Frank O'Hara video and a poem

VIDEO: Our Life in Poetry: Frank O'Hara Poetry Reading & Discussion
Participants: Michael Braziller, Mark Doty, David Lehman
Video can be seen by clicking here:
http://philoctetes.org/Past_Programs/...  *

I was transcribing an interview just yesterday and this poem came up, so I thought I'd add it to the post, below.  (What's YOUR FAV. O'Hara poem? Let's make a list!)

"You Are Gorgeous and I'm Coming"

Vaguely I hear the purple roar of the torn-down Third Avenue El
it sways slightly but firmly like a hand or a golden-downed thigh
normally I don't think of sounds as colored unless I'm feeling corrupt
concrete Rimbaud obscurity of emotion which is simple and very definite
even lasting, yes it may be that dark and purifying wave, the death of boredom
nearing the heights themselves may destroy you in the pure air
to be further complicated, confused, empty but refilling, exposed to light

With the past falling away as an acceleration of nerves thundering and shaking
aims its aggregating force like the Métro towards a realm of encircling travel
rending the sound of adventure and becoming ultimately local and intimate
repeating the phrases of an old romance which is constantly renewed by the
endless originality of human loss the air the stumbling quiet of breathing
newly the heavens' stars all out we are all for the captured time of our being.

- Frank O'Hara

 

 

*[not sure why wordpress won't let me paste in a link!]