The Red Wheel Barrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos William
I discovered William Carlos Williams poetry through his poem This is Just to Say, his magnificent poem about eating undeserved plums from the refrigerator. We use This is Just to Say to illustrate savoring and mindfulness, two key ideas in the blossoming positive psychology.
Celebrating the world as it is through American rhythms of speech
I understand The Red Wheel Barrow is even more popular and represents William Carlos Williams’ belief that poetry should portray the essence and meaning of familiar life in simple language using the rhythms of American speech. Someone has helpfully provided a chart to help us read the poem on Wikipedia.
Mindfulness and Happiness
“to draw his themes from what he called “the local.”
“try to see the world as it is”
Isn’t that what we call mindfulness today?
It’s interesting that he had worked out this philosophy before World War II.
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