Poems & Poetry

William Carlos William, was born on  September 17, 1883, in Rutherford, New Jersey. He was a local town physician and, “One of the most important American poets, of the twentieth century.”






Willow Poem
by William Carlos Williams

It is a willow when summer is over,
a willow by the river
from which no leaf has fallen nor
bitten by the sun
turned orange or crimson.
The leaves cling and grow paler,
swing and grow paler
over the swelling waters of the river as if loath to let go,
they are so cool, so drunk with the swirl of the wind and of the river 
oblivious to winter,
the last to let go and fall
Into the water and onto the ground

LE MEDICIN MALGRE LUI

by William Carlos Williams

Oh I suppose I should
wash the walls of my office
polish the rust from
my instruments and keep them
definitely in order
build shelves in the laboratory
empty out the old stains
clean the bottles
and refill them, buy
another lens, put
my journals on edge instead of
letting them lie flat
in heaps - then begin
ten years back and
gradually
read them to date:
catalouging important
articles for ready reference.
I suppose I should
read the new books.
if to this I added
a bill at the tailor’s
and at the cleaner’s
grew a decent beard
and cultivated a look
of importance -
Who can tell? I might be
a credit to my Lady Happiness
and never think anything
but a white thought!