PoemA Quiet Poem
Author / PoetFrank O’Hara
TagsMusic, Perception, Reflection, Silence

When music is far enough away
the eyelid does not often move

and objects are still as lavender
without breath or distant rejoinder.

The cloud is then so subtly dragged
away by the silver flying machine

that the thought of it alone echoes
unbelievably; the sound of the motor falls

like a coin toward the ocean’s floor
and the eye does not flicker

as it does when in the loud sun a coin
rises and nicks the near air. Now,

slowly, the heart breathes to music
while the coins lie in wet yellow sand.

Frank O’Hara
Frank O’Hara
27 Mar 1926 - 25 Jul 1966
Region: North America
Period: Contemporary
Movement: New York School
Awards: National Book Award

more poems by Frank O’Hara

Poem NameTopic
1951Anxiety, City, Night
Autobiographia LiterariaChildhood, Poetry, Solitude
MorningLoneliness, Love, Nature
Lines For The Fortune CookiesHumor, Individuality, Irony
Hate Is Only One Of Many ResponsesFilth, Hate, Meanness

all poems by Frank O’Hara

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