Sunday Poetry

Poems by Frank O’Hara, from The Select­ed Poems of Frank O’Hara.

Poem

Light clar­i­ty avo­ca­do sal­ad in the morning
after all the ter­ri­ble things I do how amaz­ing it is
to find for­give­ness and love, not even forgiveness
since what is done is done and for­give­ness isn’t love
and love is love noth­ing can ever go wrong
though things can get irri­tat­ing bor­ing and dispensable
(in the imag­i­na­tion) but not real­ly for love
though a block away you feel dis­tant the mere presence
changes every­thing like a chem­i­cal dropped on a paper
and all thoughts dis­ap­pear in a strange qui­et excitement
I am sure of noth­ing but this, inten­si­fied by breathing

Today

Oh! kan­ga­roos, sequins, choco­late sodas!
You real­ly are beau­ti­ful! Pearls,
har­mon­i­cas, jujubes, aspirins! all
the stuff they’ve always talked about
still makes a poem a surprise!
These things are with us every day
even on beach­heads and biers. They
do have mean­ing. They’re strong as rocks.