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[stoned immaculate]

From An American Prayer

They are waiting to take us into
the severed garden
Do you know how pale & wanton thrillful
comes death on a strange hour
unannouced,unplanned for
like a scaring over-friendly guest you've
brought to bed
Death makes angels of us all
& gives us wings
where we had shoulders
Smooth as raven's claws

No more money,no more fancy dress
This other kingdom seems by far the best
untill its other jaw reveals incest
& loose obedience to a vegetable law

I will not go
Prefer a Feat of Friends
To the Giant family

[stoned immaculate]

From An American Prayer

"The program for this evening
is not new.You've seen
This entertainment thru & thru.
You've seen your birth,your
life & death; you might recall
all of the rest- (did you
have a good world when you
died?) - enough to base
a movie on?"

[stoned immaculate]

From Wilderness

Between childhood,boyhood,
adolescence
& manhood (maturity) there
should be sharp lines drawn W/
Tests, death, feats,rites
stories, songs, & judgements


No one thought up being;
he who thinks he has
Step forward



Like our ancestors
The indians
We share a fear of sex
Excessive lamentation for the dead
& an abiding interest in dreams & visions



An explosion of birds
Dawn
Sun strokes the walls
An old man leaves the Casino
A young man reading pauses
On the path to the garden


Why do I drink?
So that i can write poetry.

Sometimes when it's all spun out
And all that is ugly recedes
Into a deep sleep
There is an awakening
and all that remains is true
As the body is ravaged
The spirit grows stronger.

Forgive me father for I know
what I do.
I want to hear the last Poem
of the last Poet.

[bikerbrom]

I found this 'online essay' on Morrison's poetry interesting:

http://jimmorrisonspoetry.blogspot.com/
"Jim Morrison's poetry: A critical analysis
by Grant W. (William?) Cook

[waitingforthesun]

These are my favorite

AS I LOOK BACK

As I look back
    over my life
I am struck by post
cards
Ruined Snap shots

     faded posters
Of a time, I can't recall

I am Scot, or so
I'm told. Really
The heir of Mystery
Christians

Snake in the Glen

The child of a
Military family...

I rebelled against church
After phases of
     Fervor

I curried favor in school
& attack'd the teachers

I was given a
      desk in the corner
I was a fool
&
The smartest kid
in class


Walks in D.C. in
         Negro streets. The library
& book stores. Orange
brick in warm sun.
         The books & poets magic

Then sex gives greater stimulation
Than you've ever known &
all peace & books lose their
charm & you are thrown
back on the eye of vision

History of Rock
coinciding w/ my
             adolescence
Came to LA to
     Film School
Venice Summer
Drug Visions
Roof top songs
early struggles &
           humiliations
Thanks to the girls
who fed me.

Making Records

Elvis had sex-wise
mature voice at 19.

Mine still retains the
nasal whine of a
repressed adolescent
        minor squeaks & furies
An interesting singer
at best -a cream
or a sick croon. Nothing
in-between.



         Road days


fear of Plane death

And night was what Night
           should be
A girl, a bottle, & blessed sleep

I have ploughed
My seed thru the heart
of the nation.
       Injected a germ in the psychic blood vein.
  
Now I embrance the poetry
of business & become - for
a time - a "Prince of Industry"

A natural leader, a poet
         a Shaman, w/ the
soul of a clown.

What am I doing
   in the Bull Ring
Arena
   Every public figure
running for Leader

Spectators at the Tomb
- riot watchers

Fear of Eyes
Assassination

Being drunk is a good disguise.

I drink so I
can talk to assholes.
This includes me.

The horror of business

The Problem of Money
guilt
     do I deserve it?

The Meeting
Rid of Managers & agents

After 4 yrs. I'm left w/a
mind like a fuzzy hammer

regret for wasted nights
& wasted years
I pissed it all away
    American Music

End w/ fond good-bye
& plans for future
- Not an actor
Writer-filmmaker

Which of my cellves
will be remember'd

Good-bye America
      I loved you
  
           Money from home
   good luck
           stay out of trouble


THE OPENING OF THE TRUNK

Moment of inner freedom
when the mind is opened and the
infinite universe revealed
& the soul is left to wander
dazed & confus'd searching
here & there for teachers & friends.

