Tuesday 18 December 2007

william carlos williams

it's funny the way that doing something as a reaction to someone else can often getyou into a poem you previously didn't like. as it is with me and carlos wiliams. not a fan i have to say but post black bicycle i find i'm getting it more. so i really enjoyed sorlil's suggestion of the following

To a Poor Old Woman

munching a plum on
the street a paper bag
of them in her hand

They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste

good to her
You can see it by
the way she gives herself

to the one half
sucked out in her hand
Comforted

a solace of ripe plums
seeming to fill the air
They taste good to her

1 comment:

Andrew Shields said...

They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste

good to her

*

I love the way those four lines provide an object lesson in the meaning of the linebreak in WCW's poetry. It's a matter of intonation, with an emphasis on "her", then "good", then "taste". Go Bill!