A favorite poem of mine is the late William Carlos Williams' The Red Wheelbarrow
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends upon
a red wheelbarrow
glazed with rain water
beside the white chickens
William Carlos Williams was very important in the imagist movement of poetry as well as the modernist movement during his time. He wanted to create an entirely new poetry specifically and exclusively for America. Professor Katie Arnold of Millikin University writes of every day images in the Williams style and encourages her M.A. students to do the same.
This green wagon, sitting alone in the front yard of Skyote Mountain Retreat two weekends ago, immediately brought the Red Wheelbarrow to mind and here is my poem, with gratefulness for my long-ago professor Stephen Jama who introduced me to Williams' work. Technically my poem isn't imagist, but it certainly was evoked by the Red Wheelbarrow.
The Green Wagon
I thought my love days over
until I saw the green wagon
waiting for someone to
fill it with something.
OK, Sigmund Freud, what do you read into this one? Or is a cigar sometimes just a cigar?
