The First Books of Poetry

The first books of poetry I bought back in 1988 or so were The Lords & The New Creatures by Jim Morrison (Simon & Schuster 1970) and Arthur Rimbaud's Complete Works Translated by Paul Schmidt (Harper & Row 1976) and they were both life altering for me. Both Authors were Transcendental visionaries that had written an astonishing array of poetry in a short period of time before dissapearing completely at a young age. Jim Morrison was so influenced by Arthur Rimbaud that he corresponded directly with Professor Wallace Fowley, who had written a new translation of Rimbaud’s poetry in the late 60’s. Both of these books opened up a new way of experiencing the ordinary world to me and challenged the way I thought poetry should be presented, and both would end up being some of my greatest influences as a Poet and still inform my work to this day. I still have both books here with me, they continue to convey the deep human longing and divine mystery (which is at the heart of the center of any real poetry), and to inspire and to transform again and again what I believe poetry can be.

The Lords and the New Creatures @
www.amazon.com/dp/0671210440/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_PYYZMC6DWJBE1S038FX4
Arthur Rimbaud: Complete Works @
​www.amazon.com/dp/0060955503/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_D691MPNW2HP1EQ8W3S2V 
​Rimbaud and Jim Morrison: The Rebel as Poet @
www.amazon.com/dp/0822314452/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_AT7J2YBTBF1C1HFHWZ8G