The William Carlos Williams poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” has a kind of staying power, even if only because people so often collar me and ask (probably grabbing other poets and teachers, too) some version of, “How is that a poem”? The text is as follows, for those who need a nudge:
***
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
***
No period. So where’s the art in it all? What depends upon them? What’s he doing, and conspicuously not doing? If you separate it as he does, what’s a “barrow”? Why poultry?
Wade in and provide some suggestions.