William Carlos Williams is one of my favorite poets, and that list is pretty short. I read a picture book about his life that was fascinating. While he wrote poems that were hundreds of pages long, he mastered short, descriptive poems called imagism.
This poem about January is a good example of his short style. I have been pulled out of my writing by the wind rattling my office window. I’m always surprised by the weather, but I never let it stop me. I think that is a good attitude for a new year. Never let the winds of life stop you.
January
by William Carlos Williams
Again I reply to the triple winds
running chromatic fifths of derision
outside my window:
Play louder.
You will not succeed. I am
bound more to my sentences
the more you batter at me
to follow you.
And the wind,
as before, fingers perfectly
its derisive music.
The only reason I know him is the movie Paterson… I would have thought you’d seen it, but you didn’t mention it. Very interesting. It’s very slow so don’t expect an action film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pGJBgiiDU