Some selected poems written by Jim.

The Opening of the Trunk
-Moment of inner freedom
when the mind is opened & the
infinite universe revealed
& the soul is left to wander
dazed & confus’d searching
here & there for teachers & friends.

I can make myself invisible or small.
I can become gigantic & reach the
farthest things. I can change
the course of nature.
I can place myself anywhere in
space or time.
I can summon the dead.
I can perceive events on other worlds,
in my deepest inner mind,
& in the minds of others.

Ceremonies, theatre, dances
To reassert Tribal needs & memories
a call to worship, uniting
above all, a reversion,
a longing for family & the
safety magic of childhood.

Now is blessed the rest remembered

Between childhood, boyhood, adolescence & manhood
there should be sharp lines drawn w/ Tests,
deaths, feats, rites, stories, songs, & judgments …


The Crossroads
a place where ghosts
reside to whisper into
the ear of travellers &
interest them in their fate

My ears assembled music
out of swarming streets
but my mind rebelled
at the idiot’s laughter
The rising frightful idiot laughter
Cheering an army of
vacuum cleaners.

I have a vision of America
Seen from the air 28,000 ft. & going fast
A one-armed man in a Texas parking labyrinth
A burnt tree like a giant primeval bird
in an empty lot in Fresno
Miles & miles of hotel corridors
& elevators, filled w/ citizens
Motel Money Murder Madness
Change the mood from glad to sadness
play the ghost song baby


How can we hate or love or judge
in the sea-swarm world of atoms
All one, one All
How can we play or not play
How can we put one foot before us
or revolutionize or write.

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.


The struggle of a poor poet
to stay out of the grips of
novels & gambling & journalism.

A quality of ignorance, self-deception
may be necessary to the poet’s survival.

Actors must make us think they’re real
Our friends must not make us think we’re acting

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

-What is connection?
-When 2 motions, thought
to be infinite & mutually exclusive,
meet in a moment.
-Of Time?