some etc. stuff

Goldie's Paper Appeal


~~~~after Mary Desti's Ass, by Frank O' Hara



In Philly once
we knew the young Andy Warhol
and during my exhibition
of painted tin
he broke down and sighed
that's the way it was in Philly

the way it was in Tijuana
was about the same
except no one saw anyone
(unless they were family or cops)
especially in the tittie bar
you always wondered

in the woods of Westchester
we gave chase through the Tudors
the relentlessness of over-endowment
was gaining on us

no one felt relieved
living in Lauderdale
you are calling it a different run
for me a vacation, light different
from Westchester, vapidly friendly

I was motoring down the campus
in Missouri
when I met Ronnie's brother
and we pretended together
and maybe that's why I liked him

then in Turlock the weight of furniture
broke my neck and my back was worked and crippled
the worst part was the heavy drama
of the train whistle
at night, rolling through my eyes with its blue tartness,
a comforting thing, so debilitating

from Taipei it's a few hours drive
to see the man who can tell you
when you're gonna die. this was all too spooky
and i walked to Cave's Books and on the way back
found a Taiwanese fashion magazine with pictures of hot looking chicks

and Frisco where I saw Rent
and La Boheme both some composers
are so well-liked and some come after
and their afters become well-liked
and some don't and it's all history

i've never had the desire to go
to Paris
what with all the lights and love eternal, maybe the fog
of a hilly English countryside,
driving at night, peaceful and unsettling both, is not knowing enough
to know


~


11 25 04





Mary Desti's Ass


~~~by Frank O' Hara


In Beyreuth once
we were very good friends of the Wagners
and I stepped in once
for Isadora so perfectly
she would never allow me to dance again
that's the way it was in Beyreuth

the way it was in Hackensack
was different
there one never did anything
and everyone hated you anyway
it was fun, it was clear
you knew where you stood

in Boston you were never really standing
I was usually lying
it was amusing to be lying all
the time for everybody
it was like exercise

it means something to exercise
in Norfolk Virginia
it means you've been to bed with a Nigra
well it is exercise
the only difference is it's better than Boston

I was walking along the street
of Cincinnati
and I met Kenneth Koch's mother
fresh from the Istanbul Hilton
she liked me and I liked her
we both liked Istanbul

then in Waukegan I met a furniture manufacturer
and it wiped out all dreams of pleasantness from my mind
it was like being pushed down hard
on a chair
it was like something horrible you hadn't expected
which is the most horrible thing

and in Singapore I got a dreadful
disease it was amusing to have bumps
except they went into my veins
and rose to the surface like Vesuvius
getting cured was like learning to smoke

yet I always loved Baltimore
the porches which hurt your ass
no, they were the steps
well you have a wet ass anyway
if they'd only stop scrubbing

and Frisco where I saw
Toumanova "the baby ballerina" except
she looked like a cow
I didn't know the history of the ballet yet
not that that taught me much

now if you feel like you want to deal with
Tokyo
you've really got something to handle
it's like Times Square at midnight
you don't know where you're going
but you know


~~