East February / John Ashbery

[alwaysashipper.livejournal.com]

Out there the air is moist I
can tell walking through it.
Thank you so much for coming in.
It’s late isn’t it,
almost grotesque.
My crew will be in touch.

Not expecting friends
that you don’t know yet are coming.
Foxtrot,
performance art,
that I gaze on so fondly today—
this hymn to dowdiness Howdy-Doody shaped . . .

A mouse can show what works
even if no one knows why, he said.


By John Ashbery, 1927-2017.

Comments

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this; I had not heard that he passed on Sept. 3 - may he rest in peace.