Helter Skelter

The death of the summer of 69

with the Angels at Altmont

and the Devils in Death Valley

monsters creepy crawling

through the Hollywood hills

The Messiah complex

the Man - Son

Christos, redeemed and returned

prophet of gore

and blind adulation

adore, adore

the music was dead,

Johns words, broken, abused,

misspelt and misshapen

the long haired dream

smelled of mould and decay

Run little piggies run,

or you're gonna burn, burn, burn

smudged blood words

left on walls

accidentally stabbed 163 times,

*A war to end all wars, like one war

stacked on top of another,*

beatific smiles from Family

in the abandoned movie lot

real guns, real hate, real knives

real hope

real love

free love and death

give yourself entirely to

the ideology of the 

Man - son

establishment fears

Polanskis tears

whet the appetite

Reviews

[LE Berry]

I remember it as history from childhood, the horror and fear of it, which you've really captured with this piece gram...

[gram linski]

thanks for reviewing L. just been reading about the madness, and the lunacy and carnage caught my pen,

[Neville]

That's one hell of a ghoulish ride down memory lane Gram.. I distinctly recall seeing and hearing about pretty much everything you mention and refer too here.. and I think it is fair to say that shock waves crossed the Atlantic and caused many a raised eyebrow this side of the pond... A couple of years ago my family and I were doing an open top tour which included the pointing out of the fated Polanski estate and just the mention of it sent shivers down my spine... Nice one kinda.. if you get my drift... N

[gram linski]

I do indeed N,, the fact that it was on a tourist route kinda says it all, you weren't looking at the Polanski/Tate house, you were looking at the








Family massacre

[gram linski]

this happened accidently it was not poetic intent, (but I'll take it, ) cheers,

[Neville]

okay.... cheers..

[Coyote Poetry]

Summer of 69. A haunting memory, left us with great sadness. Mad world had not changed. Different hate and different reasons to kill today. Thank you dear friend for sharing the amazing poetry and your thoughts.
Coyote

[gram linski]

Hey Coyote, thanks for reading, a sad end to a great decade, and still the monsters creepy crawly through the night,

[Coyote Poetry]

Was my pleasure, I enjoyed your work today.

[Eilis]

Interesting voice in this. There’s some ambiguity that lends a sense of confusion for me. Perhaps the way good reportage is meant to be: without the coloration of the writer’s view.

I don’t know. It’s eerie. I remember watching stuff about Manson in my teens, but those memories are jumbled up with long weekends of acid trips and running through strangers’ backyards at all night parties listening to The Grateful Dead on repeat.

I don’t know why that’s mixing. Maybe the memory of seeing Natural Born Killers for the first time and feeling like the world was actually disintegrating into a state of total chaos.

Which is what your poem evokes. Confusion, madness, chaos. Which is what some define as freedom and others define as a right to impose on others.

This is powerful, Gram. Sorry for the rambling review.

[gram linski]

Love your rambling reviews, don't change them,, confusion, madness, chaos, was pretty much the Family mantra, if you swap Grateful dead for Hawkwind then I have been there too, thanks, Eilis,

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I too so recall this horror and it was recently in the news because of the anniversary. You capture the sentiments in this 'no punches pulled' brittle free verse packed with images and sentiment and horror.

[gram linski]

thanks, John, the images, sentiment and horror were already there, and he is still some kind of f*****g icon to some people,

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh man...i remember this too vividly....had a poster of Sharon Tate on my wall in my bedroom at our house...was stunned when all that happened with the Manson Family....and those words left behind..
Peace and love so violated...this poem is epic, gram, because it takes us right back there...and shows how much that event totally changed a perspective of life...and yes, John's words misconstrued...he was right...he wasn't saying they were bigger or better than God...but they were so adored, people glorified them so much, especially the young fans...that they did seem more popular at the time...he just told it like it was.
love this poem even though it brings back a lot of pain.
j.

[gram linski]

Thanks, j. just been reading about the horror written by the prosecuting lawyer in the case, excellent book, apparently he nearly got away,