John Ashbery: “The Skaters”

-7-

Mild effects are the result.

	I cannot think any more of going out into all that, will stay here
	With my mild modest quiet schmerzen. Besides, the storm is almost over
	Having frozen the face of the bust into a strange style with the lips
	And the teeth the most distinct part of the whole mess. business.

What is theXXXXXXXXXXX It is this madness to explain...

	What is the matter with plain old-fashioned cause-and-effect?
	Leaving one alone with romantic impressions of the trees, the sky?
	Who, actually, is going to be fooled one instant by these phoney explanations,
	Think them important? So back we go to the old, imprecise feelings, the
	Common knowledge, the importance of duly suffering and the occasional glimpses
	Of some balmy felicity. The world of Schubert's lieder. I am fascinated
	Though by the urge to get out of it all, by going
	Further in and correcting the whole mismanaged mess. But [?]I am afraid I'll
	Be of no help to you. Goodbye.

	As balloons are to the poet, so to the ground
	Its varied assortment of trees. The more assorted they are, the
	Vaster his experience. Sometimes
	You catch sight of them on a level with the top story of a house,
	Strung up there for publicity purposes. Or like those bubbles
	Children make with a kind of ring, not a pipe, and probably using some detergent
	Rather than old-fashioned soap and water. Where was I? The balloons
	Drift thoughtfully over the land, not exactly commenting on it;
	These are the range of the poet's experience. He can hide in trees
	Like a hamadryad, but wisely prefers not to, letting the balloons
	Idle him out of existence, as a car idles. Traveling faster
	And more furiously across unknown horizons, belted into the night
	Wishing more and more to be unlike someone, getting the whole thing
	(So he believes) out of his system. Inventing systems.
	We are a part of some system, thinks he, just as the sun is part of
	The solar system. Trees brake his approach. And he seems to be wearing but
	Half a coat, viewed from one side. A "half-man" look inspiring the disgust of honest folk
	Returning from chores, the milk frozen, the pump heaped high with a chapeau of snow,
	The "No Skating" sign as well. But it is here that he is best,
	Face to face with the unsmiling alternatives of his nerve-wracking existence,
	Placed squarely in front of his dilemma, on all fours before the lamentable spectacle of the unknown.
	Yet knowing where men are coming from. It is this, to hold the candle up to the album.