William Carlos Williams Imitations 

Write on the board (or distribute copies of) the following poem:

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

Then tell them the story behind the poem: William Carlos Williams, who was a doctor as well as a poet, arose before his wife Flossie one morning, went into the kitchen, and saw in the “icebox” (fridge) a bowl of cool, tasty-looking plums. He knew Flossie was looking forward to having them for breakfast, but temptation led him to gobble them up himself. Then he felt a little sorry and left her a note of apology.

Being a poet—and a poet who loved to bring small, daily reality into verse—Williams thought that the note could be a poem. He broke it up into short lines to show off its rhythm. It hadn’t occurred to anyone before that time that such a homely detail, in conversational language, could contain the wonders of a poem. The poem is now quite famous.

Point out to the class how the s sounds in the last three lines help create a mouthwatering effect that changes the whole psychology of the poem––he’s really more impressed with how good the plums tasted than he is sorry that he ate them.

Tell the students frankly that a difficulty with imitating this idea is that the poems tend to come out heavy-handed:

Hey, too bad I
kicked your butt and
poured beer down
your pants
but it was fun!

Ask them to get beyond the obvious joke and get that delicate twist in there, with a balance of sorry and not sorry. Also urge them to feel free to depart from Williams’s language. The title can be altogether different, too—“Sorry, Sis, But ... ” or “Gosh, I Didn’t Know.”

Read a variety of student examples. Ask your students to write only one poem each, leaving only a short writing time.

Since, in the same classroom hour, you can probably do another Williams poem, ask the students to keep their papers and volunteer either to have them read aloud by you as you walk from desk to desk, or to read them themselves.

Then ask them to turn their papers over, and proceed to the second poem. Write the following on the board, also by Williams:

So much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

Mention that this poem presents a big change in tone from the first poem. Then discuss “The Red Wheelbarrow”—how its extreme simplicity makes it stand out. Discuss the meaning, which has little or nothing to do with the utility of the wheelbarrows, but is really in praise of common things expressed in plain images—these are the ordinary objects Williams would have seen in a walk around his small New Jersey town decades ago. Talk up the beauties of neglected everyday sights.

Read them some student samples. Possible “lead-ins” can be “Parts of my day,” “What’s around,” “When I look,” etc. 

There’s a danger that students’ poems may become mired in “pretty-flower” clichés—warn them about this, and suggest they might want to try for unexpected combinations.

Ask them to write. Collect and read.

I’m sorry I ate your lunch.
I’m sorry I ate your breakfast. 
I’m sorry that I’m going to eat your supper.

Carlos Cintron (4th grade)

THIS IS JUST TO SAY

I loved 
pushing you on 
a swing

Especially when 
you flew over 
the fence.

Amy Beth Milan (elementary)

I am sorry I
let your
sister spill the
juice but
it looked like
orange raindrops
falling from the
sky.

Kerry Washington (1st grade)

So much depends
upon

a clock

a window

a
map

and
darkness

Wes Woodward (4th grade)

MY BACK LAWN

A swing, porch, fence.

Time to go to bed. Oh! my car
cat knocked down the tent.

Do I have to start again?

No. A dog, a lawn
and me.

Mark Drew (2nd grade)

So much depends
upon
aluminum siding
Well

maybe not

David Philips (8nd grade)

So much depends on 

Halley’s comet
my black cat Blinky
eating the middle of an Oreo
cookie
my life of darkness
a flaming match

Kim Knabb (5th grade)

So much depends on 

the cat on the
car

the father in the
chair

the skidmarks in the 
driveway.

Vic Petersen (12th grade)

I AM SORRY TO SAY

I shot a bird today.
The dog watched as the wind blew through its wings.
It landed in the field, its heart cold but warm inside.
The wind turned pink white and grey as the bird fell.

Leslie Gwartney (4th grade)

THIS IS JUST TO SAY

Sorry for embarrassing
you at the dance when I poured spaghetti
on your white dress but it was
kinds of interesting looking at you
while you were screaming at me
for doing that.

Angela Knight (11th grade)