Frank O'Hara

“Poem” (1950)
“Today” (1950)
“The Day Lady Died” (1959)
“Why I Am Not a Painter” (1957)

In contrast to some of the other movements, it seemed that Frank O’Hara didn’t have a central set of ideas that are visible in his work. I may just not have seen enough of his work or know enough about the period.

I thought that he might have been playing with time in “Poem,” but ended up concluding that the speaker was talking of a past memory, though the alternative (him talking in flashback) does sort of convey the shock of accidentally coming across a murder scene.
“Today” seemed to convey the fifteen minutes of fame, celebrity buzz, as seen on tv, I love the 80s mentality that something may be unimportant, but it is really important right now.