The Frank O’Hara Experience and a Three-Way Crash | Teen Ink

The Frank O’Hara Experience and a Three-Way Crash

January 31, 2023
By divinefly BRONZE, Fresh Meadows, New York
divinefly BRONZE, Fresh Meadows, New York
4 articles 2 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I am the eggman/We are the eggmen" - John Lennon


Polyrhythmic marching rings through the dark,

A jagged pulse to a blind singer’s songs.

In school today,

We studied lines.

She solemnly wields her tin in the park.

Concrete colossi with their jagged prongs,

A line took me to

See you the other day.

I was watching a pigeon today,

Tear the night to show a marquee of stars.

Businessmen do their geometric dance:

But I guess we live

In parallel lines.

It pecked at food scraps on the highway

They waltz through fog and exhaust and cigars

To the cries of cars and talks of finance.

I saw strangers

That day as well.

But all of the cars,

Below, the rats run in frantic patterns.

Pompous buskers and flamenco footsteps

And I saw them

the day before, too.

And screams from afar,

Linger through the halls and rest in tatters

Amidst torn advertisements and held breaths.

Nameless, all of them.

But the lines in their faces,

Could not seem to drive it away.

Streetlights flicker and shine brilliantly;

They light up this mad shoegaze symphony.

They go in every which way

And collide with me.


The author's comments:

This poem consists of a sonnet, a limerick, and free-verse, and all three are about New York. Thus: "The Frank O’Hara Experience and a Three-Way Crash." I came up with the sonnet as part of my English class and I took the free-verse bit out of some old poem buried somewhere under the digital dust of the Documents folder. The limerick came pretty naturally due to my fascination with pigeons. This poem is meant to depict the chaotic scene of large transit stations such as Penn Station, Port Authority, and what have you. I think pigeons are pretty neat critters.


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gabs_w GOLD said...
on Feb. 27 2023 at 11:24 am
gabs_w GOLD, Portland, Oregon
10 articles 0 photos 94 comments
Absolutely love this, especially how you combined three styles of poem into one!!! And your wording omg “businessmen do their geometric dance” “shoegaze symphony” I felt like I was there. (And glad Im not the only one who thinks pigeons are neat ;) )