As you all are aware, I've been spending these past two weeks writing a poetry module. One of the main poems of the unit is "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. It is a poem that focused directly on the objective representation of objects. Williams said "no ideas but in things," meaning that with precise imagery and sharp, clear language, ideas are more firmly grounded and therefore more easily accessible. As you read the poem, notice the pattern (three words, one word), the lack of punctuation, the direct adjectives (red, white), and the focus on describing / representing a singular scene.

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens

As part of my unit, I attempt to have students write a lot of poetry! In order to teach authentically, I've had to challenge myself with the same task. So I have tried to write my own version of "The Red Wheelbarrow," focusing on a singular scene and mimicking the pared down yet descriptive style of the original.

so much depends
upon
a gray tomb
stone
blanketed with snow
fall
beside the striped
flags

This exercise was much more difficult than I had anticipated and though the poem only contains sixteen words, took me nearly two hours to write! I would be curious to see what other fellows from the writing project could do, using "The Red Wheelbarrow" as a mentor poem piece.

Thanks!