"Wichita Vortex Sutra" is an anti-war poem by

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, written in 1966. It appears in his collection '' Planet News'' and has also been published in ''Collected Poems 1947-1995'' and ''Collected Poems 1947-1980''. The poem presents Ginsberg as speaker, focusing on his condemnation of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. It features imagery of the war and America's Heartland interspersed with news reports and cultural references. It is also written in Ginsberg's distinctive Whitman-like long-prose style.On "Wichita Vortex Sutra"
english.illinois.edu, retrieved Dec 10, 2009

Description

The poem originated as a voice recording that Ginsberg made with an Uher tape recorder while traveling across the Midwest.Potts, Rolf; November 14, 2006
The Last Anti War Poem
thenation.com, retrieved Feb 27, 2014, He composed it spontaneously, dictating the words into the recorder as they came to him. In transcribing the poem, Ginsberg arranged the lines by the natural pauses and dictation in his recordings, according to the "organic space-timing" that they provided. Throughout the poem, Ginsberg contrasts images of the Midwest (and, in particular, the Kansan landscape) with snippets of news reports about the war, linking its violence with the political conservatism of the Heartland. He decries

Carrie Nation Caroline Amelia Nation (November 25, 1846June 9, 1911), often referred to by Carrie, Carry Nation, Carrie A. Nation, or Hatchet Granny, was a radical member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol before the advent of Prohibition. Nat ...

's work in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

as beginning "a vortex of hatred that defoliated the Mekong Delta." The poem also uses images highlighting the sensuality and intimacy of the human body to humanize the violence of the war. Such images are found elsewhere in Ginsberg's work. The title reflects Ginsberg's interest in

Eastern religions The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western, African and Iranian religions. This includes the East Asian religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese ...

as well. In

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, " sutra" often refers to canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. Ginsberg also references religious figures, including

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, Allah, and

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

, in addition to various Indian holy men. A prominent theme running through the poem is the proliferation and power of language. As

Rolf Potts Rolf Potts (born October 13, 1970) is an American travel writer, essayist, podcaster, and author. He has written five books, including ''Vagabonding'' (Random House, 2003), ''Marco Polo Didn't Go There'' (Travelers Tales, 2008), ''Souvenir'' (Bloo ...

wrote in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'', Ginsberg aimed to "reclaim language for its higher purposes," and that poem is ultimately "an elegy for the power of language in an age of competing information." In his book ''Out of the Vietnam Vortex: A Study of Poets and Poetry Against the War,'' James F. Mersmann writes that "a chief virtue of he poemis that it makes the reader experience the proliferation and abuse of language ... and in doing so, makes one painfully aware that in every case language is not to communicate truth but to manipulate the hearer."

In culture

Phrases from the poem are used in the song "

Three-Five-Zero-Zero "Three-Five-Zero-Zero" is an anti-war song, from the 1967 musical '' Hair'', consisting of a montage of words and phrases similar to those of the 1966 Allen Ginsberg poem " Wichita Vortex Sutra". In the song, the phrases are combined to create i ...

" from the rock musical '' Hair (1967)''. Music was written in 1988 by Philip Glass to accompany Ginsberg's performance of the poem, and was included in '' Solo Piano'' and his chamber opera '' Hydrogen Jukebox'', as well as

Sally Whitwell Sally Whitwell (born 1974) is an Australian classical music pianist, composer, arranger, conductor and teacher. She has released four solo albums, ''Mad Rush: Piano Music of Philip Glass'' (3 June 2011), ''The Good, the Bad and the Awkward'' (18 ...

's ''Mad Rush: Solo Piano Music of Philip Glass''. A long section is quoted (in heavily French-accented English) in the French film Cold Water (''L'eau froide'') (1994).

Artemis Records Artemis Records was a New York-based independent record label, founded in July 1999 by Danny Goldberg with Daniel Glass as President, and closed in April 2006. The label was acquired by E1 Entertainment. Artemis had a leading share of the U.S. ...

released a live recording of the poem on CD in 2004. In January 2010, Glass's cousin

Ira Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

performed the poem with Glass's live accompaniment at the SoHo Apple store in New York City.PHILIP GLASS @ APPLE SOHO
quietcolor.com, January 25, 2010, accessed October 12, 2010 The poem was used in

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

's 2016 film '' Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk'', which focuses on a group of soldiers who take a short leave home after a winning battle in Iraq.

Notes

References

*Miller, Scott. ''Let the Sun Shine In: The Genius of Hair'' (Heinemann, 2003)

External links

* Excerpts from poem
wings.buffalo.edu
(archived on Feb 24, 2012) {{Allen Ginsberg Poetry by Allen Ginsberg Beat poetry 1966 poems Vietnam War poems Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Anti-war works