I enjoyed reading “Personism: A Manifesto” by Frank O’Hara, because he proves some two very interesting points. How a poem should just be written without any deep thinking and how it should be written as if you are picking up a phone and calling someone.
The first point he makes made me laugh when reading it, because he says “You just go on your nerve. If someone’s chasing you down the street with a knife you just run, you don’t turn around and shout, “Give it up! I was a track star for Mineola Prep.”” What he says is very true why write a poem in the most abstract way for people to search for the meaning when one can just write how they really feel and give a direct meaning to what one is writing about. It is like the free writings we do in class, except they are later revised so they do not sound as sloppy. They all have a purpose and can all be seen as poems, but until now I did not think of free writing in this way.
The second point is made by O’Hara as he is explaining Personism in a more specific way. He likes when poems are true expression. As if one were to pick up their phone and call someone. It is more real and interesting and anyone can do it. It offers more and can offer more like he says, but the popularity for this type of poem has not really caught on to a wide range of writers and readers. The most interesting thing he says in the entire manifesto is “The poem is at last between two persons instead of two pages.” I like this and completely agree. It gives more meaning to the poem than it would have been if it was written in a more complex, and abstract way. So.. yea that is what I thought after reading “Personism: A Manifesto.” Do you feel the same way or disagree?
