Poems are more subjective than objective, and thus cannot be taken as seriously as

more rigorous forms of life writing. They do, however, provide insight into the
individuality of the person writing them, giving the reader a feel for how events were
experienced. Thus I would only consider poetry as a persons thoughts or emotions
about particular subjects, and not as a factual record. Actual information is needed to
understand what a poet is describing, since the event or occurrence that he/she may be
talking about will most likely contain embellishments and personal bias.
The audio of Joe Brainards I Remember made me laugh several times, and I could
see why he would use such a form as poetry, because it gets a point across on a more
fundamental level than autobiography. He may be garnishing his stories or even
inventing them, which would be heinous if he were writing a serious work, but the form
of poetry allows for the readers (or listeners) to see into his mind, to watch how it ticks.
I found it to be disturbing and awkward though, but I guess that poems do not need to
conform to any rules, so not a big deal.
Allen Ginsberg, the famous beat poet, wrote probably his most influential poem called
Howl amidst the beginnings of anti-war, anti-capitalist movements. Although I
wholeheartedly agree in freedom of expression, as is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, I
condemn the effort by Ginsberg to promote perilous ideas. It was noble of him to
denounce war and empiricism, for example. But to support pedophilia, the destruction
of free market economics, relativism, and a slew of other ideas which only ever go to
degrade humanity is quite irresponsible and downright licentious behavior. Thanks to
movements such as those started by the Beatniks and modern, hyper-liberal feminists,
our culture has taken a turn down a dark road. Therefore, concerning the question on
how poetry helped Allen Ginsberg portray his message, I would say it worked well since
now we have much of the popular media and intellectual America enthralled by his
sentiments, which is very sad indeed.