AestheticsImagesLiterary interludes

Literary interlude, with illustration

By December 29, 2010No Comments

Yogi

You tell me I missed the most inter­est­ing part

But I think I found the most inter­est­ing part:

An unher­al­ded depar­ture by extin­guished torchlight

Whose dec­or­at­ive patina

Is everything to the group—wind, fire, breath­ing, snores.

 

I was not there I was aware of Yogi Bear

There where I found a most inter­est­ing port

Crying wares to mil­leni­al cross­ings of voyagers

But this space is a checkerboard,

Whether it be land, sea or art

Trapped in the prin­ciple of the great beyond

Lacking only the expert­ise to

Make a statement.”

—From “Statuary,” John Ashbery, As We Know, Viking, 1979, reprin­ted in Collected Poems 1956–1987, Library of America, 2008

No Comments

  • rwk says:

    Exactly. Perfect. Thanks.

  • bill says:

    That poem’s not any good because he rhymes “the most inter­est­ing part” with “the most inter­est­ing part.” Shit, *I* could do *that*!

  • Oliver_C says:

    Cats & Dogs 2’ makes jokes about water­board­ing; ‘Yogi Bear’, water­s­ports (and I *don’t* mean mar­ine pur­suits). If this is “family-friendly enter­tain­ment”, nev­er have I been glad­der to be single and childless.

  • John M says:

    They ran this over black at the end of Yogi 3D, with Ashbery sol­emnly nar­rat­ing. As a ton­al shift, it was awkward.