To Frank O’Hara
Sometimes when my eyes are red
I go up on top of the RCA Building
and gaze at my world, Manhattan-
my buildings, streets I’ve done feats in,
lofts, beds, coldwater flats
-on Fifth Ave below which I also bear in mind,
its ant cars, little yellow taxis, men
walking the size of specks of wool-
Panorama of the bridges, sunrise over Brooklyn machine,
sun go down over New Jersey where I was born
& Paterson where I played with ants-
my later loves on 15th Street,
my greater loves of Lower East Side,
my once fabulous amours in the Bronx
faraway-
paths crossing in these hidden streets,
my history summed up, my absences
and ecstasies in Harlem-
-sun shining down on all I own
in one eyeblink to the horizon
in my last eternity-
matter is water.
Sad,
I take the elevator and go
down, pondering,
and walk on the pavements staring into all man’s
plateglass, faces,
questioning after who loves,
and stop, bemused
in front of an automobile shopwindow
standing lost in calm thought,
traffic moving up & down 5th Avenue blocks behind me
waiting for a moment when …
Time to go home & cook supper & listen to
the romantic war news on the radio
… all movement stops
& I walk in the timeless sadness of existence,
tenderness flowing thru the buildings,
my fingertips touching reality’s face,
my own face streaked with tears in the mirror
of some window-at dusk-
where I have no desire-
for bonbons-or to own the dresses or Japanese
lampshades of intellection-
Confused by the spectacle around me,
Man struggling up the street
with packages, newspapers,
ties, beautiful suits
toward his desire
Man, woman, streaming over the pavements
red lights clocking hurried watches &
movements at the curb-
And all these streets leading
so crosswise, honking, lengthily,
by avenues
stalked by high buildings or crusted into slums
thru such halting traffic
screaming cars and engines
so painfully to this
countryside, this graveyard
this stillness
on deathbed or mountain
once seen
never regained or desired
in the mind to come
where all Manhattan that I’ve seen must disappear.
A few random poems:
- If you love the life by Vinko Kalinić
- Epitaph for James Smith by Robert Burns
- Владимир Маяковский – Дела вузные, хорошие и конфузные
- About Wedding Dress
- Kashmiri Song By Juma
- Ben Nevis: A Dialogue poem – John Keats poems
- Dedication To A Book Of Stories Selected From The Irish Novelists by William Butler Yeats
- Низами Гянджеви – Лейли и Меджнун
- Death In Exile by Satish Verma
- Dissolve in kisses, I would like to dissolve in your kisses
- The Lady’s Second Song by William Butler Yeats
- pathos_is_the_skyward_tanka.html
- Robert Burns: Here’s His Health In Water :
- Covering Two Years by Weldon Kees
- Гавриил Державин – На умеренность
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Indian Wedding Customs – Eastern and Western Indian Wedding Traditions
- Latino Author and Educator Provides Tools for College and Life Success
- The Merchant of Copan [In English and Spanish]
- Knowing God Part 1 – Finding God, Knowing Him, and Doing His Works
- The Art of Cake Decorating – A Beginners Recommendation For Cake Decorating Books
- Creativity: The Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Creativity
- Learning to Study – Hindrances to Study
- Feeling Lucky to Be Irish
- Source of Life – Gives Hope in Adversity?
- The Importance of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
- Work in Game Design Rather Than Other Design
- 9 Types of Lovers – The Twisted Version
- May You Encounter Christ’s Inclusive Church
- Shaun White – The Power Behind the Snowboard Throne
- Ways to Make Money Online Easily for Free – 4 Important Tips to Make Money Online
- Stretch Mark Cream – How Creams Help Remove Stretch Marks
- How To Use Vellum For Your Card Making Ideas
- Neglecting the Word of God: A Foundational Cause of Lukewarmness
- Celebrity Style Of The Week: Gabriel Akinosho
- The Dying of America and How to Save Her
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
