The tribe of John

Some critics consider Shapiro a member of "the tribe of John" (Ashbery, probably the most renowned 20th century American poet, 1927-2017), while some others claim Shapiro's poetry is only influenced by Ashbery (or "Ashberyan"). I tend to side with the latter.

There are many common features and shared points of view in both poetics. For example, the reader may notice that both in Ashbery's and in Shapiro's poetry, the speaking persona is simultaneously producing the poem and analyzing it, not without irony. Perhaps Ashbery owes this aspect of his poetry to Wallace Stevens, one of the poetic standards that he appreciates. Shapiro adopted it from Ashbery, thus becoming another American poet writing in the self-reflexive mode, where the "I" ponders on itself, and resulting in poetry which describes the problems of producing poetry. This self-referentiality of Shapiro's and Ashbery's poetics allows for the continuous opportunity of introspection, a prolific source of poetic inspiration. 

It all began quite early in Shapiro's life, when he started to correspond with the older poet before they met in person. The friendship continued, and in the 1970s Shapiro decided to write his Ph.D. about Ashbery's poetry. That work reveals how much admiration Shapiro had for his friend's poetic skilfulness and resourcefulness displayed in the experiments that Ashbery dares to perform in his poems, which are often disjunctive, verbally dazzling, and difficult to understand. Ashbery provokes the reader by shifting the focus from one line to another so the meaning fluctuates.

Shapiro is visibly fascinated by some of the solutions proposed by the older poet, and this is particularly noticeable in his earlier volumes like "Poems from Deal" - specifically, in the use of collages/assemblages, streams of consciousness, recycling random headlines etc. 

To get a glimpse of Ashbery's poetry, you may like to have a look at his Self-portrait in a convex mirror.

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