So I've been super ill this past week which means I missed the poem of the week :( However, I'm hear with another prompt for you all.
This week, I'd like you to read Having A Coke With You by Frank O'Hara. I've loved this poem ever since I heard it in the film 'Beastly'. However, in retrospect, I liked it because it sounds nice, not necessarily because I understood it.
The thing with O'Hara is that he used extremely rich visual imagery. He wanted to blend cinema and poetry. But at the core of his work is always an emotional truth. I also recommend The Day The Lady Died to further understand his style.
Within Having A Coke With You, the speaker proposes that the simple act of drinking coke together is more marvellous than some of the best paintings in the world. In this regard, it could be viewed as the early 'crush' stages of a relationship, rather than someone in a long term relationship.
So the prompt:
Think of a person who you have a close relationship (this could also be an animal) and a simple activity (eg. 'having a coke with you') and explore how the activity with the person makes you feel.
Purple Ditch Flower
To me she’d say, I’ll drive until the brakes wear
and my sadness is pressed under my tongue,
from the weight of the music I could tear
but a place I stop, dressing my ear to feel young.
I noticed they all grew around the mile
so we drove and picked the unknown purple.
She tried so hard to find a name that fit.
She would symbol them nicely; my house she circles.
Pretty, the way she magnifies colors
as she leaves with black hair and a purple ear.
To keep us forever well in our thoughts,
will be the short moments under the blue.
The time of bloom they’ll always reflect you.
With the coming of winter, in my dreams I’ll carry them through.
A trail forever walked to gather, my lovely purple ditch flower.