William Carlos Williams

Blizzard
By WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

Snow:
years of anger following
hours that float idly down -
the blizzard
drifts its weight
deeper and deeper for three days
or sixty years, eh? Then
the sun! a clutter of
yellow and blue flakes -
Hairy looking trees stand out
in long alleys
over a wild solitude.
The man turns and there -
his solitary track stretched out
upon the world.

I have always felt that Williams is most zen of all of the poets. His poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow" is my favorite poem. In this poem, the poet shows the uselessness of anger. It really reflects what I have been feeling of late. I have been living my life feeling so much anger at people, events, situations that have occurred in my life. Although I am not at the end of my life as the person in this poem, the man in the poem finds that with all of his anger it has served nothing and that it served to keep him alone. I have found this to be so true.

I would think the poet's experiences as a working doctor really helped him see the futility of anger.( The above picture is one of my favorite of him on his house calls with one of his sons.) I really think he cared a great deal about his patients and about life and poetry. He worked at writing poems in between seeing patients and often used prescription pads to write his poems. He also wrote novels, short stories, critical essays and much more.