St. Paul and All That

allan grant

St. Paul and All That
Frank O’Hara


Totally abashed and smiling

I walk in
sit down and
face the frigidaire

it’s April
no May
it’s May

such little things have to be established in the morning
after the big things of night

do you want me to come? when

I think of all the things I’ve been thinking of

I feel insane

simply “life in Birmingham is hell”

simply “you will miss me
but that’s good”

when the tears of a whole generation are assembled
they will only fill a coffee cup

just because they evaporate

doesn’t mean life has heat

“this various dream of living”

I am alive with you

full of anxious pleasures and pleasurable anxiety

hardness and softness

listening while you talk and talking while you read

I read what you read

you do not read what I read

which is right, I am the one with the curiosity

you read for some mysterious reason

I read simply because I am a writer

the sun doesn’t necessarily set, sometimes is just

disappears

when you’re not here someone walks in
and says “hey,

there’s no dancer in that bed”

O the Polish summers! those drafts!

those black and white teeth!

you never come when you say you’ll come but on the

other hand you do come

[copyright Frank O’Hara, 1961]