Joe Brainard’s poem “Ten Imaginary Still Lifes” made me think about what I would think about if I closed my eyes. In most recent history, I close my eyes and I see the New York Knicks as the first Atlantic Division Champions in my life on their way to an NBA Championship led by Carmelo Anthony. I wasn’t sure what to write about in this blog post because after reading Frank O’Hara’s “Personism: A Manifesto,” I was thoroughly confused and not sure what to make of it, so I’m going to say that O’Hara’s personism is translating the feelings within a poem and giving them to the person, I guess that’s what it is, but I’ve been so excited about basketball I have to talk about the Knicks! Knicks basketball has not been this great since the days of Patrick Ewing in the middle to late 90s. Obviously I don’t remember those days, but finally, I am getting to see a team that has the potential to go on past the first round and into the Finals and possibly even win it all!
I consider myself lucky because I have seen two of my favorite teams win titles in my life, the Yankees in baseball and the Giants in football. But I have always wanted to see the NY Knicks win a title because basketball is one of my favorite sports and the Knicks have been part of my life for so long. After a decade of disappointments the team is finally achieving greatness and is at the doorstep of a championship run, if they are up for it. This is what I see when I “close my eyes,” a possible Knicks NBA Championship for the first time since 1973. I am super excited and can’t wait for the playoffs!
I wonder if you might be more specific about what you found to be confusing about O’Hara’s “Personism”–what do you think he is trying to do? what is a manifesto? What do you think O’Hara means when he defines “personism” as “to address itself to one person (other than the poet himself)”? Why might this be important to a poem or change the way a poem is received?