Frank O’Hara’s Real Poetry of a Moment

What separates us, or more importantly, what binds us together? For me the answer is all modes, forms and genres of Art. NY School Poet, Frank O’Hara and Guillaume Apollinaire were bound by art and forging new modes of poetry during their short lifetimes, however they made lasting impacts upon their own expressive art forms and upon readers. Abstract Expressionist Painters (O’Hara) and avant guard artists (Apollinaire): there are striking parallels in the lives of both poets.
In reading O’Hara’s Lunch Poems, I discovered that these poems are, on the surface, a spontaneous sketch of a vibrant and bustling New York in which, during his lunch breaks, O’Hara envelopes us with his relaxed observations. And we take notice. For example in Cambridge (pg 18), his use of lightly punctuated free verse accentuates a carefree mood while using a poetic language of color and geography of New York. His poetic musings are an Existentialist experience. He is writing of the moment and about the moment.