"The Improvement" by John Ashbery.

The only thing that humans cannot count on is that things are constantly changing and life is one of those things. It is a complex, intriguing, and inscrutable process which has negative and positive shades. This is the message John Ashbery is trying to transmit to us! 1.Theme a.Life changes in an instant -He is questioning the meaning of life; the meaning of how things can change quickly. - "Only yesterday when I came …

…the big hypotheses of reality. 2.Characteristic of the poem a.It is a mysterious poem -The reader cannot fully comprehend what message John Ashbery is trying to transmit. -Sometimes one finds the poet shifting from the good things to the bad ones or even digressing. - "Shards, smiling beaches, abandon us somehow even as we converse with them." -"I felt the eggplant, then the rhubarb. Nothing seems strong enough for this life to manage.