Lunch Poems
Frank O’Hara.
He just has one of those easy-going, no nonsense, tell it how it is, say it straight kind of faces. And, he takes his experiences of every day life and jots them down.
Here is a little word play . . .
gUm
by Taylor Beisler inspired by Frank O’Hara’s genius
It is 12:15 and no New York in sight
The weatherman keeps on droning on about the fogginess
I
Slip on some shoes and slide out the door
To find they’re not my shoes and
It’s sunny
It’s rainy
Not sunny
And all the weatherman can do
is keep us looking up for more unidentified flying
Particles
On to the farmer’s market
By an orange to find an apple to chew
We don’t like oranges
as much as apples, nor apples as much as lemons
For lemons you can make juice out of
And apples you just can’t squeeze that hard
But oranges you can
but no one cares what oranges can do
Because they’re orange
I keep trodding with sticky tack
Of some
Thing
On the bottom of
Someone Else’s
Shoe
On my foot
Pass the Kizito place on the left
With her headdress and cookie plate all set
Bikers whiz by without helmets
I guess they want to be cool without the protection
And it’s quite a sticky situation
When one tries to wear another’s shoe for a while
It never works
But don’t take it from my foot
Put it on yours
The sun comes back out
And with Smoothie King around the corner
A guitarist or two evades our crowd of misfits
Almost cracking someone in the head with their instruments
Then disappear
Whatever else is new
A Caribbean Way in hand
we’ll see another side of life move on
The air says today will be sunny
Or rainy
Or both
Or foggy
The Bardstown Road keeps meandering as the sticky tack
Clacks
But not another word on the weather
Or we’ll all just cry cats and dogs
With another thought flinging into our heads
Finding
U
In the middle of them both on a shoe
REFLECTION
Reading Frank O’Hara allows the ease and simplicity of capturing moments as they proceed enjoyable. O’Hara uses the present tense to escort the reader into his experiences, no matter how trivial. Using much of description (of the little things, such as his favorite motifs of weather) and his own thoughts on the subjects he sees, O’Hara makes sense of the world in a sarcastic light, finding humor.
As I tried to form an experience of walking down Bardstown Road, I kept in mind O’Hara’s present tense style. As the experience goes on, the motif of weather keeps the reader in the moment as it switches back and forth, much like in “The Day Lady Died.” O’Hara always progresses easily into the next thought, so each line is seamlessly flowing (with enjambment) into the next line to portray O’Hara’s fluid thought process. Even in the end, the lines do not make point to terminate, making use of the reader’s flowing conscious. This progression also refers to the idea of Personism, where life is lived as a progression and a conversation between two people. So, I tried to place the reader directly in the scene using present tense, the senses of the scene (weather), as well as using “we” and calling upon the “you” of the reader. Also, the different sizes of lines, as well as various groupings and uppercase letters standing out in the poetry of O’Hara intrigued me, thus I employed some of these findings.
Also, there is a little bit of a switch during the poem. I placed the “I” in the middle of a line by itself in the beginning. And, in the end, “U” stands out by itself. Wanting to make notice of the way Frank O’Hara keeps his reader engaged even while starting the scene with his conscious self, referring to “I” usually only once or twice in his work, I made the reader stand out more in the end. In standing out more, the reader becomes the one who experiences most of the play – the reader becomes the experience. And, I think that’s what Frank O’Hara was trying to capture.
Who am I?
Take a trip over HERE to see more devotions like this one.
Your head reels . . . again . . . this time the torture is like the rocking of the sea sloshing about in your brain–lightning, roars of thunder, a tsunami of thoughts that just don’t belong. Trying to paddle through the waves seems like a lost cause; the driftwood of those ships have sailed. You feel like you’re drowning in the tossing and turning of all the crashing clutter. The devil loves nothing more than to steal our joy . . . our peace . . . our self. Are you giving him a foothold?
