My Book of Nods – Ode to Jim Carroll

I wrote this the day JIM CARROLL died – September 11, 2009. I think it was one of the last poems I wrote.

My Book of Nods

My book of nods will neither contain
New York nor California variations.
It will not be a celebration for the tipping
of a head bent by the drug induced utopia
in which I loved to live.
Though I do nod often
to those days of gentle nodding.
I do enjoy the rush of remembrance
they bring to me,
the cool skin and icy head
of falling into space uncharted.
My book of nods will contain only one
slow and sleek nod,
reaching longingly toward a single poet
lost in survival, the struggle
of living and dying.
One nod to denote the end of my obsession,
a new name etched in ink that soon will dry
into the solemn book of people who have died.

RIP JIM.

Try out Jim’s posthumous novel, THE PETTING ZOO. Not his poetry, but a treasure for true Carroll fans.