Talking Poetry

for Maureen OH

"music must die

but poetry is silent joy"**

or I thought poetry must die

but music is silent joy

or architecture might die

but silence is joy without doubt

or poetry must not die

but architecture must die,

that temporary shelter!

Or architecture must not die

But poetry is doubtful joy

(in: In Memory of an Angel, 2017, p. 62)

*   FOH - Frank O'Hara

** from the poem entitled "Two Russian Exiles: an Ode" by F. O'Hara.

Among the poets who left their traces on Shapiro's poetry there was Frank O'Hara. Although Shapiro rejected the poetic candor of the older poet, some influences of O'Hara's work remain discernible. According to critic and poet Stephen Paul Miller, when the two poets met, Shapiro was impressed by the seriousness with which O'Hara regarded poetry.

Frank O'Hara was the "heir and curator" of the American vernacular - its everyday dimension and idiosyncrasy, too. In simple terms, in his poems, he often resorted to everyday colloquial language. He would construct a poem reusing bits of conversations that he overheard in the street etc. His poetry was based on the principle of "personism," thus listing the poet's everyday experiences. That resulted in threads of very colloquial reports on reality - or catalogs.

Also Shapiro would use in his poems bits of everyday conversations (usually quoting his family members), but in a reworked form which deprived them of familiar associations. 

As for his inspirations, O'Hara shared other New York School poets' reverence for French symbolism and the Surrealists, but privately, he also admired Russian poets like Pasternak and Mayakovsky. Shapiro quoted similar sources of poetic inspiration. And just like O'Hara, he was fascinated by the visual arts and befriended painters like Jasper Jones or Jackson Pollock. This interest was generally shared by the whole of the New York School, but it was O'Hara and Shapiro who spoke explicitly about their respect for painting. 

You can read O'Hara's poems here.

O'Hara died tragically at age 40 in a traffic accident at the beach.

 Interested? You will find more reading here