I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness: Ginsberg opens with a line that became a manifesto. The poem catalogs visions, breakdown, excess, ecstasy, and holy madness in long Whitmanesque lines that defy the decorum of 1950s poetry. It was published by City Lights, prosecuted for obscenity, and acquitted in a decision that changed American publishing. Ginsberg was mourning his friends, celebrating his sexuality, screaming against Moloch. The poem is meant to be read aloud, chanted, performed. It gave the Beats their anthem. The angel-headed hipsters still burn for the ancient heavenly connection.