Tag Archives: John Ashbery

SEVENTEEN: A WEEK’S WORTH OF POEMS (pages 54-64)

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Mark Kerstetter

Now come seven poems interrupted only by one page of prose, a continuation of the prose section we looked at in the previous entry. If we were to say something about these poems as a group the first thing to … Continue reading →

Posted in Spring and All | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Time as a Theme in de Kooning and Ashbery

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

Time is an emulsion—Ashbery I have to keep the paint wet so that I can change it over and over, I mean, do the same thing over and over+I’m really slipping most of the time into that glimpse—de Kooning The … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry essay, visual art essay | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Reading of John Ashbery’s Three Poems

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

A CLEAN COPY There are books that fall on you like a building. You’ve survived but you’ll never forget where you were standing when it happened. I was 25 when I read John Ashbery’s Three Poems, about to turn 26. … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, drawing, personal essay, poetry essay | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chinese Whispers

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

a person’s words may live onlike the Not I Mouth,a pensum in frothon endless repeat.But what is hearddepends on the auditorand information relayedmay not resemble prior use.What does this meanbut that all language acts returnto the ocean of discoursefrom which … Continue reading →

Posted in poem | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Life of Poetry: Reading Kenneth Fearing

Posted on February 3, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

How much time should you spend on one book? The answer depends on the book, of course, what that book means to you and what you are getting (and hoping to continue to get) out of it. For one person … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, poetry essay | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rivers and Mountains – John Ashbery (1966)

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

Originally posted on 1960s: Days of Rage:
“Charles Bernstein just made an announcement about an exciting new project that just went live on the web: a ‘genetic’ critical edition of John Ashbery’s long poem ‘The Skaters’ created by Robin Seguy.…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Note on Herman Melville, Gertrude Stein and John Ashbery

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

When the substance is gone, men cling to the shadow—Melville, Pierre First all beauty…. is denied and then all beauty…. is accepted—Stein, Composition as Explanation There is nothing to do except observe the horizon,the only one, that seems to want … Continue reading →

Posted in modernism | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Gombrowicz and Melville: Twilight

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

I’ve written about the twilight world being the liminal space where poetry flourishes in relation to the poetry of John Ashbery and Alfred Corn and to the novels of Michael Brodsky. Today I’d like to give another example, this time … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry essay, Reading Gombrowicz | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rimbaud and de Kooning

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Mark Kerstetter

Arriving from always, you’ll go away everywhere. —Rimbaud We are modern. We are so because Rimbaud commanded us to be. —Ashbery It is one of those curious accidents (but are they really accidents?) that I have resumed my de Kooning … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, modernism, poetry essay, visual art essay | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On Ashbery’s A Wave

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Mark Kerstetter

John Ashbery’s A Wave is an itch I would scratch if I could. I am drawn to this book, out of all of Ashbery’s books, time and again, drawn to the very mystery of its attraction. True it does contain the … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, mockingbird poem, poem, poetry essay | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments