Yesterday Micah shared a brilliant interpretation of “that plums poem,” a video of Mathew Macfadyen dramatizing William Carlos Williams’ little piece “This is Just to Say.” Do me a favor, click here and watch it (It’ll open in a new window) and then come back. I’ll wait. Back? Worth it, right? That video was part…
Tag: William Carlos Williams
Reading “The Snow Man,” by Wallace Stevens
The phenomenon of Pennsylvania-born Wallace Stevens gives a guy like me hope. There was a day when great writers had post-university careers outside of the literary and academic fields. William Carlos Williams was a pediatrician, T.S. Eliot, a banker, and even more hopeful for me, Philip Larkin was a Librarian! In this current literary climate where the…
“The Naming of Cats,” Happy Belated Birthday to T. S. Elliot
Yes, you’ve heard me, when complaining about some of the annoying, pretentious, overly intellectual and philosophical self-important things written in and about poetry today, “I blame Elliot.” But please do not think I am all black and white about these things. I love Poe, but I hate his poem, “The Bells.” I enjoy Bukowski and…
No Ideas But in Things: Poetry as Exploration
I had the pleasure of reading at the Priestly Chapel here in town again this Sunday. This is the second time they have kindly invited me to be the featured poet for their Second Sunday Service of Music and the Spoken Word. The musical portion of the program featured The Bloomsburg Early Music Consortium, and…
Day 20 – 30 Days, 30 Readings: Kenneth Koch’s, “Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams”
I know, long title, right? I love a good spoof. I grew up on the musical parodies of Weird Al Yankovic, and at his best his twists on the popular songs, like Michael Jackson’s “Bad,” both honored and poked fun of the originals. Most artists it seems are happy to give him permission to use their…
Day 19 – 30 Days, 30 Readings: “Danse Russe” by William Carlos Williams
I mentioned this morning that today’s reading would be a poem by William Carlos Williams, the writer of that little kitchen note recited here this morning by Mathew MacFadyen. It was not quite an apology, was it? “Forgive me / They were so sweet / And so cold.” First of all, I want to thank…
