Poetry Gold at Sheen's Fingertips

— -- For many poetry fans, the words "tiger" and "poem" have long been related. They conjure verses by the great English poet William Blake. But what about the words "tiger blood" and "poem?"

Well, it turns out, that those words are now linked, as well.

Charlie Sheen, the former star of CBS's Two and a Half Men, apparently recognized the insane lyricism of his words and thoughts more than a decade before the rest of mainstream America. In the early 1990s, Sheen self-published a collection of his own, rather dark and zany poems; commissioned his writer/director pal Adam Rifkin to illustrate the collection; and then, proceeded to distribute a very limited number of copies to his circle of friends.

That's right. It turns out that, when Sheen proclaimed in a radio interview, "I got poetry at my fingertips;" he was telling the truth.

GQ recently obtained one of these rare copies of Sheen's book of poetry, A Peace of My Mind, and began posting select portions of Sheen's shadowy verseson its Tumblr account.

These posts include prophetic Sheen verses like: "A night of drink / A night of hate / A night as dark / As last night's date" and "This punishment a vile choice / So worthless, yet so bold / Carving lines of disrespect / This young lad growing old."

There is even one particularly wild passage, from a poem titled "I.D. Blues," in which the narrator unexpectedly peels off a latex Charlie Sheen mask to reveal "the rotted skull of President Lincoln."

Step aside Robert Frost. There is a new poet in town and his work is in high demand.

But, while poetry may have been at the tips of Sheen's fingertips, Sheen's poetry will not easily be at the tips of ours. The collection is out-of-print and very difficult to come by.