality - meaning Summary
Perception, Change, and Acceptance
Ginsberg reflects on reality as an ongoing process rather than a fixed state. He frames time and eternity as mutable, finding beauty in ordinary change—cars, lamps, clams—and insists action must come through incremental, practical effort. The poem contrasts visionary longing for Heaven with grim everyday detail, ending on a human note: social marginalization and emotional deprivation, exemplified by a prostitute whose limited options illustrate the cost of being excluded from joy or meaningful work.
Read Complete AnalysesReality is a question of realizing how real the world is already. Time is Eternity, ultimate and immovable; everyone's an angel. It's Heaven's mystery of changing perfection : absolute Eternity changes! Cars are always going down the street, lamps go off and on. It's a great flat plain; we can see everything on top of a table. Clams open on the table, lambs are eaten by worms on the plain. The motion of change is beautiful, as well as form called in and out of being. Next : to distinguish process in its particularity with an eye to the initiation of gratifying new changes desired in the real world. Here we're overwhelmed with such unpleasant detail we dream again of Heaven. For the world is a mountain of shit : if it's going to be moved at all, it's got to be taken by handfuls. Man lives like the unhappy whore on River Street who in her Eternity gets only a couple of bucks and a lot of snide remarks in return for seeking physical love the best way she knows how, never really heard of a glad job or joyous marriage or a difference in the heart : or thinks it isn't for her, which is her worst misery.
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