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Frank O'Hara

Frank O'Hara

Frank O'Hara

Born: 27 March 1926 • Died: 25 July 1966

Frank (Francis Russell) O’Hara was born in Maryland on March 27, 1926. O’Hara’s early work was considered both provocative and provoking. In 1952, his first volume of poetry, A City Winter, and Other Poems, attracted favorable attention; his essays on painting and sculpture and his reviews for ArtNews were considered brilliant. O’Hara became one of the most distinguished members of the New York School of poets, which also included Ashbery, James Schuyler, and Kenneth Koch. O’Hara’s most original volumes of verse, Lunch Poems (City Lights Publishers, 1964) and Meditations in an Emergency (Grove Press, 1957), are impromptu lyrics, a jumble of witty talk, journalistic parodies, and surrealist imagery. On July 25, 1966, while vacationing on Fire Island, Frank O’Hara was killed in a sand buggy accident. (Source)

Poems by Frank O'Hara

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Autobiographia Literaria by Frank O’Hara

March 4, 2017
"And here I am, the / center of all beauty! / writing these poems! / Imagine!"
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Today by Frank O’Hara

May 2, 2016
1. Honest question, says K., while we’re having late lunch. And I need an honest answer, she continues. Why do you stay? I stared at my Cuban sandwich, knowing that it was more than just a query about my current […]
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Katy by Frank O’Hara

April 6, 2016
The other day, M. told me: Breathe. Nothing about you is wrong. I’m still thinking about that. Katy Frank O’Hara They say I mope too much but really I’m loudly dancing. I eat paper. It’s good for my bones. I […]
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A Step Away From Them by Frank O’Hara

December 24, 2014
1. More than a year ago during class, my dear friend S. said, “When I read this poem, I have this wonderful, relaxed feeling of just walking around with O’Hara, happy to be aimless, happy to put a poem in […]
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Steps by Frank O’Hara

January 1, 2012
Ah, but it is the new year now, where I am. And we are alive. I am here. You’re here. I have wishes. I believe in second chances. Kissing. I am hugging a wine bottle. I may be a little […]
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For Grace, After A Party by Frank O'Hara

September 8, 2011
in rooms full of / strangers my most tender feelings / writhe and / bear the fruit of screaming." – Frank O'Hara
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My Heart by Frank O'Hara

September 5, 2011
"I want to be / at least as alive as the vulgar." – Frank O'Hara
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The Day Lady Died by Frank O'Hara

July 17, 2011
"buy / an ugly NEW WORLD WRITING to see what the poets / in Ghana are doing these days" – Frank O'Hara
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Song (Is it dirty) by Frank O'Hara

April 15, 2011
"run your finger along your no-moss mind / that's not a thought that's soot" — Frank O'Har
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Having a Coke with You by Frank O'Hara

December 17, 2010
"I look / at you / and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in / the world" — Frank O'Hara
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Now That I am In Madrid I Can Think by Frank O'Hara

November 23, 2010
"seen through you the great works of death, you are greater // you are smiling, you are emptying the world so we can be alone." — Frank O'Hara
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Why I am not a Painter by Frank O'Hara

January 30, 2008
“I am not a painter, I am a poet. / Why? I think I would rather be a painter, but I am not.” — Frank O'Hara
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Morning by Frank O'Hara

August 30, 2006
"I need you / and look out the window / at the noiseless snow" — Frank O'Hara
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As Planned by Frank O'Hara

February 3, 2006
"you write because / you know them not because you understand them" — Frank O'Hara
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Meditations In An Emergency by Frank O'Hara

December 19, 2005
“I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love.” — Frank O'Hara