Moment of Freedom
as the prisoner
blinks in the sun
like a mole
from his hole

a child's 1st trip
away from home

That moment of Freedom

LAmerica
Cold treatment of our empress
LAmerica
The Transient Universe
LAmerica
Instant communion and
communication
lamerica
emeralds in glass
lamerica
searchlights at twi-light
lamerica
stoned streets in the pale dawn
lamerica
robed in exile
lamerica
swift beat of a proud heart
lamerica
eyes like twenty
lamerica
swift dream
lamerica
frozen heart
lamerica
soldiers doom
lamerica
clouds & struggles
lamerica
Nighthawk
doomed from the start
lamerica
"That's how I met her,
lamerica
lonely and frozen
lamerica
& sullen, yes
lamerica
right from the start"

Then stop.
Go.
The wilderness between.
Go round the march.

he enters stage:

Blood boots. Killer storm.
Fool's gold. God in a heaven.
Where is she?
Have you seen her?
Has anyone seen this girl?
snap shot (projected)
She's my sister.
Ladies & gentlemen:
please attend carefully to these words & events
It's your last chance, our last hope.
In this womb or tomb, we're free of the swarming streets.
The black fever which rages is safely out those doors
My friends & I come from
Far Arden w/ dances, &
new music
Everywhere followers accrue
to our procession.
Tales of Kings, gods, warriors
and lovers dangled like
jewels for your careless pleasure

I'm Me!
Can you dig it.
My meat is real.
My hands--how they move
balanced like lithe demons
My hair--so twined and writhing
The skin of my face--pinch the cheeks
My flaming sword tongue
spraying verbal fire-flys
I'm real.
I'm human
But I'm not an ordinary man
No No No

What are you doing here?
What do you want?
Is it music?
We can play music.
But you want more.
You want something & someone new.
Am I right?
Of course I am.
You want ecstasy
Desire & dreams.
Things not exactly what they seem.
I lead you this way, he pulls that way.
I'm not singing to an imaginary girl.
I'm talking to you, my self.
Let's recreate the world.
The palace of conception is burning.

Look. See it burn.
Bask in the warm hot coals.

You're too young to be old
You don't need to be told
You want to see things as they are.
You know exactly what I do
Everything

I am a guide to the Labyrinth

Monarch of the protean towers
on this cool stone patio
above the iron mist
sunk in its own waste
breathing its own breath

[mojosmoothy]

I hate these stinky boots,
I'll never wake up in a good mood again.

[mewsical]

As I Look Back is probably my favorite of Jim's poems.

[mewsical]

I like this stanza from Celebration of the Lizard.  It would be neat to have this engraved on a stone bus bench at the intersection of Santa Monica and La Cienega.  

"We came down the rivers and highways
We came down from forests and falls
We came down from Carson and Springfield
We came down from Phoenix enthralled ... "

[worm man]

Graveyard Poem

It was the greatest night of my life.
Although I still had not found a wife
I had my friends
Right there beside me.
We were close together.

We tripped the wall and we scaled the graveyard
Ancient shapes were all around us.
The wet dew felt fresh beside the fog.
Two made love in an ancient spot
One chased a rabbit into the dark
A girl got drunk and balled the dead
And I gave empty sermons to my head.

Cemetary, cool and quiet
Hate to leave your sacred lay
Dread the milky coming of the day.

[Alsatian before The Doors]

/\

Jim Morrison tells that Graveyard Poem in one of the live versions of Light My Fire. It comes in at around 6.50 in this link.

\/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNNo9jyxnJw...597303382230107

It sounds visual -and if you get into it- you can imagine being there and seeing what he tells unfolding on the dark stage around them.

[Sacha]

These are my favorite

AS I LOOK BACK

As I look back
    over my life
I am struck by post
cards
Ruined Snap shots

     faded posters
Of a time, I can't recall

I am Scot, or so
I'm told. Really
The heir of Mystery
Christians

Snake in the Glen

The child of a
Military family...

