Jesse Dobson
. .
But it was not easy to tell in what direction
the permanence tended, whether it was
Easy decline, like swallows after the rough
Business of the long day, or eternal suspension
Over emptiness, dangerous perhaps, in any case
Not the peaceful cawing of which so much had been
Made. I can tell you all
About freedom that has turned into a painting;
The other is more difficult, though prompt - in fact
A little too prompt: therein lies the difficulty.
.
John Ashbery
Fragment
The Double Dream of Spring, 1970
John Ashbery: Collected Poems, 1956-1987
Mark Ford, editor
The Library of America, 2008©
Just give it some time.
ReplyDeleteThe picture holds promise of being developed in many directions at once. Fundamentally I like it for its affinity for the poem, so one couldn't dispense with that. There is no spontaneous obvious connection with Dobson except in our heretofore unintroduced relationship. There is also the poem's and the picture's cheekier suggestion of Miles Archer's brief interview with Brigid O'Shaughnessy above the Stockton tunnel in "Maltese Falcon," but I don't think one can go all 3 ways in one posting?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the prognosis!
:)