Frank O'Hara; The Great Inspiration For My First Poetry Piece Creation

As “one of the most alive men of his time,” Frank O’Hara breaks through the world of American poetry during the 1950s and 1960s. Overall, this era represented a turning point in terms of growth of the American nation. People were contending with the changes in society. Women were fighting for their social status to be recognized among men. Fear that communist spies infiltrated the nation influenced the thinking of the American people. In cultural terms, people were “rocking around the clock” when creating a new music genre, rock and roll, which originated from experimenting with blues rhythms and other music genres of black people. O’Hara was one of the poets who significantly contributed to the cultural growth by his poetry. “His poems lyrically document his sensory love affair with New York City.”

Termed “Lunchtime Poet,” O’Hara’s poetry was described as “an assemblage of what he sees, thinks about, tastes, imagines, touches, remembers, smells, and hears” in the New York City streets. O’Hara was considered the leader of the ‘New York School’ of poets. He was a prolific writer. He was capable of writing several poems a day. He spent his short and tragically ended life in New York City where he was creating his poetry. He originated a new poetic form which consisted of free association of many different elements, including “everyday conversations and notes about New York advertising signs.” His “poems talk as easily about museums as movies, and are filled with the names, cultural icons, and places of 1960s New York.”

“O'Hara's genius—his naturalness.” Throughout his poems, O’Hara acts as if being an artist is not anything special. The style of his writing is of a free, almost haphazard nature. He writes as he goes through the streets of the city he knows so well. As his lunch break begins, he grabs his coat and goes out. He leaves The Museum of Modern Art building where he works and sets out for his wanderings. The weather is a bit chilly. He stops by his favourite corner shop and exchanges a few words with a salesman he has known for years. It is 12:20 and he leaves the corner shop with a cup of brewed coffee and a pack of Camel cigarettes. He goes through the busy streets, passing by several shop windows and looking at every single placard or poster. Once the clock tower strikes 13:00, he throws the half-empty coffee cup into the bin and goes back to work. O’Hara calls his writing style “I do this I do that” poetry. Out of an ordinary day of an ordinary working man, he can create a poetic piece which becomes almost desired among the world of his readers.

I have found this ‘genius’ in Frank O’Hara and his poetic creation. His poetry is very readable. I have read quite a few of his poems and they were very thought-provoking. I was so moved by the beauty of his words that I saved some of his poems for later reflection. His poems take different forms. Some of them lead the reader through the streets of New York City, whereas some are just little thoughts the author came up to when making his morning coffee. O’Hara brings to life many of his daily activities for the reader. He used to be a pianist. He thinks about writing as “playing the typewriter.” I can feel this from reading his poetry. He writes with such ease and fervour, just as if really playing the piano, to which voice almost any reader can listen.

“O'Hara's capacity to write the poems while sitting in Times Square during his lunch hour,” gives birth to his famous collection of poems, Lunch Poems. This collection is one of my favourite pieces of poetry. His poem, The Day Lady Died, has a profound impact on me. The piece is about the death of Billie Holiday, “one of the most influential jazz singers of all time.” The last lines of the poem are very powerful. They portray the very moment of dismay when a man finds out that someone he used to know is not among the living anymore.

“… and a NEW YORK POST with her face on it

and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of

leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT

while she whispered a song along the keyboard

to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing”

The Day Lady Died tells a very powerful background story, which was one of the reasons why I have chosen to work with it. Billie Holiday is one of the people I adore the most. I am a big fan of jazz music and her voice is gentle and pleasant. She is a beautiful person with an even more beautiful mind. The thoughts that the words of this poem invoke have left its marks on my mind. It has encouraged me to write a similar style poem about a person very dear to me, Marilyn Monroe.

O’Hara’s poetry is exquisite in its own way. It “speaks directly across the decades to our hopes and fears and especially our delights.” It guides us through the common life of a man who spends his days outside among the city rush with a cup of coffee and the latest newspaper issue in his hands. Furthermore, it also reveals the thoughts and ideas which keep his mind ceaselessly occupied when wandering through the city streets. I have endeavoured to imitate O’Hara’s poetic voice in my own poem. By such a thing I aimed to emphasize how “important and even popular poet in the great upsurge of American poetry following World War II.” he was.