You Look Familiar

Well now, here’s a conversation that we’ve all had at one time or another, no? Well listen in then: it’s a good one. This poem is a lifting one; it will take you up beyond your rational mind’s limited reach. Each line in this poem by John Ashbery is a pearl – so I guess that makes the poem a necklace of pearls; and who ever cared what that meant. Put it around your neck and wear it for a while: you’ll be glad you did. You'll like it: Big Frank guarantees it! Surprised? I thought you would be. The imagination never ceases to delight: "We are afloat/ on our dreams as on a barge of ice,/ shot through with questions and fissures of starlight/ that keep us awake, thinking about the dreams as they are happening."

My Erotic Double

He says he doesn’t feel like working today.
It’s just as well. Here in the shade
Behind the house, protected from street noises,
One can go over all kinds of old feelings,
Throw some away, keep others.
The wordplay
Between us gets very intense when there are
Fewer feelings around to confuse things.
Another go-round? No, but the last things
You always find to say are charming, and rescue me
Before the night does. We are afloat
On our dreams as on a barge made of ice,
Shot through with questions and fissures of starlight
That keep us awake, thinking about the dreams
As they are happening. Some occurrence. You said it.

I said it but I can hide it. But I choose not to.
Thank you. You are a very pleasant person.
Thank you. You are too.

-- John Ashbery