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His death was initially unnoticed
   But no one was callous:
It happened when those fateful
   Shots rang out in Dallas.

But Huxley’s fame later got
   Right back on the list
With Jim Morrison as his
   Ad hoc lobbyist.

Morrison raved about
   The Doors of Perception
Huxley’s long essay in a
   Psychedelic direction.

He even named his famous band
   After this book
But I don’t know if Morrison ever
   Took a longer look

To learn that phrase was one
   Huxley didn’t make.
He’d simply borrowed it from
   Poet William Blake

In a book that Huxley had admired
   And knew well
Which was called The Marriage of
   Heaven and Hell.

Would The Doors have rolled another
   Lucky seven
If they’d been The Hell, The Marriage
   Or The Heaven?

Hold on: I’ve talked much less
   About Huxley’s prose
Than singer Jim Morrison − so,
   I guess I’ll diagnose

This as a case of my being thoughtless
   And imprecise
Allowing Huxley to be overshadowed
   Not once but twice.

Book cover-The Doors of Perception