Lunch Poems

By Frank O'Hara,

Book cover of Lunch Poems

Book description

Important poems by the late New York poet published in The New American Poetry, Evergreen Review, Floating Bear and stranger places. Often this poet, strolling through the noisy splintered glare of a Manhattan noon, has paused at a sample Olivetti to type up thirty or forty lines of ruminations, or…


When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Lunch Poems as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Several times now, I have given this slim book of poems to students and encouraged them to carry it in their bags, to read it at random moments throughout the day—instead of, say, looking at their phones. O'Hara's ebullient celebrations of daily life, musings on love, culture, and poetry itself never fail to inspire.

Whether it's a poem about sharing a coke with a beloved or the death of Billie Holiday, O'Hara's work makes me want to stay alert to the possibility of the wonderous, ordinary facts of life on Earth. If I were a doctor, I would prescribe everyone…

From Tina's list on not all poets are dead.

Want books like Lunch Poems?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 6 books like Lunch Poems.

Browse books like Lunch Poems

Book cover of Today in the Taxi
Book cover of Don't Call Us Dead: Poems
Book cover of Any God Will Do

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

3 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in ecology, New York City, and spirituality?

Ecology 83 books
New York City 1,149 books
Spirituality 320 books