I rebelled against church
After phases of
     Fervor

I curried favor in school
& attack'd the teachers

I was given a
      desk in the corner
I was a fool
&
The smartest kid
in class


Walks in D.C. in
         Negro streets. The library
& book stores. Orange
brick in warm sun.
         The books & poets magic

Then sex gives greater stimulation
Than you've ever known &
all peace & books lose their
charm & you are thrown
back on the eye of vision

History of Rock
coinciding w/ my
             adolescence
Came to LA to
     Film School
Venice Summer
Drug Visions
Roof top songs
early struggles &
           humiliations
Thanks to the girls
who fed me.

Making Records

Elvis had sex-wise
mature voice at 19.

Mine still retains the
nasal whine of a
repressed adolescent
        minor squeaks & furies
An interesting singer
at best -a cream
or a sick croon. Nothing
in-between.



         Road days


fear of Plane death

And night was what Night
           should be
A girl, a bottle, & blessed sleep

I have ploughed
My seed thru the heart
of the nation.
       Injected a germ in the psychic blood vein.
  
Now I embrance the poetry
of business & become - for
a time - a "Prince of Industry"

A natural leader, a poet
         a Shaman, w/ the
soul of a clown.

What am I doing
   in the Bull Ring
Arena
   Every public figure
running for Leader

Spectators at the Tomb
- riot watchers

Fear of Eyes
Assassination

Being drunk is a good disguise.

I drink so I
can talk to assholes.
This includes me.

The horror of business

The Problem of Money
guilt
     do I deserve it?

The Meeting
Rid of Managers & agents

After 4 yrs. I'm left w/a
mind like a fuzzy hammer

regret for wasted nights
& wasted years
I pissed it all away
    American Music

End w/ fond good-bye
& plans for future
- Not an actor
Writer-filmmaker

Which of my cellves
will be remember'd

Good-bye America
      I loved you
  
           Money from home
   good luck
           stay out of trouble

I don't think of this one as a poem, I really like it, he compares himself to Elvis, HA!, if only he would have known.... More as a letter he wrote to himself, if I remember correctly he wrote this in France, I could be wrong.

[mojosmoothy]

I like this stanza from Celebration of the Lizard.  It would be neat to have this engraved on a stone bus bench at the intersection of Santa Monica and La Cienega.  

"We came down the rivers and highways
We came down from forests and falls
We came down from Carson and Springfield
We came down from Phoenix enthralled ... "

   LIKE

[waitingforthesun]

I don't think of this one as a poem, I really like it, he compares himself to Elvis, HA!, if only he would have known.... More as a letter he wrote to himself, if I remember correctly he wrote this in France, I could be wrong.

This certainly isn't the conventional poem. There are no sense of rhyme, tempo or meter.
It's an autobiographical poem written in Jim Morrison way with a meaningful message to himself at the end.
I wouldn't go so far and refer Jim as a "Great Poet" like many people do.
I think he was on his way to achieve successful career in that direction just he broke on through to the other side waaay too early.
I think he had a lot of potentials and his death was an enormous loss.

[Next Little Girl]

My personal favorite of Jim Morrison's poetry is An American Prayer...


Powerfully spoken and when accompanied by the surviving band. It gives me chills. I was trying to reproduce it here in it's entirety, but it seems there are a couple versions currently floating around cyber-space.


~Sheri

[Moses Jones]

As I Look Back is probably my favorite of Jim's poems.

It's certainly one of my favorites too.  It really sums up in my mind what might have been on Jim's mind those final weeks or days in LA. It has an honesty about it I find irresistible and a sense of maturity that only comes with age and genuine regret.  Which of his cellves will be remember'd ? For myself I like to remember a genteel, learned man and a poet.  So many universal themes and truths were contained in his writings that his words come to mind for me on an ongoing basis.  And thanks to people that knew and  wrote about the real Jim, I think of him as a kind and generous soul.


If the LA Woman recordings sum up The Doors music, As I Look Back sums up Jim's poetry pretty well in my opinion.