As I Look Back, Afterward Summary

"As I Look Back" is filled with poems that are completely coherent, non-symbolic statements about Morrison's life written in reflection on his childhood, relationships and career. The first talks about his looking back and seeing decayed memorabilia and being unable to recall the exact moments they represent. In the second, he describes his rebellion against church and school, and reflects on having been the smartest kid in class, and the most rebellious. He contrasts intellectual and sexual stimulation in the third poem. He reflects on and pays homage to the experiences and the girls who taught him in film school in the fourth poem, and bemoans his insufficiently sex-wise voice in the fifth. "Road Days" walks through his thoughts about life on the road, fearing death by plane, loving the nights of girls and bottles...