(8) WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS –

THE IVY CROWN (1954)

“We are only mortal
but being mortal
can defy our fate.
We may
by an outside chance
even win!”

Is there a poet in the house? William Carlos Williams – tweeted poetry, most famously in that poetic ear-worm about plums. The dude was a doctor – must have had a great bedside manner

Forgive me
It’s malignant
So sad
And so young

And then there’s “The Ivy Crown” with its cosmos-crossed lovers (“I love you or I do not live at all”)

“Just as the nature of briars
is to tear flesh,
I have proceeded
through them.
Keep
the briars out,
they say.
You cannot live
and keep free of
briars”.

RATING: 4 STARS****
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