Having a Coke with You

Having a Coke with You

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles
and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them

I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it’s in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven’t gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn’t pick the rider as carefully
as the horse
it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

by Frank O'Harra 

San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne

The pictures represent the cities in order as mentioned in the poem. They all represent beautiful scenery surrounded by water making the views one can see when visiting even more amazing. They are all famous touristic places and that is why O'Hara mentions them to show how he would rather be with his lover than any of these places.

Travessera de Gracia in Barcelona

 

 Famous street in Spain that in its day was the location of the biggest market. 

St.. Sebastian

San Sebastian was a saint who was believed to have been killed during the persecutions of Christians that was held by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. It is common to find him tied to a tree and shot with arrows in many artistic works. However it is believed that even after he was shot he was healed and rescued by Irene from Rome. 

The Polish Rider

The Polish Rider is a painting that is in the Frick museum of a man riding his horse. This painting is found by many mysterious because there has been an ongoing debate about whether it is finished or not and whether it represents a particular person or if its open for interpretation.

The Frick

Henry Clay Frick was an art collector who died in 1919 however afterwards his house as turned into a museum to display his art collection. The house is located on the Upper East Side of New York and it consists of a huge collection that was meant to serve as an interpretation of his life.

Futurism

Futurism is a movement that a movement that was captivated by things such as technology and violence. It originated in Italy in the 20th century and it soon spread all over the world and it reached all the different fields of arts and studies.