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*Ashbery. Wakefulness. 1998. 80 pp.

In my memory of them all of JA's books from this period blend together. This one has some good poems, like the final "Homecoming" and "Outside my Window the Japanese." I really like "The Friend at Midnight":

Keeping in mind that all things break,
the valedictorian urged his future plans on us:
Don't give up. It's too soon. Things break. Yes they fail ....

Still, this is only an average Ashbery book, as these things go. Chinese Whispers and Your Name Here, which I am also reading at the same time, are better, though in hard-to-define ways.