William Carlos Williams

This is Just to Say

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

The Great Figure

Among the rain

and lights

I saw the figure 5

in gold

on a red

firetruck

moving

tense

unheeded

to gong clangs

siren howls

and wheels rumbling

through the dark city.

William Carlos Williams

The Red  Wheelbarrow

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

William Carlos Williams

These beautiful poems (and others) are printed on the endpapers of a picture book biography of this poet.  It is called A River of Words:  The Story of William Carlos Williams.   It is written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  I recommend it very, very highly. 

I think that it’s so important for young people to understand that writers, artists, and other accomplished people have interesting personal stories; they are people like everyone else.  The story of this poet/pediatrician is particularly interesting to me.  His work is widely studied and did much to free writers from strict constraints of rhythm and rhyme.