•Lot 63B
Jim Morrison Handwritten Poem ‘Probe The Highlands” Circa 1966
Handwritten poem by Jim Morrison, dark blue ink on lined legal-sized paper. Framed with a limited edition black and white photograph by Henry Diltz of The Doors from the Morrison Hotel shoot. Comes with letters of authenticity from Glenn Wyatt and Carlos Ramirez. Frame: Height: 38 ½ x 26 inches; poem and photograph: Height: 14 ½ x 29 ½ inches
Text of poem:
Actors must make us think
or do they-
They’re real
Our friends do not
make us think we’re acting
or do they
They are, Though in Slow Time
My wild words
slip into fusion
While I quietly dream
Caught like angels
on the dark porch
of a dangerous highland
I risk losing the solid ground
So Stranger get
wilder still
Probe the Highlands
Jim Morrison is arguably the greatest lead singer in Rock and Roll History. Also, Jim is now being recognized as being of the most inspired poets of his generation with his Rimbaudesque influences. Jim turned his poetry into song lyrics and through his “shamanic” performances allowed audiences to Break On Through to the Other Side of spirituality and mysticism.
This handwritten poem of Jim Morrison’s was purchased from Glenn Wyatt in 2008. Glenn received eight poems of Jim’s from the estate of his Uncle James Wyatt. James had bought these eight poems from his friend, Carlos Ramirez, who worked on the lighting at Whiskey A Go Go where The Doors were the house band. Carlos also drove Jim around town when he lost his license. The poems were given to Carlos by Jim Morrisonas gifts (which Jim often did). Letters of authenticity from Glenn Wyatt and Carlos Ramirez are attached. This poem was most likely written by Jim in 1966 when The Doors were the house band at The Whiskey.
Jim would frequently carry around a notebook with him and jot down things of interest that he would then turn into poems or song lyrics. Jim would observe subjects of ordinary life and transform them with his words into swirling passages filled with deep mystical meaning.
Jim was an active poet and probably wrote a few hundred poems during his lifetime, some of which still survive. The largest auction was of poetry was of one his entire notebooks of poems that sold for $350,000.
Estimate: $7,000 - $9,000