John Ashbery, "Soonest Mended," May 1973 at San Francisco Museum of Art - The Poetry Center 

Full-program video with downloadable audio option at Poetry Center Digital Archive: diva.sfsu.edu/collections/poe...
John Ashbery first visited San Francisco to read at the San Francisco Museum of Art (pre-SFMOMA) as part of the year-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, and at the invitation of Poetry Center director Kathleen Fraser. Here, he reads "Soonest Mended," that concludes: "...and always coming back to the mooring of starting out, that day so long ago." It's the last poem recorded that evening, as he says he'll read "The Recital" (from Three Poems) though the recording ends abruptly after this announcement. The full-program video features an hour-long reading from Ashbery's newer poems and slightly earlier work.
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