Mastering minutes
Something out of the nothing
Of our allotment of leisure
Our ancestors, not so
Conscious of time
With an eye to the hunt
Allow me a bigger slice
Longer planks to square off
A meal in no time
You’ll be there
Surfing the future
Sun etched smiles
Lunching with O’Hara
Memorializing moments
Swimming the stream
Like Frank O'Hara, I write poems whenever I get the chance: in my head, while doing any number of other things, and often transcribe the words hastily to paper on my lunch breaks. I'm sharing today's lunch poem with what promises to be an exciting new hub for poetry and poetics: dVerse Poets Pub
memoralizing moments for sure...love the feel of this man...and glad you are going to be doing some art prompts for us at dverse...way cool!
ReplyDeleteFirst introduced to your work through Onestop, and now continuing the journey at dVerse! What a wonderful, yet so surprisingly simple expression of words...such a simple act most undertake everyday...but most, miss the poetry! Loved it!
ReplyDeleteI felt like I was sitting in a Paris street cafe watching life go by. Enjoyed this a lot.
ReplyDeleteWow! Just listened to O'Hara. Fascinating poet (unknown to me). Thanks for the intro, Mark.
ReplyDeleteVictoria
Why does a trip to your blog always make me ashamed of my writing and yet...inspire me to butcher more words?
ReplyDeleteLol.
nice piece; particularly like the blank tercet structure. 'surfing the future' - great line
ReplyDeleteEach stanza here has a nugget in the lines. Writing as you go, often the very hardest writing to get right, is excellent for conveying the organic rhythms more formal work sometimes, to borrow from the O'Hara, turns into statuary. Thanks for both poems, yours and his, which was one of the best love poems I've heard in awhile.
ReplyDelete'Our ancestors, not so
ReplyDeleteConscious of time'
More deeply essential than the rest of the verse betrays.
it's so cool to have you on board mark and i love the poem...building something out of nothing and surfing the future...this sounds adventurous, doesn't it...? looking forward to the trip and many of my poems are lunch break poems as well...smiles
ReplyDeleteI feel your words so much more than the words O'Hara is gabbling on the video.
ReplyDeleteIt is said that few poets know how to read their own poems.
Your poem is intriguing for its look at time and how much more we have of it than our predecessors, yet we still don't always capture the moments that would reveal something insightful.
ReplyDeleteEver since I read how William Carlos Williams jotted poem notes on prescription pads I've wanted to master minutes too whenever they appear. I foolishly scribble words on a pad while I'm driving down the two lane country roads, knowing that sometimes they don't come back. I'm careful.
I love the O'Hara poem. There is something really terrific about him contemplating how much better it is to look at his beloved than all the art in the world. And I really relate to not having been to the Frick, something I've been dying to do, but alas, daughter is leaving NY this weekend, and it will be my last chance most likely. Since we'll be packing them up, I doubt there will be time for it. Oh well, I have her and my other beloveds to look at, better than paint.
I am so happy you linked up with d'Verse as I feel like I am always reading something new in your post.
ReplyDeleteThough that video is nice, maybe you can try an audio/video reading of your poem someday? That would be cool~
You’ll be there
ReplyDeleteSurfing the future
Sun etched smiles
Love that. Thanks for the link, and the poem to start the day right.
some great moments worded here, making something of free time that too consciously aware of the passing duration, beyond fulfilling hunger is an exquisite thought.
ReplyDeleteI like imagining you perched on a stool, or sitting out back, pen and paper in hand, empty lunch bag crumpled up beside you, putting genius to paper.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is awe-inspiring, truly. One of the word's great ones. Congrats on your new venture.
Thanks everyone.
ReplyDeleteRuth: Williams is one of my faves. I love the O'Hara poem too. Mine's not nearly as good. But I like the contrast.
Friko: Maybe you'd like it better if you saw the words on the page, bearing in mind it's in an American vernacular.
Heaven: If you stick around you'll hear me read some of my poems.
Then pour me one, I'm there. I write between the cracks of my day, on napkins, receipts, texts to myself while waiting in line. It all works, it all points towards something greater (not me, elsewhere I mean)...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the poetry link, I'll check 'em out.
Yes, I can definitely relate to this, squeezing out drops of verse in the wine press of the working day.
ReplyDeleteDavid
Love your title, working off O'Hara's, and your poem, juxtaposed against his.
ReplyDelete"Mastering minutes
Something out of the nothing
Of our allotment of leisure"
Beautiful, and so striking to me as I listened to these lines of O'Hara's
"and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them/when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank."
I find it pretty moving hearing this guy talk about love. Probably won't see him on the cover of GQ. But the realness,floors me. The guy has looked at stuff.Inside and out. Brave and honest. I love four o'clock light.
ReplyDelete