Welcome to Litsy!

I‘ll be honest: this book was beyond me. If you understand it, honestly, I wish you joy of it. I can tell there‘s stuff happening in there that I wasn‘t able to parse. Maybe if I put in more work, I‘d like it. Maybe not. Who knows?

I fiiiiiinally finished my 1st (of 2) poets for January! Ashbery definitely wasn't the easiest place to start...😆 His poems tend to be about very abstract things. Some I liked, some I didn't, but I understand why the eponymous final poem got him so much attention-it is very long but also magnificent. It's a poetic meditation on the painting (inset) of the same name (and on art..and the soul...) and the YouTube clip of him reading it is 30min! ⬇️

Some of my favorite poems are ones where the subject is a total mystery. #poetrychallenge2018

Sorry for the tiny print, but this is a good one and I wanted to share it in full. How great is "the lumber of life"? ?❤️ #poetrychallenge2018

From "Lithuanian Dance Band"
#poetrychallenge2018

Ok, I know it's #letsgetgraphicweeklongmarathon time, but I have to take a quick break for my daily dose of #poetrychallenge2018!

"This morning it was off taking French lessons..." from "No Way of Knowing"

From "The Tomb of Stuart Merrill"
#poetrychallenge2018

Does anybody else love The Mountain Goats? The title of this Ashbery poem took my mind straight to this fantastic song on All Hail West Texas. #poetrychallenge2018

Farm II

#poetrychallenge2018
Almost done with the Ashbery and I'll be moving on to Solmaz Sharif! 😍

From "Voyage in the Blue"
#poetrychallenge2018

Quote from the poem "Grand Gallop"
#poetrychallenge2018

I've been finding this Ashbery to be a little harder to wade through than I'd anticipated, but every once in a while I come across a poem I can wrap my mind around, and with some really great lines to boot. This poem is 7.5 pages long though, so I think I'll have to copy out the best lines for you somewhere else! 😂 #poetrychallenge2018

Rest In Peace, John Ashbery.