Archive for September 28, 2007

Especially Poignant

{ September 28, 2007 @ 6:51 pm } · { Poetry }
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Ever since I talked about a Jim Carroll poem in an earlier post, I have been re-reading his collection of poetry, Void of Course. I had forgotten how much I loved his poetry – it is raw and so vivid you can almost feel the words. The last poem in this collection, simply titled Poem, is especially poignant right now. And since I’m crediting him, I don’t think I’m breaking any copyright laws… at least I hope not…

Poem     by Jim Carroll
Nobody is going to ruin me
If I have to I will ruin myself
I’ve spent too much time
Expended angelic energy
On my own disintegration to hand the contract over
To another now
As if it were
A finished painting
Needing only a signature
You are not going to get to me
You are never going to be with me
As once was
There will always be the poem
I will climb on top of it
                                    And come
In and out of time
Cocking my head to the side slightly
As I finish shaking, melting then
 Into its body, its soft skin
Is not a lie. I’m glad you are at peace,
But everything you know leads to ruins.
It’s a neat trick
My body rising above the city
Watching the boroughs recede
Into blots of pumice and amber, amethyst
It’s a harder trick
Turning love that’s lost in betrayal into something
Besides bitterness into anything beside this rage