John Ashbery

Last Month

loss free verse dreamlike

Last Month - meaning Summary

Domestic Absence and Strange Loss

Last Month describes a domestic space altered by departure and a mysterious theft. Ordinary objects and sunlight become markers of absence while the scene slides into unexpected images—the academy, piled chairs, a book depicting betrayal—that resist clear narrative explanation. The poem traces the dislocation between practical loss and surreal detail, producing an atmosphere of baffled mourning and ironic detachment rather than a direct account of events.

Read Complete Analyses

No changes of support — only Patches of gray, here where sunlight fell. The house seems heavier Now that they have gone away. In fact it emptied in record time. When the flat table used to result A match recedes, slowly, into the night. The academy of the future is Opening its doors and willing The fruitless sunlight streams into domes, The chairs piled high with books and papers. The sedate one is this month's skittish one Confirming the property that, A timeless value, has changed hands. And you could have a new automobile Ping pong set and garage, but the thief Stole everything like a miracle. In his book there was a picture of treason only And in the garden, cries and colors.

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