not everyone can look up, even at me. it hurts their eyes

"Not everyone can look up, even at me.
It hurts their eyes."
"Oh Sun, I'm so grateful to you!"

"Thanks and remember I'm watching.
It's easier for me to speak to you out here.
I don't have to slide down
between buildings to get your ear.
I know you love Manhattan, but
you ought to look up more often.

And
always embrace things, people earth
sky stars, as I do, freely and with
the appropriate sense of space."*

Frank O'Hara is one of my favourite poets. When I was little my Aunt sent me a book called Talking to the Sun, it was an anthology of poetry illustrated with art from the Met. It was the first context in which I read Frank O'Hara, and many other poets, as well as many lovely traditional lullabies and proverbs which have stuck in my mind.

Anyway today I read this post on This Recording, and it reminded me of all of this.

*That's an excerpt from A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island and the picture is of Frank O'Hara and Grace Hartigan