We read William Carlos Williams’ poem “This Is Just to Say,” and talked about what makes poetry different from other forms of writing. Some students observed that Williams’ poem looked like a poem on the page (with three stanzas of four short lines each) while others noticed that it seemed informal or easy to write compared with other poetry they had been exposed to. We talked about why a writer might use a formal structure or a more informal pattern in a poem. Since Williams’ poem, at least according to legend, began as a note left for his wife, it provided a good way into the idea that a poem doesn’t have to be about something big. Poetry is a good place for little things we notice in our daily routines that may not seem important at first, but in the writing may take on a greater significance.
Finally, we wrote “This Is Just to Say” poems of our own. They ranged from humorous to fantastic to, like Williams, apologizing in name only. Two of us wrote about being woken up at night by our cats.
A few excerpts follow:
This Is Just to Say
I have exploded
the gooey pie
from ugoptugy land
It was amazing like
fireworks smashing into the
dark sky
This Is Just to Say
Goodbye. I must be moving
on, dipping my oars in to the rainbow
sea.
This Is Just to Say
I have gone out to
the stables
to ride the strange horse
This Is Just to Say
I have fallen
asleep on
your couch
