Having a Coke with You Love

"Having a Coke with You" is awesome because we're in love with you. Yep, that about sums things up. This poem is not just an expression of love, though. It's actually much more thoughtful than that. It's a meditation on just what it means to be in love. How does being in love affect the way we see the world? How might it change our understanding of and thoughts about art? Those are big questions, but O'Hara is up to the task… right after he takes a sip of that ice cold soda.

Questions About Love

1. In professing his love, is this speaker too cheesy for your tastes? Not cheesy enough? Why? 
2. Can love truly change our sense of reality? If that's the case, can love truly change the world (or it that just a clever bumper sticker)? What do you think our speaker would have to say about this? 
3. Does this speaker concentrate too much on the addressee's looks in this poem? Why doesn't he mention what a great personality the you of the poem has? 
4. Is love more important than art? Yep, we asked the Big Question.

Chew on This

The poem shows us that love that is not appreciated is love that is wasted. (Sad.)

This is not a love poem. This is a poem about being in love. There's a big difference.