PAINTED PONIES

William Carlos Williams has been a favorite of mine since high school. I confess I didn’t always appreciate his poetry, but it appealed to something in me. Later, as a young adult, I realized that much of his poetry had a flavor of Zen. That brought me back to rediscovering his writing and a fresh understanding of his use of words and metaphors.

A few days ago my oldest daughter contacted me (she just lives a mile away, but insists on texting. Another introvert, like her dad) and asked me if I had heard of Williams. Of course, I jumped right on it.

One of my favorites of his:

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

William Carlos Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow” from The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume I, 1909-1939, edited by Christopher MacGowan. Copyright 1938 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

The truth? The older I get (now pretty damn old) the more respect I have for Williams’s amazing, almost haiku, way of capturing time, like a photograph. Words. Just words. Yet they are such a treasure when in the hands/mind of a great poet.

I’m writing this blog this morning to express my own need to capture time. As Janis waits for my next visit I am only able to reach my own heart and affection for her while sitting inside this blog.

Here’s another:

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

William Carlos Williams,”This Is Just to Say” from The Collected Poems: Volume I, 1909-1939, copyright ©1938 by New Directions Publishing Corp. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

See what I mean? He makes it clear that we must pay attention to every moment and gesture because the day may come when all we will have is words and no one to speak them to. Someone said, “Grief feels like fear, its love – with nowhere to go.” Don’t waste an opportunity to speak in the present the words that you will regret later if you do not speak them today.

Have a good New Year! 2023

Bob~