How do the poems of Frank O'Hara explore how a person'a inner life Essay

How do the poems of Frank O'Hara explore how a person'a inner life shapes the city or invents a city within the city, and how th - Essay Example Frank O'Hara, a New York dweller expresses his sentiments on his mutual relationship with the city. Although he appears content with the relationship with the city, in some instances, he reveals of the negatives that the city has on him. However, the city is not generally the name, rather, it is the buildings, the people and all the activities taking place in these buildings, and undertaken by the people living in the city. It is due to the activities of people living in the city that influence the life of the people, brining into existence new worlds. However, this is a world full of fantasy and dreams, but one far from the reality. Living in the city, people socialize in different ways. As people work in the cities and conduct business in the city, they interact differently with each other. This way, they influence each other. According to O’Hara, the city significantly contributes to a number of changes in his life. For instance, the city contributes to his sadness. In his narration in the poem, â€Å"Meditations in an Emergency,† he points out that each time his heart is broken, he feels like being more adventurous. Love, being part of the social city life influences the moods of the people. However, there are differences between love in the city and love in the countryside. While in the countryside, love knows of no bounds, love in the city knows of bounds. One of the main reasons for this is the impact that city life has on the people (Jaffe web). Not only does it make people complicated, it also makes it difficult to understand them. There is an increased level of unfaithfulness in the city dating scene, if lamentations in O’Hara’s poem, â€Å"Meditations in an Emergency† are anything to go by. According to him, people share love in the city, thus rendering love useless. Subsequently, there are frequent break ups as people seek for better partners. The lies that people tell to each other in the name of love are overwhel ming. The city teaches smooth lies, which people tell to win love and trust. The heavily built city environment makes life boring (Vince web). They cannot enjoy a nature walk in the grassland and pick up a blade of grass, unless they have to walk up the subway. This is however human in the making. The increased construction in the cities is the main contributing factor to the loss of vegetation cover. Most of the land in the city is paved if not constructed (â€Å"BOP Consulting† 2). Thus, although people feel bored in the city and long for nature walks, this is not possible with the lack of natural environment to have walks. Subsequently, people remain indoors and do nothing, amid the urge to leave their abodes (Vince web). In addition to the high levels of boredom facing city people, homosexuality is yet another problem. According to O’Hara, men kiss each other, signifying the erosion of culture and civilization. In his poem, â€Å"† he narrates, â€Å"Now th ere is only one man I like to kiss when he is unshaven†, and further attributes this to heterosexuality. When people cannot find love and after their transgressions, they run to the churches thus deceiving one another of their identities. The quality of life in the city, especially for the poor is worrying. Construction workers for instance can only afford sand-witches and Coca-Cola for lunch. Despite the hard work that these people handle, they have poor dieting, which contributes to their poor health conditions. Few people pay attention to the working