The battlefield of the mind. Like a chess board. You make a move, the devil analyzes and counters. But, we’re not seeing the whole picture. God. He’s right next to us. Forget about Him, did we? He’s much more powerful than the one who is in the world, and He’s the one fighting inside us . . . He fought for us and died for us because we are worth dying for. And, He already conquered what’s tying us down–our thoughts. I challenge you to read through 1 John. Yes, the whole book. Don’t roll those little spiritual eyes at me! =) Just grab this link, and read a few verses a day. 1 JOHN CSB. I feel like the CSB version really helped me when cleaning out my thought closet and replacing the dirty clothes in their for Christ’s garments. “Ay, that’s the rub,” replacing those thoughts the devil thinks for you with God’s glorifying thought process. Remember something. Think intentionally, with a purpose. Because empty space is a place in your head where the devil will think something for you if you don’t fill it with whatever is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.” -Phil. 4: 6-8. Think upon such things.
Let me tell you, Scripture is the best sword and the only sword with which to counter the devil’s attacks. And, we do not wage war as the world does. If we did, we have lost already! But, on the contrary . . . the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world; they have divine power . . . excuse me, let me re-emphasize . . . DIVINE POWER (in you because of Jesus . . . take it and use it!) to demolish strongholds. We demolish every argument and pretentious thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. AND WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST! Wow. -2 Corinthians 10:3-5. It’s a war out there. Are you ready?
Here’s some “whatevers” to get you on your way to spring cleaning in your brain and equipping you with the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith with which you can and will extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. -Eph. 6:10-18.
Let’s put on some armor:
Psalm 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” So remember that “Who I am and what I struggle with are not the same thing.” The truth is, you are a child of God (period, no counter arguments hold water when it comes to this truth). You may be struggling with _______, but that doesn’t mean you are _______.
Zephaniah 3:17, one of my favorites: “The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.”
“The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.” 2 Cor. 10:3-5
Okay, I’m going to make you do some work now: =)
Psalm 40:5
Psalm 92:5
Psalm 139:17
Isaiah 55:9
Jeremiah 29:11
Colossians 3:2 tells us where to fix our minds.
And some truths to pin on your wall, your door, or wherever you look. Pretty soon, wherever you think will be wallpapered with these guys:
YOU ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT . . .
New creations… 2 Cor. 5:17
Forgiven Eph. 1:7-8
Gifted with power, love, and a sound mind! 2 Tim. 1:7
Chosen to be fruitful! John 15:16
Complete!!! Col. 2:9-10
Secure…that’s an awesome one.
Rom. 8:31-39; EVEN MORE THAN a conqueror in Christ!
Confident! Phil. 1:6
Free!!! from the bonds of Satan and this world. Rom. 6;18; 8:1
Capable… Phil. 4:13 through Him who is able to give us strength!
Spiritually alive!! Eph. 2:5
God’s workmanship Eph. 2:10 created to do His good works, which He prepared in ADVANCE for us to do! He has a plan!
Welcome in God’s presence! Eph. 2:18; Hebrews 4: 14-16; 1 John 5
Sheltered/protected in God…under His wings… Col. 3:3
Valuable to God… 1 Corinthians 6:20 and Zephaniah 3:17
Member of God’s family 1 John 3: 1-2 and Eph. 2:19
God’s TREASURE 1 Peter 2:9-10
Dearly loved! Col. 3:12
Being transformed…that’s process! Sometimes we slip…then we overcome in Him 2 Cor. 3:18
An heir of God. Whoa. Talk about being royal . . . Rom. 8:17
A FRIEND of God John 15:15
God’s DELIGHT! Zephaniah 3:17!!! (Can you tell that this is one of my favorite verses?) =)
We are welcome to DRAW near to God . . . Ephesians 3:12
!!! Let’s just add a few more of those to get the point across–these Scriptures and these truths are BIG DEALS!
What verses help you in the battle against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?
Post them below!
