poetry

"Of the many forms that silence takes, the most memorable is the dry husk of the cicada."

"Looks like what drives me crazyDon't have no effect on you--But I'm gonna keep on at itTill it drives you crazy, too."

"You shall love your crooked neighbour, with your crooked heart."

"Kerouac: You're ruining American poetry, O'Hara.O'Hara: That's more than you ever did for it, Kerouac"

"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others."

"I'm sober. Yessiree, I quit drinking. I haven't had a beer in four hours. Now I just need some coffee and to get drunk on love poetry."

"A grain of poetry suffices to season a century."

"i don't want to hate the presidenti don't want to go to harvardi don't want to win the pulitzer prizei just want to sit in my bathtuband think about relationships i will never havewith people i will never meetand then go lay in my bedwith a magnifying glassand count all the stiches in my sheetsuntil i fall asleepand wake upto repeat again."

"Much Madness Is Divinest SenseMuch Madness is divinest Sense —To a discerning Eye —Much Sense — the starkest Madness —'Tis the MajorityIn this, as All, prevail —Assent — and you are sane —Demur — you're straightway dangerous —And handled with a Chain —"

"I watched the spinning stars, grateful, sad and proud, as only a man who has outlived his destiny and realizes he might yet forge himself another, can be."

"Come away, O human child!To the waters and the wildWith a faery, hand in hand,For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

"...Time held me green and dyingThough I sang in my chains like the sea."

"See with your soul and not your eyesbecause to dance with the beasts youmust penetrate their disguise."

"Art is long, and Time is fleeting."

"Don’t walk in front of me… I may not followDon’t walk behind me… I may not leadWalk beside me… just be my friend"

"You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered."

"I saw my face todayAnd it looked older,Without the warmth of wisdomOr the softnessBorn of pain and waiting.The dreams were gone from my eyes,Hope lost in hollownessOn my cheeks,A finger of deathPulling at my jaws.So I did my push-upsAnd wondered if I'd ever find you,To see my faceWith friendlier eyes than mine."

"Books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them."

"But writing poems and letters doesn't seem to do much good."

"Everyone I have lost in the closing of a doorthe click of the lockis not forgotten, theydo not die but remainwithin the soft edgesof the earth, the ashof house fires and cancerin sin and forgivenesshuddled under old blanketsdreaming their way intomy hands, my heartclosing tight like fists.- "Indian Boy Love Song #1"